Ray Lankford

Name: Raymond Lewis Lankford

Nickname: Ray, Sweet Baby Ray

Years Played: 1990 - 2004

Teams: St. Louis Cardinals, San Diego Padres

Highlights/Awards: 1997 All-Star, Hit for the cycle in his Rookie Year (1991)

Career Stats: .272 BA, .477 SLG, 238 HR, 874 RBI, 968 R, 356 2B, 258 SB

Best Season: 1998; .293 BA, 156 Hits, .540 SLG, 31 HR, 105 RBI, 94 R, 26 SB

DYK: Lankford hit more home runs at Busch Stadium (123) than any other player, Hit a pinch hit home run in his last major league at bat.

Thoughts: Ray Lankford was the St. Louis Cardinals saving grace in the 1990’s. He was a ferocious leadoff man early in his career who developed significant power as his career progressed. It’s hard to imagine what success the franchise would have had through the 1990’s without Lankford in the line-up. Joe Torre owes a little bit of his his job with the Yankee’s to Lankford’s because of his selfless play. He batted 4th behind Mark McGuire the year (1998) that Big Mac went for 70 homers in a season. Suspisciously, that was also Lankford’s best season as well.