1976 Topps #430 - Jose Cardenal

• Jose Cardenal played in the majors from 1963-1980. He was signed by the San Francisco Giants in 1960. Jose played in the minors from 1961-1964 and had a lifetime .298 minor league batting average. Cardenal had  brief looks in 1963 (1 for 5) and 1964 (3 for 15). After the 1964 season Jose was traded to the California Angels for Jack Hiatt.
• Cardenal became the Angels' starting center fielder in 1965. He batted .250 with 11 home runs and  37 stolen bases in 134 games. Jose batted .276 with 16 home runs in 1966. Cardenal  missed the last month of the season in 1967 and batted .236 in 108 games. After the 1967 season Jose was traded to the Cleveland Indians for Chuck Hinton.
• Jose was Cleveland's starting center fielder in 1968 and batted .257 with 40 stolen bases in 157 games. In 1969 Cardenal batted .257 in 146 games. Jose was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals for Vada Pinson after the 1969 season.
• Cardenal batted .293 in 148 games for the Cardinals in 1970. He was  batting .243 in 89 games in 1971 when he was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers on July 29. Jose batted .258 in 53 games for the Brewers. After the 1971 season the Brewers traded Jose to the Chicago Cubs for Jim Colborn, Brock Davis, and Earl Stephenson.
• Cardenal spent the next six seasons with the Cubs. Jose was the starting right fielder for three seasons and the starting left fielder for two more years before being used as a utility player in 1977. In 1972 he batted .291 with 17 HR and 96 runs scored. Cardenal batted .303 in 1973 and .293 in 1974. Jose Cardenal: The Cubs' Numero Uno - November 1973 Baseball Digest. After moving to left field in 1975 Jose batted a career-high .317. He batted .299 in 1976 and had a great day on May 2 when he went 6 for 7 and singled in the go-ahead run in the top of the 14th in the first game of a double header.
• Jose missed some time with an injury in 1977. He played in 100 games and batted .239 in 226 at bats. After the 1977 season Cardenal was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies for Manny Seoane.
• Cardenal's playing time diminshed in the last three seasons of his career. In 1978 he played in 87 games and batted .249. He batted .167 (1 for 6) in the NLCS. Jose was used mostly as a pinch hitter in 1979 and 1980. He batted .208 in 48 at bats for the Phillies in 1979 and was sold to the New York Mets on August 2. Jose batted .297 in 37 at bats for the Mets to finish the 1979 season.
• Jose batted .167 in 42 at bats for the Mets in 1980. He was released on August 13 and signed by the Kansas City Royals on August 21. Cardenal batted .340 in 53 at bats for the Royals at the end of the 1980 season. He wasn't used in the ALCS but batted .200 (2 for 10) in the World Series. Cardenal's last major league hit was a single in the 9th inning of game 6 of the World Series. His single brought the tying run (Willie Wilson) to the plate -- Wilson struck out to end the series.
• After his playing career Cardenal was a coach with several ballclubs, including the 1998 World Champion New York Yankees. He worked as a special assistant to GM Jim Bowden in Washington and helped a reluctant Alfonso Soriano learn how to play the outfield. Q & A on Outfield Defense - June 2009 Baseball Digest.
• Jose has been known to play some tricks while on the ballfield. He once tried to hide the ball in the ivy at Wrigley Field in order to hold the batter to a ground rule double. Another time he was on first base when an argument broke out. He went back to the dugout for a drink during the argument and when he went back to the field he went to second base instead. It took a little bit of time for the umpires to notice. Cardenal was noted for some creative excuses on why he couldn't play such as "the crickets were too loud and kept me up all night."

• Liked to face: Bucky Brandon (.455 in 24 AB); Steve Rogers (.441 in 34 AB); Tom Griffin (.414 in 29 AB)
• Hated to face: Ron Kline (.000 in 12 AB); J.R. Richard (.094 in 32 AB); Gary Bell (.097 in 31 AB)