News
Time running out in All-Time 9 voting
Several favorites need push from fans in final week
By Matthew Leach / MLB.com
09/16/09 8:00 PM ET
ST. LOUIS -- Cardinals fans, if you think you can do a better job of making out a lineup card than the skipper can, you have one more week to show it.Seven days remain in the balloting of "All-Time 9s," a competition being held on MLB.com, and some fan favorites will need help to crack the Cardinals' all-time lineup. Names like Mark McGwire, Willie McGee, Ken Boyer and Scott Rolen would all be left out if the voting ended now.
But it doesn't, and that's where you can still come in.
More than 4.1 million votes have been cast since the 9/9/09 debut of the "All-Time 9s," a platform for fans to debate the greatest single-season performances for all 30 Major League franchises. The voting marks the start of MLB.com's Lineup Card campaign, a gathering place for the posting and never-ending discussion of the greatest past and present lineups.
Here's a look at how the closest Cardinals races are shaping up:
• At first base, Albert Pujols' brilliant 2006 campaign is holding strong, beating out even McGwire's 70-homer outburst from 1998. Pujols cranked a career-high 49 homers in '06, a number he may yet surpass this year, but it's going to be tough for McGwire to get past him.
• It's in the outfield where it wouldn't be surprising to see a fan uprising. McGee, the subject of a passionate number-retirement campaign, is still on the outside looking in with his 1985 batting-title season. Joe Medwick and Vince Coleman are also off the leaderboard right now. The problem is that that leaderboard is pretty stout: Stan Musial, Jim Edmonds and Lou Brock are holding the top three spots.
• And finally, third base remains a battle -- the closest one, in fact. Joe Torre's 1971 is holding on, but by a mere 2,500 votes over Rolen's 2004 season as part of the "MV3s." Another familiar favorite, Boyer, is also right in the mix for his 1964 season.
Matthew Leach is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
