Random Ray - 2001 Stadium Club

Going with a later Ray Lankford card today, one of his last with the Cardinals.  Ray was traded in the middle of the 2001 season to the Padres for pitcher Woody Williams.  It was ultimately a good trade for the Cardinals.  Woody Williams was a good pitcher for several years in the early 2000s, even made an All-Star team.  Ray's knees were shot, while serviceable for the Padres, he was clearly declining offensively.  

The trade was disappointing, but you could see it coming a long way out.  To summarize the lead-up, Lankford's knees were giving him trouble and he needed to have one of them "cleaned up".  The Cardinals medical staff has a rather dubious reputation, so Ray found his own orthopedic surgeon.  The Cardinals weren't happy, Lankford was not happy the Cardinals weren't happy.  Ray's play declined, the Cardinals weren't happy.  Ray was traded.  

It's essentially the same story as Scott Rolen getting traded, but substitute shoulder for knee.  

Anyway, here is the card.  

The Stadium Club brand has always been all about photography and this card does not disappoint.  Love the angle of the picture on the card from the side-back of the player.  I also love the background on the photo too with the standing room area of Pac-Bell Park in the background.  Cards that capture the surroundings of the ballpark are always a plus in my book.  I am not a Giants fan, maybe I do not pay enough attention, but I cannot think of many baseball cards that utilize the background of the Giants ballpark.  

I wasn't sure who the Giants catcher was in the photo.  If I had to name a Giants catcher from the early 2000s, I would go with Benito Santiago or Bobby Estalella.  It's actually Doug Mirabelli.  Always think of him as a Red Sox, but was also a back-up with the Giants for a long time.  I don't remember that.  

All that focus on the ballpark and I didn't even talk about Ray.  First, we have the blue Cardinals road hats again this week.  I am still not sure why they don't wear those more often.  They are much better than the gray uniforms with the red hats.  Second, without looking for a specific game, I am guessing that this is a groundout.  The pitch is high and the ball looks like it's on a downward angle.

Mirabelli was a backup and this is clearly a day game.  He and Lankford did not cross paths often in 2000, so it was not hard to track down a game on May 10th in 2000.  Lankford pinch-hit in the 9th inning and grounded out to firstbase.  The Cardinals lost the game on a home run hit by Barry Bonds in the 8th inning off of Heathcliff Slocumb.  It pains me to even type that sentence.  

Back of the card.  

You can see the decline in the numbers here, not terrible, but definitely down.  The 26 home runs are actually not bad, but only 16 doubles and 5 stolen bases are really low for Ray Lankford.  Even in his later years when he was hitting in the middle of the lineup, Ray was stealing 15 to 20 bases.  I would also guess that the reduced number of doubles could be knee-related.  

The "smooth outfielder, able to play all three positions" is completely erroneous.  Ray Lankford was almost always a centerfielder and played left-field the last year and half he was a Cardinals after the team traded for Jim Edmonds.  Ray played 2 games in right-field during his career, which was more than 1,500 games.  Both were with the Padres at the end of 2001.  While Ray was a good defensive player, I would not say that throwing was a strength.