Whether it’s the next James Bond, the next Batman, or the next Yadier Molina, the person tasked with replacing someone who defined a franchise faces the challenge of unfair comparisons and heightened scrutiny. Willson Contreras, the Cardinals’ new catcher after two decades of Molina, is not the first in the club’s history to attempt to replace a star by being a star. He can look to the Hall of Famer who happened to be the guy who came after The Man.
A look at five times in Cardinals history when a player replaced a star, and the few times that player became a superstar of his own:
Rogers Hornsby
Last played 2B, batted No.