Walt Jocketty was Cardinals' general manager for a run of five division titles and a tie for another, plus two World Series appearances in a seven-season span from 2000-06. There also was a division title in 1996, Jocketty’s second season on the job.
But the first team he put together, in 1995, was not one designed to win any championships. It was designed as a placeholder.
The players’ strike, which began in August 1994, still was going on and the baseball owners, all except for Baltimore’s Peter Angelos, decided they would make do in spring training and even longer with replacement players — mostly minor leaguers or recently retired minor leaguers with the exception of a few 40-man roster players who crossed the line.