Up For Grabs Cardinalpalooza: Scott Rolen

Previously on the Cardinalpalooza: Willie McGee | Red Schoendienst | Enos Slaughter | Bruce Sutter | Albert Pujols | Ray Lankford | Mark McGwire | J.D. Drew | Colby Rasmus | Yadier Molina | Allen Craig | Stan Musial | Rick Ankiel | David Freese | Keith Hernandez | Steve Carlton

The MV3 era was great times. Scott Rolen was acquired by the Cardinals in the 2002 season to bolster their playoff chances, but his fateful meeting with Alex Cintron meant his full potential wouldn't be realized until the post-3 Nights in August season of 2004. That year, the Cardinals could do no wrong. It would be the finest offensive season of Rolen's career, though he was being overshadowed by his own teammates.

When healthy, Rolen was a terrific offensive player, but that always came secondary to his work with the glove. A second, more serious injury in 2005 would effectively doom his chances of ever driving in 100 runs again, but in his prime he was an extremely valuable commodity. The Cardinals improbable World Series win in 2006 when all of the cogs (save for Pujols) were seemingly broken down/old/Scott Spiezio meant that we'll never talk about Rolen the same way as people talk about Carlos Beltran. He did get the ring. So did Edmonds. So did So Taguchi.

Rolen apparently had an icy relationship with the icy Tony La Russa, so the rare "match trade" shipped him out of town for an even more doomed Troy Glaus. Glaus only had one productive season left in him, while Rolen resurfaced as a key member of the Reds, one of Walt Jocketty's first of many ex-Cardinal imports.

Fans of watching baseball likely appreciate Rolen's talents, especially in the field. I don't think he was the type of personality to cross the line between ballplayer and "star", but I can hardly think of any players that played his position better in the past decade-plus.

The list:

2002 Donruss Originals #88
2003 Donruss #346 [2 available]
2003 Fleer Tradition #393
2003 Playoff Portraits #122
2003 Upper Deck Honor Roll #77
2003 Upper Deck Standing "O" #73
2003 Upper Deck Victory #86 [4 available]
2003 Upper Deck Victory (Solid Hits) #124
2004 Bowman #11 [2 available]
2004 Donruss Diamond Kings #104
2004 Donruss Elite #145
2004 Fleer InScribed #66
2004 Fleer Platinum #128
2004 Fleer Tradition #139
2004 Leaf Second Edition #186
2004 Topps (Gold Glove) #709
2004 Topps (All-Star) #722
2004 Upper Deck Diamond Pro Sigs #48 [2 available]
2004 Upper Deck Play Ball #62
2004 Upper Deck R-Class #11
2004 Upper Deck Sweet Spot #83
2005 Donruss #342
2005 Donruss Diamond Kings #398 [2 available]
2005 Donruss Team Heroes #299
2005 Donruss Zenith #96
2005 Fleer America's National Pastime #30
2005 Fleer Classic Clippings #31
2005 Fleer Patchworks #61
2005 Fleer Tradition #171
2005 Leaf #184
2005 Skybox Autographics #51
2005 Topps (Gold Glove) #708
2005 Topps (All-Star) #722 [2 available]
2005 Topps Total #295
2005 Upper Deck All-Star Classics #43 [2 available]
2005 Upper Deck ESPN #81
2005 Upper Deck MVP #80 [2 available]
2005 Upper Deck Pros & Prospects #18 [3 available]
2005 Upper Deck Sweet Spot #21
2006 Fleer #94 [2 available]
2006 Fleer Smooth Leather #SL-12
2006 Fleer Tradition #50 [4 available]
2006 Fleer Ultra #42 [5 available]
2006 Topps #555 [3 available]
2006 Topps Update (All-Star) #UH255
2006 Topps Opening Day #19 [3 available]
2006 Upper Deck First Pitch #185
2007 Bowman #148 [3 available]
2007 Fleer #44 [5 available]
2007 Fleer Ultra #148
2007 Fleer Ultra Retail #148 [6 available]
2007 Topps #85 [6 available]
2007 Topps (Gold Glove) #302 [3 available]
2007 Topps Opening Day #53 [3 available]
2007 Upper Deck Elements #37
2007 Upper Deck Future Stars #87
2007 Upper Deck Goudey Green Backs #91
2007 Upper Deck SP Authentic #49 [2 available]
2007 Upper Deck Spectrum #95
2008 Topps #170 [7 available]
2008 Topps Opening Day #72 [2 available]
2008 Upper Deck Spectrum #88 [2 available]