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Gotta be Carp. Freese, Holliday and Waino will probably be co-faces of the franchise at some point, but Carp has the hardware (CYA, 2 rings) and national notoriety to give him the recognition. Plus, his energy and presence on the mound really make him stand out as a representative of Cardinal baseball.

I'm a little biased, though. He was my favorite Cardinal well before Albert left.

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My Blog: The Political Animal

I wouldn't call him the "franchise" player but when I think of the Cardinals now the first player I think about is Chris Carppenter.

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"They say its celestial, its all in the stars
Like Tony LaRussa on how you play your Cards" - Jay-Z "American Dreamin'

Waino es bueno.

Him being considered still such a huge part of the team and being involved with them every step of the way despite his TJ surgery taking him out of the picture for so long, him even wanting to be able to pitch in the playoffs despite the recent surgery, his cheerleading, and the team still considering him the ace even despite Carp's great playoff efforts, makes him the franchise in my eyes.

Edit: I said Yadi would be a close second, but I'll change that to Carpenter. There's good reason why I own a Chris Carpenter Shirsey and not an Albert Pujols one. Carp is awesome and was such an unexpected prize for the Cardinals to get 7 years ago (Jesus...has it really been 7 years?)

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Enjoying Cardinal Pixie Dust since 1982.

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Scrabble

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Carp. Has a storied history with us (CYA, rings, been the "Ace" for years), and also fits the "What have you done for me lately?" profile. Game 162. Game 5 Phi. Game 7 on 3 days rest.

Carp is a [expletive] badass.

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The Cardinals have at least 4 guys who have done more to "step up" and "earn it" as any other "franchise player" on almost any other team. Carp, Yadi, Freese, and Wainwright are legitimate postseason and World Series heroes. Matt Holliday is legitimately one of the best players in baseball and has been for years.

The reason why we don't have a single face is that we have a roster full of recognizable faces.

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Carp for now. Freese has the potential.

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(Formerly Pujolswrox)

Lance Lynn.

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"I have had craps that make my leg feel like it is being torn off
by a pack of angry chihuahuas, lets hope that is all it is...." -wart57
"Good lord. This is a family site." - G Keenan

Gateway Redbirds Facebook Group

I'm sposed to be the franchise player, and we're sittin here talkin bout practice.

Keeps going through my head now. Thanks maddash.

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Catch my drift? Or am I being obtuse?

There are alot of players with a ton of memorable moments on the Cards roster, sure, but all of their accomplishments were achieved when Pujols was the face of the franchise. It was all done in his shadow.

For some other player to take the mantle of "face of the franchise" someone is going to have to come out from behind his shadow and take that mantle. Right now, the Cardinals just have a team with no face.

These things will come in time.

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The Chicago Cubs: be-LIE-ving since 1908

"Do I want to be in STL forever? Of course. People from other teams want to play in STL and they are jealous that we're in STL because the fans are unbelievable. So why would you want to leave a place like STL to go somewhere else and make 3 OR 4 MORE MILLION A YEAR? IT'S NOT ABOUT MONEY. IALREADY GOT MY MONEY. IT'S ABOUT WINNING, THAT'S IT." Albert Pujols (February 15th, 2009)