RetroSimba

(Updated Dec. 27, 2024)

In 2003, Cardinals shortstop Edgar Renteria won both a Gold Glove Award and a Silver Slugger Award for the second season in a row.

The cumulative production numbers put up by Renteria in 2003 were unprecedented for a Cardinals shortstop: .330 batting average, 194 hits, 47 doubles, 13 home runs, 100 RBI and 34 stolen bases. The hits, doubles and RBI were single-season career highs for Renteria, who spent 16 years in the major leagues.

He was the first National League shortstop with 100 RBI since Hubie Brooks of the 1985 Expos.

“It’s not easy for a guy who is not a power hitter to get 100 RBI _ and I’m not a power hitter,” Renteria said to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in September 2003.

Renteria came within six hits of joining Honus Wagner as the only National League shortstops to achieve 200 hits and 100 RBI in a season. Wagner had 201 hits and 109 RBI for the 1908 Pirates.

“To hit .330 with 100 RBI, a bunch of stolen bases and great defense _ what a year he’s had,” Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said to the Post-Dispatch in the final weekend of the 2003 season.

On Sept. 27, 2003, in the Cardinals’ next-to-last game of the season, Renteria got his 100th RBI when his fielder’s choice grounder to short scored Albert Pujols from third with the deciding run in St. Louis’ 3-2 victory over the Diamondbacks at Phoenix. Boxscore

Renteria twice drove in five runs in a game in 2003.

On April 13, in the Cardinals’ 11-8 victory over the Astros at Houston, Renteria hit a pair of home runs against Roy Oswalt and had five RBI. Boxscore

On Sept. 18, Renteria was 4-for-4 with two doubles and five RBI in the Cardinals’ 13-0 victory over the Brewers at St. Louis. Boxscore

Renteria hit .492 (30-for-61) with 17 RBI against the Brewers in 2003.

In his report card on the Cardinals’ 2003 season, Joe Strauss of the Post-Dispatch wrote, “Edgar Renteria compiled one of the best offensive seasons of the last 20 years by a National League shortstop while committing fewer errors (16) than during last year’s Gold Glove season (19).”

Looking back on his time with the Cardinals, pitcher Woody Williams said to Stan McNeal of Cardinals Magazine in 2024, “Edgar Renteria … had such a desire to win. He wasn’t a big talker, but I appreciated the way he carried himself and loved being around him. He was a pro all the time.”