Less than one year ago Lance Berkman was one of the faces of St. Louis Cardinals angst; now he's the face of a Cardinals offense that has seemed, recently, unable to do wrong, at least for very long. As Berkman returns to Houston for the first time since he was traded to the New York Yankees on July 31, 2010, it's worth reminding ourselves one final time just how brutal Berkman was to the Cardinals.
↵Berkman was a fierce hitter for the Astros—a career line of .286/.410/.549, with 326 home runs and 1090 RBI—but he saved a special venom for the Cardinals, against whom he hit .313/.415/.601. That peaked in 2001, when he hit .381/.466/.667 against them while a promising Cardinals rookie "only" hit .276/.394/.571 against the Astros. But he saved a little for the end of his Cardinal-antagonizing career, too, hitting .421 with a .577 OBP and two of his 14 home runs against St. Louis in 2010.
↵If you're looking for a reason to name Berkman an honorary Cardinal for life, I have one secret to reveal: The team he hit the hardest, slugging nearly .700 against them in 155 games, was none other than the Cincinnati Reds.
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