Is the #18 cursed?
Posted: 17 Sep 2025 17:06 pm
A player wore the #18 in the Cardinals organization *almost every year from 1932 to 1975 (*1962). After Keith Hernandez wore it his first 2 seasons (’74-’75), he switched to #37 and there was a 6 year gap in it appearing on the roster.
The #18 was back in use on the Cardinals from 1981-1996 (*1989, *1990).
After that, there was an 18 year gap where no player in the organization wore the number. The next Cardinal to wear #18 after the 18 year absence was Oscar Taveras in 2014.
Following the Taveras tragedy, Carlos Martinez changed his number to #18 in 2015 to honor his friend and former teammate. Mixed results followed over the next 7 years for Martinez ultimately flaming out of the organization after 2021.
Cory Spangenberg wore the #18 for the Cardinals in 2022 for 1 game, but didn’t register an AB.
In 2023, the highly touted prospect, Jordan Walker, broke spring training with the Cardinals slotted as the opening day RF wearing #18 and his career has been off to a rocky start to say the least.
This is all in good fun; I’m wrapping up the end of a work day and this as been a tough season from a fan perspective so I was curious to see if anyone had any thoughts on the matter?
Baseball is a funny game: tall tales, curses, legends etc… do you think it’s possible that 18 year stretch where no one wore the number during 4 WS appearances and 2 WS Championships somehow put some bad baseball voodoo on the #18 within the organization? Maybe even... a curse?
Baseball-Almanac.com St Louis Cardinals Uniform Numbers
- Click the link above and scroll down to #18 for the complete list
The #18 was back in use on the Cardinals from 1981-1996 (*1989, *1990).
After that, there was an 18 year gap where no player in the organization wore the number. The next Cardinal to wear #18 after the 18 year absence was Oscar Taveras in 2014.
Following the Taveras tragedy, Carlos Martinez changed his number to #18 in 2015 to honor his friend and former teammate. Mixed results followed over the next 7 years for Martinez ultimately flaming out of the organization after 2021.
Cory Spangenberg wore the #18 for the Cardinals in 2022 for 1 game, but didn’t register an AB.
In 2023, the highly touted prospect, Jordan Walker, broke spring training with the Cardinals slotted as the opening day RF wearing #18 and his career has been off to a rocky start to say the least.
This is all in good fun; I’m wrapping up the end of a work day and this as been a tough season from a fan perspective so I was curious to see if anyone had any thoughts on the matter?
Baseball is a funny game: tall tales, curses, legends etc… do you think it’s possible that 18 year stretch where no one wore the number during 4 WS appearances and 2 WS Championships somehow put some bad baseball voodoo on the #18 within the organization? Maybe even... a curse?
Baseball-Almanac.com St Louis Cardinals Uniform Numbers
- Click the link above and scroll down to #18 for the complete list