How Al “Bubba” Baker Revitalized His Career with the Cardinals

Posted on July 19, 2025 by Bob Underwood

On July 19, 1983, the St. Louis Cardinals upgraded their pass rush when they traded defensive tackle Mike Dawson to the Detroit Lions for veteran defensive end Al “Bubba” Baker.

Dawson was the Cardinals’ No. 1 draft pick in 1976 and started 84 of 88 games in St. Louis. He had 31.5 sacks in seven seasons with the Big Red.

Baker was the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year for the Lions in 1978, after setting an unofficial NFL record with 23 sacks in a single season. In his five years in Detroit, the 6-foot-6, 260-pounder started 67 games and had 75.5 sacks.

The Jacksonville, FL native was the Lions’ second-round draft pick in 1978 out of Colorado State University. He earned All-Pro honors in his rookie year and Pro Bowls in his first three seasons in the league.

Baker was one of the Lions’ most popular and colorful players. Not only could he sack the opposing quarterbacks, but his cheering, hugging, and hand-slapping style quickly made him a fan favorite in Detroit.

But his open unhappiness about his contract and a falling out with head coach Monte Clark led to the trade.

“I’d get four sacks and he’d (Clark) look at me like that’s still not enough and say, ‘you could have done better,'” Baker said in a St. Louis Post Dispatch interview. “I decided this is a real screwed-up game. I hated football. I just wanted Monday to come because that was the day we got paid.”

“He was unhappy here, and it was time to move on,” Lions’ director of player personnel, Tim Rooney, told the Detroit Free Press. “He may be happier elsewhere.”

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The Top 100 St. Louis Football Cardinals (50-41)

Posted on August 31, 2019 by Bob Underwood

With the NFL celebrating its centennial season in 2019, the league will soon be announcing its top 100 players of all-time. I thought it would be fun to look back and rank the Big Red’s top 100 players who played in St. Louis.

The Cardinals moved from Chicago after the 1959 season and played 28 years in St. Louis before Bill Bidwill moved to the desert in 1988. Several great players played under the arch during this period including four Hall of Famers.

These rankings are only based on the player’s time spent in St. Louis. Consideration was given to the player’s statistics, All-Pro/Pro Bowl selections, team leadership, and impact in the community. It is next to impossible to compare eras, so many of these picks were very difficult.

The Top 100 St. Louis Football Cardinals of All-Time: 50-41

50. BENNY PERRIN (S)

Benny Perrin played four seasons in St. Louis.

The late Benny Perrin was the Cards 3rd round pick in 1982 out of Alabama where he won two National Championships under Bear Bryant. Perrin had 9 INTs and two fumble recoveries during his 4 year NFL career and was the Big Red co-rookie of the year in ’82. Perrin started his first 41 NFL games, but a nagging knee injury cost him half the season in ’85 and would ultimately force him to retire the following training camp. Perrin was a gritty player, a team leader, and played through numerous injuries in his short career. He battled CTE for several years before passing away in 2017.

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BIG RED ALL TIME TEAM ANNOUNCED

Posted on April 29, 2018 by Bob Underwood

Almost 3000 votes cast for Big Red greats.

The St. Louis Football Cardinals called St. Louis home from 1960-1987 and although they didn’t enjoy a lot of success on the field, they definitely had their share of great players and characters. From Hall of Famers Jackie Smith, Larry Wilson, Dan Dierdorf and Roger Wehrli to Jim Hart, Conrad Dobler, Roy Green, and Terry Metcalf.

Facebook and Twitter fans recently had the opportunity to vote for the All-Time Big Red Team. Some may argue that this list should be called the All-Time Favorites Team, but I think the fans did a good job overall. Unfortunately, many players from the 1960s era didn’t get a lot of votes, but I’m guessing it’s because most Facebook and Twitter users are too young to remember the great offensive line of the 60’s like Bob DeMarco, Ken Gray, Irv Goode, and Bob Reynolds. However, Jerry Stovall, Pat Fischer, and Dale Meinert were voted to the team as well as Hall of Famers Jackie Smith and Larry Wilson.

The All-Time team is led by head coach Don Coryell who coached the Big Red from 1973-1977. The team was known as the Cardiac Cardinals as they always had a knack of coming from behind late in games. The Cards had 8 games decided in the final minute of play in 1975 and won seven of them. Coryell led the Big Red to NFC East Titles in 1974 and 1975.

The offense is led by #17, Jimmy Hart who is still the Cardinals all-time passing and TD leader. O.J. Anderson and Terry Metcalf were voted as the top running backs. O.J. is the all-time Cardinal rushing leader and there was no one in the NFL more exciting than Terry Metcalf in the 1970s. The most competitive position was wide receiver. Roy “Jet Stream” Green was the top vote getter, followed by the speedster Mel Gray and sure handed Pat Tilley. Of course the Hall of Famer Jackie Smith was voted the top tight end in a landslide over the late J.V. Cain. The offensive line is dominated by the group who only gave up eight sacks in 1975. Tom Banks was voted as top center, Conrad Dobler and Bob Young are the guards and Dan Dierdorf and Ernie McMillan are your tackles.

While the defense may not have as many big-names as the offense, there are two Hall of Famers in the secondary. The defensive line is represented by three members of the 1980s Cardinals. Al “Bubba” Baker and Curtis Greer who combined for 54 sacks in 1983-1984 are the defensive ends, and David Galloway and Bob Rowe are the defensive tackles. Former number one draft pick E.J. Junior was the top vote-getter at linebacker, followed by Larry Stallings, and a tie between Dale Meinert and Mark Arneson. Hall of Famer Roger Wehrli and Pat Fischer are the cornerbacks and Hall of Famer Larry Wilson and Jerry Stovall were the top vote-getters at safety.

The Cardinals all-time leading scorer, Jim Bakken was voted to the team as the kicker and Carl Birdsong the punter. Terry Metcalf edged Stump Mitchell as the all-time kick/punt returner. Metcalf set numerous NFL records returning kicks in 1975.

Congratulations to the All-Time Big Red Team members!