1979_St._Louis_Cardinals_season
1979 St. Louis Cardinals season
Major League Baseball team season
The 1979 St. Louis Cardinals season was the team's 98th season in St. Louis, Missouri and its 88th season in the National League. The Cardinals went 86–76 during the season and finished third in the National League East, 12 games behind the eventual NL pennant and World Series champion Pittsburgh Pirates.
| 1979 St. Louis Cardinals | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| League | National League | |||
| Division | East | |||
| Ballpark | Busch Memorial Stadium | |||
| City | St. Louis, Missouri | |||
| Record | 86–76 (.531) | |||
| Divisional place | 3rd | |||
| Owners | August "Gussie" Busch | |||
| General managers | John Claiborne | |||
| Managers | Ken Boyer | |||
| Television | KSDK (as KSD-TV before September 8) KPLR (September 9 game only) (Jack Buck, Mike Shannon, Jay Randolph, Bob Starr) | |||
| Radio | KMOX (Jack Buck, Mike Shannon, Bob Starr) | |||
| ||||
- December 5, 1978: Pete Falcone was traded by the Cardinals to the New York Mets for Kim Seaman and Tom Grieve.[1]
- January 9, 1979: Bill Mooneyham was drafted by the Cardinals in the 1st round (7th pick) of the secondary phase of the 1979 Major League Baseball Draft, but did not sign.[2]
- January 16, 1979: Darold Knowles was signed as a free agent by the Cardinals.[3]
- January 16, 1979: Benny Ayala was traded by the Cardinals to the Baltimore Orioles for Mike Dimmel.[4]
- February 19, 1979: Will McEnaney was signed as a free agent by the Cardinals.[5]
First baseman Keith Hernández won the MVP Award this year, along with Willie Stargell, batting .344, with 11 home runs and 105 RBIs. Hernández also won the Gold Glove. Left fielder Lou Brock collected his 3,000th career hit and played his final season in MLB.
Pete Vuckovich and Silvio Martínez each won 15 games. Garry Templeton became the first switch-hitter to collect 100 hits from each side of the plate and led the league in triples for a third consecutive season.
Season standings
| NL East | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 98 | 64 | 0.605 | — | 48–33 | 50–31 |
| Montreal Expos | 95 | 65 | 0.594 | 2 | 56–25 | 39–40 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 86 | 76 | 0.531 | 12 | 42–39 | 44–37 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 84 | 78 | 0.519 | 14 | 43–38 | 41–40 |
| Chicago Cubs | 80 | 82 | 0.494 | 18 | 45–36 | 35–46 |
| New York Mets | 63 | 99 | 0.389 | 35 | 28–53 | 35–46 |
Record vs. opponents
Sources: | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | ATL | CHC | CIN | HOU | LAD | MON | NYM | PHI | PIT | SD | SF | STL | |||||
| Atlanta | — | 4–8 | 6–12 | 7–11 | 12–6 | 1–9 | 4–8 | 7–5 | 4–8 | 6–12 | 11–7 | 4–8 | |||||
| Chicago | 8–4 | — | 7–5 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 6–12 | 8–10 | 9–9 | 6–12 | 9–3 | 8–4 | 8–10 | |||||
| Cincinnati | 12–6 | 5–7 | — | 8–10 | 11–7 | 6–6 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 10–7 | 6–12 | 8–4 | |||||
| Houston | 11–7 | 6–6 | 10–8 | — | 10–8 | 7–5 | 9–3 | 5–7 | 4–8 | 14–4 | 7–11 | 6–6 | |||||
| Los Angeles | 6–12 | 7–5 | 7–11 | 8–10 | — | 6–6 | 9–3 | 3–9 | 4–8 | 9–9 | 14–4 | 6–6 | |||||
| Montreal | 9–1 | 12–6 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 6–6 | — | 15–3 | 11–7 | 7–11 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 10–8 | |||||
| New York | 8–4 | 10–8 | 4–8 | 3–9 | 3–9 | 3–15 | — | 5–13 | 8–10–1 | 4–8 | 8–4 | 7–11 | |||||
| Philadelphia | 5-7 | 9–9 | 4–8 | 7–5 | 9–3 | 7–11 | 13–5 | — | 8–10 | 9–3 | 6–6 | 7–11–1 | |||||
| Pittsburgh | 8–4 | 12–6 | 4–8 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 11–7 | 10–8–1 | 10–8 | — | 7–5 | 9–3 | 11–7 | |||||
| San Diego | 12–6 | 3–9 | 7–10 | 4–14 | 9–9 | 5–7 | 8–4 | 3–9 | 5–7 | — | 8–10 | 4–8 | |||||
| San Francisco | 7–11 | 4–8 | 12–6 | 11–7 | 4–14 | 5–7 | 4–8 | 6–6 | 3–9 | 10–8 | — | 5–7 | |||||
| St. Louis | 8–4 | 10–8 | 4–8 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 8–10 | 11–7 | 11–7–1 | 7–11 | 8–4 | 7–5 | — | |||||
Opening Day starters
Notable transactions
- June 5, 1979: Andy Van Slyke was drafted by the Cardinals in the 1st round (6th pick) of the 1979 Major League Baseball Draft.[7]
Roster
| 1979 St. Louis Cardinals | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
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Catchers
Infielders
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Outfielders
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Manager
Coaches
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Batting
Starters by position
Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Pos | Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | Ted Simmons | 123 | 448 | 127 | .283 | 26 | 87 |
| 1B | Keith Hernandez | 161 | 610 | 210 | .344 | 11 | 105 |
| 2B | Ken Oberkfell | 135 | 369 | 111 | .301 | 1 | 35 |
| SS | Garry Templeton | 154 | 672 | 211 | .314 | 9 | 62 |
| 3B | Ken Reitz | 159 | 605 | 162 | .268 | 8 | 73 |
| LF | Lou Brock | 120 | 405 | 123 | .304 | 5 | 38 |
| CF | Tony Scott | 153 | 587 | 152 | .259 | 6 | 68 |
| RF | George Hendrick | 140 | 493 | 148 | .300 | 16 | 75 |
Other batters
Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jerry Mumphrey | 124 | 339 | 100 | .295 | 3 | 32 |
| Mike Tyson | 75 | 190 | 42 | .221 | 5 | 20 |
| Dane Iorg | 79 | 179 | 52 | .291 | 1 | 21 |
| Terry Kennedy | 33 | 109 | 31 | .284 | 2 | 17 |
| Mike Phillips | 44 | 97 | 22 | .227 | 1 | 6 |
| Steve Swisher | 38 | 73 | 11 | .151 | 1 | 3 |
| Bernie Carbo | 52 | 64 | 18 | .281 | 3 | 12 |
| Roger Freed | 34 | 31 | 8 | .258 | 2 | 8 |
| Jim Lentine | 11 | 23 | 9 | .391 | 0 | 1 |
| Tom Grieve | 9 | 15 | 3 | .200 | 0 | 0 |
| Keith Smith | 6 | 13 | 3 | .231 | 0 | 0 |
| Tom Herr | 14 | 10 | 2 | .200 | 0 | 1 |
| Mike Dimmel | 6 | 3 | 1 | .333 | 0 | 0 |
Pitching
Starting pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pete Vuckovich | 34 | 233.0 | 15 | 10 | 3.59 | 145 |
| Bob Forsch | 33 | 218.2 | 11 | 11 | 3.83 | 92 |
| Silvio Martínez | 32 | 206.2 | 15 | 8 | 3.27 | 102 |
| John Denny | 31 | 206.0 | 8 | 11 | 4.85 | 99 |
| John Fulgham | 20 | 146.0 | 10 | 6 | 2.53 | 75 |
| Bob Sykes | 13 | 67.0 | 4 | 3 | 6.18 | 35 |
Other pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roy Thomas | 26 | 77.0 | 3 | 4 | 2.92 | 44 |
| John Urrea | 3 | 11.1 | 0 | 0 | 3.97 | 5 |
Relief pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mark Littell | 63 | 9 | 4 | 13 | 2.19 | 67 |
| Darold Knowles | 48 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 4.07 | 22 |
| Will McEnaney | 45 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 2.95 | 15 |
| Buddy Schultz | 31 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4.46 | 38 |
| Tom Bruno | 27 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 4.23 | 27 |
| George Frazier | 25 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 4.45 | 14 |
| Dan O'Brien | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8.18 | 5 |
| Kim Seaman | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 3 |
League records
- Garry Templeton, National League record, league leader in triples for three consecutive seasons[9]
League leaders
- Garry Templeton, National League leader, triples
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Arkansas
- Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p. 95, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, ISBN 978-0-451-22363-0