1979 St. Louis Cardinals season

1979 St. Louis Cardinals
Major league affiliations
National League (since 1892) Eastern Division (since 1969)
Location
Busch Memorial Stadium (since 1966) St. Louis, Missouri (since 1882)
1979 information
Owner(s)	August "Gussie" Busch
Manager(s)	Ken Boyer
Local television	KSDK (as KSD-TV before September 8) KPLR (September 9 game only) (Jack Buck, Mike Shannon, Jay Randolph, Bob Starr)
Local radio	KMOX (Jack Buck, Mike Shannon, Bob Starr)
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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.

Offseason

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]

Regular season

First baseman Keith Hernandez won the MVP Award this year, along with Willie Stargell, batting .344, with 11 home runs and 105 RBIs. Hernandez also won the Gold Glove. Left fielder Lou Brock played his final season in MLB.

Season standings

NL East	W	L	GB	Pct.
Pittsburgh Pirates	98	64	--	.605
Montreal Expos	95	65	2	.594
St. Louis Cardinals	86	76	12	.531
Philadelphia Phillies	84	78	14	.519
Chicago Cubs	80	82	18	.494
New York Mets	63	99	35	.389

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

Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Manager

14 Ken Boyer

Coaches

Player stats

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
1B	Hernandez, KeithKeith Hernandez	161	610	210	.344	11	105
LF	Brock, LouLou Brock	120	405	123	.304	5	38

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
Phillips, MikeMike Phillips	44	97	22	.227	1	6
Freed, RogerRoger Freed	34	31	8	.258	2	8
Lentine, JimJim Lentine	11	23	9	.391	0	1
Grieve, TomTom Grieve	9	15	3	.200	0	0
Dimmel, MikeMike 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
Forsch, BobBob Forsch	33	218.2	11	11	3.83	92
Martínez, SilvioSilvio Martínez	32	206.2	15	8	3.27	102
Denny, JohnJohn Denny	31	206	8	11	4.85	99
Fulgham, JohnJohn Fulgham	20	146	10	6	2.53	75
Sykes, BobBob Sykes	13	67	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

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
Knowles, DaroldDarold Knowles	48	2	5	6	4.07	22
Bruno, TomTom Bruno	27	2	3	0	4.23	27
Frazier, GeorgeGeorge Frazier	25	2	4	0	4.45	14
Seaman, KimKim Seaman	1	0	0	0	0.00	3

Awards and honors

Lou Brock, Hutch Award^[8]

League records

Garry Templeton, National League record, league leader in triples for three consecutive seasons^[9]

League leaders

Garry Templeton, National League leader, triples

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Springfield Redbirds	American Association	Hal Lanier
AA	Arkansas Travelers	Texas League	Tommy Thompson
A	St. Petersburg Cardinals	Florida State League	Sonny Ruberto
A	Gastonia Cardinals	Western Carolinas League	Johnny Lewis
Rookie	Johnson City Cardinals	Appalachian League	Nick Leyva

References

^ Kim Seaman page at Baseball Reference
^ Bill Mooneyham page at Baseball-Reference
^ Darold Knowles page at Baseball Reference
^ Benny Ayala page at Baseball Reference
^ Will McEnaney page at Baseball-Reference
^ http://www.baseball-almanac.com/teamstats/roster.php?y=1979&t=SLN
^ Andy Van Slyke page at Baseball Reference
^ http://www.baseball-almanac.com/awards/aw_hut.shtml
^ Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p. 95, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, NY, ISBN 978-0-451-22363-0

External links

1979 MLB season by team

AL East	Baltimore • Boston • Cleveland • Detroit • Milwaukee • New York • Toronto

AL West	California • Chicago • Kansas City • Minnesota • Oakland • Seattle • Texas

NL East	Chicago • Montréal • New York • Philadelphia • Pittsburgh • St. Louis

NL West	Atlanta • Cincinnati • Houston • Los Angeles • San Diego • San Francisco

1979 Major League Baseball Draft •1979 All-Star Game • 1979 World Series

St. Louis Cardinals

Based in St. Louis, Missouri

Franchise

History · Seasons · Records · No-hitters · Awards & League Leaders · Roster · Players · Managers · General Managers and Owners · Broadcasters · Opening Day starting pitchers · First-round draft picks · All articles

Ballparks

Robison Field · Sportsman's Park · Busch Memorial Stadium · Busch Stadium ·
Spring Training: McKechnie Field · City Island Ball Park · Al Lang Stadium · Roger Dean Stadium

Culture

Cardinal Nation · Fredbird · Gashouse Gang · KMOX · Rally Squirrel · Whiteyball

Lore

Brock for Broglio · The Call · Home Run Chase · Slaughter's Mad Dash · Wildcard Wednesday

Rivalries

Chicago Cubs · Kansas City Royals

Retired numbers

1 · 2 · 6 · 9 · 14 · 17 · 20 · 24 · 42 · 42 · 45 · 85

Key personnel

Owner: Bill DeWitt, Jr. · General Manager: John Mozeliak · Manager: Mike Matheny

Minors

AAA: Memphis Redbirds · AA: Springfield Cardinals · A: (high) Palm Beach Cardinals · (low) Quad Cities River Bandits · (short-season) Batavia Muckdogs · Rookie: Johnson City Cardinals · Gulf Coast League Cardinals · Dominican Summer Cardinals

World Series
Championships

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League pennants

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Division titles

National League East: 1982 · 1985 · 1987 · National League Central: 1996 · 2000 · 2002 · 2004 · 2005 · 2006 · 2009 ·

Wild card titles

2001 · 2011

All Star Games hosted

1940 · 1957 · 1966 · 2009

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