1996 St. Louis Cardinals season

The St. Louis Cardinals 1996 season was the team's 115th season in St. Louis, Missouri and the 105th season in the National League. During the first year of the William DeWitt, Jr. era, the Cardinals went 88-74 during the season and won their first-ever National League Central division title by six games over the Houston Astros. They beat the San Diego Padres in the NLDS, but fell in 7 games to the Atlanta Braves in the NLCS. DeWitt, along with Drew Bauer and Fred Hanser had bought the Cardinals from Anheuser-Busch during the 1995-96 offseason.

Offseason

• December 15, 1995: Willie McGee was signed as a Free Agent with the St. Louis Cardinals.^[1]
• January 9, 1996: Todd Stottlemyre was traded by the Oakland Athletics to the St. Louis Cardinals for Allen Battle, Carl Dale, Jay Witasick, and Bret Wagner (minors).
• January 11, 1996: Mike Gallego signed as a Free Agent with the St. Louis Cardinals.^[2]
• February 13, 1996: Dennis Eckersley was traded by the Oakland Athletics to the St. Louis Cardinals for Steve Montgomery.

The Makings of a 1996 Club

Ozzie Smith's Last Season

Legendary veteran shortstop Ozzie Smith, announced during the season that it would be his last season in the Major Leagues, and veteran outfielder Willie McGee, brought back to the Cards as a free agent. Though the tension between Smith, and exciting youngster Royce Clayton, acquired in a trade, grew thick and troublesome at times as they shared time at shortstop, both players had good seasons. McGee came off the bench and started when needed.

Regular season

Opening Day starters

• Luis Alicea
• Gary Gaetti
• Ron Gant
• Ray Lankford
• John Mabry
• Willie McGee
• Pat Borders
• Ozzie Smith
• Todd Stottlemyre

Season standings

Roster

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

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

NLDS

St. Louis wins the series, 3-0