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)
Results
Record	86–76 (.531)
Divisional place	3rd
Other information
Owner(s)	August "Gussie" Busch
General manager(s)	John Claiborne
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 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

1979 National League Records 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

• Lou Brock
• John Denny
• George Hendrick
• Keith Hernandez
• Ken Reitz
• Tony Scott
• Ted Simmons
• Garry Templeton
• Mike Tyson^[6]

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 49 Tom Bruno 36 John Denny 31 Bob Forsch 39 George Frazier 41 John Fulgham 34 Darold Knowles 32 Mark Littell 35 Silvio Martínez 47 Will McEnaney 26 Dan O'Brien 22 Buddy Schultz 48 Kim Seaman 42 Bob Sykes 43 Roy Thomas 38 John Urrea 46 Pete Vuckovich		Catchers 16 Terry Kennedy 23 Ted Simmons  9 Steve Swisher Infielders  7 Roger Freed 37 Keith Hernandez 28 Tom Herr 24 Ken Oberkfell  5 Mike Phillips 44 Ken Reitz  1 Garry Templeton  4 Mike Tyson		Outfielders 20 Lou Brock 11 Bernie Carbo 21 Mike Dimmel  3 Tom Grieve 25 George Hendrick 19 Dane Iorg 21 Jim Lentine 29 Jerry Mumphrey 30 Tony Scott  3 Keith Smith		Manager 14 Ken Boyer Coaches  8 Jack Krol 27 Dal Maxvill 18 Claude Osteen  2 Red Schoendienst 15 Dave Ricketts

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

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Arkansas

References

1. Kim Seaman page at Baseball Reference
2. Bill Mooneyham page at Baseball-Reference
3. Darold Knowles page at Baseball Reference
4. Benny Ayala page at Baseball Reference
5. Will McEnaney page at Baseball-Reference
6. http://www.baseball-almanac.com/teamstats/roster.php?y=1979&t=SLN
7. Andy Van Slyke page at Baseball Reference
8. http://www.baseball-almanac.com/awards/aw_hut.shtml
9. 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

External links

• 1979 St. Louis Cardinals
• 1979 St. Louis Cardinals team page at www.baseball-almanac.com