1978 St. Louis Cardinals season
Encyclopedia
The 1978 St. Louis Cardinals
St. Louis Cardinals
The St. Louis Cardinals are a professional baseball team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are members of the Central Division in the National League of Major League Baseball. The Cardinals have won eleven World Series championships, the most of any National League team, and second overall only to...

  season
was the team's 97th season in St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...

 and its 87th season in the National League
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League , is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league. Founded on February 2, 1876, to replace the National Association of Professional...

. The Cardinals went 69-93 during the season and finished fifth in the National League East
National League East
The National League East Division is one of Major League Baseball's six divisions. The Atlanta Braves and the Philadelphia Phillies are tied for the most National League East Division titles . All of Atlanta's NL East titles came during a record stretch of 14 consecutive division titles...

, 21 games behind the Philadelphia Phillies
1978 Philadelphia Phillies season
The 1978 Philadelphia Phillies season was the 96th season in the history of the franchise. The Phillies won their third straight National League East title with a record of 90-72, a game and a half over the Pittsburgh Pirates, as the Phillies defeated the Pirates in Pittsburgh on the next to last...

.

Offseason

  • October 25, 1977: The Cardinals traded a player to be named later to the San Francisco Giants
    San Francisco Giants
    The San Francisco Giants are a Major League Baseball team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the National League West Division....

     for Frank Riccelli
    Frank Riccelli
    Frank Joseph Riccelli is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. He pitched parts of three seasons in the majors, for the San Francisco Giants, and and for the Houston Astros. He later pitched in the Senior Professional Baseball Association.-Sources:...

    . The Cardinals completed the deal by sending Jim Dwyer
    Jim Dwyer (baseball)
    James Edward Dwyer is a former outfielder who enjoyed an eighteen year major league career for seven different teams between and . Listed at 5' 10", 165 lb., he batted and threw left-handed.-MLB career:...

     to the Giants on June 15, 1978.
  • December 8, 1977: Dave Rader
    Dave Rader (baseball)
    David Martin Rader is a former professional baseball player. From through , he was a catcher in Major League Baseball, playing for the San Francisco Giants , St. Louis Cardinals , Chicago Cubs , Philadelphia Phillies and Boston Red Sox...

     and Héctor Cruz were traded by the Cardinals to the Chicago Cubs
    Chicago Cubs
    The Chicago Cubs are a professional baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League. They are one of two Major League clubs based in Chicago . The Cubs are also one of the two remaining charter members of the National...

     for Jerry Morales
    Jerry Morales
    Julio Ruben "Jerry" Morales Torres is a former Major League Baseball outfielder who played from -.-Career:Morales was originally signed by the New York Mets as an amateur free agent at the age of 17 in 1966...

    , Steve Swisher
    Steve Swisher
    Steven Eugene Swisher is a former Major League Baseball catcher who played for the Chicago Cubs, St. Louis Cardinals, and San Diego Padres from 1974 to 1982. Swisher was elected to the 1976 National League All-Star team with the Cubs but did not play in the game...

    , and cash.
  • February 2, 1978: Ken Rudolph
    Ken Rudolph
    Kenneth Victor Rudolph , is a retired American professional baseball player. A catcher, he appeared in 328 Major League games played between – for the Chicago Cubs, St. Louis Cardinals, San Francisco Giants and Baltimore Orioles...

     was signed as a free agent by the Cardinals.
  • March 15, 1978: Rick Bosetti
    Rick Bosetti
    Richard Alan Bosetti is a retired Major League Baseball outfielder who played from to for the Philadelphia Phillies, St. Louis Cardinals, Toronto Blue Jays, and Oakland Athletics....

     was traded by the Cardinals to the Toronto Blue Jays
    Toronto Blue Jays
    The Toronto Blue Jays are a professional baseball team located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Blue Jays are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball 's American League ....

     for Tom Bruno
    Tom Bruno
    Thomas Michael Bruno is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. He batted right-handed and threw right-handed. He was born in Chicago, Illinois. He played parts of four seasons in the majors from until for the Kansas City Royals, Toronto Blue Jays, and St...

     and cash.

Regular season

In late April, the Cardinals fired manager Vern Rapp
Vern Rapp
Vernon Fred Rapp is a retired Major League Baseball manager and coach. A career minor league catcher and a successful skipper in the minors, Rapp had two brief tours of duty as a big league manager.-Minor League playing career:...

, who had started at 7-11. He was briefly replaced by coach Jack Krol
Jack Krol
John Thomas Krol was an American coach and manager in Major League Baseball.Primarily a second baseman and shortstop, the right-handed hitting and throwing Krol never reached the major leagues during his playing career . The native of Chicago, Illinois spent most of that period in the St...

 for two games (1-1) before giving the job on a permanent basis to their former MVP third-baseman Ken Boyer
Ken Boyer
Kenton Lloyd Boyer was an American Major League Baseball third baseman and manager. During a 15-year baseball career, he played for 1955-1969 for four different teams, playing primarily for the St. Louis Cardinals...

, who went 61-81 the rest of the way.

On June 16, Tom Seaver
Tom Seaver
George Thomas "Tom" Seaver , nicknamed "Tom Terrific" and "The Franchise", is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. He pitched from 1967-1986 for four different teams in his career, but is noted primarily for his time with the New York Mets...

 of the Cincinnati Reds
1978 Cincinnati Reds season
The 1978 Cincinnati Reds season was a season in American baseball. The Reds finished in second place in the National League West with a record of 92-69, 2½ games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Reds were managed by Sparky Anderson and played their home games at Riverfront Stadium...

 made history by pitching a no-hitter against the Cardinals. It would be the only no-hitter of his career.

First baseman Keith Hernandez
Keith Hernandez
Keith Barlow Hernandez is a former Major League Baseball first baseman. He is currently a baseball analyst working for the New York Mets, for whom he played from –, on SportsNet New York and WPIX television broadcasts...

 won a Gold Glove
Gold Glove Award
The Rawlings Gold Glove Award, usually referred to as the Gold Glove, is the award given annually to the Major League Baseball players judged to have exhibited superior individual fielding performances at each fielding position in both the National League and the American League , as voted by the...

.

Opening Day starters

  • Lou Brock
    Lou Brock
    Louis Clark "Lou" Brock is an American former professional baseball player. He began his Major League Baseball career with the Chicago Cubs but, spent the majority of his career as the left fielder for the St. Louis Cardinals. Brock was best known for breaking Ty Cobb's all-time major league...

  • John Denny
    John Denny
    John Allen Denny is a former right-handed Major League Baseball pitcher from 1974 to 1986 for the St. Louis Cardinals, Cleveland Indians, Philadelphia Phillies, and Cincinnati Reds. He won the Cy Young Award in 1983.-Career:Denny was born in Prescott, Arizona and attended Prescott High School...

  • Keith Hernandez
    Keith Hernandez
    Keith Barlow Hernandez is a former Major League Baseball first baseman. He is currently a baseball analyst working for the New York Mets, for whom he played from –, on SportsNet New York and WPIX television broadcasts...

  • Jerry Morales
    Jerry Morales
    Julio Ruben "Jerry" Morales Torres is a former Major League Baseball outfielder who played from -.-Career:Morales was originally signed by the New York Mets as an amateur free agent at the age of 17 in 1966...

  • Ken Reitz
    Ken Reitz
    Kenneth John Reitz is a former third baseman in Major League Baseball. A right-handed hitter, Reitz played for the St...

  • Tony Scott
    Tony Scott (baseball)
    Anthony Scott is a former Major League Baseball outfielder.-Montreal Expos:Scott was drafted by the Montreal Expos in the 71st round of the 1969 Major League Baseball Draft. After five seasons in their farm system, he received a September call-up to the Expos in...

  • Ted Simmons
    Ted Simmons
    Ted Lyle Simmons is an American former professional baseball player and coach. A switch-hitter, Simmons was a catcher for most of his Major League Baseball career with the St. Louis Cardinals , the Milwaukee Brewers and the Atlanta Braves...

  • Garry Templeton
    Garry Templeton
    Garry Lewis Templeton, nicknamed "Jumpsteady", is a former shortstop in Major League Baseball who played for the St. Louis Cardinals, San Diego Padres, and New York Mets from 1976 to 1991...

  • Mike Tyson
    Mike Tyson (baseball)
    Michael Ray Tyson , is a former Major League Baseball second baseman and shortstop. He played in the majors from to for the St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs....


Notable transactions

  • May 26, 1978: Eric Rasmussen
    Eric Rasmussen
    Eric Ralph Rasmussen is a retired professional baseball pitcher. He played all or part of eight seasons in the majors, between and...

     was traded by the Cardinals to the San Diego Padres
    San Diego Padres
    The San Diego Padres are a Major League Baseball team based in San Diego, California. They play in the National League Western Division. Founded in 1969, the Padres have won the National League Pennant twice, in 1984 and 1998, losing in the World Series both times...

     for George Hendrick
    George Hendrick
    George Andrew Hendrick Jr. is a former major league outfielder for the Oakland Athletics, Cleveland Indians, San Diego Padres, Pittsburgh Pirates and California Angels. However Hendrick is best remembered as a member of the St. Louis Cardinals, for whom he played for from 1979–84. He was a...

    .
  • June 8, 1978: Frank Riccelli was traded by the Cardinals to the Houston Astros
    Houston Astros
    The Houston Astros are a Major League Baseball team located in Houston, Texas. They are a member of the National League Central division. The Astros are expected to join the American League West division in 2013. Since , they have played their home games at Minute Maid Park, known as Enron Field...

     for Bob Coluccio
    Bob Coluccio
    Robert Pasquali Coluccio is a former professional baseball player. He played all or part of five seasons in Major League Baseball, between 1973 and 1978, for the Milwaukee Brewers, Chicago White Sox, and St. Louis Cardinals, primarily as an outfielder.-External links:...

    .
  • July 18, 1978: John Tamargo
    John Tamargo
    John Felix Tamargo is a former Major League Baseball catcher and coach and long-time minor league manager. He played all or part of five seasons in the majors from until...

     was traded by the Cardinals to the San Francisco Giants
    San Francisco Giants
    The San Francisco Giants are a Major League Baseball team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the National League West Division....

     for a player to be named later. The Giants completed the deal by sending Rob Dressler
    Rob Dressler
    Robert Alan Dressler is a former Major League Baseball pitcher who played for the San Francisco Giants, St. Louis Cardinals, and Seattle Mariners....

     to the Cardinals on July 24.

Roster

1978 St. Louis Cardinals
Roster
Pitchers
Catchers
Infielders

Outfielders

Manager
Coaches

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 159 542 138 .255 11 64
3B 150 540 133 .246 10 75
LF 92 298 66 .221 0 12
CF 102 382 110 .288 17 67
RF 130 457 109 .239 4 46

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
76 164 44 .268 1 28
45 115 32 .278 1 10
52 92 22 .239 2 20
34 65 14 .215 1 4
8 11 2 .182 0 1
6 6 0 .000 0 0
5 3 0 .000 0 0

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
33 234 14 11 2.96 103
34 233.2 11 17 3.70 114
22 138.1 9 8 3.64 45
19 75 2 7 5.76 28
10 60.1 2 5 4.18 32

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
18 49.2 4 3 1.99 33
3 13 0 1 2.08 4

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
16 1 1 3 3.81 16
14 0 3 0 4.09 8
13 0 0 0 6.43 8

Farm system

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