1978 St. Louis Cardinals season

1978 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	69–93 (.426)
Divisional place	5th
Other information
Owner(s)	August "Gussie" Busch
General manager(s)	Bing Devine
Manager(s)	Vern Rapp, Jack Krol, Ken Boyer
Local television	KSD-TV (Jack Buck, Mike Shannon, Jay Randolph, Bob Starr)
Local radio	KMOX (Jack Buck, Mike Shannon, Bob Starr)
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The 1978 St. Louis Cardinals season was the team's 97th season in St. Louis, Missouri and its 87th season in the National League. The Cardinals went 69-93 during the season and finished fifth in the National League East, 21 games behind the Philadelphia Phillies.

Offseason

• October 25, 1977: The Cardinals traded a player to be named later to the San Francisco Giants for Frank Riccelli. The Cardinals completed the deal by sending Jim Dwyer to the Giants on June 15, 1978.^[1]
• December 8, 1977: Dave Rader and Héctor Cruz were traded by the Cardinals to the Chicago Cubs for Jerry Morales, Steve Swisher, and cash.^[2]
• February 2, 1978: Ken Rudolph was signed as a free agent by the Cardinals.^[3]
• March 15, 1978: Rick Bosetti was traded by the Cardinals to the Toronto Blue Jays for Tom Bruno and cash.^[4]

Regular season

In late April, the Cardinals fired manager Vern Rapp, who had started at 7-11. He was briefly replaced by coach Jack Krol for two games (1-1) before giving the job on a permanent basis to their former MVP third-baseman Ken Boyer, who went 61-81 the rest of the way.

On June 16, Tom Seaver of the Cincinnati Reds made history by pitching a no-hitter against the Cardinals. It would be the only no-hitter of his career.

First baseman Keith Hernandez won a Gold Glove.

Season standings

NL East	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Philadelphia Phillies	90	72	0.556	—	54–28	36–44
Pittsburgh Pirates	88	73	0.547	1½	55–26	33–47
Chicago Cubs	79	83	0.488	11	44–38	35–45
Montreal Expos	76	86	0.469	14	41–39	35–47
St. Louis Cardinals	69	93	0.426	21	37–44	32–49
New York Mets	66	96	0.407	24	33–47	33–49

Record vs. opponents

1978 National League Records Sources:
Team	ATL	CHC	CIN	HOU	LAD	MON	NYM	PHI	PIT	SD	SF	STL
Atlanta	—	5–7	6–12	8–10	5–13	5–7	6–6	8–4	2–10	8–10	11–7	5–7
Chicago	7–5	—	7–5	6–6	4–8	7–11	11–7	4–14	7–11	7–5	4–8	15–3
Cincinnati	12–6	5–7	—	11–7	9–9	8–4	7–5	7–5	4–7	9–9	12–6	8–4
Houston	10–8	6–6	7–11	—	7–11	6–6	7–5	6–6	4–8	8–10	6–12	7–5
Los Angeles	13–5	8–4	9–9	11–7	—	8–4	7–5	7–5	7–5	9–9	11–7	5–7
Montreal	7–5	11–7	4–8	6–6	4–8	—	8–10	9–9	7–11	6–6	5–7	9–9
New York	6–6	7–11	5–7	5–7	5–7	10–8	—	6–12	7–11	5–7	3–9	7–11
Philadelphia	4-8	14–4	5–7	6–6	5–7	9–9	12–6	—	11–7	8–4	6–6	10–8
Pittsburgh	10–2	11–7	7–4	8–4	5–7	11–7	11–7	7–11	—	5–7	4–8	9–9
San Diego	10–8	5–7	9–9	10–8	9–9	6–6	7–5	4–8	7–5	—	8–10	9–3
San Francisco	7–11	8–4	6–12	12–6	7–11	7–5	9–3	6–6	8–4	10–8	—	9–3
St. Louis	7–5	3–15	4–8	5–7	7–5	9–9	11–7	8–10	9–9	3–9	3–9	—

Opening Day starters

• Lou Brock
• John Denny
• Keith Hernandez
• Jerry Morales
• Ken Reitz
• Tony Scott
• Ted Simmons
• Garry Templeton
• Mike Tyson^[5]

Notable transactions

• May 26, 1978: Eric Rasmussen was traded by the Cardinals to the San Diego Padres for George Hendrick.^[6]
• June 8, 1978: Frank Riccelli was traded by the Cardinals to the Houston Astros for Bob Coluccio.^[1]
• July 18, 1978: John Tamargo was traded by the Cardinals to the San Francisco Giants for a player to be named later. The Giants completed the deal by sending Rob Dressler to the Cardinals on July 24.^[7]

Roster

1978 St. Louis Cardinals
Roster
Pitchers 49 Tom Bruno 36 John Denny 26 Rob Dressler 41 Pete Falcone 31 Bob Forsch 43,49 George Frazier 26 Dave Hamilton 32 Mark Littell 39 Aurelio López 35 Silvio Martínez 34 Dan O'Brien 42 Eric Rasmussen 22 Buddy Schultz 42 Roy Thomas 38 John Urrea 46 Pete Vuckovich		Catchers 16 Terry Kennedy 23 Ted Simmons  2 Steve Swisher 12 John Tamargo Infielders  7 Roger Freed 11 Wayne Garrett 37 Keith Hernandez 24 Ken Oberkfell  5 Mike Phillips 33 Mike Ramsey 44 Ken Reitz 21 Gary Sutherland  1 Garry Templeton 10 Mike Tyson		Outfielders 20 Lou Brock 21 Bob Coluccio 11 Jim Dwyer 27 George Hendrick 19 Dane Iorg 21 Jim Lentine 25 Jerry Morales 29 Jerry Mumphrey 30 Tony Scott		Manager 14 Ken Boyer  8 Jack Krol  9 Vern Rapp Coaches  8 Jack Krol  4 Mo Mozzali 18 Claude Osteen 14 Dave Ricketts  3 Sonny Ruberto

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	159	542	138	.255	11	64
3B	Reitz, KenKen Reitz	150	540	133	.246	10	75
LF	Brock, LouLou Brock	92	298	66	.221	0	12
CF	Hendrick, GeorgeGeorge Hendrick	102	382	110	.288	17	67
RF	Morales, JerryJerry Morales	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
Phillips, MikeMike Phillips	76	164	44	.268	1	28
Swisher, SteveSteve Swisher	45	115	32	.278	1	10
Freed, RogerRoger Freed	52	92	22	.239	2	20
Dwyer, JimJim Dwyer	34	65	14	.215	1	4
Lentine, JimJim Lentine	8	11	2	.182	0	1
Tamargo, JohnJohn Tamargo	6	6	0	.000	0	0
Coluccio, BobBob Coluccio	5	3	0	.000	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
Denny, JohnJohn Denny	33	234	14	11	2.96	103
Forsch, BobBob Forsch	34	233.2	11	17	3.70	114
Martínez, SilvioSilvio Martínez	22	138.1	9	8	3.64	45
Falcone, PetePete Falcone	19	75	2	7	5.76	28
Rasmussen, EricEric Rasmussen	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
Bruno, TomTom Bruno	18	49.2	4	3	1.99	33
Dressler, RobRob Dressler	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
Thomas, RoyRoy Thomas	16	1	1	3	3.81	16
Frazier, GeorgeGeorge Frazier	14	0	3	0	4.09	8
Hamilton, DaveDave Hamilton	13	0	0	0	6.43	8

Awards and records

League leaders

• Garry Templeton, National League leader, Triples

Farm system

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

^[8]

References

1. Frank Riccelli page at Baseball Reference
2. Dave Rader page at Baseball Reference
3. Ken Rudolph page at Baseball Reference
4. Rick Bosetti page at Baseball Reference
5. http://www.baseball-almanac.com/teamstats/roster.php?y=1978&t=SLN
6. Eric Rasmussen page at Baseball Reference
7. John Tamargo page at Baseball Reference
8. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007

External links

• 1978 St. Louis Cardinals
• 1978 St. Louis Cardinals team page at www.baseball-almanac.com