The 1981 St. Louis Cardinals season was the 100th season for the St. Louis Cardinals in St. Louis, Missouri and the 90th season in the National League. 1981 was a season of two significant anomalies: A change in the playoff format, which created the first-ever NLDS with a qualification variant that existed only for that season, and the players' strike, which truncated the regular season. Despite finishing 59-43, good for the best overall record in the National League East, the strike set up the scenario where the Cardinals actually missed the playoffs. The regular season was split into halves to tally teams' records separately in each half of the season, and because the Cardinals finished in second place in each half, they did not qualify for the 1981 playoffs. Major League Baseball reverted to the previous playoff format the following season, and the Cardinals qualified for that postseason.
First baseman Keith Hernandez won a Gold Glove this year.
Offseason December 8, 1980: Terry Kennedy, Steve Swisher, Mike Phillips, John Littlefield, John Urrea, Kim Seaman, and Al Olmsted were traded by the Cardinals to the San Diego Padres for Rollie Fingers, Bob Shirley, Gene Tenace and a player to be named later. The Padres completed the deal by sending Bob Geren to the Cardinals on December 10.Bob Geren at Baseball Reference December 9, 1980: Leon Durham, Ken Reitz and a player to be named later were traded by the Cardinals to the Chicago Cubs for Bruce Sutter. The Cardinals completed the trade by sending Tye Waller to the Cubs on December 22.Bruce Sutter at Baseball Reference December 12, 1980: Ted Simmons, Rollie Fingers and Pete Vuckovich were traded by the Cardinals to the Milwaukee Brewers for Sixto Lezcano, David Green, Lary Sorensen and Dave LaPoint.Ted Simmons at Baseball Reference February 16, 1981: The Cardinals traded a player to be named later to the New York Yankees for Rafael Santana. The Cardinals completed the deal by sending George Frazier to the Yankees on June 7.Rafael Santana at Baseball Reference
Regular season
Season standings
Record vs. opponents
Opening Day starters Bob Forsch George Hendrick Keith Hernandez Tom Herr Sixto Lezcano Ken Oberkfell Darrell Porter Tony Scott Garry Templeton
Notable transactions April 3, 1981: Julio González was signed as a free agent by the Cardinals.Julio González at Baseball Reference April 29, 1981: Bill Lyons was signed as a free agent by the Cardinals.Bill Lyons at Baseball Reference June 7, 1981: Tony Scott was traded by the Cardinals to the Houston Astros for Joaquín Andújar.Joaquín Andújar at Baseball Reference June 8, 1981: 1981 Major League Baseball draft Bobby Meacham was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1st round (8th pick) of the 1981 amateur draft. Tom Nieto was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 3rd round.Tom Nieto at Baseball Reference Danny Cox was drafted by the Cardinals in the 13th round.Danny Cox at Baseball Reference September 10, 1981: Joe Edelen and Neil Fiala were traded by the Cardinals to the Cincinnati Reds for Doug Bair.Neil Fiala at Baseball Reference
Roster 1981 St. Louis Cardinals roster Roster Pitchers Catchers
Infielders Outfielders
Other batters Manager
Coaches
Player stats
= Indicates team leader 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 C Darrell Porter 61 174 39 .224 6 31 1B Keith Hernandez 103 376 115 .306 8 48 2B Tom Herr 103 411 110 .268 0 46 SS Garry Templeton 80 333 96 .288 1 33 3B Ken Oberkfell 102 376 110 .293 2 45 LF Dane Iorg 75 217 71 .327 2 39 CF Tony Scott 45 176 40 .227 2 17 RF George Hendrick 101 394 112 .284 18 61
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 72 214 57 .266 5 28 58 129 30 .233 5 22 Mike Ramsey 47 124 32 .258 0 9 Tito Landrum 81 119 31 .261 0 10 Gene Roof 23 60 18 .300 0 3 Orlando Sánchez 27 49 14 .286 0 6 44 46 9 .196 0 2 21 34 5 .147 0 2 Glenn Brummer 21 30 6 .200 0 2 20 22 7 .318 1 3 3 3 0 .000 0 0
Pitching
= Indicates league leader
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 23 140.1 7 7 3.27 52 20 124.1 10 5 3.18 41 John Martin 17 102.2 8 5 3.42 36 18 97.0 2 5 3.99 34 11 55.1 6 1 3.74 19 Andy Rincon 5 35.2 3 1 1.77 13
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 28 79.1 6 4 4.08 36 3 10.2 1 0 4.22 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 48 3 5 25 2.62 57 41 6 6 4 3.40 8 Mark Littell 28 1 3 2 4.39 22 Jim Otten 24 1 0 0 5.30 20 22 2 0 0 4.58 14 13 1 0 0 9.35 10 11 2 0 1 3.45 14 10 0 1 0 2.35 8
Farm system
References
External links 1981 St. Louis Cardinals at Baseball Reference 1981 St. Louis Cardinals at Baseball Almanac