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.Kim Seaman page at Baseball Reference 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.Bill Mooneyham page at Baseball-Reference January 16, 1979: Darold Knowles was signed as a free agent by the Cardinals.Darold Knowles page at Baseball Reference January 16, 1979: Benny Ayala was traded by the Cardinals to the Baltimore Orioles for Mike Dimmel.Benny Ayala page at Baseball Reference February 19, 1979: Will McEnaney was signed as a free agent by the Cardinals.Will McEnaney page at Baseball-Reference

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

Record vs. opponents

Opening Day starters Lou Brock John Denny George Hendrick Keith Hernandez Ken Reitz Tony Scott Ted Simmons Garry Templeton Mike Tyson

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.Andy Van Slyke page at Baseball Reference

Roster 1979 St. Louis Cardinals Roster Pitchers Catchers

Infielders Outfielders Manager

Coaches

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 C Ted Simmons 123 448 127 .283 26 87 1B 161 610 210 .344 11 105 2B Ken Oberkfell 135 369 111 .301 1 35 SS Garry Templeton 154 672 211 .314 9 62 3B Ken Reitz 159 605 162 .268 8 73 LF 120 405 123 .304 5 38 CF Tony Scott 153 587 152 .259 6 68 RF George Hendrick 140 493 148 .300 16 75

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 Jerry Mumphrey 124 339 100 .295 3 32 Mike Tyson 75 190 42 .221 5 20 Dane Iorg 79 179 52 .291 1 21 Terry Kennedy 33 109 31 .284 2 17 44 97 22 .227 1 6 Steve Swisher 38 73 11 .151 1 3 Bernie Carbo 52 64 18 .281 3 12 34 31 8 .258 2 8 11 23 9 .391 0 1 9 15 3 .200 0 0 Keith Smith 6 13 3 .231 0 0 Tom Herr 14 10 2 .200 0 1 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 Pete Vuckovich 34 233.0 15 10 3.59 145 33 218.2 11 11 3.83 92 32 206.2 15 8 3.27 102 31 206.0 8 11 4.85 99 20 146.0 10 6 2.53 75 13 67.0 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 Roy Thomas 26 77.0 3 4 2.92 44 John Urrea 3 11.1 0 0 3.97 5

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 Mark Littell 63 9 4 13 2.19 67 48 2 5 6 4.07 22 Will McEnaney 45 0 3 2 2.95 15 Buddy Schultz 31 4 3 3 4.46 38 27 2 3 0 4.23 27 25 2 4 0 4.45 14 Dan O'Brien 6 1 1 0 8.18 5 1 0 0 0 0.00 3

Awards and honors Lou Brock, Hutch Award

League records Garry Templeton, National League record, league leader in triples for three consecutive seasonsGreat Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p. 95, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York,

League leaders Garry Templeton, National League leader, triples

Farm system

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Arkansas

References

External links 1979 St. Louis Cardinals at Baseball Reference 1979 St. Louis Cardinals team page at www.baseball-almanac.com