1980 St. Louis Cardinals season

This article is about the Major League Baseball team. For the National Football League team, see 1980 St. Louis Cardinals (NFL) season.

The St. Louis Cardinals 1980 season was the team's 99th season in St. Louis, Missouri, and the 89th season in the National League. The Cardinals went 74–88 during the season and finished fourth in the National League East, 17 games behind the eventual NL pennant and World Series champion Philadelphia Phillies.

1980 St. Louis Cardinals
League	National League
Division	East
Ballpark	Busch Memorial Stadium
City	St. Louis, Missouri
Record	74–88 (.457)
Divisional place	4th
Owners	August "Gussie" Busch
General managers	John Claiborne, Whitey Herzog
Managers	Ken Boyer, Jack Krol, Whitey Herzog, Red Schoendienst
Television	KSDK (Jack Buck, Mike Shannon, Jay Randolph, Dan Kelly)
Radio	KMOX (Jack Buck, Mike Shannon, Dan Kelly)
Seasons

The Cardinals played the season under four different managers, Ken Boyer (fired June 8 between games of a double-header against the Expos in Montreal), Jack Krol (the second game of the double-header that same day), Whitey Herzog (June 9 until he was hired as the team's general manager in late August, succeeding John Claiborne, who was fired earlier in August) and Red Schoendienst (from late August to end of season). After the season, Herzog reclaimed the managerial job.

This team set a record for the most Silver Slugger Award winners in one season: Keith Hernández (first base), Garry Templeton (shortstop), George Hendrick (outfielder), Ted Simmons (catcher), and Bob Forsch (pitcher). Hernández also won a Gold Glove.

Offseason

• October 17, 1979: Mike Tyson was traded by the Cardinals to the Chicago Cubs for Donnie Moore.
• March 31, 1980: Will McEnaney was released by the St. Louis Cardinals.

Regular season

Season standings

NL East

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Philadelphia Phillies	91	71	.562	—	49‍–‍32	42‍–‍39
Montreal Expos	90	72	.556	1	51‍–‍29	39‍–‍43
Pittsburgh Pirates	83	79	.512	8	47‍–‍34	36‍–‍45
St. Louis Cardinals	74	88	.457	17	41‍–‍40	33‍–‍48
New York Mets	67	95	.414	24	38‍–‍44	29‍–‍51
Chicago Cubs	64	98	.395	27	37‍–‍44	27‍–‍54

Record vs. opponents

1980 National League record Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]
Team	ATL	CHC	CIN	HOU	LAD	MON	NYM	PHI	PIT	SD	SF	STL
Atlanta	—	8–4	2–16	7–11	11–7	5–7	3–9	5–7	11–1	12–6	11–6	6–6
Chicago	4–8	—	7–5	1–11	5–7	6–12	10–8	5–13	8–10	4–8	5–7	9–9
Cincinnati	16–2	5–7	—	8–10	9–9	3–9	8–4	7–5	6–6	15–3–1	7–11	5–7
Houston	11–7	11–1	10–8	—	9–10	5–7	8–4	3–9	7–5	11–7	11–7	7–5
Los Angeles	7–11	7–5	9–9	10–9	—	11–1	7–5	6–6	6–6	9–9	13–5	7–5
Montreal	7–5	12–6	9–3	7–5	1–11	—	10–8	9–9	6–12	10–2	7–5	12–6
New York	9–3	8–10	4–8	4–8	5–7	8–10	—	6–12	10–8	1–11	3–9	9–9
Philadelphia	7-5	13–5	5–7	9–3	6–6	9–9	12–6	—	7–11	8–4	6–6	9–9
Pittsburgh	1–11	10–8	6–6	5–7	6–6	12–6	8–10	11–7	—	6–6	8–4	10–8
San Diego	6–12	8–4	3–15–1	7–11	9–9	2–10	11–1	4–8	6–6	—	10–8	7–5
San Francisco	6–11	7–5	11–7	7–11	5–13	5–7	9–3	6–6	4–8	8–10	—	7–5
St. Louis	6–6	9–9	7–5	5–7	5–7	6–12	9–9	9–9	8–10	5–7	5–7	—

Opening Day starters

• Bobby Bonds
• George Hendrick
• Keith Hernandez
• Ken Oberkfell
• Ken Reitz
• Tony Scott
• Ted Simmons
• Garry Templeton
• Pete Vuckovich

Notable transactions

• April 2, 1980: Roger Freed was released by the Cardinals.
• April 7, 1980: Jeff Little was signed as a free agent with the Cardinals.
• April 30, 1980: Pedro Borbón was signed as a free agent with the Cardinals.
• April 30, 1980: Jim Kaat was purchased by the Cardinals from the New York Yankees.
• May 9, 1980: Darold Knowles was released by the Cardinals.
• May 27, 1980: Pedro Borbón was released by the Cardinals.
• June 2, 1980: Jim Lentine was traded by the Cardinals to the Detroit Tigers for Al Greene and John Martin.
• June 3, 1980: Dan Plesac was drafted by the Cardinals in the 2nd round of the 1980 Major League Baseball draft, but did not sign.

Roster

1980 St. Louis Cardinals roster
Roster
Pitchers 49 Pedro Borbón 31 Bob Forsch 39 George Frazier 41 John Fulgham 26 Don Hood 36 Jim Kaat 34 Darold Knowles 32 Mark Littell 43 Jeff Little 50 John Littlefield 33 John Martin 35 Silvio Martínez 33 Donnie Moore 47 Al Olmsted 34 Jim Otten 46 Andy Rincon 48 Kim Seaman 42 Bob Sykes 43 Roy Thomas 38 John Urrea 46,40 Pete Vuckovich		Catchers 16 Terry Kennedy 23 Ted Simmons  9 Steve Swisher Infielders  7 Joe DeSa 37 Keith Hernandez 28 Tom Herr 24 Ken Oberkfell  5 Mike Phillips  4 Mike Ramsey 44 Ken Reitz  1 Garry Templeton 12 Tye Waller		Outfielders 00 Bobby Bonds 10 Leon Durham 25 George Hendrick 19 Dane Iorg 21 Tito Landrum 21 Jim Lentine 30 Tony Scott 3,11 Keith Smith Other batters 11 Bernie Carbo		Manager 14 Ken Boyer  3 Whitey Herzog  8 Jack Krol  2 Red Schoendienst Coaches  8 Jack Krol 27 Dal Maxvill 18 Claude Osteen 15 Dave Ricketts  2 Red Schoendienst

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	145	495	150	.303	21	98
1B	Keith Hernandez	159	595	191	.321	16	99
2B	Ken Oberkfell	116	422	128	.303	3	46
SS	Garry Templeton	118	504	161	.319	4	43
3B	Ken Reitz	151	523	141	.270	8	58
LF	Bobby Bonds	86	231	47	.203	5	24
CF	Tony Scott	143	415	104	.251	0	28
RF	George Hendrick	150	572	173	.302	25	109

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
Leon Durham	96	303	82	.271	8	42
Dane Iorg	105	251	76	.303	3	36
Terry Kennedy	84	248	63	.254	4	34
Tom Herr	76	222	55	.248	0	15
Mike Phillips	63	128	30	.234	0	7
Mike Ramsey	59	126	33	.262	0	8
Tito Landrum	35	77	19	.247	0	7
Keith Smith	24	31	4	.129	0	2
Steve Swisher	18	24	6	.250	0	2
Tye Waller	5	12	1	.083	0	0
Bernie Carbo	14	11	2	.182	0	0
Joe DeSa	7	11	3	.273	0	0
Jim Lentine	9	10	1	.100	0	1

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	32	222.1	12	9	3.40	132
Bob Forsch	31	214.2	11	10	3.77	87
Bob Sykes	27	126.0	6	10	4.64	50
Silvio Martínez	25	119.2	5	10	4.81	39
John Fulgham	15	85.1	4	6	3.38	48
Al Olmsted	5	34.2	1	1	2.86	14
Andy Rincon	4	31.0	3	1	2.61	22

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
Jim Kaat	49	129.2	8	7	3.82	36
Don Hood	33	82.1	4	6	3.39	35
Roy Thomas	24	55.0	2	3	4.75	22
John Martin	9	42.0	2	3	4.29	23
Jeff Little	7	18.2	1	1	3.86	17

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
John Littlefield	52	5	5	9	3.14	22
Jim Otten	31	0	5	0	5.53	38
John Urrea	30	4	1	3	3.48	36
Kim Seaman	26	3	2	4	3.42	10
George Frazier	22	1	4	3	2.74	11
Mark Littell	14	0	2	2	3.86	17
Donnie Moore	11	1	1	0	6.23	10
Pedro Borbón	10	1	0	1	3.79	4
Darold Knowles	2	0	1	0	10.80	1

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Springfield Redbirds	American Association	Hal Lanier
AA	Arkansas Travelers	Texas League	Sonny Ruberto
A	St. Petersburg Cardinals	Florida State League	Tommy Thompson
A	Gastonia Cardinals	South Atlantic League	Nick Leyva
Rookie	Johnson City Cardinals	Appalachian League	Johnny Lewis

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Springfield, Arkansas

External links

• 1980 St. Louis Cardinals at Baseball Reference
• 1980 St. Louis Cardinals at Baseball Almanac