# 1982 St. Louis Cardinals season

The St. Louis Cardinals' 1982 season was the team's 101st season in St. Louis, Missouri and the 91st season in the National League. Making up for the previous season's near-miss, the Cardinals went 92–70 during the season and won their first-ever National League East title by three games over the Philadelphia Phillies. They achieved their first postseason appearance since 1968 and defeated the National League West champion Atlanta Braves in three straight games to claim the NL pennant. From there, they went on to win the World Series in seven games over the American League champion Milwaukee Brewers. It was the Cardinals' first World Championship since 1967, and their last until they opened the current Busch Stadium in 2006.

## Offseason

* October 21, 1981: Bob Sykes was traded by the Cardinals to the New York Yankees for Willie McGee.
* October 23, 1981: Jeff Little was traded by the Cardinals to the Minnesota Twins for Mike Kinnunen.
* November 20, 1981: Silvio Martínez and Lary Sorensen were traded by the Cardinals to the Cleveland Indians as part of a three-team trade. The Philadelphia Phillies traded Lonnie Smith to the Cardinals. The Indians traded Bo Díaz to the Phillies. The Phillies sent a player to be named later to the Indians. The Phillies completed the deal by sending Scott Munninghoff to the Indians on December 9.
* December 10, 1981: Sixto Lezcano, Garry Templeton and a player to be named later were traded by the Cardinals to the San Diego Padres for Ozzie Smith, Steve Mura and a player to be named later. The deal was completed on February 19, 1982, with the Padres sending Al Olmsted to the Cardinals and the Cardinals sending Luis DeLeón to the Padres.
* December 29, 1981: Joaquín Andújar was signed as a free agent by the Cardinals.

## Regular season

First baseman Keith Hernandez and shortstop Ozzie Smith won Gold Gloves this year.

### Season standings

vteNL East :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 92 | 70 | .568 | — | 46‍–‍35 | 46‍–‍35 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 89 | 73 | .549 | 3 | 51‍–‍30 | 38‍–‍43 |
| Montreal Expos | 86 | 76 | .531 | 6 | 40‍–‍41 | 46‍–‍35 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 84 | 78 | .519 | 8 | 42‍–‍39 | 42‍–‍39 |
| Chicago Cubs | 73 | 89 | .451 | 19 | 38‍–‍43 | 35‍–‍46 |
| New York Mets | 65 | 97 | .401 | 27 | 33‍–‍48 | 32‍–‍49 |

### Record vs. opponents

1982 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | ATL | CHC | CIN | HOU | LAD | MON | NYM | PHI | PIT | SD | SF | STL |
| Atlanta | — | 8–4 | 14–4 | 10–8 | 7–11 | 5–7 | 9–3 | 6–6 | 4–8 | 11–7 | 8–10 | 7–5 |
| Chicago | 4–8 | — | 6–6 | 9–3 | 5–7 | 6–12 | 9–9 | 9–9 | 9–9 | 4–8 | 6–6 | 6–12 |
| Cincinnati | 4–14 | 6–6 | — | 7–11 | 7–11 | 4–8 | 7–5 | 5–7 | 4–8 | 6–12 | 6–12 | 5–7 |
| Houston | 8–10 | 3–9 | 11–7 | — | 7–11 | 4–8 | 8–4 | 7–5 | 9–3 | 9–9 | 5–13 | 6–6 |
| Los Angeles | 11–7 | 7–5 | 11–7 | 11–7 | — | 8–4 | 6–6 | 4–8 | 5–7 | 9–9 | 9–9 | 7–5 |
| Montreal | 7–5 | 12–6 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 4–8 | — | 11–7 | 8–10 | 7–11 | 7–5 | 4–8 | 10–8 |
| New York | 3–9 | 9–9 | 5–7 | 4–8 | 6–6 | 7–11 | — | 7–11 | 8–10 | 6–6 | 4–8 | 6–12 |
| Philadelphia | 6-6 | 9–9 | 7–5 | 5–7 | 8–4 | 10–8 | 11–7 | — | 9–9 | 7–5 | 10–2 | 7–11 |
| Pittsburgh | 8–4 | 9–9 | 8–4 | 3–9 | 7–5 | 11–7 | 10–8 | 9–9 | — | 6–6 | 6–6 | 7–11 |
| San Diego | 7–11 | 8–4 | 12–6 | 9–9 | 9–9 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 6–6 | — | 10–8 | 4–8 |
| San Francisco | 10–8 | 6–6 | 12–6 | 13–5 | 9–9 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 2–10 | 6–6 | 8–10 | — | 5–7 |
| St. Louis | 5–7 | 12–6 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 8–10 | 12–6 | 11–7 | 11–7 | 8–4 | 7–5 | — |

### Opening Day lineup

* Lonnie Smith, CF
* Tom Herr, 2B
* Keith Hernandez, 1B
* Darrell Porter, C
* George Hendrick, RF
* Dane Iorg, LF
* Steve Braun, 3B
* Ozzie Smith, SS
* Bob Forsch, P

### Notable games

* May 30, 1982: The Cardinals rally twice in their last at-bat in a thrilling 6—5 victory over the San Diego Padres at Busch Memorial Stadium. St. Louis trailed 3-0 entering the bottom of the ninth when Keith Hernandez led off with a single to left field. Hernandez took second on a single by George Hendrick and scored on Lonnie Smith's RBI double. After a Mike Ramsey ground out, Julio González reached on Padre third baseman Luis Salazar's error, allowing Hendrick to score and cutting the deficit to 3—2, and two batters later, Smith scored on Tom Herr's sacrifice fly to tie the game. After San Diego tacked on an additional two runs off Bruce Sutter in the top of the tenth inning, the Cardinals rallied again in the bottom half. Padres reliever Gary Lucas retired Orlando Sánchez and Hernandez to start the inning, but allowed a two-out single to Hendrick. Lonnie Smith then doubled Hendrick home to bring St. Louis back within 5—4, and Ramsey's subsequent RBI single tied the game. After Julio Gonzalez was hit by a pitch, Dane Iorg lined a single into center field, scoring Ramsey with the winning run.

### Notable transactions

* June 7, 1982: 1982 Major League Baseball draft
** Terry Pendleton was drafted by the Cardinals in the 7th round. Player signed June 12, 1982.
** Vince Coleman was drafted by the Cardinals in the 10th round. Player signed June 9, 1982.
* June 25, 1982: Joe Boever was signed by the Cardinals as an amateur free agent.
* August 11, 1982: Eric Rasmussen was purchased by the Cardinals from the Leones de Yucatán.

### Game log

1982 St. Louis Cardinals Game Log, 92–70 (.568) :
April: 14–7 (.667) (Home: 6–3; Away: 8–4)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveRecordBox / L10
10April 16Phillies3–27–3W6
11April 17Phillies6–08–3W7
12April 18Phillies6–5 (11)9–3W8
15April 23@ Phillies9–212–3W11
16April 24@ Phillies7–413–3W12
17April 25@ Phillies4–813–4L1 :
May: 17–11 (.607) (Home: 8–4; Away: 9–7)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveRecordBox / L10
28May 7Braves3–6 (10)18–10L1
29May 8Braves8–719–10W1
30May 9Braves0–319–11L1
33May 13@ Braves10–921–12W2
34May 14@ Braves1–221–13L1
35May 15@ Braves7–6 (10)22–13W1
36May 16@ Braves2–522–14L1
40May 21@ Dodgers6–325–15W2
41May 22@ Dodgers2–325–16L1
42May 23@ Dodgers0–525–17L2
43May 24@ Giants6–026–17W1
44May 25@ Giants8–327–17W2
45May 26@ Giants8–428–17W3
49May 31Giants11–631–18W2 :
June: 12–16 (.429) (Home: 7–9; Away: 5–7)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveRecordBox / L10
50June 1Giants3–4 (11)31–19L1
51June 2Giants1–032–19W1
52June 4Dodgers5–233–19W2
53June 5Dodgers2–633–20L1
54June 6Dodgers3–533–21L2
55June 7@ Expos2–333–22L3
56June 8@ Expos5–4 (12)34–22W1
57June 9@ Expos5–134–23L1
60June 14Expos2–136–24W1
61June 15Expos3–2 (11)37–24W2
62June 16Expos3–837–25L1
67June 21Phillies7–539–28W1
68June 22Phillies3–240–28W2
69June 23Phillies1–740–29L1
70June 24Phillies2–1040–30L2
75June 28@ Phillies0–142–33L2
76June 29@ Phillies15–343–33W1
77June 30@ Phillies3–643–34L1 :
July: 15–10 (.600) (Home: 10–5; Away: 5–5)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveRecordBox / L10
83July 7@ Braves2–346–37L1
84July 8@ Braves5–247–37W1
92July 19Braves1–451–41L1
93July 20Braves6–851–42L2
94July 21Braves8–052–42W1
100July 29@ Expos3–4 (10)57–43L1
101July 30@ Expos4–5 (11)57–44L2
102July 31@ Expos10–158–44W1 :
August: 17–12 (.586) (Home: 8–8; Away: 9–4)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveRecordBox / L10
103August 1@ Expos4–558–45L1
108August 6Expos3–560–48L1
109August 7Expos9–561–48W1
110August 8Expos1–261–49L1
121August 20Giants7–869–52L2
122August 21Giants7–670–52W1
123August 22Giants5–4 (12)71–52W2
124August 23Dodgers11–372–52W3
125August 24Dodgers2–572–53L1
126August 25Dodgers3–1172–54L2
130August 30@ Dodgers3–275–55W1
131August 31@ Dodgers1–475–56L1 :
September: 16–13 (.552) (Home: 7–6; Away: 9–7)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveRecordBox / L10
132September 1@ Dodgers6–5 (13)76–56W1
133September 3@ Giants2–3 (10)76–57L1
134September 4@ Giants4–576–58L2
135September 5@ Giants1–576–59L3
136September 6Expos1–077–59W1
137September 7Expos4–777–60L1
138September 8Expos1–078–60W1
142September 13@ Phillies0–279–63L2
143September 14@ Phillies2–080–63W1
144September 15@ Phillies8–081–63W2
150September 20Phillies4–187–63W8
151September 21Phillies2–587–64L1
157September 27@ Expos4–291–66W1
158September 28@ Expos4–5 (10)91–67L1 :
October: 1–1 (.500) (Home: 0–0; Away: 1–1)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveRecordBox / L10 :
Legend:        = Win        = Loss        = Postponement Bold = Cardinals team member :

## 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 | Darrell Porter | 120 | 373 | 86 | .231 | 12 | 48 |
| 1B | Keith Hernandez | 160 | 579 | 173 | .299 | 7 | 94 |
| 2B | Tom Herr | 135 | 493 | 131 | .266 | 0 | 36 |
| 3B | Ken Oberkfell | 137 | 470 | 136 | .289 | 2 | 34 |
| SS | Ozzie Smith | 140 | 488 | 121 | .248 | 2 | 43 |
| LF | Lonnie Smith | 156 | 592 | 182 | .307 | 8 | 69 |
| CF | Willie McGee | 123 | 422 | 125 | .296 | 4 | 56 |
| RF | George Hendrick | 136 | 515 | 145 | .282 | 19 | 104 |

#### 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 |
| Mike Ramsey | 112 | 256 | 59 | .230 | 1 | 21 |
| Dane Iorg | 102 | 238 | 70 | .294 | 0 | 34 |
| David Green | 76 | 166 | 47 | .283 | 2 | 23 |
| Gene Tenace | 66 | 124 | 32 | .258 | 7 | 18 |
| Julio González | 42 | 87 | 21 | .241 | 1 | 7 |
| Tito Landrum | 79 | 72 | 20 | .278 | 2 | 14 |
| Glenn Brummer | 35 | 64 | 15 | .234 | 0 | 8 |
| Steve Braun | 58 | 62 | 17 | .274 | 0 | 4 |
| Orlando Sánchez | 26 | 37 | 7 | .189 | 0 | 3 |
| Kelly Paris | 12 | 29 | 3 | .103 | 0 | 1 |
| Gene Roof | 11 | 15 | 4 | .267 | 0 | 2 |

### 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 |
| Joaquín Andújar | 38 | 265.2 | 15 | 10 | 2.47 | 137 |
| Bob Forsch | 36 | 233.0 | 15 | 9 | 3.48 | 69 |
| Steve Mura | 35 | 184.1 | 12 | 11 | 4.05 | 84 |
| John Stuper | 23 | 136.2 | 9 | 7 | 3.36 | 53 |

#### 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 |
| Dave LaPoint | 42 | 152.2 | 9 | 3 | 3.42 | 81 |
| John Martin | 24 | 66.0 | 4 | 5 | 4.23 | 21 |
| Andy Rincon | 11 | 40.0 | 2 | 3 | 4.73 | 11 |
| Eric Rasmussen | 8 | 18.1 | 1 | 2 | 4.42 | 15 |

#### 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 |
| Bruce Sutter | 70 | 9 | 8 | 36 | 2.90 | 61 |
| Doug Bair | 63 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 2.55 | 68 |
| Jim Kaat | 63 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 4.08 | 35 |
| Jeff Lahti | 33 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 3.81 | 22 |
| Jeff Keener | 19 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1.61 | 25 |
| Mark Littell | 16 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5.23 | 7 |

## Postseason
### Game log

1982 Postseason (7–3) :
National League Championship Series (3–0)
GameDateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveRecord
–October 6BravesPostponed (rain) (Makeup date: October 7)
1October 7Braves7–0Forsch (1–0)Pérez (0–1)–1–0
–October 8BravesPostponed (rain) (Makeup date: October 9)
2October 9Braves4–3Sutter (1–0)Garber (0–1)–2–0
3October 10@ Braves6–2Andújar (1–0)Camp (0–1)Sutter (1)3–0 :
World Series (4–3)
GameDateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveRecord
1October 12Brewers0–10Caldwell (1–0)Forsch (0–1)–0–1
2October 13Brewers5–4Sutter (1–0)McClure (0–1)–1–1
3October 15@ Brewers6–2Andújar (1–0)Vuckovich (0–1)Sutter (1)2–1
4October 16@ Brewers5–7Slaton (1–0)Bair (0–1)McClure (1)2–2
5October 17@ Brewers4–6Caldwell (2–0)Forsch (0–2)McClure (2)2–3
6October 19Brewers13–1Stuper (1–0)Sutton (0–1)–3–3
7October 20Brewers6–3Andújar (2–0)McClure (0–2)Sutter (2)4–3 :

### NLCS
#### Game 1

October 7, Busch Stadium
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Atlanta | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| St. Louis | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 1 | X | 7 | 13 | 1 |
| W: Bob Forsch (1-0) L: Pascual Pérez (0-1) SV: None |||||||||||||
| HRs: ATL – None STL – None |||||||||||||

#### Game 2

October 9, Busch Stadium
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Atlanta | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 0 |
| St. Louis | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 1 |
| W: Bruce Sutter (1-0) L: Gene Garber (0-1) SV: None |||||||||||||
| HRs: ATL – None STL – None |||||||||||||

#### Game 3

October 10, Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| St. Louis | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 12 | 0 |
| Atlanta | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 1 |
| W: Joaquín Andújar (1-0) L: Rick Camp (0-1) SV: Bruce Sutter (1) |||||||||||||
| HRs: ATL – None STL – Willie McGee (1) |||||||||||||

### World Series

In Game 3, rookie outfielder Willie McGee hit two home runs, tying a World Series record for rookies.
NL St. Louis Cardinals (4) vs. AL Milwaukee Brewers (3)
| Game | Score | Date | Location | Attendance | Time of Game |
| 1 | Brewers – 10, Cardinals – 0 | October 12 | Busch Stadium (St Louis) | 53,723 | 2:30 |
| 2 | Brewers – 4, Cardinals – 5 | October 13 | Busch Stadium (St Louis) | 53,723 | 2:54 |
| 3 | Cardinals – 6, Brewers – 2 | October 15 | Milwaukee County Stadium (Milwaukee) | 56,556 | 2:53 |
| 4 | Cardinals – 5, Brewers – 7 | October 16 | Milwaukee County Stadium (Milwaukee) | 56,560 | 3:04 |
| 5 | Cardinals – 4, Brewers – 6 | October 17 | Milwaukee County Stadium (Milwaukee) | 56,562 | 3:02 |
| 6 | Brewers – 1, Cardinals – 13 | October 19 | Busch Stadium (St Louis) | 53,723 | 2:21 |
| 7 | Brewers – 3, Cardinals – 6 | October 20 | Busch Stadium (St Louis) | 53,723 | 2:50 |

## Awards and honors

* Darrell Porter, NLCS and World Series Most Valuable Player
* Bruce Sutter, Babe Ruth Award

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Louisville Redbirds | American Association | Joe Frazier |
| AA | Arkansas Travelers | Texas League | Gaylen Pitts and Nick Leyva |
| A | St. Petersburg Cardinals | Florida State League | Nick Leyva and Gaylen Pitts |
| A | Springfield Cardinals | Midwest League | Dave Bialas |
| A | Gastonia Cardinals | South Atlantic League | Lloyd Merritt |
| A-Short Season | Erie Cardinals | New York–Penn League | Joe Rigoli |
| Rookie | Johnson City Cardinals | Appalachian League | Rich Hacker |