# 1986 St. Louis Cardinals season

The 1986 St. Louis Cardinals season was the team's 105th season in St. Louis, Missouri and its 95th season in the National League. The Cardinals went 79–82 during the season and finished third in the National League East division.

## Offseason

* December 6, 1985: Gary Rajsich was purchased from the Cardinals by the Chunichi Dragons.
* December 10, 1985: Joaquín Andújar was traded by the Cardinals to the Oakland Athletics for Mike Heath and Tim Conroy.
* December 10, 1985: Clint Hurdle was drafted by the Cardinals from the New York Mets in the 1985 rule 5 draft.
* December 15, 1985: Jerry White was signed as a free agent by the Cardinals.
* January 13, 1986: Vic Rodriguez was signed as a free agent by the Cardinals.
* January 14, 1986: Bret Barberie was drafted by the Cardinals in the 2nd round of the 1986 Major League Baseball Draft, but did not sign.
* March 21, 1986: Alan Knicely was signed as a free agent by the Cardinals.
* March 31, 1986: Tom Nieto was traded by the Cardinals to the Montreal Expos for Fred Manrique.

## Regular season

Pitcher Todd Worrell won the Rookie of the Year Award this year, with a 2.08 ERA and 36 saves. This was the second consecutive year a Cardinal won the Rookie of the Year Award, with Vince Coleman winning the previous season, and the second time in team history that the Cardinals had two consecutive NL Rookie of the Year winners (Wally Moon in 1954 and Bill Virdon in 1955). Shortstop Ozzie Smith and outfielder Willie McGee won Gold Gloves this year.
The Cardinals played 116 games (of 161) in which they failed to hit a home run, the most of any team since the 1952 Washington Senators.

### Season standings

vteNL East :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| New York Mets | 108 | 54 | .667 | — | 55‍–‍26 | 53‍–‍28 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 86 | 75 | .534 | 21½ | 49‍–‍31 | 37‍–‍44 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 79 | 82 | .491 | 28½ | 42‍–‍39 | 37‍–‍43 |
| Montreal Expos | 78 | 83 | .484 | 29½ | 36‍–‍44 | 42‍–‍39 |
| Chicago Cubs | 70 | 90 | .438 | 37 | 42‍–‍38 | 28‍–‍52 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 64 | 98 | .395 | 44 | 31‍–‍50 | 33‍–‍48 |

### Record vs. opponents

1986 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | ATL | CHC | CIN | HOU | LAD | MON | NYM | PHI | PIT | SD | SF | STL |
| Atlanta | — | 9–3 | 6–12 | 5–13 | 10–8 | 4–7 | 4–8 | 4–8 | 5–7 | 12–6 | 7–11 | 6–6 |
| Chicago | 3–9 | — | 5–7 | 4–8 | 6–6 | 8–10 | 6–12 | 9–8 | 7–11 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 10–7 |
| Cincinnati | 12–6 | 7–5 | — | 4–14 | 10–8 | 7–5 | 4–8 | 7–5 | 10–2 | 9–9 | 9–9 | 7–5 |
| Houston | 13–5 | 8–4 | 14–4 | — | 10–8 | 8–4 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 10–8 | 9–9 | 7–5 |
| Los Angeles | 8–10 | 6–6 | 8–10 | 8–10 | — | 5–7 | 3–9 | 5–7 | 8–4 | 6–12 | 8–10 | 8–4 |
| Montreal | 7–4 | 10–8 | 5–7 | 4–8 | 5–7 | — | 8–10 | 8–10 | 11–7 | 4–8 | 5–7 | 9–9 |
| New York | 8–4 | 12–6 | 8–4 | 7–5 | 9–3 | 10–8 | — | 8–10 | 17–1 | 10–2 | 7–5 | 12–6 |
| Philadelphia | 8-4 | 8–9 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 10–8 | 10–8 | — | 11–7 | 6–6 | 9–3 | 6–12 |
| Pittsburgh | 7–5 | 11–7 | 2–10 | 6–6 | 4–8 | 7–11 | 1–17 | 7–11 | — | 8–4 | 4–8 | 7–11 |
| San Diego | 6–12 | 6–6 | 9–9 | 8–10 | 12–6 | 8–4 | 2–10 | 6–6 | 4–8 | — | 8–10 | 5–7 |
| San Francisco | 11–7 | 6–6 | 9–9 | 9–9 | 10–8 | 7–5 | 5–7 | 3–9 | 8–4 | 10–8 | — | 5–7 |
| St. Louis | 6–6 | 7–10 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 4–8 | 9–9 | 6–12 | 12–6 | 11–7 | 7–5 | 7–5 | — |

### Opening Day starters

* Jack Clark
* Vince Coleman
* Mike Heath
* Tom Herr
* Willie McGee
* Terry Pendleton
* Ozzie Smith
* John Tudor
* Andy Van Slyke

### Notable transactions

* April 1, 1986: Brian Harper was released by the Cardinals.
* April 11, 1986: Ray Burris was signed as a free agent by the Cardinals.
* June 12, 1986: Jerry White was released by the Cardinals.
* July 19, 1986: César Cedeño was signed as a free agent by the Cardinals.
* July 24, 1986: Steve Lake was signed as a free agent by the Cardinals.
* August 10, 1986: Mike Heath was traded by the Cardinals to the Detroit Tigers for Ken Hill and a player to be named later. The Tigers completed the deal by sending Mike Laga to the Cardinals on September 2.
* August 27, 1986: Ray Burris was released by the St. Louis Cardinals.

### Roster
## 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 | Mike LaValliere | 110 | 303 | 71 | .234 | 3 | 30 |
| 1B | Jack Clark | 65 | 232 | 55 | .237 | 9 | 23 |
| 2B | Tom Herr | 152 | 559 | 141 | .252 | 2 | 61 |
| SS | Ozzie Smith | 153 | 514 | 144 | .280 | 0 | 54 |
| 3B | Terry Pendleton | 159 | 578 | 138 | .239 | 1 | 59 |
| LF | Vince Coleman | 154 | 600 | 139 | .232 | 0 | 29 |
| CF | Willie McGee | 124 | 497 | 127 | .256 | 7 | 48 |
| RF | Andy Van Slyke | 137 | 418 | 113 | .270 | 13 | 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 |
| Curt Ford | 85 | 214 | 53 | .248 | 2 | 29 |
| Tito Landrum | 96 | 205 | 43 | .210 | 2 | 17 |
| Mike Heath | 65 | 190 | 39 | .205 | 4 | 25 |
| Clint Hurdle | 78 | 154 | 30 | .195 | 3 | 15 |
| José Oquendo | 76 | 138 | 41 | .297 | 0 | 13 |
| John Morris | 39 | 100 | 24 | .240 | 1 | 14 |
| Alan Knicely | 34 | 82 | 16 | .195 | 1 | 6 |
| Jim Lindeman | 19 | 55 | 14 | .255 | 1 | 6 |
| Steve Lake | 26 | 49 | 12 | .245 | 2 | 10 |
| Mike Laga | 18 | 46 | 10 | .217 | 3 | 8 |
| Tom Lawless | 46 | 39 | 11 | .282 | 0 | 3 |
| Jerry White | 25 | 24 | 3 | .125 | 1 | 3 |
| Fred Manrique | 13 | 17 | 3 | .176 | 1 | 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 |
| Bob Forsch | 33 | 230.0 | 14 | 10 | 3.25 | 104 |
| Danny Cox | 32 | 220.0 | 12 | 13 | 2.90 | 108 |
| John Tudor | 30 | 219.0 | 13 | 7 | 2.92 | 107 |
| Greg Mathews | 23 | 145.1 | 11 | 8 | 3.65 | 67 |
| Tim Conroy | 25 | 115.1 | 5 | 11 | 5.23 | 79 |

#### 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 |
| Ricky Horton | 42 | 100.1 | 4 | 3 | 2.24 | 49 |
| Ray Burris | 23 | 82.0 | 4 | 5 | 5.60 | 34 |
| Rick Ownbey | 17 | 42.2 | 1 | 3 | 3.80 | 25 |
| Kurt Kepshire | 2 | 8.0 | 0 | 1 | 4.50 | 6 |

#### 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 |
| Todd Worrell | 74 | 9 | 10 | 36 | 2.08 | 73 |
| Pat Perry | 46 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3.80 | 29 |
| Ken Dayley | 31 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 3.26 | 33 |
| Ray Soff | 30 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 3.29 | 22 |
| Greg Bargar | 22 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5.60 | 12 |
| Joe Boever | 11 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1.60 | 8 |
| Jeff Lahti | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 3 |
| Bill Earley | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 2 |

## Awards and honors

* Vince Coleman, National League Stolen Base Leader, 107
* Willie McGee, Outfield, National League Gold Glove
* Ozzie Smith, Shortstop, National League Gold Glove
* Todd Worrell, National League Rookie of the Year

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Louisville Redbirds | American Association | Jim Fregosi and Dave Bialas |
| AA | Arkansas Travelers | Texas League | Jim Riggleman |
| A | St. Petersburg Cardinals | Florida State League | Dave Bialas, Marty Mason and Mike Jorgensen |
| A | Springfield Cardinals | Midwest League | Gaylen Pitts |
| A | Savannah Cardinals | South Atlantic League | Mark DeJohn |
| A-Short Season | Erie Cardinals | New York–Penn League | Joe Rigoli |
| Rookie | Johnson City Cardinals | Appalachian League | Dan Radison |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: St. Petersburg