# 1978 St. Louis Cardinals season

The 1978 St. Louis Cardinals season was the team's 97th season in St. Louis, Missouri and its 87th season in the National League. The Cardinals went 69–93 during the season and finished fifth in the National League East, 21 games behind the Philadelphia Phillies.

## Offseason

* October 25, 1977: The Cardinals traded a player to be named later to the San Francisco Giants for Frank Riccelli. The Cardinals completed the deal by sending Jim Dwyer to the Giants on June 15, 1978.
* December 8, 1977: Dave Rader and Héctor Cruz were traded by the Cardinals to the Chicago Cubs for Jerry Morales, Steve Swisher, and cash.
* February 2, 1978: Ken Rudolph was signed as a free agent by the Cardinals.
* March 15, 1978: Rick Bosetti was traded by the Cardinals to the Toronto Blue Jays for Tom Bruno and cash.

## Regular season

In late April, the Cardinals fired manager Vern Rapp, who had started at 7–11. He was briefly replaced by coach Jack Krol for two games (1-1) before giving the job on a permanent basis to their former MVP third-baseman Ken Boyer, who went 61-81 the rest of the way.
On June 16, Tom Seaver of the Cincinnati Reds made history by pitching a no-hitter against the Cardinals. It would be the only no-hitter of his career.
First baseman Keith Hernandez won a Gold Glove.
This remains to date the only 162-game season in which the Cardinals failed to win at least 70 games.

### Season standings

vteNL East :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 90 | 72 | .556 | — | 54‍–‍28 | 36‍–‍44 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 88 | 73 | .547 | 1½ | 55‍–‍26 | 33‍–‍47 |
| Chicago Cubs | 79 | 83 | .488 | 11 | 44‍–‍38 | 35‍–‍45 |
| Montreal Expos | 76 | 86 | .469 | 14 | 41‍–‍39 | 35‍–‍47 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 69 | 93 | .426 | 21 | 37‍–‍44 | 32‍–‍49 |
| New York Mets | 66 | 96 | .407 | 24 | 33‍–‍47 | 33‍–‍49 |

### Record vs. opponents

1978 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | ATL | CHC | CIN | HOU | LAD | MON | NYM | PHI | PIT | SD | SF | STL |
| Atlanta | — | 5–7 | 6–12 | 8–10 | 5–13 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 8–4 | 2–10 | 8–10 | 11–7 | 5–7 |
| Chicago | 7–5 | — | 7–5 | 6–6 | 4–8 | 7–11 | 11–7 | 4–14 | 7–11 | 7–5 | 4–8 | 15–3 |
| Cincinnati | 12–6 | 5–7 | — | 11–7 | 9–9 | 8–4 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 4–7 | 9–9 | 12–6 | 8–4 |
| Houston | 10–8 | 6–6 | 7–11 | — | 7–11 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 4–8 | 8–10 | 6–12 | 7–5 |
| Los Angeles | 13–5 | 8–4 | 9–9 | 11–7 | — | 8–4 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 9–9 | 11–7 | 5–7 |
| Montreal | 7–5 | 11–7 | 4–8 | 6–6 | 4–8 | — | 8–10 | 9–9 | 7–11 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 9–9 |
| New York | 6–6 | 7–11 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 10–8 | — | 6–12 | 7–11 | 5–7 | 3–9 | 7–11 |
| Philadelphia | 4-8 | 14–4 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 9–9 | 12–6 | — | 11–7 | 8–4 | 6–6 | 10–8 |
| Pittsburgh | 10–2 | 11–7 | 7–4 | 8–4 | 5–7 | 11–7 | 11–7 | 7–11 | — | 5–7 | 4–8 | 9–9 |
| San Diego | 10–8 | 5–7 | 9–9 | 10–8 | 9–9 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 4–8 | 7–5 | — | 8–10 | 9–3 |
| San Francisco | 7–11 | 8–4 | 6–12 | 12–6 | 7–11 | 7–5 | 9–3 | 6–6 | 8–4 | 10–8 | — | 9–3 |
| St. Louis | 7–5 | 3–15 | 4–8 | 5–7 | 7–5 | 9–9 | 11–7 | 8–10 | 9–9 | 3–9 | 3–9 | — |

### Opening Day starters

* Lou Brock
* John Denny
* Keith Hernandez
* Jerry Morales
* Ken Reitz
* Tony Scott
* Ted Simmons
* Garry Templeton
* Mike Tyson

### Notable transactions

* May 26, 1978: Eric Rasmussen was traded by the Cardinals to the San Diego Padres for George Hendrick.
* June 8, 1978: Frank Riccelli was traded by the Cardinals to the Houston Astros for Bob Coluccio.
* July 18, 1978: John Tamargo was traded by the Cardinals to the San Francisco Giants for a player to be named later. The Giants completed the deal by sending Rob Dressler to the Cardinals on July 24.

### 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 | Ted Simmons | 152 | 516 | 148 | .287 | 22 | 80 |
| 1B | Keith Hernandez | 159 | 542 | 138 | .255 | 11 | 64 |
| 2B | Mike Tyson | 125 | 377 | 88 | .233 | 3 | 26 |
| SS | Garry Templeton | 155 | 647 | 181 | .280 | 2 | 47 |
| 3B | Ken Reitz | 150 | 540 | 133 | .246 | 10 | 75 |
| LF | Lou Brock | 92 | 298 | 66 | .221 | 0 | 12 |
| CF | George Hendrick | 102 | 382 | 110 | .288 | 17 | 67 |
| RF | Jerry Morales | 130 | 457 | 109 | .239 | 4 | 46 |

#### 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 | 125 | 367 | 96 | .262 | 2 | 37 |
| Tony Scott | 96 | 219 | 50 | .228 | 1 | 14 |
| Mike Phillips | 76 | 164 | 44 | .268 | 1 | 28 |
| Steve Swisher | 45 | 115 | 32 | .278 | 1 | 10 |
| Roger Freed | 52 | 92 | 22 | .239 | 2 | 20 |
| Dane Iorg | 35 | 85 | 23 | .271 | 0 | 4 |
| Jim Dwyer | 34 | 65 | 14 | .215 | 1 | 4 |
| Wayne Garrett | 33 | 63 | 21 | .333 | 1 | 10 |
| Ken Oberkfell | 24 | 50 | 6 | .120 | 0 | 0 |
| Terry Kennedy | 10 | 29 | 5 | .172 | 0 | 2 |
| Jim Lentine | 8 | 11 | 2 | .182 | 0 | 1 |
| Gary Sutherland | 10 | 6 | 1 | .167 | 0 | 0 |
| John Tamargo | 6 | 6 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Mike Ramsey | 12 | 5 | 1 | .200 | 0 | 0 |
| Bob Coluccio | 5 | 3 | 0 | .000 | 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 |
| John Denny | 33 | 234.0 | 14 | 11 | 2.96 | 103 |
| Bob Forsch | 34 | 233.2 | 11 | 17 | 3.70 | 114 |
| Silvio Martínez | 22 | 138.1 | 9 | 8 | 3.64 | 45 |
| Pete Falcone | 19 | 75.0 | 2 | 7 | 5.76 | 28 |
| Eric Rasmussen | 10 | 60.1 | 2 | 5 | 4.18 | 32 |

#### 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 |
| Pete Vuckovich | 45 | 198.1 | 12 | 12 | 2.54 | 149 |
| John Urrea | 27 | 98.2 | 4 | 9 | 5.38 | 61 |
| Aurelio López | 25 | 65.0 | 4 | 2 | 4.29 | 46 |
| Tom Bruno | 18 | 49.2 | 4 | 3 | 1.99 | 33 |
| Dan O'Brien | 7 | 18.0 | 0 | 2 | 4.50 | 12 |
| Rob Dressler | 3 | 13.0 | 0 | 1 | 2.08 | 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 |
| Mark Littell | 72 | 4 | 8 | 11 | 2.79 | 130 |
| Buddy Schultz | 62 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 3.80 | 70 |
| Roy Thomas | 16 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3.81 | 16 |
| George Frazier | 14 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4.09 | 8 |
| Dave Hamilton | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.43 | 8 |

## Awards and records
### League leaders

* Garry Templeton, National League leader, Triples

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Springfield Redbirds | American Association | Jimy Williams |
| AA | Arkansas Travelers | Texas League | Tommy Thompson |
| A | St. Petersburg Cardinals | Florida State League | Hal Lanier |
| A | Gastonia Cardinals | Western Carolinas League | Buzzy Keller |
| Rookie | Johnson City Cardinals | Appalachian League | Nick Leyva |
| Rookie | Calgary Cardinals | Pioneer League | Johnny Lewis |