# 1990 St. Louis Cardinals season

The 1990 St. Louis Cardinals season was the team's 109th season in St. Louis, Missouri and its 99th season in the National League. The Cardinals went 70–92 during the season and finished in sixth place of the National League East division, 25 games behind the NL East champion Pittsburgh Pirates. It was the first time the Cardinals had finished in last place since 1918. This was the most recent season the Cardinals finished in last place until 2023.

## Offseason

* November 28, 1989: Bryn Smith was signed as a free agent by the Cardinals.
* November 30, 1989: Danny Cox was signed as a free agent by the Cardinals.
* December 6, 1989: Jim Lindeman and Matt Kinzer were traded by the Cardinals to the Detroit Tigers for Bill Henderson (minors), Marcos Betances (minors), and Pat Austin (minors).
* February 27, 1990: Alex Cole and Steve Peters were traded by the Cardinals to the San Diego Padres for Omar Olivares.

## Regular season

Shortstop Ozzie Smith won a Gold Glove this year.

### Opening Day starters

* Tom Brunansky
* Vince Coleman
* Pedro Guerrero
* Joe Magrane
* Willie McGee
* José Oquendo
* Terry Pendleton
* Ozzie Smith
* Todd Zeile

### Season standings

vteNL East :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 95 | 67 | .586 | — | 49‍–‍32 | 46‍–‍35 |
| New York Mets | 91 | 71 | .562 | 4 | 52‍–‍29 | 39‍–‍42 |
| Montreal Expos | 85 | 77 | .525 | 10 | 47‍–‍34 | 38‍–‍43 |
| Chicago Cubs | 77 | 85 | .475 | 18 | 39‍–‍42 | 38‍–‍43 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 77 | 85 | .475 | 18 | 41‍–‍40 | 36‍–‍45 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 70 | 92 | .432 | 25 | 34‍–‍47 | 36‍–‍45 |

### Record vs. opponents

1990 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | ATL | CHC | CIN | HOU | LAD | MON | NYM | PHI | PIT | SD | SF | STL |
| Atlanta | — | 6–6 | 8–10 | 5–13 | 6–12 | 6–6 | 4–8 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 8–10 | 5–13 | 7–5 |
| Chicago | 6–6 | — | 4–8 | 6–6 | 3–9 | 11–7 | 9–9 | 11–7 | 4–14 | 8–4 | 7–5 | 8–10 |
| Cincinnati | 10–8 | 8–4 | — | 11–7 | 9–9 | 9–3 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 9–9 | 7–11 | 9–3 |
| Houston | 13–5 | 6–6 | 7–11 | — | 9–9 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 4–14 | 10–8 | 6–6 |
| Los Angeles | 12–6 | 9–3 | 9–9 | 9–9 | — | 6–6 | 5–7 | 8–4 | 4–8 | 9–9 | 8–10 | 7–5 |
| Montreal | 6–6 | 7–11 | 3–9 | 7–5 | 6–6 | — | 8–10 | 10–8 | 13–5 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 11–7 |
| New York | 8–4 | 9–9 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 10–8 | — | 10–8 | 10–8 | 5–7 | 7–5 | 12–6 |
| Philadelphia | 7-5 | 7–11 | 5–7 | 7–5 | 4–8 | 8–10 | 8–10 | — | 6–12 | 7–5 | 8–4 | 10–8 |
| Pittsburgh | 7–5 | 14–4 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 8–4 | 5–13 | 8–10 | 12–6 | — | 10–2 | 8–4 | 10–8 |
| San Diego | 10–8 | 4–8 | 9–9 | 14–4 | 9–9 | 5–7 | 7–5 | 5–7 | 2–10 | — | 7–11 | 3–9 |
| San Francisco | 13–5 | 5–7 | 11–7 | 8–10 | 10–8 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 4–8 | 4–8 | 11–7 | — | 9–3 |
| St. Louis | 5–7 | 10–8 | 3–9 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 7–11 | 6–12 | 8–10 | 8–10 | 9–3 | 3–9 | — |

### Notable transactions

* April 23, 1990: John Costello was traded by the Cardinals to the Montreal Expos for Rex Hudler.
* May 4, 1990: Tom Brunansky was traded by the Cardinals to the Boston Red Sox for Lee Smith.
* May 5, 1990: Terry Francona was signed as a free agent by the Cardinals.
* July 2, 1990: Ernie Camacho was signed as a free agent by the Cardinals.
* August 29, 1990: Willie McGee was traded by the Cardinals to the Oakland Athletics for Félix José, Stan Royer, and Daryl Green (minors). However, McGee would win the NL batting title (he had enough plate appearances to qualify for it despite this trade).

### Roster
## Player stats

* = Indicates team leader

### Batting
#### Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases
| Pos | Player | G | AB | R | H | Avg. | HR | RBI | SB |
| C | Todd Zeile | 144 | 495 | 62 | 121 | .244 | 15 | 57 | 2 |
| 1B | Pedro Guerrero | 136 | 498 | 42 | 140 | .281 | 13 | 80 | 1 |
| 2B | José Oquendo | 156 | 469 | 38 | 118 | .252 | 1 | 37 | 1 |
| 3B | Terry Pendleton | 121 | 447 | 46 | 103 | .230 | 6 | 58 | 7 |
| SS | Ozzie Smith | 143 | 512 | 61 | 130 | .254 | 1 | 50 | 32 |
| LF | Vince Coleman | 124 | 497 | 73 | 145 | .292 | 6 | 39 | 77 |
| CF | Willie McGee | 125 | 501 | 76 | 168 | .335 | 3 | 62 | 28 |
| RF | Milt Thompson | 135 | 418 | 42 | 91 | .218 | 6 | 30 | 25 |

#### Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases
| Player | G | AB | R | H | Avg. | HR | RBI | SB |
| Tom Pagnozzi | 69 | 220 | 20 | 61 | .277 | 2 | 23 | 1 |
| Rex Hudler | 89 | 217 | 30 | 61 | .281 | 7 | 22 | 18 |
| Tim Jones | 67 | 128 | 9 | 28 | .219 | 1 | 12 | 3 |
| Denny Walling | 78 | 127 | 7 | 28 | .220 | 1 | 19 | 0 |
| Ray Lankford | 39 | 126 | 12 | 36 | .286 | 3 | 12 | 8 |
| Craig Wilson | 55 | 121 | 13 | 30 | .248 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| Félix José | 25 | 85 | 12 | 23 | .271 | 0 | 3 | 4 |
| Bernard Gilkey | 18 | 64 | 11 | 19 | .297 | 1 | 3 | 6 |
| Dave Collins | 99 | 58 | 12 | 13 | .224 | 0 | 3 | 7 |
| Tom Brunansky | 19 | 57 | 5 | 9 | .158 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Gerónimo Peña | 18 | 45 | 5 | 11 | .244 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| Rod Brewer | 14 | 25 | 4 | 6 | .240 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| John Morris | 18 | 18 | 0 | 2 | .111 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ray Stephens | 5 | 15 | 2 | 2 | .133 | 1 | 1 | 0 |

### Pitching
#### Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; BB = Walks allowed; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | BB | SO |
| Joe Magrane | 31 | 203.1 | 10 | 17 | 3.59 | 59 | 100 |
| José DeLeón | 32 | 182.2 | 7 | 19 | 4.43 | 86 | 164 |
| John Tudor | 25 | 146.1 | 12 | 4 | 2.40 | 30 | 63 |
| Bob Tewksbury | 28 | 145.1 | 10 | 9 | 3.47 | 15 | 50 |
| Bryn Smith | 26 | 141.1 | 9 | 8 | 4.27 | 30 | 78 |
| Ken Hill | 17 | 78.2 | 5 | 6 | 5.49 | 33 | 58 |
| Greg Mathews | 11 | 50.2 | 0 | 5 | 5.33 | 30 | 18 |

#### Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; BB = Walks allowed; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | BB | SO |
| Omar Olivares | 9 | 49.1 | 1 | 1 | 2.92 | 17 | 20 |

#### Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; BB = Walks allowed; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | SV | ERA | BB | SO |
| Lee Smith | 53 | 68.2 | 3 | 4 | 27 | 2.10 | 20 | 70 |
| Frank DiPino | 62 | 81.0 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 4.56 | 31 | 49 |
| Ken Dayley | 58 | 73.1 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 3.56 | 30 | 51 |
| Scott Terry | 50 | 72.0 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 4.75 | 27 | 35 |
| Tom Niedenfuer | 52 | 65.0 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 3.46 | 25 | 32 |
| Ricky Horton | 32 | 42.0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4.93 | 22 | 18 |
| Mike Pérez | 13 | 13.2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3.95 | 3 | 5 |
| Cris Carpenter | 4 | 8.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.50 | 2 | 6 |
| Ernie Camacho | 6 | 5.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7.94 | 6 | 7 |
| Tim Sherrill | 8 | 4.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.23 | 3 | 3 |
| John Costello | 4 | 4.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.23 | 1 | 1 |
| Stan Clarke | 2 | 3.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.70 | 0 | 3 |
| Howard Hilton | 2 | 3.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 3 | 2 |
| Tim Jones | 1 | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.75 | 2 | 0 |

## Awards and honors

* Willie McGee, outfielder: Batting title (.335)
* Ozzie Smith, shortstop, National League Gold Glove

### All-Stars

* Ozzie Smith, starter, shortstop

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Louisville Redbirds | American Association | Gaylen Pitts |
| AA | Arkansas Travelers | Texas League | Dave Bialas |
| A | St. Petersburg Cardinals | Florida State League | Joe Pettini |
| A | Springfield Cardinals | Midwest League | Keith Champion |
| A | Savannah Cardinals | South Atlantic League | Rick Colbert |
| A-Short Season | Hamilton Redbirds | New York–Penn League | Luis Meléndez |
| Rookie | Johnson City Cardinals | Appalachian League | Mark DeJohn |
| Rookie | AZL Cardinals | Arizona League | Larry Milbourne |