# 1957 St. Louis Cardinals season

The 1957 St. Louis Cardinals season was the team's 76th season in St. Louis, Missouri and its 66th season in the National League. The Cardinals went 87–67 during the season and finished second in the National League, eight games behind the Milwaukee Braves.

## Offseason

* October 16, 1956: Hank Sauer was released by the Cardinals.
* November 27, 1956: Charlie Peete, 27, was killed in a plane crash, along with his wife and three children, while flying to Venezuela to play Winter League ball. He was projected to be the Cardinals' starting center fielder in 1957.
* December 3, 1956: Bob Smith was drafted by the Cardinals from the Boston Red Sox in the 1956 rule 5 draft.
* December 11, 1956: Tom Poholsky, Jackie Collum, Ray Katt, and Wally Lammers (minors) were traded by the Cardinals to the Chicago Cubs for Eddie Miksis, Jim Davis, Sam Jones, and Hobie Landrith.
* February 26, 1957: Whitey Lockman was traded by the Cardinals to the New York Giants for Hoyt Wilhelm.
* Prior to 1957 season: Cal Browning was signed as an amateur free agent by the Cardinals.

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteNational League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Milwaukee Braves | 95 | 59 | .617 | — | 45‍–‍32 | 50‍–‍27 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 87 | 67 | .565 | 8 | 42‍–‍35 | 45‍–‍32 |
| Brooklyn Dodgers | 84 | 70 | .545 | 11 | 43‍–‍34 | 41‍–‍36 |
| Cincinnati Redlegs | 80 | 74 | .519 | 15 | 45‍–‍32 | 35‍–‍42 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 77 | 77 | .500 | 18 | 38‍–‍39 | 39‍–‍38 |
| New York Giants | 69 | 85 | .448 | 26 | 37‍–‍40 | 32‍–‍45 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 62 | 92 | .403 | 33 | 36‍–‍41 | 26‍–‍51 |
| Chicago Cubs | 62 | 92 | .403 | 33 | 31‍–‍46 | 31‍–‍46 |

### Record vs. opponents

1957 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BRO | CHC | CIN | MIL | NYG | PHI | PIT | STL |
| Brooklyn | — | 17–5 | 12–10 | 10–12 | 12–10 | 9–13 | 12–10 | 12–10 |
| Chicago | 5–17 | — | 7–15 | 9–13 | 9–13 | 8–14–1 | 12–10–1 | 12–10 |
| Cincinnati | 10–12 | 15–7 | — | 4–18 | 12–10 | 16–6 | 14–8 | 9–13 |
| Milwaukee | 12–10 | 13–9 | 18–4 | — | 13–9 | 12–10–1 | 16–6 | 11–11 |
| New York | 10–12 | 13–9 | 10–12 | 9–13 | — | 10–12 | 9–13 | 8–14 |
| Philadelphia | 13–9 | 14–8–1 | 6–16 | 10–12–1 | 12–10 | — | 13–9 | 9–13 |
| Pittsburgh | 10–12 | 10–12–1 | 8–14 | 6–16 | 13–9 | 9–13 | — | 6–16 |
| St. Louis | 10–12 | 10–12 | 13–9 | 11–11 | 14–8 | 13–9 | 16–6 | — |

### Notable transactions

* April 20, 1957: Ed Mayer and Bobby Del Greco were traded by the Cardinals to the Chicago Cubs for Jim King.
* May 14, 1957: Bob Smith was purchased from the Cardinals by the Pittsburgh Pirates.
* September 19, 1957: Eddie Miksis was selected off waivers from the Cardinals by the Baltimore Orioles
* September 19, 1957: Morrie Martin was purchased by the Cardinals from the Baltimore Orioles.
* September 21, 1957: Hoyt Wilhelm was selected off waivers from the Cardinals by the Cleveland Indians.

### 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 | Hal Smith | 100 | 333 | 93 | .279 | 2 | 37 |
| 1B | Stan Musial | 134 | 502 | 176 | .351 | 29 | 102 |
| 2B | Don Blasingame | 154 | 650 | 176 | .271 | 8 | 58 |
| SS | Al Dark | 140 | 583 | 169 | .290 | 4 | 64 |
| 3B | Eddie Kasko | 134 | 479 | 131 | .273 | 1 | 35 |
| LF | Wally Moon | 142 | 516 | 152 | .295 | 24 | 73 |
| CF | Ken Boyer | 142 | 544 | 144 | .265 | 19 | 62 |
| RF | Del Ennis | 136 | 490 | 140 | .286 | 24 | 105 |

#### 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 |
| Joe Cunningham | 122 | 261 | 83 | .318 | 9 | 52 |
| Hobie Landrith | 75 | 214 | 52 | .243 | 3 | 26 |
| Bobby Smith | 93 | 185 | 39 | .211 | 3 | 18 |
| Walker Cooper | 48 | 78 | 21 | .269 | 3 | 10 |
| Ducky Schofield | 65 | 56 | 9 | .161 | 0 | 1 |
| Eddie Miksis | 49 | 38 | 8 | .211 | 1 | 2 |
| Jim King | 22 | 35 | 11 | .314 | 0 | 2 |
| Irv Noren | 17 | 30 | 11 | .367 | 1 | 10 |
| Tom Alston | 9 | 17 | 5 | .294 | 0 | 2 |
| Gene Green | 6 | 15 | 3 | .200 | 0 | 2 |
| Don Lassetter | 4 | 13 | 2 | .154 | 0 | 0 |
| Chuck Harmon | 9 | 3 | 1 | .333 | 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 |
| Lindy McDaniel | 30 | 191.0 | 15 | 9 | 3.49 | 75 |
| Sam Jones | 28 | 182.2 | 12 | 9 | 3.60 | 154 |
| Von McDaniel | 17 | 86.2 | 7 | 5 | 3.22 | 45 |
| Murry Dickson | 14 | 74.0 | 5 | 3 | 4.14 | 29 |

#### 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 |
| Larry Jackson | 41 | 210.1 | 15 | 9 | 3.47 | 96 |
| Herm Wehmeier | 36 | 165.0 | 10 | 7 | 4.31 | 91 |
| Vinegar Bend Mizell | 33 | 149.1 | 8 | 10 | 3.74 | 87 |
| Willard Schmidt | 40 | 116.2 | 10 | 3 | 4.78 | 63 |
| Morrie Martin | 4 | 10.2 | 0 | 0 | 2.53 | 7 |
| Frank Barnes | 3 | 10.0 | 0 | 1 | 4.50 | 5 |
| Tom Cheney | 4 | 9.0 | 0 | 1 | 5.00 | 10 |
| Lynn Lovenguth | 2 | 9.0 | 0 | 1 | 2.00 | 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 |
| Hoyt Wilhelm | 40 | 1 | 4 | 11 | 4.25 | 29 |
| Lloyd Merritt | 44 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 3.31 | 35 |
| Billy Muffett | 23 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 2.25 | 21 |
| Jim Davis | 10 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5.27 | 5 |
| Bob Smith | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4.66 | 11 |
| Bob Miller | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7.00 | 7 |
| Bob Kuzava | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.86 | 2 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Omaha Cardinals | American Association | Johnny Keane |
| AAA | Rochester Red Wings | International League | Cot Deal |
| AA | Houston Buffaloes | Texas League | Harry Walker |
| A | Columbus Foxes | Sally League | Skeeter Newsome |
| B | Winston-Salem Red Birds | Carolina League | George Kissell |
| C | Winnipeg Goldeyes | Northern League | Vern Benson |
| C | Billings Mustangs | Pioneer League | Ed Lyons |
| D | Wytheville Cardinals | Appalachian League | Johnny Grodzicki |
| D | Daytona Beach Islanders | Florida State League | Homer Ray Wilson |
| D | Albany Cardinals | Georgia–Florida League | Chase Riddle |
| D | Decatur Commodores | Midwest League | Al Unser |
| D | Ardmore Cardinals | Sooner State League | J. C. Dunn and Mike Ryba |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Houston, Winnipeg, Billings, Albany, Decatur, Ardmore