# 1979 St. Louis Cardinals season

The 1979 St. Louis Cardinals season was the team's 98th season in St. Louis, Missouri and its 88th season in the National League. The Cardinals went 86–76 during the season and finished third in the National League East, 12 games behind the eventual NL pennant and World Series champion Pittsburgh Pirates.

## Offseason

* December 5, 1978: Pete Falcone was traded by the Cardinals to the New York Mets for Kim Seaman and Tom Grieve.
* January 9, 1979: Bill Mooneyham was drafted by the Cardinals in the 1st round (7th pick) of the secondary phase of the 1979 Major League Baseball Draft, but did not sign.
* January 16, 1979: Darold Knowles was signed as a free agent by the Cardinals.
* January 16, 1979: Benny Ayala was traded by the Cardinals to the Baltimore Orioles for Mike Dimmel.
* February 19, 1979: Will McEnaney was signed as a free agent by the Cardinals.

## Regular season

First baseman Keith Hernández won the MVP Award this year, along with Willie Stargell, batting .344, with 11 home runs and 105 RBIs. Hernández also won the Gold Glove. Left fielder Lou Brock collected his 3,000th career hit and played his final season in MLB.
Pete Vuckovich and Silvio Martínez each won 15 games. Garry Templeton became the first switch-hitter to collect 100 hits from each side of the plate and led the league in triples for a third consecutive season.

### Season standings

vteNL East :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 98 | 64 | .605 | — | 48‍–‍33 | 50‍–‍31 |
| Montreal Expos | 95 | 65 | .594 | 2 | 56‍–‍25 | 39‍–‍40 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 86 | 76 | .531 | 12 | 42‍–‍39 | 44‍–‍37 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 84 | 78 | .519 | 14 | 43‍–‍38 | 41‍–‍40 |
| Chicago Cubs | 80 | 82 | .494 | 18 | 45‍–‍36 | 35‍–‍46 |
| New York Mets | 63 | 99 | .389 | 35 | 28‍–‍53 | 35‍–‍46 |

### Record vs. opponents

1979 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | ATL | CHC | CIN | HOU | LAD | MON | NYM | PHI | PIT | SD | SF | STL |
| Atlanta | — | 4–8 | 6–12 | 7–11 | 12–6 | 1–9 | 4–8 | 7–5 | 4–8 | 6–12 | 11–7 | 4–8 |
| Chicago | 8–4 | — | 7–5 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 6–12 | 8–10 | 9–9 | 6–12 | 9–3 | 8–4 | 8–10 |
| Cincinnati | 12–6 | 5–7 | — | 8–10 | 11–7 | 6–6 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 10–7 | 6–12 | 8–4 |
| Houston | 11–7 | 6–6 | 10–8 | — | 10–8 | 7–5 | 9–3 | 5–7 | 4–8 | 14–4 | 7–11 | 6–6 |
| Los Angeles | 6–12 | 7–5 | 7–11 | 8–10 | — | 6–6 | 9–3 | 3–9 | 4–8 | 9–9 | 14–4 | 6–6 |
| Montreal | 9–1 | 12–6 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 6–6 | — | 15–3 | 11–7 | 7–11 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 10–8 |
| New York | 8–4 | 10–8 | 4–8 | 3–9 | 3–9 | 3–15 | — | 5–13 | 8–10 | 4–8 | 8–4 | 7–11 |
| Philadelphia | 5-7 | 9–9 | 4–8 | 7–5 | 9–3 | 7–11 | 13–5 | — | 8–10 | 9–3 | 6–6 | 7–11 |
| Pittsburgh | 8–4 | 12–6 | 4–8 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 11–7 | 10–8 | 10–8 | — | 7–5 | 9–3 | 11–7 |
| San Diego | 12–6 | 3–9 | 7–10 | 4–14 | 9–9 | 5–7 | 8–4 | 3–9 | 5–7 | — | 8–10 | 4–8 |
| San Francisco | 7–11 | 4–8 | 12–6 | 11–7 | 4–14 | 5–7 | 4–8 | 6–6 | 3–9 | 10–8 | — | 5–7 |
| St. Louis | 8–4 | 10–8 | 4–8 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 8–10 | 11–7 | 11–7 | 7–11 | 8–4 | 7–5 | — |

### Opening Day starters

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

### Notable transactions

* June 5, 1979: Andy Van Slyke was drafted by the Cardinals in the 1st round (6th pick) of the 1979 Major League Baseball Draft.

### 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 | 123 | 448 | 127 | .283 | 26 | 87 |
| 1B | Keith Hernandez | 161 | 610 | 210 | .344 | 11 | 105 |
| 2B | Ken Oberkfell | 135 | 369 | 111 | .301 | 1 | 35 |
| SS | Garry Templeton | 154 | 672 | 211 | .314 | 9 | 62 |
| 3B | Ken Reitz | 159 | 605 | 162 | .268 | 8 | 73 |
| LF | Lou Brock | 120 | 405 | 123 | .304 | 5 | 38 |
| CF | Tony Scott | 153 | 587 | 152 | .259 | 6 | 68 |
| RF | George Hendrick | 140 | 493 | 148 | .300 | 16 | 75 |

#### 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 | 124 | 339 | 100 | .295 | 3 | 32 |
| Mike Tyson | 75 | 190 | 42 | .221 | 5 | 20 |
| Dane Iorg | 79 | 179 | 52 | .291 | 1 | 21 |
| Terry Kennedy | 33 | 109 | 31 | .284 | 2 | 17 |
| Mike Phillips | 44 | 97 | 22 | .227 | 1 | 6 |
| Steve Swisher | 38 | 73 | 11 | .151 | 1 | 3 |
| Bernie Carbo | 52 | 64 | 18 | .281 | 3 | 12 |
| Roger Freed | 34 | 31 | 8 | .258 | 2 | 8 |
| Jim Lentine | 11 | 23 | 9 | .391 | 0 | 1 |
| Tom Grieve | 9 | 15 | 3 | .200 | 0 | 0 |
| Keith Smith | 6 | 13 | 3 | .231 | 0 | 0 |
| Tom Herr | 14 | 10 | 2 | .200 | 0 | 1 |
| Mike Dimmel | 6 | 3 | 1 | .333 | 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 |
| Pete Vuckovich | 34 | 233.0 | 15 | 10 | 3.59 | 145 |
| Bob Forsch | 33 | 218.2 | 11 | 11 | 3.83 | 92 |
| Silvio Martínez | 32 | 206.2 | 15 | 8 | 3.27 | 102 |
| John Denny | 31 | 206.0 | 8 | 11 | 4.85 | 99 |
| John Fulgham | 20 | 146.0 | 10 | 6 | 2.53 | 75 |
| Bob Sykes | 13 | 67.0 | 4 | 3 | 6.18 | 35 |

#### 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 |
| Roy Thomas | 26 | 77.0 | 3 | 4 | 2.92 | 44 |
| John Urrea | 3 | 11.1 | 0 | 0 | 3.97 | 5 |

#### 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 | 63 | 9 | 4 | 13 | 2.19 | 67 |
| Darold Knowles | 48 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 4.07 | 22 |
| Will McEnaney | 45 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 2.95 | 15 |
| Buddy Schultz | 31 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4.46 | 38 |
| Tom Bruno | 27 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 4.23 | 27 |
| George Frazier | 25 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 4.45 | 14 |
| Dan O'Brien | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8.18 | 5 |
| Kim Seaman | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 3 |

## Awards and honors

* Lou Brock, Hutch Award

### League records

* Garry Templeton, National League record, league leader in triples for three consecutive seasons

### League leaders

* Garry Templeton, National League leader, triples

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Springfield Redbirds | American Association | Hal Lanier |
| AA | Arkansas Travelers | Texas League | Tommy Thompson |
| A | St. Petersburg Cardinals | Florida State League | Sonny Ruberto |
| A | Gastonia Cardinals | Western Carolinas League | Johnny Lewis |
| Rookie | Johnson City Cardinals | Appalachian League | Nick Leyva |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Arkansas