# 1976 St. Louis Cardinals season

The 1976 St. Louis Cardinals season was the team's 95th season in St. Louis, Missouri and the 85th season in the National League. The Cardinals went 72–90 during the season and finished fifth in the National League East, 29 games behind the Philadelphia Phillies.

## Offseason

* October 28, 1975: Mike Garman and a player to be named later were traded by the Cardinals to the Chicago Cubs for Don Kessinger. The Cardinals sent completed the deal by sending Bobby Hrapmann (minors) to the Cubs on April 5, 1976.
* December 12, 1975: Buddy Bradford and Greg Terlecky were traded by the Cardinals to the Chicago White Sox for Lee Richard.
* December 22, 1975, Mick Kelleher was traded by the Cardinals to the Chicago Cubs for Vic Harris.
* January 7, 1976: John Butcher was drafted by the Cardinals in the 2nd round of the 1976 Major League Baseball Draft, but did not sign.
* February 3, 1976: Tom Walker was purchased by the Cardinals from the Detroit Tigers.
* March 2, 1976: Ted Sizemore was traded by the Cardinals to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Willie Crawford.

## Regular season

This was the twelfth and final season for Red Schoendienst as the Cardinals' full-time manager, although he would manage the club in parts of two later seasons (1980 and 1990).
The Cardinals went to the Columbia blue road uniforms for the first time in '76. They would continue to wear those uniforms through the 1984 season.

### Season standings

vteNL East :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 101 | 61 | .623 | — | 53‍–‍28 | 48‍–‍33 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 92 | 70 | .568 | 9 | 47‍–‍34 | 45‍–‍36 |
| New York Mets | 86 | 76 | .531 | 15 | 45‍–‍37 | 41‍–‍39 |
| Chicago Cubs | 75 | 87 | .463 | 26 | 42‍–‍39 | 33‍–‍48 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 72 | 90 | .444 | 29 | 37‍–‍44 | 35‍–‍46 |
| Montreal Expos | 55 | 107 | .340 | 46 | 27‍–‍53 | 28‍–‍54 |

### Record vs. opponents

1976 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | ATL | CHC | CIN | HOU | LAD | MON | NYM | PHI | PIT | SD | SF | STL |
| Atlanta | — | 6–6 | 6–12 | 7–11 | 8–10 | 8–4 | 4–8 | 5–7 | 3–9 | 10–8 | 9–9 | 4–8 |
| Chicago | 6–6 | — | 3–9 | 5–7 | 3–9 | 11–7 | 5–13 | 8–10 | 8–10 | 6–6 | 8–4 | 12–6 |
| Cincinnati | 12–6 | 9–3 | — | 12–6 | 13–5 | 9–3 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 8–4 | 13–5 | 9–9 | 6–6 |
| Houston | 11–7 | 7–5 | 6–12 | — | 5–13 | 10–2 | 6–6 | 4–8 | 2–10 | 10–8 | 10–8 | 9–3 |
| Los Angeles | 10–8 | 9–3 | 5–13 | 13–5 | — | 10–2 | 7–5 | 5–7 | 9–3 | 6–12 | 8–10 | 10–2 |
| Montreal | 4–8 | 7–11 | 3–9 | 2–10 | 2–10 | — | 8–10 | 3–15 | 8–10 | 4–8 | 7–5 | 7–11 |
| New York | 8–4 | 13–5 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 10–8 | — | 5–13 | 10–8 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 9–9 |
| Philadelphia | 7-5 | 10–8 | 7–5 | 8–4 | 7–5 | 15–3 | 13–5 | — | 8–10 | 8–4 | 6–6 | 12–6 |
| Pittsburgh | 9–3 | 10–8 | 4–8 | 10–2 | 3–9 | 10–8 | 8–10 | 10–8 | — | 7–5 | 9–3 | 12–6 |
| San Diego | 8–10 | 6–6 | 5–13 | 8–10 | 12–6 | 8–4 | 5–7 | 4–8 | 5–7 | — | 8–10 | 4–8 |
| San Francisco | 9–9 | 4–8 | 9–9 | 8–10 | 10–8 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 3–9 | 10–8 | — | 5–7 |
| St. Louis | 8–4 | 6–12 | 6–6 | 3–9 | 2–10 | 11–7 | 9–9 | 6–12 | 6–12 | 8–4 | 7–5 | — |

### Notable transactions

* April 9, 1976: Wayne Nordhagen was purchased from the Cardinals by the Philadelphia Phillies.
* May 19, 1976: Luis Meléndez was traded by the Cardinals to the San Diego Padres for Bill Greif.
* June 8, 1976: John Littlefield was drafted by the Cardinals in the 30th round of the 1976 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 | 150 | 546 | 159 | .291 | 5 | 75 |
| 1B | Keith Hernandez | 129 | 374 | 108 | .289 | 7 | 46 |
| 2B | Mike Tyson | 76 | 245 | 70 | .286 | 3 | 28 |
| 3B | Héctor Cruz | 151 | 526 | 120 | .228 | 13 | 71 |
| SS | Don Kessinger | 145 | 502 | 120 | .239 | 1 | 40 |
| LF | Lou Brock | 133 | 498 | 150 | .301 | 4 | 67 |
| CF | Jerry Mumphrey | 112 | 384 | 99 | .258 | 1 | 26 |
| RF | Willie Crawford | 120 | 392 | 119 | .304 | 9 | 50 |

#### 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 |
| Bake McBride | 72 | 272 | 91 | .335 | 3 | 24 |
| Vic Harris | 97 | 259 | 59 | .228 | 1 | 19 |
| Garry Templeton | 53 | 213 | 62 | .291 | 1 | 17 |
| Mike Anderson | 86 | 199 | 58 | .291 | 1 | 12 |
| Joe Ferguson | 71 | 189 | 38 | .201 | 4 | 21 |
| Reggie Smith | 47 | 170 | 37 | .218 | 8 | 23 |
| Ron Fairly | 73 | 110 | 29 | .264 | 0 | 21 |
| Lee Richard | 66 | 91 | 16 | .176 | 0 | 5 |
| Ken Rudolph | 27 | 50 | 8 | .160 | 0 | 5 |
| Luis Alvarado | 16 | 42 | 12 | .286 | 0 | 3 |
| Luis Meléndez | 20 | 24 | 3 | .125 | 0 | 0 |
| Sam Mejías | 18 | 21 | 3 | .143 | 0 | 0 |
| Mike Potter | 9 | 16 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Charlie Chant | 15 | 14 | 2 | .143 | 0 | 0 |
| John Tamargo | 10 | 10 | 3 | .300 | 0 | 1 |
| Doug Clarey | 9 | 4 | 1 | .250 | 1 | 2 |

### 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 Falcone | 32 | 212.0 | 12 | 16 | 3.23 | 138 |
| John Denny | 30 | 207.0 | 11 | 9 | 2.52 | 74 |
| Lynn McGlothen | 33 | 205.0 | 13 | 15 | 3.91 | 106 |
| Bob Forsch | 33 | 194.0 | 8 | 10 | 3.94 | 76 |

#### 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 |
| Eric Rasmussen | 43 | 150.1 | 6 | 12 | 3.53 | 76 |
| John Curtis | 37 | 134.0 | 6 | 11 | 4.50 | 52 |
| Lerrin LaGrow | 8 | 24.1 | 0 | 1 | 1.48 | 10 |

#### 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 |
| Al Hrabosky | 68 | 8 | 6 | 13 | 3.30 | 73 |
| Mike Wallace | 49 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4.07 | 40 |
| Bill Greif | 47 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 4.12 | 32 |
| Eddie Solomon | 26 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4.86 | 19 |
| Danny Frisella | 18 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3.97 | 11 |
| Mike Proly | 14 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3.71 | 4 |
| Tom Walker | 10 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4.12 | 11 |
| Doug Capilla | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5.40 | 5 |
| Steve Waterbury | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.00 | 4 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Tulsa Oilers | American Association | Ken Boyer |
| AA | Arkansas Travelers | Texas League | Jack Krol |
| A | St. Petersburg Cardinals | Florida State League | Hal Lanier |
| Rookie | Johnson City Cardinals | Appalachian League | Buzzy Keller |
| Rookie | GCL Cardinals | Gulf Coast League | Dave Ricketts |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Johnson City