# 1975 St. Louis Cardinals season

The 1975 St. Louis Cardinals season was the team's 94th season in St. Louis, Missouri and its 84th season in the National League. The Cardinals went 82–80 during the season and finished in a tie for third (with the New York Mets) in the National League East, 101⁄2 games behind the Pittsburgh Pirates.

## Offseason

* October 14, 1974: Marc Hill was traded by the Cardinals to the San Francisco Giants for Ken Rudolph and Elías Sosa.
* November 18, 1974: Alan Foster, Rich Folkers and Sonny Siebert were traded by the Cardinals to the San Diego Padres as part of a three team trade. The Padres sent a player to be named later to the Cardinals, and the Detroit Tigers sent Ed Brinkman to the Cardinals. The Tigers sent Bob Strampe and Dick Sharon to the Padres. The Padres sent Nate Colbert to the Tigers. The Padres completed the deal by sending Danny Breeden to the Cardinals on December 12.
* March 26, 1975: Ron Hunt was released by the Cardinals.
* March 29, 1975: Danny Godby was traded by the Cardinals to the Boston Red Sox for Danny Cater.

## Regular season

Third baseman Ken Reitz won a Gold Glove this year. 1975 was also the final major league season for pitcher Bob Gibson.

### Season standings

vteNL East :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 92 | 69 | .571 | — | 52‍–‍28 | 40‍–‍41 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 86 | 76 | .531 | 6½ | 51‍–‍30 | 35‍–‍46 |
| New York Mets | 82 | 80 | .506 | 10½ | 42‍–‍39 | 40‍–‍41 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 82 | 80 | .506 | 10½ | 45‍–‍36 | 37‍–‍44 |
| Chicago Cubs | 75 | 87 | .463 | 17½ | 42‍–‍39 | 33‍–‍48 |
| Montreal Expos | 75 | 87 | .463 | 17½ | 39‍–‍42 | 36‍–‍45 |

### Record vs. opponents

1975 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | ATL | CHC | CIN | HOU | LAD | MON | NYM | PHI | PIT | SD | SF | STL |
| Atlanta | — | 5–7 | 3–15 | 12–6 | 8–10 | 8–4 | 4–8 | 5–7 | 4–8 | 7–11 | 8–9 | 3–9 |
| Chicago | 7–5 | — | 1–11 | 7–5 | 5–7 | 9–9 | 7–11 | 12–6 | 6–12 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 11–7 |
| Cincinnati | 15–3 | 11–1 | — | 13–5 | 8–10 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 11–7 | 13–5 | 8–4 |
| Houston | 6–12 | 5–7 | 5–13 | — | 6–12 | 8–4 | 4–8 | 6–6 | 6–5 | 9–9 | 5–13 | 4–8–1 |
| Los Angeles | 10–8 | 7–5 | 10–8 | 12–6 | — | 5–7 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 5–7 | 11–7 | 10–8 | 5–7 |
| Montreal | 4–8 | 9–9 | 4–8 | 4–8 | 7–5 | — | 10–8 | 7–11 | 7–11 | 7–5 | 5–7 | 11–7 |
| New York | 8–4 | 11–7 | 4–8 | 8–4 | 6–6 | 8–10 | — | 7–11 | 5–13 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 9–9 |
| Philadelphia | 7-5 | 6–12 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 11–7 | 11–7 | — | 11–7 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 10–8 |
| Pittsburgh | 8–4 | 12–6 | 6–6 | 5–6 | 7–5 | 11–7 | 13–5 | 7–11 | — | 8–4 | 5–7 | 10–8 |
| San Diego | 11–7 | 7–5 | 7–11 | 9–9 | 7–11 | 5–7 | 4–8 | 5–7 | 4–8 | — | 8–10 | 4–8 |
| San Francisco | 9–8 | 7–5 | 5–13 | 13–5 | 8–10 | 7–5 | 4–8 | 5–7 | 7–5 | 10–8 | — | 5–7 |
| St. Louis | 9–3 | 7–11 | 4–8 | 8–4–1 | 7–5 | 7–11 | 9–9 | 8–10 | 8–10 | 8–4 | 7–5 | — |

### Opening Day starters

* Ed Brinkman
* Lou Brock
* Bob Gibson
* Keith Hernandez
* Bake McBride
* Ken Reitz
* Ted Simmons
* Ted Sizemore
* Reggie Smith

### Notable transactions

* May 28, 1975: Elías Sosa and Ray Sadecki were traded by the Cardinals to the Atlanta Braves for Ron Reed and a player to be named later. The Braves completed the deal by sending Wayne Nordhagen to the Cardinals on June 2.
* June 3, 1975: Jim Lentine was drafted by the Cardinals in the 12th round of the 1975 Major League Baseball Draft.
* June 4, 1975: Ed Brinkman and Tommy Moore were traded by the Cardinals to the Texas Rangers for Willie Davis.
* July 22, 1975: Ken Crosby was traded by the Cardinals to the Chicago Cubs for Eddie Solomon.

### 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 | 157 | 581 | 193 | .332 | 18 | 100 |
| 1B | Keith Hernandez | 64 | 188 | 47 | .250 | 3 | 20 |
| 2B | Ted Sizemore | 153 | 562 | 135 | .240 | 3 | 49 |
| SS | Mike Tyson | 122 | 368 | 98 | .266 | 2 | 37 |
| 3B | Ken Reitz | 161 | 592 | 159 | .269 | 5 | 63 |
| LF | Lou Brock | 136 | 528 | 163 | .309 | 3 | 47 |
| CF | Bake McBride | 116 | 413 | 124 | .300 | 5 | 36 |
| RF | Reggie Smith | 135 | 477 | 144 | .302 | 19 | 76 |

#### 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 |
| Willie Davis | 98 | 350 | 102 | .291 | 6 | 50 |
| Luis Meléndez | 110 | 291 | 77 | .265 | 2 | 27 |
| Ron Fairly | 107 | 229 | 69 | .301 | 7 | 37 |
| Mario Guerrero | 64 | 184 | 44 | .239 | 0 | 11 |
| Buddy Bradford | 50 | 81 | 22 | .272 | 4 | 15 |
| Ken Rudolph | 44 | 80 | 16 | .200 | 1 | 6 |
| Ed Brinkman | 28 | 75 | 18 | .240 | 1 | 6 |
| Héctor Cruz | 23 | 48 | 7 | .146 | 0 | 6 |
| Danny Cater | 22 | 35 | 8 | .229 | 0 | 2 |
| Jim Dwyer | 21 | 31 | 6 | .194 | 0 | 1 |
| Doug Howard | 17 | 29 | 6 | .207 | 1 | 1 |
| Ted Martínez | 16 | 21 | 4 | .190 | 0 | 2 |
| Larry Lintz | 27 | 18 | 5 | .278 | 0 | 1 |
| Jerry Mumphrey | 11 | 16 | 6 | .375 | 0 | 1 |
| Don Hahn | 7 | 8 | 1 | .125 | 0 | 0 |
| Mick Kelleher | 7 | 4 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Dick Billings | 3 | 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 |
| Lynn McGlothen | 35 | 239.0 | 15 | 13 | 3.92 | 146 |
| Bob Forsch | 34 | 230.0 | 15 | 10 | 2.86 | 108 |
| Ron Reed | 24 | 175.2 | 9 | 8 | 3.23 | 99 |
| John Denny | 25 | 136.0 | 10 | 7 | 3.97 | 72 |
| Bob Gibson | 22 | 109.0 | 3 | 10 | 5.04 | 60 |
| Eric Rasmussen | 14 | 81.0 | 5 | 5 | 3.78 | 59 |

#### 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 |
| John Curtis | 39 | 146.2 | 8 | 9 | 3.44 | 67 |

#### 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 | 65 | 13 | 3 | 22 | 1.66 | 82 |
| Mike Garman | 66 | 3 | 8 | 10 | 2.39 | 48 |
| Greg Terlecky | 20 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4.45 | 13 |
| Elías Sosa | 14 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4.00 | 15 |
| Harry Parker | 14 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6.27 | 13 |
| Tommy Moore | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.86 | 6 |
| Ken Reynolds | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1.59 | 7 |
| Ron Bryant | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 16.62 | 7 |
| Mike Wallace | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.08 | 6 |
| Mike Barlow | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.70 | 2 |
| Ray Sadecki | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3.27 | 8 |
| Ryan Kurosaki | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7.62 | 6 |

## Awards and honors

* Lou Brock, Roberto Clemente Award

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Tulsa Oilers | American Association | Ken Boyer |
| AA | Arkansas Travelers | Texas League | Roy Majtyka |
| A | St. Petersburg Cardinals | Florida State League | Jack Krol |
| Rookie | Johnson City Cardinals | Appalachian League | Tom Burgess |
| Rookie | GCL Cardinals | Gulf Coast League | Fred Koenig |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: St. Petersburg, Johnson City