# 1999 St. Louis Cardinals season

The St. Louis Cardinals 1999 season was the team's 118th season in St. Louis, Missouri and the 108th season in the National League. The Cardinals went 75–86 during the season and finished fourth in the National League Central division, 21½ games behind the Houston Astros.

## Offseason

* November 19, 1998: Eric Davis was signed as a free agent with the St. Louis Cardinals.
* November 19, 1998: Ricky Bottalico was traded by the Philadelphia Phillies with Garrett Stephenson to the St. Louis Cardinals for Jeff Brantley, Ron Gant, and Cliff Politte.
* December 7, 1998: Willie McGee was signed as a free agent with the St. Louis Cardinals.
* December 14, 1998: Édgar Rentería was traded by the Florida Marlins to the St. Louis Cardinals for Armando Almanza, Braden Looper, and Pablo Ozuna.
* January 15, 1999: Mike Mohler was signed as a free agent with the St. Louis Cardinals.

## Regular season

* On April 23, 1999, Fernando Tatís hit two grand slams in the third inning, both off Chan Ho Park.
* In 1999, Mark McGwire drove in a league-leading 147 runs while only having 145 hits, the highest RBI-per-hit tally in baseball history.

### Season standings

vteNL Central :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Houston Astros | 97 | 65 | .599 | — | 50‍–‍32 | 47‍–‍33 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 96 | 67 | .589 | 1½ | 45‍–‍37 | 51‍–‍30 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 78 | 83 | .484 | 18½ | 45‍–‍36 | 33‍–‍47 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 75 | 86 | .466 | 21½ | 38‍–‍42 | 37‍–‍44 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 74 | 87 | .460 | 22½ | 32‍–‍48 | 42‍–‍39 |
| Chicago Cubs | 67 | 95 | .414 | 30 | 34‍–‍47 | 33‍–‍48 |

### Record vs. opponents

1999 National League recordvte Source: NL Standings Head-to-Head :
| Team | AZ | ATL | CHC | CIN | COL | FLA | HOU | LA | MIL | MTL | NYM | PHI | PIT | SD | SF | STL | AL |
| Arizona | — | 4–5 | 7–2 | 1–8 | 6–7 | 8–1 | 5–4 | 7–6 | 5–4 | 6–3 | 7–2 | 8–1 | 5–2 | 11–2 | 9–3 | 4–4 | 7–8 |
| Atlanta | 5–4 | — | 2–5 | 8–1 | 5–4 | 9–4 | 6–1 | 5–4 | 5–2 | 9–4 | 9–3 | 8–5 | 6–3 | 5–4 | 4–5 | 8–1 | 9–9 |
| Chicago | 2–7 | 5–2 | — | 5–8 | 4–5 | 6–3 | 3–9 | 2–7 | 6–6 | 2–5 | 3–6 | 2–7 | 7–6 | 6–3 | 1–7 | 7–5 | 6–9 |
| Cincinnati | 8–1 | 1–8 | 8–5 | — | 7–2 | 6–1 | 9–4 | 4–3 | 6–6 | 4–3 | 5–5 | 6–3 | 7–6 | 6–3 | 4–5 | 8–4 | 7–8 |
| Colorado | 7–6 | 4–5 | 5–4 | 2–7 | — | 5–4 | 2–6 | 8–5 | 6–3 | 6–3 | 4–5 | 5–4 | 2–7 | 4–9 | 4–9 | 4–5 | 4–8 |
| Florida | 1–8 | 4–9 | 3–6 | 1–6 | 4–5 | — | 2–7 | 7–2 | 5–4 | 8–4 | 3–10 | 2–11 | 3–4 | 3–6 | 4–5 | 3–4 | 11–7 |
| Houston | 4–5 | 1–6 | 9–3 | 4–9 | 6–2 | 7–2 | — | 6–3 | 8–5 | 7–2 | 4–5 | 6–1 | 5–7 | 8–1 | 5–4 | 5–7 | 12–3 |
| Los Angeles | 6–7 | 4–5 | 7–2 | 3–4 | 5–8 | 2–7 | 3–6 | — | 7–2 | 5–4 | 4–4 | 6–3 | 3–6 | 3–9 | 8–5 | 3–6 | 8–7 |
| Milwaukee | 4–5 | 2–5 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 3–6 | 4–5 | 5–8 | 2–7 | — | 5–4 | 2–5 | 5–4 | 8–4 | 3–5 | 4–5 | 7–6 | 8–6 |
| Montreal | 3–6 | 4–9 | 5–2 | 3–4 | 3–6 | 4–8 | 2–7 | 4–5 | 4–5 | — | 5–8 | 6–6 | 3–6 | 5–3 | 4–5 | 5–4 | 8–10 |
| New York | 2–7 | 3–9 | 6–3 | 5–5 | 5–4 | 10–3 | 5–4 | 4–4 | 5–2 | 8–5 | — | 6–6 | 7–2 | 7–2 | 7–2 | 5–2 | 12–6 |
| Philadelphia | 1–8 | 5–8 | 7–2 | 3–6 | 4–5 | 11–2 | 1–6 | 3–6 | 4–5 | 6–6 | 6–6 | — | 3–4 | 6–3 | 2–6 | 4–5 | 11–7 |
| Pittsburgh | 2–5 | 3–6 | 6–7 | 6–7 | 7–2 | 4–3 | 7–5 | 6–3 | 4–8 | 6–3 | 2–7 | 4–3 | — | 3–6 | 4–5 | 7–5 | 7–8 |
| San Diego | 2–11 | 4–5 | 3–6 | 3–6 | 9–4 | 6–3 | 1–8 | 9–3 | 5–3 | 3–5 | 2–7 | 3–6 | 6–3 | — | 5–7 | 2–7 | 11–4 |
| San Francisco | 3–9 | 5–4 | 7–1 | 5–4 | 9–4 | 5–4 | 4–5 | 5–8 | 5–4 | 5–4 | 2–7 | 6–2 | 5–4 | 7–5 | — | 6–3 | 7–8 |
| St. Louis | 4–4 | 1–8 | 5–7 | 4–8 | 5–4 | 4–3 | 7–5 | 6–3 | 6–7 | 4–5 | 2–5 | 5–4 | 5–7 | 7–2 | 3–6 | — | 7–8 |

### Transactions

* May 15, 1999: Heathcliff Slocumb was signed as a free agent with the St. Louis Cardinals.
* June 2, 1999: Albert Pujols was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 13th round of the 1999 amateur draft. Player signed August 17, 1999.

### 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 | Eli Marrero | 114 | 317 | 61 | .192 | 6 | 34 |
| 1B | Mark McGwire | 153 | 521 | 145 | .278 | 65 | 147 |
| 2B | Joe McEwing | 152 | 513 | 141 | .275 | 9 | 44 |
| SS | Édgar Rentería | 154 | 585 | 161 | .275 | 11 | 63 |
| 3B | Fernando Tatis | 149 | 537 | 160 | .298 | 34 | 107 |
| LF | Ray Lankford | 122 | 422 | 129 | .306 | 15 | 63 |
| CF | J.D. Drew | 104 | 368 | 89 | .242 | 13 | 39 |
| RF | Eric Davis | 58 | 191 | 49 | .257 | 5 | 30 |

#### 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 |
| Darren Bragg | 93 | 273 | 71 | .260 | 6 | 26 |
| Willie McGee | 132 | 271 | 68 | .251 | 0 | 20 |
| Alberto Castillo | 93 | 255 | 67 | .263 | 4 | 31 |
| Plácido Polanco | 88 | 220 | 61 | .277 | 1 | 19 |
| Thomas Howard | 98 | 195 | 57 | .292 | 6 | 28 |
| Craig Paquette | 48 | 157 | 45 | .287 | 10 | 37 |
| Shawon Dunston | 62 | 150 | 46 | .307 | 5 | 25 |
| Adam Kennedy | 33 | 102 | 26 | .255 | 1 | 16 |
| David Howard | 52 | 82 | 17 | .207 | 1 | 6 |
| Marcus Jensen | 16 | 34 | 8 | .235 | 1 | 1 |
| Eduardo Pérez | 21 | 32 | 11 | .344 | 1 | 9 |
| Luis Ordaz | 10 | 9 | 1 | .111 | 0 | 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 |
| Darren Oliver | 30 | 196.1 | 9 | 9 | 4.26 | 119 |
| Kent Bottenfield | 31 | 190.1 | 18 | 7 | 3.97 | 124 |
| José Jiménez | 29 | 163.0 | 5 | 14 | 5.85 | 113 |
| Larry Luebbers | 8 | 45.2 | 3 | 3 | 5.12 | 16 |
| Donovan Osborne | 6 | 29.1 | 1 | 3 | 5.52 | 21 |
| Mark Thompson | 5 | 29.1 | 1 | 3 | 2.76 | 22 |

#### 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 |
| Kent Mercker | 25 | 103.2 | 6 | 5 | 5.12 | 64 |
| Juan Acevedo | 50 | 102.1 | 6 | 8 | 5.89 | 52 |
| Garrett Stephenson | 18 | 85.1 | 6 | 3 | 4.22 | 59 |
| Rick Ankiel | 9 | 33.0 | 0 | 1 | 3.27 | 39 |
| Clint Sodowsky | 3 | 6.1 | 0 | 1 | 15.63 | 2 |

#### 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 |
| Ricky Bottalico | 68 | 3 | 7 | 20 | 4.91 | 66 |
| Manny Aybar | 65 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 5.47 | 74 |
| Rich Croushore | 59 | 3 | 7 | 3 | 4.14 | 88 |
| Lance Painter | 56 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 4.83 | 56 |
| Mike Mohler | 48 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4.38 | 31 |
| Scott Radinsky | 43 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4.88 | 17 |
| Heathcliff Slocumb | 40 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2.36 | 48 |
| Mike Busby | 15 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7.13 | 7 |
| Rick Heiserman | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8.31 | 4 |
| Alan Benes | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 2 |
| Curtis King | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18.00 | 1 |

## Awards and records

* Mark McGwire, Major League record: First player to hit at least 50 home runs in four consecutive seasons

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Memphis Redbirds | Pacific Coast League | Gaylen Pitts |
| AA | Arkansas Travelers | Texas League | Chris Maloney |
| A | Potomac Cannons | Carolina League | Joe Cunningham, Jr. |
| A | Peoria Chiefs | Midwest League | Brian Rupp |
| A-Short Season | New Jersey Cardinals | New York–Penn League | José Oquendo |
| Rookie | Johnson City Cardinals | Appalachian League | Steve Turco |