# 1980 St. Louis Cardinals season

The St. Louis Cardinals 1980 season was the team's 99th season in St. Louis, Missouri, and the 89th season in the National League. The Cardinals went 74–88 during the season and finished fourth in the National League East, 17 games behind the eventual NL pennant and World Series champion Philadelphia Phillies.
The Cardinals played the season under four different managers, Ken Boyer (fired June 8 between games of a double-header against the Expos in Montreal), Jack Krol (the second game of the double-header that same day), Whitey Herzog (June 9 until he was hired as the team's general manager in late August, succeeding John Claiborne, who was fired earlier in August) and Red Schoendienst (from late August to end of season). After the season, Herzog reclaimed the managerial job.
This team set a record for the most Silver Slugger Award winners in one season: Keith Hernández (first base), Garry Templeton (shortstop), George Hendrick (outfielder), Ted Simmons (catcher), and Bob Forsch (pitcher). Hernández also won a Gold Glove.

## Offseason

* October 17, 1979: Mike Tyson was traded by the Cardinals to the Chicago Cubs for Donnie Moore.
* March 31, 1980: Will McEnaney was released by the St. Louis Cardinals.

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteNL East :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 91 | 71 | .562 | — | 49‍–‍32 | 42‍–‍39 |
| Montreal Expos | 90 | 72 | .556 | 1 | 51‍–‍29 | 39‍–‍43 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 83 | 79 | .512 | 8 | 47‍–‍34 | 36‍–‍45 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 74 | 88 | .457 | 17 | 41‍–‍40 | 33‍–‍48 |
| New York Mets | 67 | 95 | .414 | 24 | 38‍–‍44 | 29‍–‍51 |
| Chicago Cubs | 64 | 98 | .395 | 27 | 37‍–‍44 | 27‍–‍54 |

### Record vs. opponents

1980 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | ATL | CHC | CIN | HOU | LAD | MON | NYM | PHI | PIT | SD | SF | STL |
| Atlanta | — | 8–4 | 2–16 | 7–11 | 11–7 | 5–7 | 3–9 | 5–7 | 11–1 | 12–6 | 11–6 | 6–6 |
| Chicago | 4–8 | — | 7–5 | 1–11 | 5–7 | 6–12 | 10–8 | 5–13 | 8–10 | 4–8 | 5–7 | 9–9 |
| Cincinnati | 16–2 | 5–7 | — | 8–10 | 9–9 | 3–9 | 8–4 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 15–3–1 | 7–11 | 5–7 |
| Houston | 11–7 | 11–1 | 10–8 | — | 9–10 | 5–7 | 8–4 | 3–9 | 7–5 | 11–7 | 11–7 | 7–5 |
| Los Angeles | 7–11 | 7–5 | 9–9 | 10–9 | — | 11–1 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 9–9 | 13–5 | 7–5 |
| Montreal | 7–5 | 12–6 | 9–3 | 7–5 | 1–11 | — | 10–8 | 9–9 | 6–12 | 10–2 | 7–5 | 12–6 |
| New York | 9–3 | 8–10 | 4–8 | 4–8 | 5–7 | 8–10 | — | 6–12 | 10–8 | 1–11 | 3–9 | 9–9 |
| Philadelphia | 7-5 | 13–5 | 5–7 | 9–3 | 6–6 | 9–9 | 12–6 | — | 7–11 | 8–4 | 6–6 | 9–9 |
| Pittsburgh | 1–11 | 10–8 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 12–6 | 8–10 | 11–7 | — | 6–6 | 8–4 | 10–8 |
| San Diego | 6–12 | 8–4 | 3–15–1 | 7–11 | 9–9 | 2–10 | 11–1 | 4–8 | 6–6 | — | 10–8 | 7–5 |
| San Francisco | 6–11 | 7–5 | 11–7 | 7–11 | 5–13 | 5–7 | 9–3 | 6–6 | 4–8 | 8–10 | — | 7–5 |
| St. Louis | 6–6 | 9–9 | 7–5 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 6–12 | 9–9 | 9–9 | 8–10 | 5–7 | 5–7 | — |

### Opening Day starters

* Bobby Bonds
* George Hendrick
* Keith Hernandez
* Ken Oberkfell
* Ken Reitz
* Tony Scott
* Ted Simmons
* Garry Templeton
* Pete Vuckovich

### Notable transactions

* April 2, 1980: Roger Freed was released by the Cardinals.
* April 7, 1980: Jeff Little was signed as a free agent with the Cardinals.
* April 30, 1980: Pedro Borbón was signed as a free agent with the Cardinals.
* April 30, 1980: Jim Kaat was purchased by the Cardinals from the New York Yankees.
* May 9, 1980: Darold Knowles was released by the Cardinals.
* May 27, 1980: Pedro Borbón was released by the Cardinals.
* June 2, 1980: Jim Lentine was traded by the Cardinals to the Detroit Tigers for Al Greene and John Martin.
* June 3, 1980: Dan Plesac was drafted by the Cardinals in the 2nd round of the 1980 Major League Baseball draft, but did not sign.

### 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 | 145 | 495 | 150 | .303 | 21 | 98 |
| 1B | Keith Hernandez | 159 | 595 | 191 | .321 | 16 | 99 |
| 2B | Ken Oberkfell | 116 | 422 | 128 | .303 | 3 | 46 |
| SS | Garry Templeton | 118 | 504 | 161 | .319 | 4 | 43 |
| 3B | Ken Reitz | 151 | 523 | 141 | .270 | 8 | 58 |
| LF | Bobby Bonds | 86 | 231 | 47 | .203 | 5 | 24 |
| CF | Tony Scott | 143 | 415 | 104 | .251 | 0 | 28 |
| RF | George Hendrick | 150 | 572 | 173 | .302 | 25 | 109 |

#### 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 |
| Leon Durham | 96 | 303 | 82 | .271 | 8 | 42 |
| Dane Iorg | 105 | 251 | 76 | .303 | 3 | 36 |
| Terry Kennedy | 84 | 248 | 63 | .254 | 4 | 34 |
| Tom Herr | 76 | 222 | 55 | .248 | 0 | 15 |
| Mike Phillips | 63 | 128 | 30 | .234 | 0 | 7 |
| Mike Ramsey | 59 | 126 | 33 | .262 | 0 | 8 |
| Tito Landrum | 35 | 77 | 19 | .247 | 0 | 7 |
| Keith Smith | 24 | 31 | 4 | .129 | 0 | 2 |
| Steve Swisher | 18 | 24 | 6 | .250 | 0 | 2 |
| Tye Waller | 5 | 12 | 1 | .083 | 0 | 0 |
| Bernie Carbo | 14 | 11 | 2 | .182 | 0 | 0 |
| Joe DeSa | 7 | 11 | 3 | .273 | 0 | 0 |
| Jim Lentine | 9 | 10 | 1 | .100 | 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 |
| Pete Vuckovich | 32 | 222.1 | 12 | 9 | 3.40 | 132 |
| Bob Forsch | 31 | 214.2 | 11 | 10 | 3.77 | 87 |
| Bob Sykes | 27 | 126.0 | 6 | 10 | 4.64 | 50 |
| Silvio Martínez | 25 | 119.2 | 5 | 10 | 4.81 | 39 |
| John Fulgham | 15 | 85.1 | 4 | 6 | 3.38 | 48 |
| Al Olmsted | 5 | 34.2 | 1 | 1 | 2.86 | 14 |
| Andy Rincon | 4 | 31.0 | 3 | 1 | 2.61 | 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 |
| Jim Kaat | 49 | 129.2 | 8 | 7 | 3.82 | 36 |
| Don Hood | 33 | 82.1 | 4 | 6 | 3.39 | 35 |
| Roy Thomas | 24 | 55.0 | 2 | 3 | 4.75 | 22 |
| John Martin | 9 | 42.0 | 2 | 3 | 4.29 | 23 |
| Jeff Little | 7 | 18.2 | 1 | 1 | 3.86 | 17 |

#### 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 |
| John Littlefield | 52 | 5 | 5 | 9 | 3.14 | 22 |
| Jim Otten | 31 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 5.53 | 38 |
| John Urrea | 30 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 3.48 | 36 |
| Kim Seaman | 26 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 3.42 | 10 |
| George Frazier | 22 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 2.74 | 11 |
| Mark Littell | 14 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3.86 | 17 |
| Donnie Moore | 11 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6.23 | 10 |
| Pedro Borbón | 10 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3.79 | 4 |
| Darold Knowles | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 10.80 | 1 |

## Farm system

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