# 1984 St. Louis Cardinals season

The St. Louis Cardinals 1984 season was the team's 103rd season in St. Louis, Missouri and the 93rd season in the National League. The Cardinals went 84–78 during the season and finished third in the National League East, 12½ games behind their arch-rivals, the Chicago Cubs. It was also the final season of the Columbia blue road uniforms for the Cardinals.

## Offseason

* January 17, 1984: Rafael Santana was released by the Cardinals.
* March 26, 1984: Jamie Quirk was released by the Cardinals.

## Regular season

Pitcher Joaquín Andújar and shortstop Ozzie Smith won Gold Gloves this year. Bruce Sutter had a then-NL record of 45 saves.
* June 23, 1984: What turned out to be a key game for the Cubs occurred at Wrigley, with the Cubs facing the rival Cardinals on the nationally televised "Game of the Week". The Cardinals led throughout the game, and led 9-8 going into the bottom of the ninth with closer Bruce Sutter on the mound. Second baseman Ryne Sandberg led off the ninth with a solo home run into the left-field bleachers, tying the game at nine. The following inning, St. Louis regained the lead, and Sutter stayed in the game attempting to close out the win. After the first two batters were retired, Bob Dernier walked, bringing up Sandberg again. He promptly hit another game-tying home run into the left-field bleachers, sending the Wrigley fans into a frenzy. The Cardinals did not score in the top of the 11th, but the Cubs loaded the bases on three walks, then rookie Dave Owen singled in the winning run. Willie McGee hit for the cycle and had 6 RBI but Ryne Sandberg had 7 RBI in the game. Henceforth, this game has become known as "The Sandberg Game".

### Season standings

vteNL East :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Chicago Cubs | 96 | 65 | .596 | — | 51‍–‍29 | 45‍–‍36 |
| New York Mets | 90 | 72 | .556 | 6½ | 48‍–‍33 | 42‍–‍39 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 84 | 78 | .519 | 12½ | 44‍–‍37 | 40‍–‍41 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 81 | 81 | .500 | 15½ | 39‍–‍42 | 42‍–‍39 |
| Montreal Expos | 78 | 83 | .484 | 18 | 39‍–‍42 | 39‍–‍41 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 75 | 87 | .463 | 21½ | 41‍–‍40 | 34‍–‍47 |

### Record vs. opponents

1984 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | ATL | CHC | CIN | HOU | LAD | MON | NYM | PHI | PIT | SD | SF | STL |
| Atlanta | — | 3–9 | 13–5 | 12–6 | 6–12 | 5–7 | 4–8 | 7–5 | 8–4 | 7–11 | 10–8 | 5–7 |
| Chicago | 9–3 | — | 7–5 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 10–7 | 12–6 | 9–9 | 8–10 | 6–6 | 9–3 | 13–5 |
| Cincinnati | 5–13 | 5–7 | — | 8–10 | 7–11 | 7–5 | 3–9 | 5–7 | 7–5 | 7–11 | 12–6 | 4–8 |
| Houston | 6–12 | 6–6 | 10–8 | — | 9–9 | 7–5 | 4–8 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 6–12 | 12–6 | 8–4 |
| Los Angeles | 12–6 | 5–7 | 7–11 | 9–9 | — | 6–6 | 3–9 | 3–9 | 4–8 | 10–8 | 10–8 | 6–6 |
| Montreal | 7–5 | 7–10 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 6–6 | — | 7–11 | 11–7 | 7–11 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 9–9 |
| New York | 8–4 | 6–12 | 9–3 | 8–4 | 9–3 | 11–7 | — | 10–8 | 12–6 | 6–6 | 4–8 | 7–11 |
| Philadelphia | 5-7 | 9–9 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 9–3 | 7–11 | 8–10 | — | 7–11 | 7–5 | 8–4 | 8–10 |
| Pittsburgh | 4–8 | 10–8 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 8–4 | 11–7 | 6–12 | 11–7 | — | 4–8 | 6–6 | 4–14 |
| San Diego | 11–7 | 6–6 | 11–7 | 12–6 | 8–10 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 8–4 | — | 13–5 | 7–5 |
| San Francisco | 8–10 | 3–9 | 6–12 | 6–12 | 8–10 | 5–7 | 8–4 | 4–8 | 6–6 | 5–13 | — | 7–5 |
| St. Louis | 7–5 | 5–13 | 8–4 | 4–8 | 6–6 | 9–9 | 11–7 | 10–8 | 14–4 | 5–7 | 5–7 | — |

### Notable transactions

* April 5, 1984: Gary Rajsich was purchased by the Cardinals from the New York Mets.
* May 10, 1984: Dane Iorg was purchased from the Cardinals by the Kansas City Royals.
* June 15, 1984: Ken Oberkfell was traded by the Cardinals to the Atlanta Braves for Ken Dayley and Mike Jorgensen.

#### Draft picks

* June 4, 1984: 1984 Major League Baseball Draft
** Lance Johnson was drafted by the Cardinals in the 6th round. Player signed June 13, 1984.
** Craig Wilson was drafted by the Cardinals in the 20th round.

### Roster
## Player stats

* = Indicates team leader
* = Indicates league leader

### 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 | Darrell Porter | 127 | 422 | 98 | .232 | 11 | 68 |
| 1B | David Green | 126 | 452 | 121 | .268 | 15 | 65 |
| 2B | Tom Herr | 145 | 558 | 154 | .276 | 4 | 49 |
| SS | Ozzie Smith | 124 | 412 | 106 | .257 | 1 | 44 |
| 3B | Terry Pendleton | 67 | 262 | 85 | .324 | 1 | 33 |
| LF | Lonnie Smith | 145 | 504 | 126 | .250 | 6 | 49 |
| CF | Willie McGee | 145 | 571 | 166 | .291 | 6 | 50 |
| RF | George Hendrick | 120 | 441 | 122 | .277 | 9 | 69 |

#### 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 |
| Andy Van Slyke | 137 | 361 | 88 | .244 | 7 | 50 |
| Tito Landrum | 105 | 173 | 47 | .272 | 3 | 26 |
| Ken Oberkfell | 50 | 152 | 47 | .309 | 0 | 11 |
| Art Howe | 89 | 139 | 30 | .216 | 2 | 12 |
| Chris Speier | 38 | 118 | 21 | .178 | 3 | 8 |
| Steve Braun | 86 | 98 | 27 | .276 | 0 | 16 |
| Mike Jorgensen | 59 | 98 | 24 | .245 | 1 | 12 |
| Tom Nieto | 33 | 86 | 24 | .279 | 3 | 12 |
| Bill Lyons | 46 | 73 | 16 | .219 | 0 | 3 |
| Glenn Brummer | 28 | 58 | 12 | .207 | 1 | 3 |
| Dane Iorg | 15 | 28 | 4 | .143 | 0 | 3 |
| Mark Salas | 14 | 20 | 2 | .100 | 0 | 1 |
| José Uribe | 8 | 19 | 4 | .211 | 0 | 3 |
| Mike Ramsey | 21 | 15 | 1 | .067 | 0 | 0 |
| Paul Householder | 13 | 14 | 2 | .143 | 0 | 0 |
| Gary Rajsich | 7 | 7 | 1 | .143 | 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 |
| Joaquín Andújar | 36 | 261.1 | 20 | 14 | 3.34 | 147 |
| Dave LaPoint | 33 | 193.0 | 12 | 10 | 3.96 | 130 |
| Danny Cox | 29 | 156.1 | 9 | 11 | 4.03 | 70 |
| Kurt Kepshire | 17 | 109.0 | 6 | 5 | 3.30 | 71 |
| Rick Ownbey | 4 | 19.0 | 0 | 3 | 4.74 | 11 |

#### 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 |
| Ricky Horton | 37 | 125.2 | 9 | 4 | 3.44 | 76 |
| John Stuper | 15 | 61.1 | 3 | 5 | 5.28 | 19 |
| Bob Forsch | 16 | 52.1 | 2 | 5 | 6.02 | 21 |
| Ralph Citarella | 10 | 22.1 | 0 | 1 | 3.63 | 15 |
| Ken Dayley | 3 | 5.0 | 0 | 2 | 18.00 | 0 |

#### 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 |
| Bruce Sutter | 71 | 5 | 7 | 45 | 1.54 | 77 |
| Jeff Lahti | 63 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 3.72 | 45 |
| Neil Allen | 57 | 9 | 6 | 3 | 3.55 | 66 |
| Dave Rucker | 50 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 2.10 | 38 |
| Dave Von Ohlen | 27 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3.12 | 19 |
| Kevin Hagen | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2.45 | 2 |
| Andy Hassler | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 11.57 | 1 |

## Awards and honors
### League top ten finishers

* Joaquín Andújar, National League Leader, Wins (20)
* Joaquín Andújar, National League Leader, Innings Pitched (261.1)
* Joaquín Andújar, National League Leader, Shutouts (4)

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Louisville Redbirds | American Association | Jim Fregosi |
| AA | Arkansas Travelers | Texas League | Dave Bialas |
| A | St. Petersburg Cardinals | Florida State League | Jim Riggleman |
| A | Springfield Cardinals | Midwest League | Joe Rigoli |
| A | Savannah Cardinals | South Atlantic League | Lloyd Merritt |
| A-Short Season | Erie Cardinals | New York–Penn League | Rich Hacker |
| Rookie | Johnson City Cardinals | Appalachian League | Chuck Hiller |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Louisville