# 1968 St. Louis Cardinals season

The 1968 St. Louis Cardinals season was the team's 87th season in St. Louis, Missouri and its 77th season in the National League. The Cardinals went 97–65 during the season, winning their second consecutive NL pennant, this time by nine games over the San Francisco Giants. They lost in 7 games to the Detroit Tigers in the World Series. The Cardinals would not return to the postseason until 1982.
Following the season, Major League Baseball announced plans to split both the National and American Leagues into East and West divisions starting with the 1969 season in order to accommodate the inclusion of two new franchises to each league. The Cardinals were assigned to the new National League East division. Originally, the Cardinals were placed in the National League West division. However, the New York Mets, wanting to compensate for the loss of home games against the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants, desired three extra games against the Cardinals, the two-time defending NL champions. The Cardinals were thus moved to the National League East division along with the Chicago Cubs, who wished to maintain their long-standing rivalry with the Cardinals. The Atlanta Braves and Cincinnati Reds were correspondingly shifted to the National League West despite both being east of St. Louis and Chicago, a configuration maintained until 1993.

## Offseason

* Prior to 1968 season: Luis Meléndez was signed as an amateur free agent by the Cardinals.
* February 8, 1968: Jimy Williams and Pat Corrales were traded by the Cardinals to the Cincinnati Reds for Johnny Edwards.

## Regular season

Pitcher Bob Gibson won both the MVP Award and the Cy Young Award this year, with a 1.12 ERA, 22 wins, and 268 strikeouts. From June 2 to July 30, Gibson allowed only two earned runs in 92 innings pitched. For the season, opposing batters only had a batting average of .184, and an on-base percentage of .233 against Gibson. Gibson also won a Gold Glove this year, as did shortstop Dal Maxvill and outfielder Curt Flood.

### Season standings

vteNational League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 97 | 65 | .599 | — | 47‍–‍34 | 50‍–‍31 |
| San Francisco Giants | 88 | 74 | .543 | 9 | 42‍–‍39 | 46‍–‍35 |
| Chicago Cubs | 84 | 78 | .519 | 13 | 47‍–‍34 | 37‍–‍44 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 83 | 79 | .512 | 14 | 40‍–‍41 | 43‍–‍38 |
| Atlanta Braves | 81 | 81 | .500 | 16 | 41‍–‍40 | 40‍–‍41 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 80 | 82 | .494 | 17 | 40‍–‍41 | 40‍–‍41 |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 76 | 86 | .469 | 21 | 41‍–‍40 | 35‍–‍46 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 76 | 86 | .469 | 21 | 38‍–‍43 | 38‍–‍43 |
| New York Mets | 73 | 89 | .451 | 24 | 32‍–‍49 | 41‍–‍40 |
| Houston Astros | 72 | 90 | .444 | 25 | 42‍–‍39 | 30‍–‍51 |

### Record vs. opponents

1968 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | ATL | CHC | CIN | HOU | LAD | NYM | PHI | PIT | SF | STL |
| Atlanta | — | 8–10 | 10–8 | 11–7 | 9–9 | 12–6–1 | 11–7 | 6–12 | 9–9 | 5–13 |
| Chicago | 10–8 | — | 7–11 | 10–8 | 12–6 | 8–10 | 9–9 | 10–8 | 9–9–1 | 9–9 |
| Cincinnati | 8–10 | 11–7 | — | 9–9 | 9–9 | 10–8 | 11–7 | 10–8–1 | 8–10 | 7–11 |
| Houston | 7–11 | 8–10 | 9–9 | — | 11–7 | 10–8 | 9–9 | 5–13 | 8–10 | 5–13 |
| Los Angeles | 9–9 | 6–12 | 9–9 | 7–11 | — | 7–11 | 10–8 | 10–8 | 9–9 | 9–9 |
| New York | 6–12–1 | 10–8 | 8–10 | 8–10 | 11–7 | — | 8–10 | 9–9 | 7–11 | 6–12 |
| Philadelphia | 7–11 | 9–9 | 7–11 | 9–9 | 8–10 | 10–8 | — | 9–9 | 9–9 | 8–10 |
| Pittsburgh | 12–6 | 8–10 | 8–10–1 | 13–5 | 8–10 | 9–9 | 9–9 | — | 7–11 | 6–12 |
| San Francisco | 9–9 | 9–9–1 | 10–8 | 10–8 | 9–9 | 11–7 | 9–9 | 11–7 | — | 10–8 |
| St. Louis | 13–5 | 9–9 | 11–7 | 13–5 | 9–9 | 12–6 | 10–8 | 12–6 | 8–10 | — |

### Notable transactions

* June 7, 1968: Bob Forsch was drafted by the Cardinals in the 26th round of the 1968 Major League Baseball Draft.
* June 14, 1968: Ramón Hernández was purchased by the Cardinals from the Chicago Cubs.

### 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 | Tim McCarver | 128 | 434 | 110 | .253 | 5 | 48 |
| 1B | Orlando Cepeda | 157 | 600 | 149 | .248 | 16 | 73 |
| 2B | Julián Javier | 139 | 519 | 135 | .260 | 4 | 52 |
| SS | Dal Maxvill | 119 | 459 | 116 | .253 | 1 | 24 |
| 3B | Mike Shannon | 156 | 576 | 153 | .266 | 15 | 79 |
| LF | Lou Brock | 159 | 660 | 184 | .279 | 6 | 51 |
| CF | Curt Flood | 150 | 618 | 186 | .301 | 5 | 60 |
| RF | Roger Maris | 100 | 310 | 79 | .255 | 5 | 45 |

#### 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 |
| Bobby Tolan | 92 | 278 | 64 | .230 | 5 | 17 |
| Johnny Edwards | 84 | 230 | 55 | .239 | 3 | 29 |
| Dick Schofield | 69 | 127 | 28 | .220 | 1 | 8 |
| Phil Gagliano | 53 | 105 | 24 | .229 | 0 | 13 |
| Ron Davis | 33 | 79 | 14 | .177 | 0 | 5 |
| Dick Simpson | 26 | 56 | 13 | .232 | 3 | 8 |
| Ed Spiezio | 29 | 51 | 8 | .157 | 0 | 2 |
| Dave Ricketts | 20 | 22 | 3 | .136 | 0 | 1 |
| Joe Hague | 7 | 17 | 4 | .235 | 1 | 1 |
| Floyd Wicker | 5 | 4 | 2 | .500 | 0 | 0 |
| Ted Simmons | 2 | 3 | 1 | .333 | 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 |
| Bob Gibson | 34 | 304.2 | 22 | 9 | 1.12 | 268 |
| Nelson Briles | 33 | 243.1 | 19 | 11 | 2.81 | 141 |
| Steve Carlton | 34 | 231.1 | 13 | 11 | 2.99 | 162 |
| Ray Washburn | 31 | 215.1 | 14 | 8 | 2.26 | 124 |
| Larry Jaster | 31 | 153.2 | 9 | 13 | 3.51 | 70 |

#### 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 |
| Dick Hughes | 25 | 63.2 | 2 | 2 | 3.53 | 49 |
| Mel Nelson | 18 | 52.2 | 2 | 1 | 2.91 | 16 |
| Mike Torrez | 5 | 19.0 | 2 | 1 | 2.84 | 6 |
| Pete Mikkelsen | 5 | 16.0 | 0 | 0 | 1.13 | 8 |

#### 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 |
| Joe Hoerner | 47 | 8 | 2 | 17 | 1.47 | 42 |
| Ron Willis | 48 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 3.39 | 39 |
| Wayne Granger | 34 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 2.25 | 27 |
| Hal Gilson | 13 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4.57 | 19 |

## 1968 World Series

Although essentially the same team as the previous year, they faced a tougher American League opponent in the Detroit Tigers, who had also won their pennant easily, behind the 31-win season of Denny McLain. Even though both Gibson and McLain were league MVPs that season, another Tigers starter, Mickey Lolich, stole the show, becoming the last pitcher to date to win three complete games in a single Series. Gibson excelled again in this World Series, winning Games 1 and 4. He had 17 strikeouts in Game 1 and totaled 35 strikeouts in the Series, both still World Series records. The Cardinals advanced to a 3–1 series lead, but the Tigers completed an improbable comeback by winning the final three games of the series to claim the championship, 4 games to 3. It was St. Louis' last Series appearance until 1982, and their last Series before MLB adopted its divisional format.
AL Detroit Tigers (4) vs. NL St. Louis Cardinals (3)
| Game | Score | Date | Location | Attendance | Time of Game |
| 1 | Cardinals – 4, Tigers – 0 | October 2 | Busch Memorial Stadium | 54,692 | 2:29 |
| 2 | Tigers – 8, Cardinals – 1 | October 3 | Busch Memorial Stadium | 54,692 | 2:41 |
| 3 | Cardinals – 7, Tigers – 3 | October 5 | Tiger Stadium | 53,634 | 3:17 |
| 4 | Cardinals – 10, Tigers – 1 | October 6 | Tiger Stadium | 53,634 | 2:34 |
| 5 | Tigers – 5, Cardinals – 3 | October 7 | Tiger Stadium | 53,634 | 2:43 |
| 6 | Tigers – 13, Cardinals – 1 | October 9 | Busch Memorial Stadium | 54,692 | 2:26 |
| 7 | Tigers – 4, Cardinals – 1 | October 10 | Busch Memorial Stadium | 54,692 | 2:07 |

## Awards and honors

* Red Schoendienst, Associated Press NL Manager of the Year

### Major League Baseball records

* Bob Gibson, major league record, lowest ERA in one season for a pitcher with more than 300 innings pitched (1.12)

### League leaders

* Lou Brock, National League stolen base leader, 62

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Tulsa Oilers | Pacific Coast League | Warren Spahn |
| AA | Arkansas Travelers | Texas League | Vern Rapp |
| A | Modesto Reds | California League | Joe Cunningham |
| A | St. Petersburg Cardinals | Florida State League | Ron Plaza |
| A | Cedar Rapids Cardinals | Midwest League | Jack Krol |
| A-Short Season | Lewiston Broncos | Northwest League | Roy Majtyka |
| Rookie | GCL Cardinals | Gulf Coast League | George Kissell and Ray Hathaway |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Tulsa