# 2001 St. Louis Cardinals season

The St. Louis Cardinals 2001 season was the team's 120th season in St. Louis, Missouri and the 110th season in the National League. The Cardinals went 93–69 during the season and finished tied for first in the National League Central with the Houston Astros. Because the Cardinals and Astros were best two teams in the National League, both from the Central, and both finished five games ahead of the third-place Chicago Cubs, the Astros were awarded the NL Central champion and the number 1 seed in the playoffs due to winning the season series 9–7, and the Cardinals were awarded the wild-card.
In the playoffs the Cardinals lost to the eventual World Champion Arizona Diamondbacks 3 games to 2 in the NLDS.
Third baseman/Outfielder Albert Pujols won the Rookie of the Year Award this year, batting .329, with 37 home runs and 130 RBIs. Second baseman Fernando Viña and outfielder Jim Edmonds won Gold Gloves in 2001.
This was also Jack Buck's final season as the team's broadcaster.

## Offseason

* December 22, 2000: Quinton McCracken was signed as a free agent with the St. Louis Cardinals.
* January 5, 2001: Bobby Bonilla was signed as a free agent with the St. Louis Cardinals.
* January 5, 2001: John Mabry was signed as a free agent with the St. Louis Cardinals.
* March 28, 2001: Quinton McCracken was released by the St. Louis Cardinals.

## Regular season

Albert Pujols made his major league debut on April 2 against the Colorado Rockies. He appeared in three at-bats and collected one hit.
On September 3, Bud Smith became the ninth Cardinal and eighteenth rookie to hurl a no-hitter.

### Season standings

vteNL Central :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Houston Astros | 93 | 69 | .574 | — | 44‍–‍37 | 49‍–‍32 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 93 | 69 | .574 | — | 54‍–‍28 | 39‍–‍41 |
| Chicago Cubs | 88 | 74 | .543 | 5 | 48‍–‍33 | 40‍–‍41 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 68 | 94 | .420 | 25 | 36‍–‍45 | 32‍–‍49 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 66 | 96 | .407 | 27 | 27‍–‍54 | 39‍–‍42 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 62 | 100 | .383 | 31 | 38‍–‍43 | 24‍–‍57 |

#### Record vs. opponents

2001 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | AZ | ATL | CHC | CIN | COL | FLA | HOU | LA | MIL | MTL | NYM | PHI | PIT | SD | SF | STL | AL |
| Arizona | — | 5–2 | 6–3 | 5–1 | 13–6 | 4–2 | 2–4 | 10–9 | 3–3 | 3–3 | 3–3 | 3–4 | 4–2 | 12–7 | 10–9 | 2–4 | 7–8 |
| Atlanta | 2–5 | — | 4–2 | 4–2 | 4–2 | 9–10 | 3–3 | 2–5 | 3–3 | 13–6 | 10–9 | 10–9 | 5–1 | 3–3 | 4–2 | 3–3 | 9–9 |
| Chicago | 3–6 | 2–4 | — | 13–4 | 3–3 | 3–3 | 8–9 | 4–2 | 8–9 | 3–3 | 4–2 | 4–2 | 10–6 | 2–4 | 3–3 | 9–8 | 9–6 |
| Cincinnati | 1–5 | 2–4 | 4–13 | — | 3–6 | 4–2 | 6–11 | 4–2 | 6–10 | 4–2 | 4–2 | 2–4 | 9–8 | 2–4 | 4–2 | 7–10 | 4–11 |
| Colorado | 6–13 | 2–4 | 3–3 | 6–3 | — | 4–2 | 2–4 | 8–11 | 5–1 | 3–4 | 4–3 | 2–4 | 2–4 | 9–10 | 9–10 | 6–3 | 2–10 |
| Florida | 2–4 | 10–9 | 3–3 | 2–4 | 2–4 | — | 3–3 | 2–5 | 4–2 | 12–7 | 7–12 | 5–14 | 4–2 | 3–4 | 2–4 | 3–3 | 12–6 |
| Houston | 4–2 | 3–3 | 9–8 | 11–6 | 4–2 | 3–3 | — | 2–4 | 12–5 | 6–0 | 3–3 | 3–3 | 9–8 | 3–6 | 3–3 | 9–7 | 9–6 |
| Los Angeles | 9–10 | 5–2 | 2–4 | 2–4 | 11–8 | 5–2 | 4–2 | — | 5–1 | 2–4 | 2–4 | 3–3 | 7–2 | 9–10 | 11–8 | 3–3 | 6–9 |
| Milwaukee | 3–3 | 3–3 | 9–8 | 10–6 | 1–5 | 2–4 | 5–12 | 1–5 | — | 4–2 | 3–3 | 3–3 | 6–11 | 1–5 | 5–4 | 7–10 | 5–10 |
| Montreal | 3–3 | 6–13 | 3–3 | 2–4 | 4–3 | 7–12 | 0–6 | 4–2 | 2–4 | — | 8–11 | 9–10 | 5–1 | 3–3 | 2–5 | 2–4 | 8–10 |
| New York | 3–3 | 9–10 | 2–4 | 2–4 | 3–4 | 12–7 | 3–3 | 4–2 | 3–3 | 11–8 | — | 11–8 | 4–2 | 1–5 | 3–4 | 1–5 | 10–8 |
| Philadelphia | 4–3 | 9–10 | 2–4 | 4–2 | 4–2 | 14–5 | 3–3 | 3–3 | 3–3 | 10–9 | 8–11 | — | 5–1 | 5–2 | 3–3 | 2–4 | 7–11 |
| Pittsburgh | 2–4 | 1–5 | 6–10 | 8–9 | 4–2 | 2–4 | 8–9 | 2–7 | 11–6 | 1–5 | 2–4 | 1–5 | — | 2–4 | 1–5 | 3–14 | 8–7 |
| San Diego | 7–12 | 3–3 | 4–2 | 4–2 | 10–9 | 4–3 | 6–3 | 10–9 | 5–1 | 3–3 | 5–1 | 2–5 | 4–2 | — | 5–14 | 1–5 | 6–9 |
| San Francisco | 9–10 | 2–4 | 3–3 | 2–4 | 10–9 | 4–2 | 3–3 | 8–11 | 4–5 | 5–2 | 4–3 | 3–3 | 5–1 | 14–5 | — | 4–2 | 10–5 |
| St. Louis | 4–2 | 3–3 | 8–9 | 10–7 | 3–6 | 3–3 | 7–9 | 3–3 | 10–7 | 4–2 | 5–1 | 4–2 | 14–3 | 5–1 | 2–4 | — | 8–7 |

### Transactions

* April 9, 2001: John Mabry was sent to the Florida Marlins by the St. Louis Cardinals as part of a conditional deal.
* June 5, 2001: Dan Haren was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 2nd round of the 2001 amateur draft. Player signed June 20, 2001.
* June 5, 2001: Joe Mather was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 3rd round of the 2001 amateur draft.
* June 5, 2001: Skip Schumaker was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 5th round of the 2001 amateur draft.

### 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 | Mike Matheny | 121 | 381 | 83 | .218 | 7 | 42 |
| 1B | Mark McGwire | 97 | 299 | 56 | .187 | 29 | 64 |
| 2B | Fernando Viña | 154 | 631 | 191 | .303 | 9 | 56 |
| SS | Édgar Rentería | 141 | 493 | 128 | .260 | 10 | 57 |
| 3B | Plácido Polanco | 144 | 564 | 173 | .307 | 3 | 38 |
| LF | Ray Lankford | 91 | 264 | 62 | .235 | 15 | 39 |
| CF | Jim Edmonds | 150 | 500 | 152 | .304 | 30 | 110 |
| RF | J.D. Drew | 109 | 375 | 121 | .323 | 27 | 73 |

#### 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 |
| Albert Pujols | 161 | 590 | 194 | .329 | 37 | 130 |
| Craig Paquette | 123 | 340 | 96 | .282 | 15 | 64 |
| Eli Marrero | 86 | 203 | 54 | .266 | 6 | 23 |
| Kerry Robinson | 114 | 186 | 53 | .285 | 1 | 15 |
| Bobby Bonilla | 93 | 174 | 37 | .213 | 5 | 21 |
| Larry Sutton | 33 | 42 | 5 | .119 | 1 | 3 |
| Miguel Cairo | 27 | 33 | 11 | .333 | 1 | 7 |
| Stubby Clapp | 23 | 25 | 5 | .200 | 0 | 1 |
| John Mabry | 5 | 7 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Luis Saturria | 13 | 5 | 1 | .200 | 0 | 1 |
| Bill Ortega | 5 | 5 | 1 | .200 | 0 | 0 |
| Keith McDonald | 2 | 2 | 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 |
| Darryl Kile | 34 | 227.1 | 16 | 11 | 3.09 | 179 |
| Matt Morris | 34 | 216.1 | 22 | 8 | 3.16 | 185 |
| Dustin Hermanson | 33 | 192.1 | 14 | 13 | 4.45 | 123 |
| Bud Smith | 16 | 84.2 | 6 | 3 | 3.83 | 59 |
| Woody Williams | 11 | 75.0 | 7 | 1 | 2.28 | 52 |
| Rick Ankiel | 6 | 24.0 | 1 | 2 | 7.13 | 27 |

#### 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 |
| Andy Benes | 27 | 107.1 | 7 | 7 | 7.38 | 78 |
| Mike Matthews | 51 | 89.0 | 3 | 4 | 3.24 | 72 |

#### 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 |
| Dave Veres | 71 | 3 | 2 | 15 | 3.70 | 61 |
| Steve Kline | 89 | 3 | 3 | 9 | 1.80 | 54 |
| Mike Timlin | 67 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4.09 | 47 |
| Gene Stechschulte | 67 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 3.86 | 51 |
| Mike James | 40 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5.21 | 26 |
| Luther Hackman | 35 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4.29 | 24 |
| Jason Christiansen | 30 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4.66 | 19 |
| T.J. Mathews | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3.07 | 10 |
| Alan Benes | 9 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 7.36 | 10 |
| Jeff Tabaka | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7.36 | 3 |
| Jason Karnuth | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.80 | 1 |
| Chad Hutchinson | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24.75 | 2 |
| Bobby Bonilla | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18.00 | 0 |

## NLDS

Arizona wins the series, 3-2
| Game | Home | Score | Visitor | Score | Date | Series |
| 1 | Arizona | 1 | St. Louis | 0 | October | 1-0 (AZ) |
| 2 | Arizona | 1 | St. Louis | 4 | October 10 | 1-1 |
| 3 | St. Louis | 3 | Arizona | 5 | October 12 | 2-1 (AZ) |
| 4 | St. Louis | 4 | Arizona | 1 | October 13 | 2-2 |
| 5 | Arizona | 2 | St. Louis | 1 | October 14 | 3-2 (AZ) |

## Awards and honors

* Jim Edmonds, OF, Gold Glove Award
* Albert Pujols, 3B, National League Rookie of the Year Award
* Fernando Viña, 2B, Gold Glove Award
All-Star Game
* Matt Morris, P, reserve
* Albert Pujols, 3B, reserve

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Memphis Redbirds | Pacific Coast League | Gaylen Pitts |
| AA | New Haven Ravens | Eastern League | Danny Sheaffer |
| A | Potomac Cannons | Carolina League | Joe Cunningham, Jr. |
| A | Peoria Chiefs | Midwest League | Joe Hall |
| A-Short Season | New Jersey Cardinals | New York–Penn League | Brian Rupp |
| Rookie | Johnson City Cardinals | Appalachian League | Chris Maloney |