# 1988 St. Louis Cardinals season

The 1988 St. Louis Cardinals season was the team's 107th season in St. Louis, Missouri and its 97th season in the National League. The Cardinals went 76–86 during the season and finished fifth in the National League East division.

## Offseason

* October 7, 1987: Doug DeCinces was released by the Cardinals.
* February 9, 1988: Lance Johnson, Ricky Horton and cash were traded by the Cardinals to the Chicago White Sox for José DeLeón.

## Regular season

Shortstop Ozzie Smith won a Gold Glove this year.

### Season standings

vteNL East :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| New York Mets | 100 | 60 | .625 | — | 56‍–‍24 | 44‍–‍36 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 85 | 75 | .531 | 15 | 43‍–‍38 | 42‍–‍37 |
| Montreal Expos | 81 | 81 | .500 | 20 | 43‍–‍38 | 38‍–‍43 |
| Chicago Cubs | 77 | 85 | .475 | 24 | 39‍–‍42 | 38‍–‍43 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 76 | 86 | .469 | 25 | 41‍–‍40 | 35‍–‍46 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 65 | 96 | .404 | 35½ | 38‍–‍42 | 27‍–‍54 |

### Record vs. opponents

1988 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | ATL | CHC | CIN | HOU | LAD | MON | NYM | PHI | PIT | SD | SF | STL |
| Atlanta | — | 5–7 | 5–13 | 5–13 | 4–14 | 4–8 | 4–8 | 6–6 | 5–5 | 8–10 | 5–13 | 3–9 |
| Chicago | 7–5 | — | 6–6 | 7–5 | 4–8–1 | 9–9 | 9–9 | 8–10 | 7–11 | 8–4 | 5–7 | 7–11 |
| Cincinnati | 13–5 | 6–6 | — | 9–9 | 7–11 | 5–7 | 4–7 | 9–3 | 7–5 | 10–8 | 11–7 | 6–6 |
| Houston | 13–5 | 5–7 | 9–9 | — | 9–9 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 6–12 | 7–11 | 6–6 |
| Los Angeles | 14–4 | 8–4–1 | 11–7 | 9–9 | — | 8–4 | 1–10 | 11–1 | 6–6 | 7–11 | 12–6 | 7–5 |
| Montreal | 8–4 | 9–9 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 4–8 | — | 6–12 | 9–9–1 | 8–10 | 4–8 | 7–5 | 13–5 |
| New York | 8–4 | 9–9 | 7–4 | 7–5 | 10–1 | 12–6 | — | 10–8 | 12–6 | 7–5 | 4–8 | 14–4 |
| Philadelphia | 6-6 | 10–8 | 3–9 | 4–8 | 1–11 | 9–9–1 | 8–10 | — | 7–11 | 4–7 | 7–5 | 6–12 |
| Pittsburgh | 5–5 | 11–7 | 5–7 | 4–8 | 6–6 | 10–8 | 6–12 | 11–7 | — | 8–4 | 8–4 | 11–7 |
| San Diego | 10–8 | 4–8 | 8–10 | 12–6 | 11–7 | 8–4 | 5–7 | 7–4 | 4–8 | — | 8–10 | 6–6 |
| San Francisco | 13–5 | 7–5 | 7–11 | 11–7 | 6–12 | 5–7 | 8–4 | 5–7 | 4–8 | 10–8 | — | 7–5 |
| St. Louis | 9–3 | 11–7 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 5–13 | 4–14 | 12–6 | 7–11 | 6–6 | 5–7 | — |

### Notable transactions

* April 22, 1988: Tom Herr was traded by the Cardinals to the Minnesota Twins for Tom Brunansky.
* June 1, 1988: Mark Clark was drafted by the Cardinals in the 9th round of the 1988 Major League Baseball draft. Player signed June 3, 1988.
* August 31, 1988: Bob Forsch was traded by the Cardinals to the Houston Astros for Denny Walling.

### 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 | Tony Peña | 149 | 505 | 133 | .263 | 10 | 51 |
| 1B | Bob Horner | 60 | 206 | 53 | .257 | 3 | 33 |
| 2B | Luis Alicea | 93 | 297 | 63 | .212 | 1 | 24 |
| SS | Ozzie Smith | 153 | 575 | 155 | .270 | 3 | 51 |
| 3B | Terry Pendleton | 110 | 391 | 99 | .253 | 6 | 53 |
| LF | Vince Coleman | 153 | 616 | 160 | .260 | 3 | 38 |
| CF | Willie McGee | 137 | 562 | 164 | .292 | 3 | 50 |
| RF | Tom Brunansky | 143 | 523 | 128 | .245 | 22 | 79 |

#### 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 |
| José Oquendo | 148 | 451 | 125 | .277 | 7 | 46 |
| Tom Pagnozzi | 81 | 195 | 55 | .282 | 0 | 15 |
| Pedro Guerrero | 44 | 149 | 40 | .268 | 5 | 30 |
| Curt Ford | 91 | 128 | 25 | .195 | 1 | 18 |
| Mike Laga | 41 | 100 | 13 | .130 | 1 | 4 |
| Tom Lawless | 54 | 65 | 10 | .154 | 1 | 3 |
| Denny Walling | 19 | 58 | 13 | .224 | 0 | 1 |
| Steve Lake | 36 | 54 | 15 | .278 | 1 | 4 |
| Tim Jones | 31 | 52 | 14 | .269 | 0 | 3 |
| Tom Herr | 15 | 50 | 13 | .260 | 1 | 3 |
| Mike Fitzgerald | 13 | 46 | 9 | .196 | 0 | 1 |
| Jim Lindeman | 17 | 43 | 9 | .209 | 2 | 7 |
| John Morris | 20 | 38 | 11 | .289 | 0 | 3 |
| Rod Booker | 18 | 35 | 12 | .343 | 0 | 3 |
| Duane Walker | 24 | 22 | 4 | .182 | 0 | 3 |

### 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 |
| José DeLeón | 34 | 225.1 | 13 | 10 | 3.67 | 208 |
| Joe Magrane | 24 | 165.1 | 5 | 9 | 2.18 | 100 |
| John Tudor | 21 | 145.1 | 6 | 5 | 2.29 | 55 |
| Danny Cox | 13 | 86.0 | 3 | 8 | 3.98 | 47 |
| Greg Mathews | 13 | 68.0 | 4 | 6 | 4.24 | 31 |
| Randy O'Neal | 10 | 53.0 | 2 | 3 | 4.58 | 20 |
| Cris Carpenter | 8 | 47.2 | 2 | 3 | 4.72 | 24 |

#### 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 |
| Larry McWilliams | 42 | 136.0 | 6 | 9 | 3.90 | 70 |
| Scott Terry | 51 | 129.1 | 9 | 6 | 2.92 | 65 |
| Bob Forsch | 30 | 108.2 | 9 | 4 | 3.73 | 40 |
| Ken Hill | 4 | 14.0 | 0 | 1 | 5.14 | 6 |

#### 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 |
| Todd Worrell | 68 | 5 | 9 | 32 | 3.00 | 78 |
| Ken Dayley | 54 | 2 | 7 | 5 | 2.77 | 38 |
| Steve Peters | 44 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6.40 | 30 |
| John Costello | 36 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1.81 | 38 |
| Dan Quisenberry | 33 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6.16 | 19 |
| Scott Arnold | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.40 | 8 |
| Gibson Alba | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.70 | 3 |
| José Oquendo | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4.50 | 1 |

## Awards and honors

* Ozzie Smith, Shortstop, National League Gold Glove

### League leaders

* Vince Coleman, National League Stolen Base Leader, 81
* Joe Magrane, NL ERA leader, 2.18.

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Louisville Redbirds | American Association | Mike Jorgensen |
| AA | Arkansas Travelers | Texas League | Jim Riggleman, Darold Knowles and Gaylen Pitts |
| A | St. Petersburg Cardinals | Florida State League | Dave Bialas |
| A | Springfield Cardinals | Midwest League | Mark DeJohn |
| A | Savannah Cardinals | South Atlantic League | Keith Champion |
| A-Short Season | Hamilton Redbirds | New York–Penn League | Dan Radison |
| Rookie | Johnson City Cardinals | Appalachian League | Gaylen Pitts and Jorge Aranzamendi |