1981 St. Louis Cardinals season

Major League Baseball season the Major League Baseball team the National Football League team 1981 St. Louis Cardinals (NFL) season March 2026 November 2013 St. Louis Cardinals 1981 St Louis Cardinals Cap Insignia.svg National League East Busch Memorial Stadium St. Louis, Missouri 59–43 (.578) 2nd August "Gussie" Busch Whitey Herzog Whitey Herzog KSDK(Jack Buck, Mike Shannon, Jay Randolph, Dan Kelly) KMOX (Jack Buck, Mike Shannon, Dan Kelly) The 1981 St. Louis Cardinals season was the 100th season for the St. Louis Cardinals in St. Louis, Missouri and the 90th season in the National League. 1981 was a season of two significant anomalies: A change in the playoff format, which created the first-ever NLDS with a qualification variant that existed only for that season, and the players' strike, which truncated the regular season. Despite finishing 59-43, good for the best overall record in the National League East, the strike set up the scenario where the Cardinals actually missed the playoffs. The regular season was split into halves to tally teams' records separately in each half of the season, and because the Cardinals finished in second place in each half, they did not qualify for the 1981 playoffs. Major League Baseball reverted to the previous playoff format the following season, and the Cardinals qualified for that postseason. First baseman Keith Hernandez won a Gold Glove this year. Offseason December 8, 1980: Terry Kennedy, Steve Swisher, Mike Phillips, John Littlefield, John Urrea, Kim Seaman, and Al Olmsted were traded by the Cardinals to the San Diego Padres for Rollie Fingers, Bob Shirley, Gene Tenace and a player to be named later. The Padres completed the deal by sending Bob Geren to the Cardinals on December 10.Bob Geren at Baseball Reference December 9, 1980: Leon Durham, Ken Reitz and a player to be named later were traded by the Cardinals to the Chicago Cubs for Bruce Sutter. The Cardinals completed the trade by sending Tye Waller to the Cubs on December 22.Bruce Sutter at Baseball Reference December 12, 1980: Ted Simmons, Rollie Fingers and Pete Vuckovich were traded by the Cardinals to the Milwaukee Brewers for Sixto Lezcano, David Green, Lary Sorensen and Dave LaPoint.Ted Simmons at Baseball Reference February 16, 1981: The Cardinals traded a player to be named later to the New York Yankees for Rafael Santana. The Cardinals completed the deal by sending George Frazier to the Yankees on June 7.Rafael Santana at Baseball Reference Regular season Season standings Record vs. opponents STL Opening Day starters Bob Forsch George Hendrick Keith Hernandez Tom Herr Sixto Lezcano Ken Oberkfell Darrell Porter Tony Scott Garry Templeton Notable transactions April 3, 1981: Julio González was signed as a free agent by the Cardinals.Julio González at Baseball Reference April 29, 1981: Bill Lyons was signed as a free agent by the Cardinals.Bill Lyons at Baseball Reference June 7, 1981: Tony Scott was traded by the Cardinals to the Houston Astros for Joaquín Andújar.Joaquín Andújar at Baseball Reference June 8, 1981: 1981 Major League Baseball draft Bobby Meacham was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1st round (8th pick) of the 1981 amateur draft. https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/meachbo01.shtml Bobby Beacham: Career Statistics Baseball Reference 14 March 2018 Tom Nieto was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 3rd round.Tom Nieto at Baseball Reference Danny Cox was drafted by the Cardinals in the 13th round.Danny Cox at Baseball Reference September 10, 1981: Joe Edelen and Neil Fiala were traded by the Cardinals to the Cincinnati Reds for Doug Bair.Neil Fiala at Baseball Reference Roster 1981 St. Louis Cardinals roster Roster Pitchers 49 Joaquín Andújar 43 Doug Bair 49 Luis DeLeón 44 Joe Edelen 31 Bob Forsch 36 Jim Kaat 47 Dave LaPoint 32 Mark Littell 33 John Martin 35 Silvio Martínez 40 Jim Otten 46 Andy Rincon 32 Bob Shirley 39 Lary Sorensen 42 Bruce Sutter 38 Bob Sykes Catchers 11 Glenn Brummer 15 Darrell Porter 23 Orlando Sánchez 18 Gene Tenace Infielders 14 Julio González 37 Keith Hernandez 28 Tom Herr 10 Ken Oberkfell  5 Mike Ramsey  1 Garry Templeton Outfielders 26 Steve Braun 27 David Green 25 George Hendrick 19 Dane Iorg 21 Tito Landrum 16 Sixto Lezcano 29 Gene Roof 30 Tony Scott Other batters 51 Neil Fiala Manager 24 Whitey Herzog Coaches  4 Chuck Hiller  9 Hub Kittle  8 Hal Lanier  3 Dave Ricketts  2 Red Schoendienst Player stats = Indicates team 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 61 174 39 .224 6 31 1B Keith Hernandez 103 376 115 .306 8 48 2B Tom Herr 103 411 110 .268 0 46 SS Garry Templeton 80 333 96 .288 1 33 3B Ken Oberkfell 102 376 110 .293 2 45 LF Dane Iorg 75 217 71 .327 2 39 CF Tony Scott 45 176 40 .227 2 17 RF George Hendrick 101 394 112 .284 18 61 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 Sixto Lezcano 72 214 57 .266 5 28 Gene Tenace 58 129 30 .233 5 22 Mike Ramsey 47 124 32 .258 0 9 Tito Landrum 81 119 31 .261 0 10 Gene Roof 23 60 18 .300 0 3 Orlando Sánchez 27 49 14 .286 0 6 Steve Braun Steve Braun (baseball) 44 46 9 .196 0 2 David Green David Green (baseball) 21 34 5 .147 0 2 Glenn Brummer 21 30 6 .200 0 2 Julio González Julio González (infielder) 20 22 7 .318 1 3 Neil Fiala 3 3 0 .000 0 0 Pitching = Indicates league leader 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 Lary Sorensen 23 140.1 7 7 3.27 52 Bob Forsch 20 124.1 10 5 3.18 41 John Martin 17 102.2 8 5 3.42 36 Silvio Martínez 18 97.0 2 5 3.99 34 Joaquín Andújar 11 55.1 6 1 3.74 19 Andy Rincon 5 35.2 3 1 1.77 13 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 Bob Shirley 28 79.1 6 4 4.08 36 Dave LaPoint 3 10.2 1 0 4.22 4 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 48 3 5 25 2.62 57 Jim Kaat 41 6 6 4 3.40 8 Mark Littell 28 1 3 2 4.39 22 Jim Otten 24 1 0 0 5.30 20 Bob Sykes Bob Sykes (baseball) 22 2 0 0 4.58 14 Joe Edelen 13 1 0 0 9.35 10 Doug Bair 11 2 0 1 3.45 14 Luis DeLeón 10 0 1 0 2.35 8 Farm system Minor League Baseball AAA Springfield Redbirds American Association Tommy Thompson AA Arkansas Travelers Texas League Gaylen Pitts A St. Petersburg Cardinals Florida State League Nick Leyva A Gastonia Cardinals South Atlantic League Joe Rigoli A-Short Season Erie Cardinals New York–Penn League Sonny Ruberto Rookie Johnson City Cardinals Appalachian League Johnny Lewis References 2 External links 1981 St. Louis Cardinals at Baseball Reference 1981 St. Louis Cardinals at Baseball Almanac Category:St. Louis Cardinals seasons Saint Louis Cardinals season St Louis