1968 St. Louis Cardinals season

Major League Baseball season the Major League Baseball team the National Football League team 1968 St. Louis Cardinals (NFL) season March 2026 November 2013 St. Louis Cardinals 1968 National League champions St Louis Cardinals Cap Insignia.svg National League Busch Memorial Stadium St. Louis, Missouri 97–65 (.599) 1st August "Gussie" Busch Bing Devine Red Schoendienst KSD-TV KMOX(Harry Caray, Jack Buck) 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.Luis Meléndez page at Baseball Reference February 8, 1968: Jimy Williams and Pat Corrales were traded by the Cardinals to the Cincinnati Reds for Johnny Edwards.Jimy Williams page at Baseball Reference 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.Baseball's Top 100: The Game's Greatest Records, p. 25, Kerry Banks, 2010, Greystone Books, Vancouver, BC, 978-1-55365-507-7 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 St. Louis Cardinals Record vs. opponents STL Opening Day lineup Notable transactions June 7, 1968: Bob Forsch was drafted by the Cardinals in the 26th round of the 1968 Major League Baseball draft.Bob Forsch page at Baseball Reference June 14, 1968: Ramón Hernández was purchased by the Cardinals from the Chicago Cubs.Ramón Hernández page at Baseball Reference Roster 1968 St. Louis Cardinals Roster Pitchers 34 Nelson Briles 32 Steve Carlton 45 Bob Gibson 47 Hal Gilson 29 Wayne Granger 43 Joe Hoerner 31 Dick Hughes 39 Larry Jaster 46 Pete Mikkelsen 47 Mel Nelson 47 Mike Torrez 44 Ray Washburn 36 Ron Willis Catchers  7 Johnny Edwards 15 Tim McCarver 10 Dave Ricketts 23 Ted Simmons Infielders 30 Orlando Cepeda 16 Phil Gagliano 25 Julián Javier 27 Dal Maxvill 11 Dick Schofield 18 Mike Shannon Outfielders 20 Lou Brock 14 Ron Davis 21 Curt Flood 12 Joe Hague  9 Roger Maris 12 Dick Simpson 26 Ed Spiezio 17 Bobby Tolan Other batters 37 Floyd Wicker Manager  2 Red Schoendienst Coaches  8 Bob Milliken  4 Billy Muffett  3 Joe Schultz  5 Dick Sisler 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 Johnny Edwards (baseball) 84 230 55 .239 3 29 Dick Schofield Ducky Schofield 69 127 28 .220 1 8 Phil Gagliano 53 105 24 .229 0 13 Ron Davis Ron Davis (outfielder) 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 Dick Hughes (baseball) 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 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) GameScoreDateLocationAttendanceTime of Game1 Cardinals – 4, Tigers – 0October 2 Busch Memorial Stadium 54,692 2:292 Tigers – 8, Cardinals – 1 October 3 Busch Memorial Stadium 54,692 2:413 Cardinals – 7, Tigers – 3 October 5 Tiger Stadium 53,634 3:174 Cardinals – 10, Tigers – 1 October 6 Tiger Stadium 53,634 2:345 Tigers – 5, Cardinals – 3 October 7 Tiger Stadium 53,634 2:436 Tigers – 13, Cardinals – 1 October 9 Busch Memorial Stadium 54,692 2:267 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, 62Stolen Bases Single Season National League Leaders by Baseball Almanac Farm system Minor League Baseball 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: TulsaJohnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007 References 2 External links 1968 St. Louis Cardinals at Baseball Reference 1968 St. Louis Cardinals team page at www.baseball-almanac.com Category:St. Louis Cardinals seasons Saint Louis Cardinals season Category:National League champion seasons St Louis