The 2000 St. Louis Cardinals season was the team's 119th season in St. Louis, Missouri and the 109th season in the National League. The Cardinals went 95–67 during the season, their best finish since 1987, and won the National League Central by ten games over the Cincinnati Reds. In the playoffs the Cardinals defeated the Atlanta Braves a three-game sweep of the NLDS. They faced the New York Mets in the NLCS and lost in five games.

The Cardinals sweep of the Braves in the NLDS was notable because of the perception by the media that it would make it easier for their opponent in the Mets to reach the World Series. The Braves (the defending National League champion) had eliminated the Mets from the playoffs on the final day of the 1998 season and in the 1999 NLCS.

The 2000 Cardinals featured a completely revamped roster, assembled during a busy offseason following a losing 1999 campaign. Key acquisitions included second baseman Fernando Vina, from the Milwaukee Brewers, catcher Mike Matheny, from the Toronto Blue Jays, and centerfielder Jim Edmonds, from the Anaheim Angels. Matheny and Edmonds won Gold Gloves this year. Pitcher Darryl Kile, from the Colorado Rockies, was one of three new starters in the rotation. He went 20-9 and finished 5th in voting for the NL Cy Young Award.

Offseason November 11, 1999: Alberto Castillo, Matt DeWitt, and Lance Painter were traded by the Cardinals to the Toronto Blue Jays for Paul Spoljaric and Pat Hentgen.Paul Spoljaric at Baseball-Reference November 16, 1999: Manny Aybar, Brent Butler, Rich Croushore, and José Jiménez were traded by the Cardinals to the Colorado Rockies for Darryl Kile, Luther Hackman and Dave Veres.Darryl Kile at Baseball-Reference November 24, 1999: Heathcliff Slocumb was signed as a free agent by the Cardinals.Heathcliff Slocumb at Baseball-Reference December 15, 1999: Luis Ordaz was traded by the Cardinals to the Arizona Diamondbacks for Dante Powell.Dante Powell at Baseball-Reference December 20, 1999: Juan Acevedo was traded by the Cardinals with two players to be named later to the Milwaukee Brewers for Fernando Vina. In June 2000 the Cardinals sent Eliezer Alfonzo and Matt Parker to the Brewers to complete the trade. January 5, 2000: Ernie Young was signed as a free agent by the Cardinals. January 7, 2000: Andy Benes was signed as a free agent by the Cardinals. March 18, 2000: Joe McEwing was traded by the Cardinals to the New York Mets for Jesse Orosco.Jesse Orosco at Baseball-Reference March 23, 2000: Kent Bottenfield was traded by the Cardinals with Adam Kennedy to the Anaheim Angels for Jim Edmonds.

Regular season

Opening Day starters Eric Davis Jim Edmonds Darryl Kile Ray Lankford Mike Matheny Craig Paquette Édgar Rentería Fernando Tatís Fernando Viña

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Transactions June 5: Released Mike Mohler. July 31: Traded Heathcliff Slocumb and Ben Johnson to the San Diego Padres for Carlos Hernández and Nate Tebbs (minors). July 31: Traded José León with cash to the Baltimore Orioles for Will Clark.Will Clark at Baseball-Reference Acquired to play in place of the injured Mark McGwire, Clark responded with a .964 OPS and hit a home run in each of his first four games with the new club. He performed better in the 2000 playoffs (.345 BA) than in recent years. After announcing that his retirement would come when the Cardinals' playoff run ended, Clark went 1 for 3 in his final game on October 16, 2000, in the NLCS against the New York Mets,

Roster 2000 St. Louis Cardinals Roster Pitchers Catchers

Infielders Outfielders Manager

Coaches (Bench) (Pitching) (Hitting) (Bullpen) (First Base) (Third Base)

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 128 417 109 .261 6 47 1B Mark McGwire 89 236 72 .305 32 73 2B Fernando Viña 123 487 146 .300 4 31 SS Édgar Rentería 150 562 156 .278 16 76 3B Fernando Tatís 96 324 82 .253 18 64 LF Ray Lankford 128 392 99 .253 26 65 CF Jim Edmonds 152 525 155 .295 42 108 RF J.D. Drew 135 407 120 .295 18 57

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 Craig Paquette 134 384 94 .245 15 61 Plácido Polanco 118 323 102 .316 5 39 Eric Davis 92 254 77 .303 6 40 Shawon Dunston 98 216 54 .250 12 43 Will Clark 51 171 59 .345 12 42 Thomas Howard 86 133 28 .211 6 28 Eli Marrero 53 102 23 .225 5 17 Eduardo Pérez 35 91 27 .297 3 10 Carlos Hernández 17 51 14 .275 1 10 Larry Sutton 23 25 8 .320 1 6 Chris Richard 6 16 2 .125 1 1 Rick Wilkins 4 11 3 .273 0 1 Keith McDonald 6 7 3 .429 3 5 Luis Saturria 6 5 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 34 232.1 20 9 3.91 192 Garrett Stephenson 32 200.1 16 9 4.49 123 Pat Hentgen 33 194.1 15 12 4.72 118 Rick Ankiel 31 175.0 11 7 3.50 194 Andy Benes 30 166.0 12 9 4.88 137 Britt Reames 8 40.2 2 1 2.88 31

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 5 29 2.85 67 Mike James 51 2 2 2 3.16 41 Heathcliff Slocumb 43 2 3 1 5.44 34 Matt Morris 31 3 3 4 3.57 34 Alan Benes 30 2 2 0 5.67 26 Mike Timlin 25 3 1 1 3.34 26 Mike Mohler 22 1 1 0 9.00 8 Jason Christiansen 21 1 0 0 5.40 12 Gene Stechschulte 20 1 0 0 6.31 12 Mark Thompson 20 1 1 0 5.04 19 Mike Matthews 14 0 0 0 11.57 8 Dave Wainhouse 9 0 1 0 9.35 5 José Rodríguez 6 0 0 0 0.00 2 Jesse Orosco 6 0 0 0 3.86 4 Darren Holmes 5 0 1 0 9.72 5 Justin Brunette 4 0 0 0 5.79 2 Luther Hackman 1 0 0 0 10.13 0 Scott Radinsky 1 0 0 0 ---- 0

NLDS

St. Louis won series, 3-0. This was the series in which pitching phenom Rick Ankiel permanently lost his command and control, throwing four wild pitches in one inning. GameScoreDate1St. Louis 7, Atlanta 5October 32St. Louis 10, Atlanta 4October 53St. Louis 7, Atlanta 1 October 7

NLCS

Game 1 October 11: Busch Stadium, St. Louis, Missouri

Game 2

October 12: Busch Stadium, St. Louis, Missouri

Game 3

October 14: Shea Stadium, Flushing, New York

Game 4

October 15: Shea Stadium, Flushing, New York

Game 5

October 16: Shea Stadium, Flushing, New York

Farm system

Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007

References

External links 2000 St. Louis Cardinals at Baseball Reference 2000 St. Louis Cardinals team page at www.baseball-almanac.com