The 1987 St. Louis Cardinals season was the team's 106th season in St. Louis, Missouri and the 96th season in the National League. The Cardinals went 95–67 during the season and finished first in the National League East for the third and last time before moving to the National League Central in 1994. They went on to win the NLCS in seven games over the San Francisco Giants. In the World Series against the Minnesota Twins, after having fallen behind 2–0 at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, they won their next three games at home. However, back at the Metrodome, they lost the last two and fell one game short of a World Series title. It would be the Cardinals' last World Series appearance until 2004.

Offseason October 31, 1986: Alan Knicely was released by the Cardinals.Alan Knicely at Baseball Reference December 19, 1986: Bob Forsch was signed as a free agent by the Cardinals.Bob Forsch at Baseball Reference January 26, 1987: Skeeter Barnes was signed as a free agent by the Cardinals.Skeeter Barnes at Baseball Reference

Regular season September highlights included a Terry Pendleton home run during a September 11 game against the contending Mets as well as a Tom Herr walk-off grand slam against the Mets on Seat Cushion Night. As St. Louis proceeded into the post-season, they found themselves without clean-up hitter Jack Clark, the team's number-one offensive threat. He damaged his ankle when he caught a cleat in the artificial turf at Montreal's Olympic Stadium. Nonetheless, the Redbirds won 95 games to capture the NL East title.

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Notable transactions April 1, 1987: Mike LaValliere, Mike Dunne and Andy Van Slyke were traded by the Cardinals to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Tony Peña.Mike LaValliere at Baseball Reference April 6, 1987: Lee Tunnell was purchased by the Cardinals from the Pittsburgh Pirates.Lee Tunnell at Baseball Reference June 2, 1987: Jeremy Hernandez was drafted by the Cardinals in the 2nd round of the 1987 Major League Baseball draft.Jeremy Hernandez at Baseball Reference July 16, 1987: Skeeter Barnes was purchased from the Cardinals by the Milwaukee Brewers. July 25, 1987: Joe Boever was traded by the Cardinals to the Atlanta Braves for Randy O'Neal.Joe Boever at Baseball Reference August 31, 1987: Pat Perry was traded to the Cincinnati Reds for a player to be named later. On September 3, 1987 the Cincinnati Reds sent Scott Terry to the St. Louis Cardinals to complete the deal. September 29, 1987: Doug DeCinces was signed as a free agent with the St. Louis Cardinals.

Roster 1987 St. Louis Cardinals Roster Pitchers Catchers

Infielders Outfielders Manager

Coaches (First base) (Hitting) (Third base) (Bullpen) (Pitching) (Bench) (Guest Instructor)

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 116 384 82 .214 5 44 1B 131 419 120 .286 35 106 2B 141 510 134 .263 2 83 3B 159 583 167 .286 12 96 SS 158 600 182 .303 0 75 LF 151 623 180 .289 3 43 CF 153 620 177 .285 11 105 RF 89 228 65 .285 3 26

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 116 248 71 .286 1 24 75 207 43 .208 8 28 74 179 45 .251 2 19 101 157 41 .261 3 23 24 60 14 .233 1 11 63 59 13 .220 0 7 30 50 10 .200 0 6 27 48 9 .188 2 9 44 47 13 .277 0 8 14 30 8 .267 1 1 17 29 4 .138 1 4 19 25 2 .080 0 0 4 9 2 .222 0 1 4 4 1 .250 1 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 31 199.1 11 9 3.88 101 32 197.2 11 11 3.73 108 33 179.0 11 7 4.32 89 27 170.1 9 7 3.54 101 16 96.0 10 2 3.84 54

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 67 125.0 8 3 3.82 55 32 74.1 4 4 4.84 49 10 40.2 3 2 5.53 22 6 16.0 1 1 6.75 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 75 8 6 33 2.66 92 60 5 8 2 4.47 65 53 9 5 4 2.66 63 45 4 2 1 4.39 33 12 1 0 0 6.46 9 12 0 0 1 1.80 11 11 0 0 0 3.38 9 1 0 0 0 1.80 4 1 0 0 0 27.00 0

Postseason

NLCS

Despite the Cardinals prevailing over the San Francisco Giants in 7 games, it was the Giants' Jeffrey Leonard who won the NLCS MVP award.

Game 1 October 6, Busch Stadium Team123456789RHESan Francisco100100010370St. Louis00110300X5101W: Greg Mathews (1-0)  L: Rick Reuschel (0-1)   SV: Ken Dayley (1)HRs: SFG – Jeffrey Leonard (1)   STL – None

Game 2 October 7, Busch Stadium Team123456789RHESan Francisco0201000205100St. Louis000000000021W: Dave Dravecky (1-0)  L: John Tudor (0-1)   SV: NoneHRs: SFG – Will Clark (1)   Jeffrey Leonard (2)   STL – None

Game 3 October 9, Candlestick Park Team123456789RHESt. Louis0000024006111San Francisco031000001571W: Bob Forsch (1-0)  L: Don Robinson (0-1)   SV: Todd Worrell (1)HRs: SFG – Jeffrey Leonard (3)   Harry Spilman (1)   STL – Jim Lindeman (1)

Game 4 October 10, Candlestick Park Team123456789RHESt. Louis020000000290San Francisco00012001X492W: Mike Krukow (1-0)  L: Danny Cox (0-1)   SV: NoneHRs: SFG – Robby Thompson (1)   Jeffrey Leonard (4)   STL – None

Game 5 October 11, Candlestick Park Team123456789RHESt. Louis101100000370San Francisco10140000X671W: Joe Price (1-0)  L: Bob Forsch (1-1)   SV: NoneHRs: SFG – Kevin Mitchell (1)   STL – None

Game 6 October 13, Busch Stadium Team123456789RHESan Francisco000000000060St. Louis01000000X150W: John Tudor (1-1)  L: Dave Dravecky (1-1)   SV: Ken Dayley (2)HRs: SFG – None   STL – None

Game 7 October 14, Busch Stadium Team123456789RHESan Francisco000000000081St. Louis04000200X6120W: Danny Cox (1-1)  L: Atlee Hammaker (0-1)   SV: NoneHRs: SFG – None   STL – José Oquendo (1)

World Series

The Minnesota Twins defeated the Cardinals in seven games. This Series was the first in which the home team won each of the seven games. The Cardinals held their own at Busch Stadium, but the crowd noise and the "Homer Hankys" in the Metrodome appeared to give the Twins an edge. The booming bats of the Twins were too much for the Cardinals' "inside baseball" style of offense in Games 1, 2, and 6. In Game 7 it was the Twins' pitching that shut down the Cardinals.

AL Minnesota Twins (4) vs. NL St. Louis Cardinals (3) GameScoreDateLocationAttendanceTime of Game1 Cardinals – 1, Twins – 10 October 17Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome (Minnesota) 55,171 3:362 Cardinals – 4, Twins – 8 October 18Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome (Minnesota) 55,257 2:423 Twins – 1, Cardinals – 3 October 20Busch Stadium (St. Louis) 55,347 2:454 Twins – 2, Cardinals – 7 October 21Busch Stadium (St. Louis) 55,347 3:115 Twins – 2, Cardinals – 4 October 22Busch Stadium (St. Louis) 55,347 3:216 Cardinals – 5, Twins – 11 October 24Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome (Minnesota) 55,293 3:227 Cardinals – 2, Twins – 4 October 25Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome (Minnesota) 55,376 3:04

Awards and honors Terry Pendleton, Third Base, National League Gold Glove Ozzie Smith, Shortstop, National League Gold Glove, Silver Slugger Jack Clark, First Base, National League Silver Slugger

Farm system

Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007

References

External links 1987 St. Louis Cardinals at Baseball Reference 1987 St. Louis Cardinals at Baseball Almanac