The 1984 St. Louis Cardinals season was the Cardinals' 103rd season in St. Louis, Missouri and the 93rd season in the National League. The Cardinals went 84–78 during the season and finished third in the National League East, 12½ games behind their arch-rivals, the Chicago Cubs. It was also the final season of the Columbia blue road uniforms for the Cardinals.
Offseason January 17, 1984: Rafael Santana was released by the Cardinals. March 26, 1984: Jamie Quirk was released by the Cardinals.
Regular season Pitcher Joaquín Andújar and shortstop Ozzie Smith won Gold Gloves this year. Bruce Sutter had a then-NL record of 45 saves.
June 23, 1984: What turned out to be a key game for the Cubs occurred at Wrigley, with the Cubs facing the rival Cardinals on the nationally televised "Game of the Week". The Cardinals led throughout the game, and led 9-8 going into the bottom of the ninth with closer Bruce Sutter on the mound. Second baseman Ryne Sandberg led off the ninth with a solo home run into the left-field bleachers, tying the game at nine. The following inning, St. Louis regained the lead, and Sutter stayed in the game attempting to close out the win. After the first two batters were retired, Bob Dernier walked, bringing up Sandberg again. He promptly hit another game-tying home run into the left-field bleachers, sending the Wrigley fans into a frenzy. The Cardinals did not score in the top of the 11th, but the Cubs loaded the bases on three walks, then rookie Dave Owen singled in the winning run. Willie McGee hit for the cycle and had 6 RBI but Ryne Sandberg had 7 RBI in the game. Henceforth, this game has become known as "The Sandberg Game".
Season standings
Record vs. opponents
Notable transactions April 5, 1984: Gary Rajsich was purchased by the Cardinals from the New York Mets. May 10, 1984: Dane Iorg was purchased from the Cardinals by the Kansas City Royals. June 15, 1984: Ken Oberkfell was traded by the Cardinals to the Atlanta Braves for Ken Dayley and Mike Jorgensen.
Draft picks June 4, 1984: 1984 Major League Baseball draft Lance Johnson was drafted by the Cardinals in the 6th round. Player signed June 13, 1984. Craig Wilson was drafted by the Cardinals in the 20th round.
Roster 1984 St. Louis Cardinals Roster Pitchers Catchers
Infielders Outfielders Manager
Coaches
Player stats
= Indicates team leader
= Indicates league 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 127 422 98 .232 11 68 1B David Green 126 452 121 .268 15 65 2B Tom Herr 145 558 154 .276 4 49 SS 124 412 106 .257 1 44 3B Terry Pendleton 67 262 85 .324 1 33 LF Lonnie Smith 145 504 126 .250 6 49 CF Willie McGee 145 571 166 .291 6 50 RF George Hendrick 120 441 122 .277 9 69
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 Andy Van Slyke 137 361 88 .244 7 50 Tito Landrum 105 173 47 .272 3 26 50 152 47 .309 0 11 Art Howe 89 139 30 .216 2 12 Chris Speier 38 118 21 .178 3 8 86 98 27 .276 0 16 Mike Jorgensen 59 98 24 .245 1 12 Tom Nieto 33 86 24 .279 3 12 46 73 16 .219 0 3 Glenn Brummer 28 58 12 .207 1 3 15 28 4 .143 0 3 Mark Salas 14 20 2 .100 0 1 José Uribe 8 19 4 .211 0 3 Mike Ramsey 21 15 1 .067 0 0 Paul Householder 13 14 2 .143 0 0 7 7 1 .143 0 2
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 36 261.1 20 14 3.34 147 Dave LaPoint 33 193.0 12 10 3.96 130 29 156.1 9 11 4.03 70 Kurt Kepshire 17 109.0 6 5 3.30 71 4 19.0 0 3 4.74 11
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 Ricky Horton 37 125.2 9 4 3.44 76 John Stuper 15 61.1 3 5 5.28 19 16 52.1 2 5 6.02 21 10 22.1 0 1 3.63 15 3 5.0 0 2 18.00 0
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 71 5 7 45 1.54 77 Jeff Lahti 63 4 2 1 3.72 45 57 9 6 3 3.55 66 Dave Rucker 50 2 3 0 2.10 38 27 1 0 1 3.12 19 Kevin Hagen 4 1 0 0 2.45 2 Andy Hassler 3 1 0 0 11.57 1
Awards and honors
League top ten finishers Joaquín Andújar, National League Leader, Wins (20) Joaquín Andújar, National League Leader, Innings Pitched (261.1) Joaquín Andújar, National League Leader, Shutouts (4)
Farm system
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Louisville
References
External links 1984 St. Louis Cardinals at Baseball Reference 1984 St. Louis Cardinals team page at www.baseball-almanac.com