The 1978 St. Louis Cardinals season was the team's 97th season in St. Louis, Missouri and its 87th season in the National League. The Cardinals went 69–93 during the season and finished fifth in the National League East, 21 games behind the Philadelphia Phillies.
Offseason October 25, 1977: The Cardinals traded a player to be named later to the San Francisco Giants for Frank Riccelli. The Cardinals completed the deal by sending Jim Dwyer to the Giants on June 15, 1978.Frank Riccelli page at Baseball Reference December 8, 1977: Dave Rader and Héctor Cruz were traded by the Cardinals to the Chicago Cubs for Jerry Morales, Steve Swisher, and cash.Dave Rader page at Baseball Reference February 2, 1978: Ken Rudolph was signed as a free agent by the Cardinals.Ken Rudolph page at Baseball Reference March 15, 1978: Rick Bosetti was traded by the Cardinals to the Toronto Blue Jays for Tom Bruno and cash.Rick Bosetti page at Baseball Reference
Regular season In late April, the Cardinals fired manager Vern Rapp, who had started at 7–11. He was briefly replaced by coach Jack Krol for two games (1-1) before giving the job on a permanent basis to their former MVP third-baseman Ken Boyer, who went 61–81 the rest of the way.
On June 16, Tom Seaver of the Cincinnati Reds made history by pitching a no-hitter against the Cardinals. It would be the only no-hitter of his career.
First baseman Keith Hernandez won a Gold Glove.
This remains to date the only 162-game season in which the Cardinals failed to win at least 70 games.
Season standings
Record vs. opponents
Opening Day starters Lou Brock John Denny Keith Hernandez Jerry Morales Ken Reitz Tony Scott Ted Simmons Garry Templeton Mike Tyson
Notable transactions May 26, 1978: Eric Rasmussen was traded by the Cardinals to the San Diego Padres for George Hendrick.Eric Rasmussen page at Baseball Reference June 8, 1978: Frank Riccelli was traded by the Cardinals to the Houston Astros for Bob Coluccio. July 18, 1978: John Tamargo was traded by the Cardinals to the San Francisco Giants for a player to be named later. The Giants completed the deal by sending Rob Dressler to the Cardinals on July 24.John Tamargo page at Baseball Reference
Roster 1978 St. Louis Cardinals Roster Pitchers Catchers
Infielders Outfielders Manager
Coaches
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 Ted Simmons 152 516 148 .287 22 80 1B 159 542 138 .255 11 64 2B Mike Tyson 125 377 88 .233 3 26 SS Garry Templeton 155 647 181 .280 2 47 3B 150 540 133 .246 10 75 LF 92 298 66 .221 0 12 CF 102 382 110 .288 17 67 RF 130 457 109 .239 4 46
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 Jerry Mumphrey 125 367 96 .262 2 37 Tony Scott 96 219 50 .228 1 14 76 164 44 .268 1 28 45 115 32 .278 1 10 52 92 22 .239 2 20 Dane Iorg 35 85 23 .271 0 4 34 65 14 .215 1 4 Wayne Garrett 33 63 21 .333 1 10 Ken Oberkfell 24 50 6 .120 0 0 Terry Kennedy 10 29 5 .172 0 2 8 11 2 .182 0 1 Gary Sutherland 10 6 1 .167 0 0 6 6 0 .000 0 0 Mike Ramsey 12 5 1 .200 0 0 5 3 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 33 234.0 14 11 2.96 103 34 233.2 11 17 3.70 114 22 138.1 9 8 3.64 45 19 75.0 2 7 5.76 28 10 60.1 2 5 4.18 32
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 Pete Vuckovich 45 198.1 12 12 2.54 149 John Urrea 27 98.2 4 9 5.38 61 Aurelio López 25 65.0 4 2 4.29 46 18 49.2 4 3 1.99 33 Dan O'Brien 7 18.0 0 2 4.50 12 3 13.0 0 1 2.08 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 Mark Littell 72 4 8 11 2.79 130 Buddy Schultz 62 2 4 6 3.80 70 16 1 1 3 3.81 16 14 0 3 0 4.09 8 13 0 0 0 6.43 8
Awards and records
League leaders Garry Templeton, National League leader, Triples
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 1978 St. Louis Cardinals at Baseball Reference 1978 St. Louis Cardinals team page at www.baseball-almanac.com