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, 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
Record vs. opponents
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 Catchers
Infielders Outfielders
Other batters 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 128 434 110 .253 5 48 1B 157 600 149 .248 16 73 2B 139 519 135 .260 4 52 SS 119 459 116 .253 1 24 3B 156 576 153 .266 15 79 LF 159 660 184 .279 6 51 CF 150 618 186 .301 5 60 RF 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 92 278 64 .230 5 17 84 230 55 .239 3 29 69 127 28 .220 1 8 53 105 24 .229 0 13 33 79 14 .177 0 5 26 56 13 .232 3 8 29 51 8 .157 0 2 20 22 3 .136 0 1 7 17 4 .235 1 1 5 4 2 .500 0 0 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 34 304.2 22 9 1.12 268 33 243.1 19 11 2.81 141 34 231.1 13 11 2.99 162 31 215.1 14 8 2.26 124 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 25 63.2 2 2 3.53 49 18 52.2 2 1 2.91 16 5 19.0 2 1 2.84 6 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 47 8 2 17 1.47 42 48 2 3 4 3.39 39 34 4 2 4 2.25 27 13 0 2 2 4.57 19
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
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
External links 1968 St. Louis Cardinals at Baseball Reference 1968 St. Louis Cardinals team page at www.baseball-almanac.com