The 1945 St. Louis Cardinals season was the team's 64th season in St. Louis, Missouri and the 54th season in the National League. The Cardinals went 95–59 during the season and finished second in the National League. The Cardinals set a Major League record which still stands, for the fewest double plays grounded into during a season, with only 75.

Offseason Prior to 1945 season: Steve Bilko was signed by the Cardinals as an amateur free agent.Steve Bilko page at Baseball-Reference

Regular season Stan Musial, Walker Cooper, Max Lanier and pitcher Mort Cooper, who experienced elbow problems later in the season, got into a contract squabble with Harry Breadon during the spring. They signed contracts for $12,000 apiece, then balked at reporting for opening day after learning Marion had been upped to $15,000.

On May 23, the Cards sent Mort Cooper to the Boston Braves for pitcher Red Barrett, who compiled a league-high total of 23 wins, and $60,000. However, the Redbirds did not have enough pitching depth to keep up with the faster pace of a Chicago Cubs team filled with veteran pitchers such as Paul Derringer.

The Cardinals actually won 16 of their 22 meetings with The Cubs.

Only Whitey Kurowski batted over .300 among the regulars. He was one of the few Cardinals were able to keep their jobs once the boys marched home from Europe and the Pacific.

Red Schoendienst stole 26 bases but batted just .278 and drove in only 47 runs.

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Notable transactions May 8, 1945: Glenn Crawford and John Antonelli were traded by the Cardinals to the Philadelphia Phillies for Buster Adams.Glenn Crawford page at Baseball Reference

Roster 1945 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 100 307 78 .254 4 43 1B 143 537 148 .276 8 78 2B 155 597 166 .278 0 72 SS 123 430 119 .277 1 59 3B 133 511 165 .323 21 102 OF 140 578 169 .292 20 101 OF 124 446 129 .289 3 44 OF 137 565 157 .278 1 47

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 94 304 96 .316 3 44 83 253 66 .261 1 28 74 146 49 .336 0 18 26 72 25 .347 0 5 19 57 13 .228 1 6 24 55 13 .236 0 7 24 47 12 .255 0 1 27 47 7 .149 1 4 13 43 10 .233 0 5 4 18 7 .389 0 1 6 12 1 .083 0 1 4 3 0 .000 0 0 2 3 0 .000 0 0 1 1 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 36 246.2 21 9 2.74 63 31 166.1 8 10 3.52 76 24 157.1 15 4 2.52 63 18 98.1 4 7 2.93 28 4 26.0 2 2 1.73 16 4 23.2 2 0 1.52 14

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 42 217.1 18 8 2.90 67 31 126.1 8 6 3.21 33 33 95.0 4 5 4.74 39 26 87.0 5 4 4.14 34 27 71.2 3 3 5.15 42 17 54.2 3 1 3.29 20 8 13.1 0 0 6.08 6 4 11.2 1 0 1.54 5

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 6 1 0 0 3.38 4

Farm system

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

Notes

External links 1945 St. Louis Cardinals at Baseball Reference 1945 St. Louis Cardinals team page at www.baseball-almanac.com

References