The 2008 St. Louis Cardinals season was the 127th season for the St. Louis Cardinals, a Major League Baseball franchise in St. Louis, Missouri. It was the 117th season for the Cardinals in the National League and their 3rd at Busch Stadium III.
The Cardinals, coming off a 78–84 season in 2007 their worst since 1999, improved by eight games, going 86–76 in 2008. However, this was only good for fourth place in the National League Central, 11.5 games behind the division champion Chicago Cubs.
Offseason departures and acquisitions
Front office Walt Jocketty, GM of the Cardinals for twelve years, was fired due to "tension mounting" that had "grown counterproductive ... with respect to some baseball issues." Tony La Russa, however, signed a contract to return to manage the Cardinals for his 13th and 14th seasons. John Mozeliak took Jocketty's place as GM.ESPN - Mozeliak replaces former boss Jocketty with Cardinals - MLB John Abbamondi, former senior director of labor economics working for Major League Baseball in New York, joined the Cardinals as assistant GM.
On March 13, it was announced that Mark Lamping, president of the Cardinals for 13 years, resigned to become the CEO of the New Meadowlands Stadium Company. Bill DeWitt III, son of Cardinals chairman William DeWitt, Jr. and formerly the team's vice-president of business development, took Lamping's place as president.Stltoday.com - Lamping resigns from Cards, takes job in New York
Hitters A major offseason story for the Cardinals was the hostile relationship between manager Tony La Russa and third baseman Scott Rolen. LaRussa publicly criticized Rolen on December 5,The Official Site of The St. Louis Cardinals: News: La Russa criticizes Rolen's demeanor and Rolen requested a trade, but the team was unable to find a suitable offer at the winter meetings.The Official Site of The St. Louis Cardinals: News: Cardinals in no hurry to move RolenThe Official Site of The St. Louis Cardinals: News: No deal imminent for RolenESPN - La Russa says Cards will do what's right for team, not player - MLB On January 12, the Cardinals reached a tentative agreement with the Toronto Blue Jays to trade Rolen for their third baseman, Troy Glaus, and the trade was finalized on January 14.The Official Site of Major League Baseball: News: Glaus-Rolen deal near completionThe Official Site of Major League Baseball: News: Doctors sign off on Rolen-Glaus trade
Center fielder Jim Edmonds, the most senior member of the Cardinals' roster, having been with the team since the 2000 season, was traded to the San Diego Padres for single-A third baseman David Freese and cash considerations on December 14, 2007.The Official Site of The St. Louis Cardinals: News: Cards deal icon Edmonds to Padres
So Taguchi, backup outfielder and the only Japanese player in franchise history, was released by the Cardinals in December after six seasons with the organization.ESPN - Report: Cards release Taguchi to open spot for Rule 5 draft pick - MLB The Cardinals declined to offer arbitration to shortstop David EcksteinThe Official Site of The St. Louis Cardinals: News: Eckstein's tenure in St. Louis likely over and acquired César Izturis as his replacement.ESPN - Cards agree to deal with infielder Izturis - MLB St. Louis acquired Jason LaRue to be the backup catcher, replacing Gary Bennett.The Official Site of The St. Louis Cardinals: News: Catcher LaRue signs with Cardinals The Cardinals took outfielder Brian Barton from Cleveland on December 6 in the Rule 5 draft.The Official Site of The St. Louis Cardinals: News: Cardinals nab outfielder in Rule 5 Draft
Utility player Scott Spiezio was released by the Cardinals on February 27 after California authorities issued a warrant for his arrest on charges that included hit-and-run, drunk driving and assault. Spiezio had previously missed a month of the 2007 season to go on rehab for drug abuse problems.Cardinals cut ties with Spiezio
In spring training, LaRussa confirmed that he would continue to bat the pitcher eighth after the Cardinals adopted the unconventional lineup for the last two months of the 2007 season.Cardinals Notes 2-26-08Pitcher bats 8th
Pitchers Starting pitcher Kip Wells, who posted a 5.70 ERA in 2007, departed via free agency. Starting pitcher Joel Piñeiro, effective for the Cardinals in 2007 after a late-season trade from Boston, signed a two-year deal to remain with the team.Pineiro signs
On January 3, St. Louis signed starting pitcher Matt Clement, a former All-Star who missed the entire 2007 season after undergoing shoulder surgery.The Official Site of The St. Louis Cardinals: News: Cardinals add Clement to rotation mix However, Clement's rehab went slowly and he was not ready for Opening Day.
Concerned over health issues in the rotation, with Clement not ready and Piñeiro suffering from shoulder pain, St. Louis signed another free agent, starting pitcher Kyle Lohse, to a one-year contract on March 14.
Regular season The Cardinals were 17-10-2 in Grapefruit League play with a .286 team batting average (5th in NL) and a 4.01 ERA (4th in NL). Attendance at Roger Dean Stadium was 92,465 in 16 home games (9-5-2) for an average home attendance of 5,779. In 13 road games (8-5-0), attendance 85,655; road average 6,589. Their overall Spring training record was 19-11-2. St. Louis started the season with three players--Brian Barton, Kyle McClellan, and Rico Washington – who were making their big-league debuts. Only nine players on the Opening Day roster – Yadier Molina, Albert Pujols, Chris Duncan, Aaron Miles, Randy Flores, Anthony Reyes, Adam Wainwright, Braden Looper and Brad Thompson – were on the roster of the 2006 World Series champion Cardinals. With a pitching rotation in flux and many long-time Cardinals off to other teams, and coming off a losing season, most experts picked St. Louis to play poorly again in 2008.ESPN 2008 St. Louis Cardinals previewSports Illustrated 2008 predictions
April Opening Day, scheduled for March 31, was postponed to April 1 due to rain after the Cards and Rockies had played 2½ innings. The rain wiped out an Albert Pujols home run.Opener postponed In the make-up game, St. Louis lost 2-1, with a Yadier Molina home run the only offense. After the opening loss the Cardinals won the other five games on their home stand; the 5-1 start marked the first time since 2006 that the Cardinals had been more than one game above .500. St. Louis finished the month of April with an 18-11 record and in sole possession of first place in the NL Central. Albert Pujols reached base safely in all 29 games for the month. Staff ace Adam Wainwright finished the month 3-1 with a 2.79 ERA.Adam Wainwright splits Jason Isringhausen had nine saves in April. However, new third baseman Troy Glaus ended April hitting only .260 and had only one home run for the month.
May May opened with St. Louis' first series of the year against their arch-rival and the preseason NL Central favorite Chicago Cubs, with the Cardinals winning two of three games to stay atop the NL Central standings. Pujols continued to get on base: on May 6 he reached base safely for the 34th consecutive game since the start of the season, the longest such streak in MLB since 1999.Cards 6, Rockies 5
Jason Isringhausen struggled mightily as Cardinal closer in late April and early May, blowing four saves and taking three losses between April 25 and May 9. His ERA rose from 4.50 to 7.47 during that span. After Isringhausen's fifth blown save of the season on May 9, LaRussa announced that Isringhausen would no longer be closing games and instead the Cardinals would be adopting a closer-by-committee approach.Isringhausen out of closer role Ryan Franklin received the first save opportunity after LaRussa's decision.Cards 5, Brewers 3 On May 16, Isringhausen was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a right hand laceration. Josh Kinney was transferred to the 60-day disabled list (from the 15-day list) to make room for highly touted prospect Chris Perez, who was called up from Memphis. Finally, on May 17, Manager La Russa officially designated Ryan Franklin as his closer.
Albert Pujols' on-base streak was snapped at 42 games when he failed to reach safely in a 3-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays on May 16. It was six games shy of his career-best 48 games in a row on base, set in his rookie season of 2001.Rays 3, Cards 1 The loss was the eighth in ten games for the Cardinals, a stretch that dropped them into second place behind the Cubs.
In late May, Piñeiro went to the DL and rookie Mike Parisi took his spot in the rotation.Pineiro to DL Chris Duncan, slumping all year after offseason hernia surgery, followed him to the DL, with Joe Mather getting the callup.Duncan to DL Parisi and Mather were the fifth and sixth players to make their big-league debut with the 2008 Cardinals, following Brian Barton, Kyle McClellan, Rico Washington and Chris Perez. After slumping in the middle of the month, the Cardinals got hot at the end of May, going 15-13 for the month. They remained in second place behind the Cubs. Todd Wellemeyer was named NL Pitcher of the Month after going 4-0 with a 2.19 ERA in May.Wellemeyer pitcher of the month
June On June 1, pitcher Mark Worrell got called up; he became the seventh rookie to make his MLB debut with the Cardinals in 2008.Worrell up, Jiminez down On June 5, Worrell hit a home run in his first big-league at-bat, the eight Cardinal in franchise history to do so.Worrell homers On June 6, Mitchell Boggs followed Worrell to the big leagues as the eighth rookie to make his debut with the 2008 Cardinals; fellow rookie Parisi was sent down to make room.Boggs called up
Troy Glaus began to find his power stroke, hitting four home runs between May 31 and June 5 after hitting only two in the first two months of the season. Ryan Ludwick, who never hit more than 14 home runs in a season prior to 2008, hit his 15th home run on June 10.
The Cardinals suffered a serious setback on June 9, when staff ace Adam Wainwright went to the DL with a sprained finger.Wainwright to DL The injury situation became even worse on June 10, when Albert Pujols strained his left calf muscle running from home on a ground ball, sending him to the disabled list for only the second time in his eight-year career.Pujols suffers strained left calf: Cards slugger to be examined Wednesday, likely headed to DLPujols to miss at least three weeks: With slugger sidelined due to calf strain, Cards recall Duncan Meanwhile, former closer Jason Isringhausen made his return from the disabled list on June 14, with the club intending to use him in middle relief.Isringhausen activated
On June 20 the Cardinals traveled to Boston for a three-game set with the Red Sox; it was St. Louis' first trip to Fenway since the 2004 World Series. They won two of three in Boston. Nick Stavinoha, called up on June 22 after Izturis went on the DL, became the ninth player to make his big-league debut with the 2008 Cardinals.Stavinoha up
Albert Pujols was activated from the disabled list on June 26. The Cardinals went 6-7 in his absence. In Pujols' first game back he got four hits, but the Cardinals lost 3-2 to the Tigers after closer Franklin blew the save in the bottom of the 9th and Mike Parisi issued a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the 10th.Tigers 3, Cardinals 2 The loss was part of a season-long trend of bullpen failures and blowups. It was the 19th blown save and 18th loss for Cardinal relievers, as opposed to 11 blown saves and 12 losses for the bullpen in all of 2007."Closers providing scant relief"
Mark Mulder, who had pitched only sporadically for the Cardinals since undergoing shoulder surgery in 2006, was activated on June 27 and sent to the bullpen.Mulder activated In his first appearance, on June 30, he threw a scoreless ninth inning against the New York Mets.