1977 St. Louis Cardinals season

This article is about the Major League Baseball team. For the National Football League team, see 1977 St. Louis Cardinals (NFL) season.

1977 St. Louis Cardinals
Major League affiliations
National League (since 1892)
Eastern Division (since 1969)
Location
Busch Memorial Stadium (since 1966) St. Louis, Missouri (since 1882)
Results
Record	83–79 (.512)
Divisional place	3rd
Other information
Owner(s)	August "Gussie" Busch
General manager(s)	Bing Devine
Manager(s)	Vern Rapp
Local television	KSD-TV (Jack Buck, Mike Shannon, Jay Randolph, Bob Starr)
Local radio	KMOX (Jack Buck, Mike Shannon, Bob Starr)
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The 1977 St. Louis Cardinals season was the team's 96th season in St. Louis, Missouri and its 86th season in the National League. The Cardinals went 83–79 during the season and finished third in the National League East, 18 games behind the Philadelphia Phillies.

Vern Rapp took over as the Cardinals' manager this year, after the twelve-year reign of their longtime manager Red Schoendienst. On August 29, Cardinals left-fielder Lou Brock broke the modern-day stolen base record, by stealing bases 892 and 893 in a game against the Padres in San Diego.

Contents

• 
  1 Offseason
  


• 
  2 Regular season
  
  
  
  • 
    2.1 Opening Day starters
    
  
  
  • 
    2.2 Season standings
    
  
  
  • 
    2.3 Record vs. opponents
    
  
  
  • 
    2.4 Notable transactions
    
  
  
  • 
    2.5 Roster
    
  
  
  
  


• 
  3 Player stats
  
  
  
  • 
    3.1 Batting
    
    
    
    • 
      3.1.1 Starters by position
      
    
    
    • 
      3.1.2 Other batters
      
    
    
    
    
  
  
  • 
    3.2 Pitching
    
    
    
    • 
      3.2.1 Starting pitchers
      
    
    
    • 
      3.2.2 Other pitchers
      
    
    
    • 
      3.2.3 Relief pitchers
      
    
    
    
    
  
  
  
  


• 
  4 Awards and honors
  


• 
  5 Farm system
  


• 
  6 References
  


• 
  7 External links
  

Offseason

• October 20, 1976: Willie Crawford, John Curtis and Vic Harris were traded by the Cardinals to the San Francisco Giants for Mike Caldwell, Dave Rader and John D'Acquisto.^[1]
  


• November 6, 1976: Bill Greif, Ángel Torres and Sam Mejías were traded by the Cardinals to the Montreal Expos for Pat Scanlon, Steve Dunning, and Tony Scott.^[2]
  


• November 6, 1976: Lee Richard was released by the Cardinals.^[3]
  


• November 21, 1977: Luis DeLeón was signed as an amateur free agent by the Cardinals.^[4]
  


• December 6, 1976: Roger Freed was selected by the Cardinals from the Montreal Expos in the rule 5 draft.^[5]
  


• January 11, 1977: Jesse Orosco was drafted by the Cardinals in the 7th round of the 1977 Major League Baseball Draft, but did not sign.^[6] He would later pitch for the club in 2000.


• February 28, 1977: Mark Covert (minors) was traded by the Cardinals to the Chicago Cubs for Buddy Schultz.^[7]
  


• March 24, 1977: Tom Walker was released by the Cardinals.^[8]
  


• March 28, 1977: Bill Caudill was traded by the Cardinals to the Cincinnati Reds for Joel Youngblood.^[9]
  


• March 30, 1977: Doug Clarey was traded by the Cardinals to the New York Mets for Benny Ayala.^[10]
  


• March 31, 1977: Ken Rudolph was purchased from the Cardinals by the San Francisco Giants.^[11]
  

Regular season

Opening Day starters

• Lou Brock


• Héctor Cruz


• Pete Falcone


• Keith Hernandez


• Don Kessinger


• Bake McBride


• Ken Reitz


• Ted Simmons


• 
  Garry Templeton^[12]
  

Season standings

v t e NL East	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Philadelphia Phillies	101	61	0.623	—	60–21	41–40
Pittsburgh Pirates	96	66	0.593	5	58–23	38–43
St. Louis Cardinals	83	79	0.512	18	52–31	31–48
Chicago Cubs	81	81	0.500	20	46–35	35–46
Montreal Expos	75	87	0.463	26	38–43	37–44
New York Mets	64	98	0.395	37	35–44	29–54

Record vs. opponents

1977 National League Records v t e Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]
Team	ATL	CHC	CIN	HOU	LAD	MON	NYM	PHI	PIT	SD	SF	STL
Atlanta	—	5–7	4–14	9–9	5–13	6–6	7–5	2–10	3–9	11–7	8–10	1–11
Chicago	7–5	—	7–5	6–6	6–6	10–8	9–9	6–12	7–11	7–5	9–3	7–11
Cincinnati	14–4	5–7	—	5–13	10–8	7–5	10–2	8–4	3–9	11–7	10–8	5–7
Houston	9–9	6–6	13–5	—	9–9	8–4	6–6	4–8	4–8	8–10	9–9	5–7
Los Angeles	13–5	6–6	8–10	9–9	—	7–5	8–4	6–6	9–3	12–6	14–4	6–6
Montreal	6–6	8–10	5–7	4–8	5–7	—	10–8	7–11	7–11	5–7	6–6	12–6
New York	5–7	9–9	2–10	6–6	4–8	8–10	—	5–13	4–14	6–6	7–5	8–10
Philadelphia	10-2	12–6	4–8	8–4	6–6	11–7	13–5	—	8–10	9–3	9–3	11–7
Pittsburgh	9–3	11–7	9–3	8–4	3–9	11–7	14–4	10–8	—	10–2	2–10	9–9
San Diego	7–11	5–7	7–11	10–8	6–12	7–5	6–6	3–9	2–10	—	8–10	8–4
San Francisco	10–8	3–9	8–10	9–9	4–14	6–6	5–7	3–9	10–2	10–8	—	7–5
St. Louis	11–1	11–7	7–5	7–5	6–6	6–12	10–8	7–11	9–9	4–8	5–7	—

Notable transactions

• May 17, 1977: John D'Acquisto and Pat Scanlon were traded by the Cardinals to the San Diego Padres for Butch Metzger.^[2]
  


• June 7, 1977: Mike Jeffcoat was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 30th round of the 1977 amateur draft, but did not sign.^[13]
  


• June 7, 1977: Neil Fiala was drafted by the Cardinals in the 32nd round of the 1977 Major League Baseball Draft.^[14]
  


• June 15, 1977: Bake McBride and Steve Waterbury were traded by the Cardinals to the Philadelphia Phillies for Tom Underwood, Dane Iorg, and Rick Bosetti.^[15]
  


• June 15, 1977: Joel Youngblood was traded by the Cardinals to the New York Mets for Mike Phillips.^[9]
  


• August 20, 1977: Don Kessinger was traded by the Cardinals to the Chicago White Sox for Steve Staniland (minors).^[16]
  


• August 31, 1977: Clay Carroll was traded by the Cardinals to the Chicago White Sox for players to be named later. The White Sox completed the deal by sending Nyls Nyman to the Cardinals on September 2, and sending Dave Hamilton and Silvio Martínez to the Cardinals on November 28.^[17]
  

Roster

1977 St. Louis Cardinals
Roster
Pitchers 26 Doug Capilla 33 Clay Carroll 34 John D'Acquisto 36 John Denny 49 Larry Dierker 26 Rawly Eastwick 41 Pete Falcone 31 Bob Forsch 39 Al Hrabosky 34 Butch Metzger 42 Eric Rasmussen 22 Buddy Schultz 35 John Sutton 40 Tom Underwood 38 John Urrea		Catchers 14 Dave Rader 23 Ted Simmons 12 John Tamargo Infielders 16 Jerry DaVanon 16 Taylor Duncan  7 Roger Freed 37 Keith Hernandez 11 Don Kessinger 24 Ken Oberkfell  5 Mike Phillips 44 Ken Reitz  1 Garry Templeton 10 Mike Tyson		Outfielders 27 Mike Anderson 15 Benny Ayala 21 Rick Bosetti 20 Lou Brock 25 Héctor Cruz 11 Jim Dwyer 19 Dane Iorg 21 Bake McBride 29 Jerry Mumphrey 43 Mike Potter 30 Tony Scott 19 Joel Youngblood		Manager  9 Vern Rapp Coaches  8 Jack Krol  4 Mo Mozzali 18 Claude Osteen  3 Sonny Ruberto

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	150	516	164	.318	21	95
1B	Keith Hernandez	161	560	163	.291	15	91
3B	Ken Reitz	157	587	153	.261	17	79
SS	Garry Templeton	153	621	200	.322	8	79
LF	Lou Brock	141	489	133	.272	2	46
CF	Tony Scott	95	292	85	.291	3	41
RF	Héctor Cruz	118	339	80	.236	6	42

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
Don Kessinger	59	134	32	.239	0	7
Bake McBride	43	122	32	.262	4	20
Dave Rader	66	114	30	.263	1	16
Mike Phillips	48	87	21	.241	0	9
Roger Freed	49	83	33	.398	5	21
Jim Dwyer	13	31	7	.226	0	2
Joel Youngblood	25	27	5	.185	0	1
John Tamargo	4	4	0	.000	0	0
Benny Ayala	1	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
Eric Rasmussen	34	233	11	17	3.48	120
John Denny	26	149.2	8	8	4.51	60
Pete Falcone	27	124	4	8	5.44	75
Larry Dierker	11	39.1	2	6	4.58	6

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
John D'Acquisto	3	8.1	0	0	4.32	9

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
Clay Carroll	51	4	2	4	2.50	34
Rawly Eastwick	41	3	7	4	4.70	30
Buddy Schultz	40	6	1	1	2.32	66
Doug Capilla	2	0	0	0	15.43	1

Awards and honors

• 
  Lou Brock, Lou Gehrig Award
  


• 
  Garry Templeton, National League leader, triples (19)^[18]
  

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	New Orleans Pelicans	American Association	Lance Nichols
AA	Arkansas Travelers	Texas League	Buzzy Keller and Tommy Thompson
A	St. Petersburg Cardinals	Florida State League	Hub Kittle
A	Gastonia Cardinals	Western Carolinas League	Hal Lanier
Rookie	Johnson City Cardinals	Appalachian League	Dave Ricketts
Rookie	Calgary Cardinals	Pioneer League	Johnny Lewis

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Arkansas, Gastonia^[19]

References

1. 
   ^ Vic Harris page at Baseball Reference
   


2. 
   ^ ^ab Pat Scanlon page at Baseball Reference
   


3. 
   ^ Lee Richard page at Baseball Reference
   


4. 
   ^ Luis DeLeón page at Baseball Reference
   


5. 
   ^ Roger Freed page at Baseball Reference
   


6. 
   ^ Jesse Orosco page at Baseball Reference
   


7. 
   ^ Buddy Schultz page at Baseball Reference
   


8. 
   ^ Tom Walker page at Baseball Reference
   


9. 
   ^ ^ab Joel Youngblood page at Baseball Reference
   


10. 
    ^ Benny Ayala page at Baseball Reference
    


11. 
    ^ Ken Rudolph page at Baseball Reference
    


12. 
    ^ http://www.baseball-almanac.com/teamstats/roster.php?y=1977&t=SLN
    


13. 
    ^ https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/j/jeffcmi01.shtml
    


14. 
    ^ Neil Fiala page at Baseball Reference
    


15. 
    ^ Bake McBride page at Baseball Reference
    


16. 
    ^ Don Kessinger page at Baseball Reference
    


17. 
    ^ Nyls Nyman page at Baseball Reference
    


18. 
    ^ Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p.96, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, .mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}
    ISBN 978-0-451-22363-0
    


19. 
    ^ Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007
    

External links

• 1977 St. Louis Cardinals


• 1977 St. Louis Cardinals team page at www.baseball-almanac.com

v t e 1977 MLB season by team
AL East	Baltimore Boston Cleveland Detroit Milwaukee New York Toronto
AL West	California Chicago Kansas City Minnesota Oakland Seattle Texas
NL East	Chicago Montréal New York Philadelphia Pittsburgh St. Louis
NL West	Atlanta Cincinnati Houston Los Angeles San Diego San Francisco
1977 MLB draft 1977 All-Star Game 1977 World Series

v t e St. Louis Cardinals
Established in 1882 Based in St. Louis, Missouri
Franchise	Hall of Fame Members of the National Hall of Fame Awards & League Leaders Records No-hitters Roster Players Coaches Managers General Managers and Owners Broadcasters Opening Day starting pitchers Minor League Players First-round draft picks All articles
History	1875–1919 1920–52 1953–89 1990–present Seasons
Ballparks	Robison Field Sportsman's Park Busch Memorial Stadium Busch Stadium Spring training Whittington Park Herald Park West End Park City Park City Island Ball Park Ninth Street Park Al Lang Stadium Roger Dean Stadium
Culture	Jack Buck Cardinal Nation Fredbird "Here Comes the King" Gashouse Gang KMOX Mike Shannon Rally Squirrel Whiteyball The Pride of St. Louis Death on the Diamond Budweiser Clydesdales Ballpark Village
Lore	1946 NL tie-breaker series Slaughter's Mad Dash Brock for Broglio "Go Crazy, Folks!" The Call Home run chase Fernando Tatís' two grand slams 2011 World Series Game 6 2017 MLB Little League Classic
Rivalries	Chicago Cubs Kansas City Royals
Key personnel	Owner: Bill DeWitt, Jr. President of Baseball Operations: John Mozeliak General Manager: Mike Girsch Manager: Mike Shildt
Minor league affiliates	AAA Memphis Redbirds AA Springfield Cardinals A Adv. Palm Beach Cardinals A Peoria Chiefs Short A State College Spikes Rookie Adv. Johnson City Cardinals Rookie Gulf Coast League Cardinals DSL Cardinals Blue DSL Cardinals Red
World Series Championships	pre-MLB 1885 1886 MLB 1926 1931 1934 1942 1944 1946 1964 1967 1982 2006 2011
League pennants	American Association 1885 1886 1887 1888 National League 1926 1928 1930 1931 1934 1942 1943 1944 1946 1964 1967 1968 1982 1985 1987 2004 2006 2011 2013
Division titles	National League East 1982 1985 1987 National League Central 1996 2000 2001 2002 2004 2005 2006 2009 2013 2014 2015
Wild card titles	2001 2011 2012
All Star Games hosted	1940 1957 1966 2009
Seasons (138) 1880s 1880 · 1881 · 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890s 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900s 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910s 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920s 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930s 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940s 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950s 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960s 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970s 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980s 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990s 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000s 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010s 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

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