1978 St. Louis Cardinals season

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.
• December 8, 1977: Dave Rader and Héctor Cruz were traded by the Cardinals to the Chicago Cubs for Jerry Morales, Steve Swisher, and cash.
• February 2, 1978: Ken Rudolph was signed as a free agent by the Cardinals.
• March 15, 1978: Rick Bosetti was traded by the Cardinals to the Toronto Blue Jays for Tom Bruno and cash.

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.
• 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.

Roster

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

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Awards and records

League leaders

• Garry Templeton, National League leader, Triples

Farm system

References

References

1. [https://www.baseball-reference.com/r/riccefr01.shtml Frank Riccelli page at Baseball Reference]
2. [https://www.baseball-reference.com/r/raderda01.shtml Dave Rader page at Baseball Reference]
3. [https://www.baseball-reference.com/r/rudolke01.shtml Ken Rudolph page at Baseball Reference]
4. [https://www.baseball-reference.com/b/bosetri01.shtml Rick Bosetti page at Baseball Reference]
5. "1978 St. Louis Cardinals Roster by Baseball Almanac".
6. [https://www.baseball-reference.com/r/rasmuer01.shtml Eric Rasmussen page at Baseball Reference]
7. [https://www.baseball-reference.com/t/tamarjo01.shtml John Tamargo page at Baseball Reference]
8. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., ''The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball'', 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007