1996 St. Louis Cardinals season

1996 St. Louis Cardinals
	NL Central Champions
Major League affiliations
	National League (since 1892);
	Central Division (since 1994);
Location
	Busch Memorial Stadium (since 1966); St. Louis, Missouri (since 1882);
Results
Record	88–74 (.543)
Divisional place	1st
Other information
Owner(s)	William DeWitt, Jr.
General manager(s)	Walt Jocketty
Manager(s)	Tony La Russa
Local television	KPLR; Prime Sports Midwest; (Al Hrabosky, Bob Carpenter, Joe Buck)
Local radio	KMOX ; (Jack Buck, Mike Shannon, Joe Buck)
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The St. Louis Cardinals 1996 season was the team's 115th season in St. Louis, Missouri and the 105th season in the National League. During the first year of the William DeWitt, Jr. era, the Cardinals went 88-74 during the season and won their first-ever National League Central division title by six games over the Houston Astros. They beat the San Diego Padres in the NLDS, but fell in 7 games to the Atlanta Braves in the NLCS. DeWitt, along with Drew Bauer and Fred Hanser had bought the Cardinals from Anheuser-Busch during the 1995-96 offseason.

Offseason

December 23, 1995: Ron Gant was signed as a Free Agent with the St. Louis Cardinals
December 23, 1995: Andy Benes was signed as a Free Agent with the St. Louis Cardinals
December 15, 1995: Willie McGee was signed as a Free Agent with the St. Louis Cardinals.[1]
January 9, 1996: Todd Stottlemyre was traded by the Oakland Athletics to the St. Louis Cardinals for Allen Battle, Carl Dale, Jay Witasick, and Bret Wagner (minors).
January 11, 1996: Mike Gallego signed as a Free Agent with the St. Louis Cardinals.[2]
February 13, 1996: Dennis Eckersley was traded by the Oakland Athletics to the St. Louis Cardinals for Steve Montgomery.
December 18, 1995: Gary Gaetti signed as a free agent with the St. Louis Cardinals.

Ozzie Smith's final season

Legendary veteran shortstop Ozzie Smith, announced during the season that it would be his last season in the Major Leagues, while veteran outfielder Willie McGee, was brought back to the Cards as a free agent. Though the tension between Smith and exciting youngster Royce Clayton, acquired in a trade, grew thick and troublesome at times as they shared time at shortstop, both players had good seasons. McGee came off the bench and started when needed.

Regular season

Season standings

NL Central	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
St. Louis Cardinals	88	74	0.543	—	48–33	40–41
Houston Astros	82	80	0.506	6	48–33	34–47
Cincinnati Reds	81	81	0.500	7	46–35	35–46
Chicago Cubs	76	86	0.469	12	43–38	33–48
Pittsburgh Pirates	73	89	0.451	15	36–44	37–45

Record vs. opponents

1996 National League Records Sources:
Team	ATL	CHC	CIN	COL	FLA	HOU	LAD	MON	NYM	PHI	PIT	SD	SF	STL
Atlanta	—	7–5	7–5	5–7	6–7	6–6	5–7	10–3	7–6	9–4	9–3	9–4	7–5	9–4
Chicago	5–7	—	5–8	5–7	6–6	5–8	8–5	6–6	7–5	7–6	4–9	6–6	7–5	5–8
Cincinnati	5–7	8–5	—	7–6	3–9	7–6	4–8	3–9	6–6	10–2	5–8	9–3	9–4	5–8
Colorado	7–5	7–5	6–7	—	5–8	8–5	6–7	3–9	7–5	6–6	7–5	8–5	5–8	8–4
Florida	7–6	6–6	9–3	8–5	—	7–5	6–7	5–8	7–6	6–7	5–7	3–9	5–7	6–6
Houston	6–6	8–5	6–7	5–8	5–7	—	6–6	4–9	8–4	10–2	8–5	6–6	8–4	2–11
Los Angeles	7–5	5–8	8–4	7–6	7–6	6–6	—	9–3	8–4	7–6	6–6	5–8	7–6	8–4
Montreal	3–10	6–6	9–3	9–3	8–5	9–4	3–9	—	7–6	6–7	7–5	4–8	9–4	8–4
New York	6–7	5–7	6–6	5–7	6–7	4–8	4–8	6–7	—	7–6	8–5	3–10	6–6	5–7
Philadelphia	4-9	6–7	2–10	6–6	7–6	2–10	6–7	7–6	6–7	—	7–5	4–8	6–6	4–8
Pittsburgh	3–9	9–4	8–5	5–7	7–5	5–8	6–6	5–7	5–8	5–7	—	4–9	8–4	3–10
San Diego	4–9	6–6	3–9	5–8	9–3	6–6	8–5	8–4	10–3	8–4	9–4	—	11–2	4–8
San Francisco	5–7	5–7	4–9	8–5	7–5	4–8	6–7	4–9	6–6	6–6	4–8	2–11	—	7–6
St. Louis	4–9	8–5	8–5	4–8	6–6	11-2	4–8	4–8	7–5	8–4	10–3	8–4	6–7	—

Game log

1996 Game Log: 88–74 (Home: 48–33; Away: 40–41)

April: 12–15 (Home: 7–8; Away: 5–7)

May: 12–14 (Home: 4–6; Away: 8–8)

June: 17–10 (Home: 10–1; Away: 7–9)

July: 15–11 (Home: 6–8; Away: 9–3)

August: 15–15 (Home: 10–8; Away: 5–7)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Record
107	August 1	@ Phillies	1–2	Springer	Osborne (9–7)	Ryan	—	56–51
108	August 1	@ Phillies	7–1	Benes (20–14)	Mimbs	—	22,934	57–51
109	August 2	@ Mets	4–3	Stottlemyre (10–7)	Jones	Honeycutt (3)	34,091	58–51
110	August 3	@ Mets	4–5	Harnisch	Benes (20–15)	Franco	28,594	58–52
111	August 4	@ Mets	4–2	Morgan (4–4)	Isringhausen	Eckersley (18)	24,595	59–52
112	August 5	Padres	8–2	Benes (21–15)	Tewksbury	—	28,653	60–52
113	August 6	Padres	0–1	Worrell	Osborne (9–8)	Hoffman	25,782	60–53
114	August 7	Padres	1–0	Petkovsek (8–2)	Bochtler	—	24,823	61–53
115	August 8	Giants	3–5 (10)	Poole	Honeycutt (2–1)	Beck	34,844	61–54
116	August 9	Giants	6–8	Fernandez	Morgan (4–5)	Beck	30,118	61–55
117	August 10	Giants	7–1	Benes (22–15)	VanLandingham	—	49,344	62–55
118	August 11	Giants	5–3	Osborne (10–8)	Watson	Eckersley (19)	30,139	63–55
119	August 13	Dodgers	4–8	Candiotti	Stottlemyre (10–8)	—	30,761	63–56
120	August 14	Dodgers	6–1	Benes (23–15)	Valdez	—	26,945	64–56
121	August 15	Dodgers	2–5	Nomo	Morgan (4–6)	Worrell	32,930	64–57
122	August 16	Marlins	6–2	Benes (24–15)	Rapp	—	30,507	65–57
123	August 17	Marlins	4–3	Mathews (2–4)	Powell	Eckersley (20)	30,792	66–57
124	August 18	Marlins	5–3	Stottlemyre (11–8)	Leiter	Eckersley (21)	34,564	67–57
125	August 20	@ Rockies	4–5 (13)	Munoz	Mathews (2–5)	—	48,126	67–58
126	August 21	@ Rockies	2–10	Reynoso	Benes (24–16)	—	48,045	67–59
127	August 22	@ Rockies	5–10	Bailey	Morgan (4–7)	—	48,086	67–60
128	August 23	@ Astros	1–0	Osborne (11–8)	Kile	Eckersley (22)	35,554	68–60
129	August 24	@ Astros	1–3	Reynolds	Stottlemyre (11–9)	—	43,258	68–61
130	August 25	@ Astros	1–4	Wall	Benes (24–17)	Hernandez	31,609	68–62
131	August 26	@ Astros	3–2	Benes (25–17)	Hampton	Eckersley (23)	21,624	69–62
132	August 27	Marlins	3–6	Hutton	Morgan (4–8)	Nen	24,784	69–63
133	August 28	Marlins	2–3 (10)	Hammond	Bailey (3–2)	Nen	21,767	69–64
134	August 29	Marlins	9–10	Leiter	Stottlemyre (11–10)	Nen	23,105	69–65
135	August 30	Rockies	7–4	Benes (26–17)	Wright	Eckersley (24)	25,530	70–65
136	August 31	Rockies	2–1	Benes (27–17)	Bailey	Eckersley (25)	35,804	71–65

September: 17–9 (Home: 11–2; Away: 6–7)

Legend: = Win = Loss
Bold = Cardinals team member

Detailed records

National League
Opponent	W	L	WP	RS	RA
NL East
Atlanta Braves	4	9	0.308	47	67
Florida Marlins	6	6	0.500	53	53
Montreal Expos	4	8	0.333	50	60
New York Mets	7	5	0.583	67	55
Philadelphia Phillies	8	4	0.667	41	30
Total	29	32	0.475	258	265
NL Central
Chicago Cubs	8	5	0.615	74	61
Cincinnati Reds	8	5	0.615	50	49
Houston Astros	11	2	0.846	63	38
Pittsburgh Pirates	10	3	0.769	79	59
St. Louis Cardinals
Total	37	15	0.712	266	207
NL West
Colorado Rockies	4	8	0.333	70	83
Los Angeles Dodgers	4	8	0.333	42	50
San Diego Padres	8	4	0.667	58	39
San Francisco Giants	6	7	0.462	65	62
Total	22	27	0.449	235	234
Season Total	88	74	0.543	759	706

Month	Games	Won	Lost	Win %	RS	RA
April	27	12	15	0.444	108	140
May	26	12	14	0.462	132	141
June	27	17	10	0.630	133	97
July	26	15	11	0.577	138	114
August	30	15	15	0.500	117	113
September	26	17	9	0.654	131	101
Total	162	88	74	0.543	759	706

Total	162	88	74	0.543	759	706
	Games	Won	Lost	Win %	RS	RA
Home	81	48	33	0.593	391	326
Away	81	40	41	0.494	368	380

Opening Day starters

Roster

1996 St. Louis Cardinals

Roster

Pitchers

39 Cory Bailey

52 Brian Barber

44 Rich Batchelor

41 Alan Benes

40 Andy Benes

57 Mike Busby

43 Dennis Eckersley

48 Tony Fossas

32 Rick Honeycutt

29 Danny Jackson

54 Eric Ludwick

33 T. J. Mathews

36 Mike Morgan

31 Donovan Osborne

49 Jeff Parrett

46 Mark Petkovsek

30 Todd Stottlemyre

34 Tom Urbani

Catchers

38 Pat Borders

49 Mike DiFelice

19 Tom Pagnozzi

Infielders

18 Luis Alicea

27 David Bell

11 Royce Clayton

8 Gary Gaetti

22 Mike Gallego

68 Aaron Holbert

47 John Mabry

12 Danny Sheaffer

1 Ozzie Smith

24 Dmitri Young

Outfielders

55 Terry Bradshaw

5 Ron Gant

3 Brian Jordan

16 Ray Lankford

51 Willie McGee

35 Miguel Mejia

23 Mark Sweeney

Manager

10 Tony La Russa

Coaches

18 Dave Duncan (Pitching)

9 Mark DeJohn (Bullpen)

28 Ron Hassey (Bench)

25 George Hendrick (Hitting)

39 Dave McKay (First Base)

15 Tommie Reynolds (Third Base)

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

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

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

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

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

NLDS

St. Louis wins the series, 3-0

Game	Home	Score	Visitor	Score	Date	Series
1	St. Louis	3	San Diego	1	October 1	1-0 (STL)
2	St. Louis	5	San Diego	4	October 3	2-0 (STL)
3	San Diego	5	St. Louis	7	October 5	3-0 (STL)

NLCS

Game 1

October 9: Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium in Atlanta


Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
St. Louis	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	2	5	1
Atlanta	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	2	X	4	9	0
WP: John Smoltz (1-0) LP: Mark Petkovsek (0-1) Sv: Mark Wohlers (1) Home runs: STL: None ATL: None

Game 2

October 10: Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium in Atlanta


Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
St. Louis	1	0	2	0	0	0	5	0	0	8	11	2
Atlanta	0	0	2	0	0	1	0	0	0	3	5	2
WP: Todd Stottlemyre (1-0) LP: Greg Maddux (0-1) Home runs: STL: Gary Gaetti (1) ATL: Marquis Grissom (1)

Game 3

October 12: Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri


Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Atlanta	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	2	8	1
St. Louis	2	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	X	3	7	0
WP: Donovan Osborne (1-0) LP: Tom Glavine (0-1) Sv: Dennis Eckersley (1) Home runs: ATL: None STL: Ron Gant 2 (2)

Game 4

October 13: Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri


Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Atlanta	0	1	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	3	9	1
St. Louis	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	1	X	4	5	0
WP: Dennis Eckersley (1-0) LP: Greg McMichael (0-1) Home runs: ATL: Mark Lemke (1), Ryan Klesko (1) STL: Brian Jordan (1)

Game 5

October 14: Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri


Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Atlanta	5	2	0	3	1	0	0	1	2	14	22	0
St. Louis	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	7	0
WP: John Smoltz (2-0) LP: Todd Stottlemyre (1-1) Home runs: ATL: Fred McGriff (1), Javy López (1), STL: None

Game 6

October 16: Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium in Atlanta


Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
St. Louis	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	6	1
Atlanta	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	1	X	3	7	0
WP: Greg Maddux (1-1) LP: Alan Benes (0-1) Sv: Mark Wohlers (2) Home runs: STL: None ATL: None

Game 7

October 17: Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium in Atlanta


Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
St. Louis	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	2
Atlanta	6	0	0	4	0	3	2	0	X	15	17	0
WP: Tom Glavine (1-1) LP: Donovan Osborne (1-1) Home runs: STL: None ATL: Javy López (2), Andruw Jones (1), Fred McGriff (2)

Awards and honors

Tony La Russa, Associated Press Manager of the Year
Ozzie Smith, All Star Game

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Louisville Redbirds	American Association	Joe Pettini
AA	Arkansas Travelers	Texas League	Rick Mahler
A	St. Petersburg Cardinals	Florida State League	Chris Maloney
A	Peoria Chiefs	Midwest League	Roy Silver
A-Short Season	New Jersey Cardinals	New York–Penn League	Scott Melvin
Rookie	Johnson City Cardinals	Appalachian League	Steve Turco

[3]

References

Willie McGee Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com
Mike Gallego Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com
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

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[1] Willie McGee Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com

[2] Mike Gallego Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com

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