1996 St. Louis Cardinals season

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.

1996 St. Louis Cardinals
NL Central Champions
Major League affiliations
Location
Results
Record88–74 (.543)
Divisional place1st
Other information
Owner(s)William DeWitt, Jr.
General manager(s)Walt Jocketty
Manager(s)Tony La Russa
Local televisionKPLR
Prime Sports Midwest
(Al Hrabosky, Bob Carpenter, Joe Buck)
Local radioKMOX
(Jack Buck, Mike Shannon, Joe Buck)
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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 8874 0.543 — 48–33 40–41
Houston Astros 8280 0.506 6 48–33 34–47
Cincinnati Reds 8181 0.500 7 46–35 35–46
Chicago Cubs 7686 0.469 12 43–38 33–48
Pittsburgh Pirates 7389 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 —7–57–55–76–76–65–710–37–69–49–39–47–59–4
Chicago 5–7—5–85–76–65–88–56–67–57–64–96–67–55–8
Cincinnati 5–78–5—7–63–97–64–83–96–610–25–89–39–45–8
Colorado 7–57–56–7—5–88–56–73–97–56–67–58–55–88–4
Florida 7–66–69–38–5—7–56–75–87–66–75–73–95–76–6
Houston 6–68–56–75–85–7—6–64–98–410–28–56–68–42–11
Los Angeles 7–55–88–47–67–66–6—9–38–47–66–65–87–68–4
Montreal 3–106–69–39–38–59–43–9—7–66–77–54–89–48–4
New York 6–75–76–65–76–74–84–86–7—7–68–53–106–65–7
Philadelphia 4-96–72–106–67–62–106–77–66–7—7–54–86–64–8
Pittsburgh 3–99–48–55–77–55–86–65–75–85–7—4–98–43–10
San Diego 4–96–63–95–89–36–68–58–410–38–49–4—11–24–8
San Francisco 5–75–74–98–57–54–86–74–96–66–64–82–11—7–6
St. Louis 4–98–58–54–86–611-24–84–87–58–410–38–46–7—

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)
September: 17–9 (Home: 11–2; Away: 6–7)
Legend:        = Win        = Loss
Bold = Cardinals team member

Detailed records

Opening Day starters


Roster
1996 St. Louis Cardinals
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders Manager

Coaches

Player stats

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
CTom Pagnozzi119407110.2701355
1BJohn Mabry151543161.2971374
2BLuis Alicea12938098.258542
SSRoyce Clayton129491136.277635
3BGary Gaetti141522143.2742380
LFRon Gant122419103.2463082
CFRay Lankford149545150.2752186
RFBrian Jordan140513159.31017104

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
Willie McGee12330995.307541
Ozzie Smith8222764.282218
Danny Sheaffer7919845.227220
Mark Sweeney9817045.265322
Mike Gallego5114330.21004
David Bell6214531.21419
Pat Borders266922.31904
Dmitri Young16297.24102
Miguel Mejia45232.08700
Terry Bradshaw15217.33303
Mike DiFelice472.28602
Aaron Holbert130.00000

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
Andy Benes36230.118103.83160
Todd Stottlemyre34223.114113.87194
Donovan Osborne30198.21393.53134
Alan Benes3419113104.90131
Mike Morgan18103485.2455
Mike Busby140118.004
Brian Barber130015.001

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
Mark Petkovsek4888.21123.5545
Danny Jackson1336.1114.4627
Tom Urbani311.2107.711
Eric Ludwick610019.0012

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
T.J. Mathews672663.0180
Tony Fossas650422.6836
Dennis Eckersley6306303.3049
Rick Honeycutt612142.8530
Cory Bailey515203.0038
Jeff Parrett332204.2542
Rich Batchelor112001.2011

NLDS
Main article: 1996 National League Division Series

St. Louis wins the series, 3-0

Game Home Score Visitor Score Date Series
1St. Louis3San Diego1October 11-0 (STL)
2St. Louis5San Diego4October 32-0 (STL)
3San Diego5St. Louis7October 53-0 (STL)

NLCS
Main article: 1996 National League Championship Series

Game 1

October 9: Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium in Atlanta

Team123456789RHE
St. Louis010000100251
Atlanta00002002X490
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

Team123456789RHE
St. Louis1020005008112
Atlanta002001000352
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

Team123456789RHE
Atlanta100000010281
St. Louis20000100X370
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

Team123456789RHE
Atlanta010002000391
St. Louis00000031X450
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

Team123456789RHE
Atlanta52031001214220
St. Louis000000000070
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

Team123456789RHE
St. Louis000000010161
Atlanta01001001X370
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

Team123456789RHE
St. Louis000000000042
Atlanta60040320X15170
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
See also: Minor League Baseball
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
  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
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