1975 St. Louis Cardinals season

1975 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	82–80 (.506)
Divisional place	3rd
Other information
Owner(s)	August "Gussie" Busch
General manager(s)	Bing Devine
Manager(s)	Red Schoendienst
Local television	KSD-TV (Jack Buck, Mike Shannon, Jay Randolph)
Local radio	KMOX (Jack Buck, Mike Shannon)
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The 1975 St. Louis Cardinals season was the team's 94th season in St. Louis, Missouri and its 84th season in the National League. The Cardinals went 82-80 during the season and finished in a tie for third (with the New York Mets) in the National League East, 10 ¹⁄₂ games behind the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Offseason

• October 14, 1974: Marc Hill was traded by the Cardinals to the San Francisco Giants for Ken Rudolph and Elías Sosa.^[1]
• November 18, 1974: Alan Foster, Rich Folkers and Sonny Siebert were traded by the Cardinals to the San Diego Padres as part of a three team trade. The Padres sent a player to be named later to the Cardinals, and the Detroit Tigers sent Ed Brinkman to the Cardinals. The Tigers sent Bob Strampe and Dick Sharon to the Padres. The Padres sent Nate Colbert to the Tigers. The Padres completed the deal by sending Danny Breeden to the Cardinals on December 12.^[2]
• March 26, 1975: Ron Hunt was released by the Cardinals.^[3]
• March 29, 1975: Danny Godby was traded by the Cardinals to the Boston Red Sox for Danny Cater.^[4]

Regular season

Third baseman Ken Reitz won a Gold Glove this year. 1975 was also the final major league season for pitcher Bob Gibson.

Season standings

NL East	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Pittsburgh Pirates	92	69	0.571	—	52–28	40–41
Philadelphia Phillies	86	76	0.531	6½	51–30	35–46
New York Mets	82	80	0.506	10½	42–39	40–41
St. Louis Cardinals	82	80	0.506	10½	45–36	37–44
Chicago Cubs	75	87	0.463	17½	42–39	33–48
Montreal Expos	75	87	0.463	17½	39–42	36–45

Record vs. opponents

1975 National League Records Sources:
Team	ATL	CHC	CIN	HOU	LAD	MON	NYM	PHI	PIT	SD	SF	STL
Atlanta	—	5–7	3–15	12–6	8–10	8–4	4–8	5–7	4–8	7–11	8–9	3–9
Chicago	7–5	—	1–11	7–5	5–7	9–9	7–11	12–6	6–12	5–7	5–7	11–7
Cincinnati	15–3	11–1	—	13–5	8–10	8–4	8–4	7–5	6–6	11–7	13–5	8–4
Houston	6–12	5–7	5–13	—	6–12	8–4	4–8	6–6	6–5	9–9	5–13	4–8–1
Los Angeles	10–8	7–5	10–8	12–6	—	5–7	6–6	7–5	5–7	11–7	10–8	5–7
Montreal	4–8	9–9	4–8	4–8	7–5	—	10–8	7–11	7–11	7–5	5–7	11–7
New York	8–4	11–7	4–8	8–4	6–6	8–10	—	7–11	5–13	8–4	8–4	9–9
Philadelphia	7-5	6–12	5–7	6–6	5–7	11–7	11–7	—	11–7	7–5	7–5	10–8
Pittsburgh	8–4	12–6	6–6	5–6	7–5	11–7	13–5	7–11	—	8–4	5–7	10–8
San Diego	11–7	7–5	7–11	9–9	7–11	5–7	4–8	5–7	4–8	—	8–10	4–8
San Francisco	9–8	7–5	5–13	13–5	8–10	7–5	4–8	5–7	7–5	10–8	—	5–7
St. Louis	9–3	7–11	4–8	8–4–1	7–5	7–11	9–9	8–10	8–10	8–4	7–5	—

Opening Day starters

• Ed Brinkman
• Lou Brock
• Bob Gibson
• Keith Hernandez
• Bake McBride
• Ken Reitz
• Ted Simmons
• Ted Sizemore
• Reggie Smith

Notable transactions

• May 28, 1975: Elías Sosa and Ray Sadecki were traded by the Cardinals to the Atlanta Braves for Ron Reed and a player to be named later. The Braves completed the deal by sending Wayne Nordhagen to the Cardinals on June 2.^[5]
• June 3, 1975: Jim Lentine was drafted by the Cardinals in the 12th round of the 1975 Major League Baseball Draft.^[6]
• June 4, 1975: Ed Brinkman and Tommy Moore were traded by the Cardinals to the Texas Rangers for Willie Davis.^[7]
• July 22, 1975: Ken Crosby was traded by the Cardinals to the Chicago Cubs for Eddie Solomon.^[8]

Roster

1975 St. Louis Cardinals
Roster
Pitchers 24,27 Mike Barlow 32 Ron Bryant 22 John Curtis 36 John Denny 31 Bob Forsch 43 Mike Garman 45 Bob Gibson 39 Al Hrabosky 40 Ryan Kurosaki 47 Lynn McGlothen 27 Tommy Moore 34 Harry Parker 42 Eric Rasmussen 38 Ron Reed 24 Ken Reynolds 37 Ray Sadecki 38 Elías Sosa 35 Greg Terlecky 32 Mike Wallace		Catchers  9 Ken Rudolph 23 Ted Simmons Infielders  5 Ed Brinkman 24 Danny Cater 11 Héctor Cruz 15 Ron Fairly 19 Mario Guerrero 18 Keith Hernandez 37 Doug Howard 28 Mick Kelleher 25 Larry Lintz 44 Ken Reitz 41 Ted Sizemore 10 Mike Tyson		Outfielders 12 Buddy Bradford 20 Lou Brock  5 Willie Davis 25 Jim Dwyer 29 Don Hahn 19 Ted Martínez 21 Bake McBride 26 Luis Meléndez 29 Jerry Mumphrey  7 Reggie Smith Other batters 16 Dick Billings		Manager  2 Red Schoendienst Coaches  8 Vern Benson  3 George Kissell 30 Johnny Lewis 14 Dave Ricketts 33 Barney Schultz

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
1B	Hernandez, KeithKeith Hernandez	64	188	47	.250	3	20
3B	Reitz, KenKen Reitz	161	592	159	.269	5	63
LF	Brock, LouLou Brock	136	528	163	.309	3	47
RF	Davis, WillieWillie Davis	98	350	102	.291	6	50

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
Meléndez, LuisLuis Meléndez	110	291	77	.265	2	27
Rudolph, KenKen Rudolph	44	80	16	.200	1	6
Brinkman, EdEd Brinkman	28	75	18	.240	1	6
Cater, DannyDanny Cater	22	35	8	.229	0	2
Hahn, DonDon Hahn	7	8	1	.125	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
Denny, JohnJohn Denny	25	136	10	7	3.97	72
Gibson, BobBob Gibson	22	109	3	10	5.04	60
Rasmussen, EricEric Rasmussen	14	81	5	5	3.78	59

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
Curtis, JohnJohn Curtis	39	146.2	8	9	3.44	67

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
Sosa, ElíasElías Sosa	14	0	3	0	4.00	15
Bryant, RonRon Bryant	10	0	1	0	16.62	7
Barlow, MikeMike Barlow	9	0	0	0	4.70	2

Awards and honors

• Lou Brock, Roberto Clemente Award

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Tulsa Oilers	American Association	Ken Boyer
AA	Arkansas Travelers	Texas League	Roy Majtyka
A	St. Petersburg Cardinals	Florida State League	Jack Krol
Rookie	Johnson City Cardinals	Appalachian League	Tom Burgess
Rookie	GCL Cardinals	Gulf Coast League	Fred Koenig

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: St. Petersburg, Johnson City^[9]

References

1. Giants, Cards make trade
2. Nate Colbert page at Baseball Reference
3. Ron Hunt page at Baseball Reference
4. Danny Cater page at Baseball Reference
5. Wayne Nordhagen page at Baseball Reference
6. Jim Lentine page at Baseball Reference
7. Ed Brinkman page at Baseball Reference
8. Ken Crosby page at Baseball Reference
9. 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

• 1975 St. Louis Cardinals
• 1975 St. Louis Cardinals team page at www.baseball-almanac.com