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1966 St. Louis Cardinals
League National League
Ballpark Busch Stadium I
Busch Memorial Stadium
City St. Louis, Missouri
Record83–79 (.512)
League place6th
Owners August "Gussie" Busch
General managers Bob Howsam
Managers Red Schoendienst
Television KSD-TV
Radio KMOX
( Harry Caray, Jack Buck, Jerry Gross)
←  1965 Seasons 1967 →

The 1966 St. Louis Cardinals season was the team's 85th season in St. Louis, Missouri and its 75th season in the National League. The Cardinals went 83–79 during the season and finished sixth in the National League, 12 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Offseason

Regular season

This season marked the final time the Cardinals played in Sportsman's Park/Busch Stadium I, as they played their final home game at that ballpark on May 8, losing to the San Francisco Giants, 10–5. Busch sought to replace the increasingly inadequate Busch Stadium (formerly Sportsman's Park) with a modern facility in a better location. The result was a new multi-purpose, $25 million concrete stadium, also named for Busch's father – Busch Memorial Stadium, also known as Busch II.

The Cardinals moved into Busch II four days later, and defeated the Atlanta Braves, 4–3 in 12 innings. On July 12, the Cardinals hosted the 1966 Major League Baseball All-Star Game at their new stadium, in 105 degree heat and humidity, with the NL defeating the AL, 2–1 in ten innings. Busch Memorial Stadium was where the Cardinals would play baseball until the end of 2005.

Later derided as a facsimile of the bland, cookie-cutter " multi-purpose stadia" built in multiple locations of the United States during the 1960s and 1970s, Busch Memorial achieved a measure of popularity among St. Louis fans in a way that its cousins in Philadelphia, Atlanta, Pittsburgh, and Cincinnati did not, perhaps due in part to the success of the teams which played there, and perhaps also due to the distinctive roof arches added by architect Edward Durrell Stone — unique touches meant to echo the city's new iconic monument (completed at nearly the same time), the Gateway Arch.

Pitcher Bob Gibson and outfielder Curt Flood won Gold Gloves this year.

Season standings

National League W L Pct. GB Home Road
Los Angeles Dodgers 95 67 0.586 53–28 42–39
San Francisco Giants 93 68 0.578 47–34 46–34
Pittsburgh Pirates 92 70 0.568 3 46–35 46–35
Philadelphia Phillies 87 75 0.537 8 48–33 39–42
Atlanta Braves 85 77 0.525 10 43–38 42–39
St. Louis Cardinals 83 79 0.512 12 43–38 40–41
Cincinnati Reds 76 84 0.475 18 46–33 30–51
Houston Astros 72 90 0.444 23 45–36 27–54
New York Mets 66 95 0.410 28½ 32–49 34–46
Chicago Cubs 59 103 0.364 36 32–49 27–54

Record vs. opponents


Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]
Team ATL CHC CIN HOU LAD NYM PHI PIT SF STL
Atlanta 7–11 10–8 14–4–1 7–11 14–4 11–7 7–11 8–10 7–11
Chicago 11–7 6–12 5–13 8–10 8–10 5–13 6–12 6–12 4–14
Cincinnati 8–10 12–6 4–14 6–12 10–7 10–8 8–10 7–10 11–7
Houston 4–14–1 13–5 14–4 7–11 7–11 7–11 4–14 6–12 10–8
Los Angeles 11–7 10–8 12–6 11–7 12–6 11–7 9–9 9–9 10–8
New York 4–14 10–8 7–10 11–7 6–12 7–11 5–13 9–9 7–11
Philadelphia 7-11 13–5 8–10 11–7 7–11 11–7 10–8 10–8 10–8
Pittsburgh 11–7 12–6 10–8 14–4 9–9 13–5 8–10 7–11 8–10
San Francisco 10–8 12–6 10–7 12–6 9–9 9–9 8–10 11–7 12–6
St. Louis 11–7 14–4 7–11 8–10 8–10 11–7 8–10 10–8 6–12


Notable transactions

Roster

1966 St. Louis Cardinals
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

Manager

Coaches

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 Tim McCarver 150 543 149 .274 12 68
1B Orlando Cepeda 123 452 137 .303 17 58
2B Julián Javier 147 460 105 .228 7 31
SS Dal Maxvill 134 394 96 .244 0 24
3B Charley Smith 116 391 104 .266 10 43
LF Lou Brock 156 643 183 .285 15 46
CF Curt Flood 160 626 167 .267 10 78
RF Mike Shannon 137 459 132 .288 16 64

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
Jerry Buchek 100 284 67 .236 4 25
Phil Gagliano 90 213 54 .254 2 15
Tito Francona 83 156 33 .212 4 17
Bobby Tolan 43 93 16 .172 1 6
Alex Johnson 25 86 16 .186 2 6
Ed Spezio 26 73 16 .219 2 10
Pat Corrales 28 72 13 .181 0 3
George Kernek 20 50 12 .240 0 3
Bob Skinner 49 45 7 .156 1 5
Ted Savage 16 29 5 .172 0 3
Jimy Williams 13 11 3 .273 0 1

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
Bob Gibson 35 280.1 21 12 2.44 225
Al Jackson 36 232.2 13 15 2.51 90
Ray Washburn 27 170.0 11 9 3.76 98
Larry Jaster 26 151.2 11 5 3.26 92
Steve Carlton 9 52.0 3 3 3.12 25
Jim Cosman 1 9.0 1 0 0.00 5

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
Nelson Briles 49 154.0 4 15 3.21 100
Tracy Stallard 20 52.1 1 5 5.68 35
Art Mahaffey 12 35.0 1 4 6.43 19
Curt Simmons 10 33.1 1 1 4.59 14
Ray Sadecki 5 24.1 2 1 2.22 21
Dick Hughes 6 21.0 2 1 1.71 20

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
Joe Hoerner 57 5 1 13 1.54 63
Hal Woodeshick 59 2 1 4 1.92 30
Don Dennis 38 4 2 2 4.98 25
Ron Piché 20 1 3 2 4.26 21
Dennis Aust 9 0 1 1 6.52 7
Ron Willis 4 0 0 1 0.00 2

Awards and records

  • Tim McCarver, National League leader, Triples, (13). McCarver became the second catcher in the history of the National League to lead the league in triples. [7]

Farm system

Level Team League Manager
AAA Tulsa Oilers Pacific Coast League Charlie Metro
AA Arkansas Travelers Texas League Vern Rapp
A St. Petersburg Cardinals Florida State League Sparky Anderson
A Cedar Rapids Cardinals Midwest League Ron Plaza
A Rock Hill Cardinals Western Carolinas League Jack Krol
A-Short Season Eugene Emeralds Northwest League Hugh Luby
Rookie GCL Cardinals Gulf Coast League George Kissell

Eugene affiliation shared with Philadelphia Phillies [8]

References

  1. ^ Charley Smith page at Baseball Reference
  2. ^ Dick Groat page at Baseball Reference
  3. ^ Nate Colbert page at Baseball Reference
  4. ^ Jimy Williams page at Baseball Reference
  5. ^ a b Willie Montañez page at Baseball Reference
  6. ^ Orlando Cepeda page at Baseball Reference
  7. ^ Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p.96, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, ISBN  978-0-451-22363-0
  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

External links