The 1987 St Louis Cardinals embarked on a seemingly year long winning streak and by the middle of June were 38-21, six games ahead of the second place Chicago Cubs. Manager Whitey Herzog's Cardinals were loaded with speed, top-of-the-line defensive and line drive hitters. Jack Clark, the big first baseman, supplied the Cardinals with their only power hitter. In May, Jack Clark ripped nine home runs and drove in 35 runs. Leading up to the All-Star Game break, the Cardinals won nine straight games and their season record stood at 56-30. Willie McGee was driving in runs at a furious pace, Ozzie Smith, the Gold Glove shortstop, was hitting .300 and leading the club in game-winning hits. Gold Glove third baseman Terry Pendleton bounced back from a disappointing 1986 season and was batting over .300. Tommy Herr at 2nd base was playing smart, dependable ball and leadoff hitter Vince Coleman was setting the Cardinals table. Coleman batted .289 for the year, stole 109 bases and scored 121 runs. The catching duties were split between Tony Pena and Steve Lake. After the All-Star break the Cardinals went into a swoon and dropped their last seven games of July. The team bounced back in August and finished the month by winning their last six games. The team's offensive slipped in September, their NL East lead dropped to 1 1/2 games over the New York Mets. The late September pitching of Greg Mathews and Joe Magrane helped the Cardinals nail down the NL East by three games over the second place Mets. The Cardinals of 1987 finished the regular at 95-67. Leading the pitching staff were John Tudor 10-2, Danny Cox 11-9, Joe Magrane 9-7, Greg Mathews 11-11, Todd Worrell 8-6, 75 games, 33 saves, Bill Dawley 9-5 and Rick Horton 8-3, 7 saves. The 1987 Cardinals faced the San Francisco Giants in the NL's Championship Series. The Giants had out homered the Cardinals by more than 2 to 1 during the year and had beaten the Red Birds 8 out of the 12 games played by the two teams. The Cardinals captured the National League pennant by besting the Giants in seven games. In the World Series the Cardinals fought the Minnesota Twins only to lose in seven games. ============================================================== For complete stats of all baseball players, please see Players section on the upper left-side of our home page For loads of fun reading, type in Yankees, Cardinals, Pirates, Red Sox, Cubs or all other teams in our Search on the lower left-side of our home page Page 268 |
