2000 St. Louis Cardinals season

2000 St. Louis Cardinals
National League Central champions
File:Saint Louis Cardinals Logo.png
Division	Central Division
Ballpark	Busch Memorial Stadium
City	St. Louis, Missouri
Record	95–67 (.586)
Owners	William DeWitt, Jr.
Managers	Tony La Russa
Television	Fox Sports Midwest KPLR (Al Hrabosky, Bob Carpenter, Dan McLaughlin, Joe Buck)
Radio	KMOX (Jack Buck, Mike Shannon, Joe Buck)
Seasons

The season's eventual National League Central Division champions St. Louis Cardinals playing host to the Chicago Cubs during a September 2000 game at Busch Memorial Stadium.

The St. Louis Cardinals 2000 season was the team's 119th season in St. Louis, Missouri and the 109th season in the National League. The Cardinals went 95-67 during the season, their best finish since 1987, and won the National League Central division by ten games over the Cincinnati Reds. In the playoffs the Cardinals defeated the Atlanta Braves 3 games to 0 in the NLDS but lost to the New York Mets 4 games to 1 in the NLCS.

The Cardinals sweep of the Braves in the NLDS was notable because it made the Mets run to their first World Series appearance since their championship season of 1986 much easier. The Braves had eliminated the Mets from the playoffs on the final day of the 1998 season and in the 1999 NLCS.

Catcher Mike Matheny and outfielder Jim Edmonds won Gold Gloves this year. Matheny was acquired from the Toronto Blue Jays during the off-season, while Edmonds was acquired from the Anaheim Angels less than a week before the start of the season.

Offseason

• November 11, 1999: Alberto Castillo, Matt DeWitt, and Lance Painter were traded by the Cardinals to the Toronto Blue Jays for Paul Spoljaric and Pat Hentgen.
• November 16, 1999: Manny Aybar, Brent Butler, Rich Croushore, and José Jiménez were traded by the Cardinals to the Colorado Rockies for Darryl Kile, Luther Hackman and Dave Veres.
• November 24, 1999: Heathcliff Slocumb was signed as a free agent by the Cardinals.
• December 15, 1999: Luis Ordaz was traded by the Cardinals to the Arizona Diamondbacks for Dante Powell.
• January 5, 2000: Ernie Young was signed as a Free Agent with the St. Louis Cardinals.
• March 18, 2000: Joe McEwing was traded by the Cardinals to the New York Mets for Jesse Orosco.
• March 23, 2000: Kent Bottenfield was traded by the St. Louis Cardinals with Adam Kennedy to the Anaheim Angels for Jim Edmonds.

Regular season

Opening Day starters

• Eric Davis
• Jim Edmonds
• Darryl Kile
• Ray Lankford
• Mike Matheny
• Craig Paquette
• Édgar Rentería
• Fernando Tatís
• Fernando Viña

Season standings

NL Central

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
St. Louis Cardinals	95	67	.586	—	50‍–‍31	45‍–‍36
Cincinnati Reds	85	77	.525	10	43‍–‍38	42‍–‍39
Milwaukee Brewers	73	89	.451	22	42‍–‍39	31‍–‍50
Houston Astros	72	90	.444	23	39‍–‍42	33‍–‍48
Pittsburgh Pirates	69	93	.426	26	37‍–‍44	32‍–‍49
Chicago Cubs	65	97	.401	30	38‍–‍43	27‍–‍54

Record vs. opponents

2000 National League record Source: NL Standings Head-to-Head
Team	AZ	ATL	CHC	CIN	COL	FLA	HOU	LA	MIL	MTL	NYM	PHI	PIT	SD	SF	STL	AL
Arizona	—	3–6	5–4	2–5	7–6	4–5	6–1	7–6	4–5	4–5	2–7	8–1	7–2	9–4	6–7	5–4	6–9
Atlanta	6–3	—	4–5	2–5	5–4	6–6	5–4	7–2	6–3	6–7	7–6	8–5	5–2	8–1	6–3	3–4	11–7
Chicago	4–5	5–4	—	4–8	4–5	1–6	5–7	3–6	6–7	4–5	2–5	6–3	3–9	3–5	4–5	3–10	8–7
Cincinnati	5–2	5–2	8–4	—	6–3	3–6	7–5	4–5	5–8–1	6–3	5–4	3–4	7–6	4–5	3–6	7–6	7–8
Colorado	6–7	4–5	5–4	3–6	—	4–5	5–4	4–9	4–5	7–2	3–6	6–3	7–2	7–6	6–7	5–3	6–6
Florida	5–4	6–6	6–1	6–3	5–4	—	3–5	2–7	3–4	7–6	6–6	9–4	5–4	2–7	3–6	3–6	8–9
Houston	1–6	4–5	7–5	5–7	4–5	5–3	—	3–6	7–6	4–5	2–5	5–4	10–3	2–7	1–8	6–6	6–9
Los Angeles	6–7	2–7	6–3	5–4	9–4	7–2	6–3	—	3–4	5–3	4–5	5–4	4–5	8–5	7–5	3–6	6–9
Milwaukee	5–4	3–6	7–6	8–5–1	5–4	4–3	6–7	4–3	—	4–5	2–7	2–5	7–5	2–7	3–6	5–7	6–9
Montreal	5–4	7–6	5–4	3–6	2–7	6–7	5–4	3–5	5–4	—	3–9	5–7	3–4	3–6	3–6	2–5	7–11
New York	7–2	6–7	5–2	4–5	6–3	6–6	5–2	5–4	7–2	9–3	—	6–7	7–2	3–6	3–5	6–3	9–9
Philadelphia	1–8	5–8	3–6	4–3	3–6	4–9	4–5	4–5	5–2	7–5	7–6	—	3–6	2–5	2–7	2–7	9–9
Pittsburgh	2–7	2–5	9–3	6–7	2–7	4–5	3–10	5–4	5–7	4–3	2–7	6–3	—	7–2	2–6	4–8	6–9
San Diego	4–9	1–8	5–3	5–4	6–7	7–2	7–2	5–8	7–2	6–3	6–3	5–2	2–7	—	5–7	0–9	5–10
San Francisco	7–6	3–6	5–4	6–3	7–6	6–3	8–1	5–7	6–3	6–3	5–3	7–2	6–2	7–5	—	5–4	8–7
St. Louis	4–5	4–3	10–3	6–7	3–5	6–3	6–6	6–3	7–5	5–2	3–6	7–2	8–4	9–0	4–5	—	7–8

Transactions

• June 5: Released Mike Mohler.
• July 31: Traded Heathcliff Slocumb and Ben Johnson to the San Diego Padres for Carlos Hernández and Nate Tebbs (minors).
• July 31: Traded José León with cash to the Baltimore Orioles for Will Clark. Acquired to play in place of the injured Mark McGwire, Clark responded with a .964 OPS and hit a home run in each of his first four games with the new club. He performed better in the 2000 playoffs (.345 BA) than in recent years. After announcing that his retirement would come when the Cardinals' playoff run ended, Clark went 1 for 3 in his final game on October 16, 2000, in the NLCS against the New York Mets,

Roster

2000 St. Louis Cardinals
Roster
Pitchers 66 Rick Ankiel 31 Alan Benes 40 Andy Benes 56 Justin Brunette 41 Jason Christiansen 63 Luther Hackman 41 Pat Hentgen 37 Darren Holmes 49 Mike James 57 Darryl Kile 50 Mike Matthews 32 Mike Mohler 35 Matt Morris 47 Jesse Orosco 36 Scott Radinsky 68 Britt Reames 52 José Rodríguez 58 Heathcliff Slocumb 67 Gene Stechschulte 55 Garrett Stephenson 46 Mark Thompson 50 Mike Timlin 43 Dave Veres 44 Dave Wainhouse		Catchers  8 Carlos Hernández 26 Eli Marrero 44,22 Mike Matheny 32 Keith McDonald 29 Rick Wilkins Infielders 28,22 Will Clark 25 Mark McGwire 21 Craig Paquette 33 Eduardo Pérez 27 Plácido Polanco  3 Édgar Rentería 28 Larry Sutton 23 Fernando Tatís  4 Fernando Viña		Outfielders 24 Eric Davis  7 J. D. Drew 12 Shawon Dunston 15 Jim Edmonds  5 Thomas Howard 16 Ray Lankford  8 Chris Richard 13 Luis Saturria		Manager 10 Tony La Russa Coaches 34 Mark DeJohn (Bench) 18 Dave Duncan (Pitching) 19 Mike Easler (Hitting) 38 Marty Mason (Bullpen) 39 Dave McKay (First Base) 11 José Oquendo (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
C	Mike Matheny	128	417	109	.261	6	47
1B	Mark McGwire	89	236	72	.305	32	73
2B	Fernando Viña	123	487	146	.300	4	31
SS	Édgar Rentería	150	562	156	.278	16	76
3B	Fernando Tatís	96	324	82	.253	18	64
LF	Ray Lankford	128	392	99	.253	26	65
CF	Jim Edmonds	152	525	155	.295	42	108
RF	J.D. Drew	135	407	120	.295	18	57

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
Craig Paquette	134	384	94	.245	15	61
Placido Polanco	118	323	102	.316	5	39
Eric Davis	92	254	77	.303	6	40
Shawon Dunston	98	216	54	.250	12	43
Will Clark	51	171	59	.345	12	42
Thomas Howard	86	133	28	.211	6	28
Eli Marrero	53	102	23	.225	5	17
Eduardo Perez	35	91	27	.297	3	10
Carlos Hernandez	17	51	14	.275	1	10
Larry Sutton	23	25	8	.320	1	6
Chris Richard	6	16	2	.125	1	1
Rick Wilkins	4	11	3	.273	0	1
Keith McDonald	6	7	3	.429	3	5
Luis Saturria	6	5	0	.000	0	0

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Pat Hentgen	33	194.1	15	12	4.72	118

Other pitchers

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO

Relief pitchers

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
José Rodríguez	6	0	0	0	0.00	2

NLDS

Main article: 2000 National League Division Series

St. Louis won series, 3-0. This was the series in which pitching phenom Rick Ankiel permanently lost his command and control, throwing four wild pitches in one inning.

Game	Score	Date
1	St. Louis 7, Atlanta 5	October 3
2	St. Louis 10, Atlanta 4	October 5
3	St. Louis 7, Atlanta 1	October 7

NLCS

Main article: 2000 National League Championship Series

Game 1

October 11: Busch Stadium, St. Louis, Missouri

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
New York	2	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	3	6	8	3
St. Louis	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	2	9	0
WP: Mike Hampton (1-0)   LP: Darryl Kile (0-1) Home runs: NYM: Todd Zeile (1), Jay Payton (1) STL: None

Game 2

October 12: Busch Stadium, St. Louis, Missouri

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
New York	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	2	1	6	9	0
St. Louis	0	1	0	0	2	0	0	2	0	5	10	3
WP: Turk Wendell (1-0)   LP: Mike Timlin (0-1)   Sv: Armando Benítez (1) Home runs: NYM: Mike Piazza (1) STL: None

Game 3

October 14: Shea Stadium, Flushing, New York

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
St. Louis	2	0	2	1	3	0	0	0	0	8	14	0
New York	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	7	1
WP: Andy Benes (1-0)   LP: Rick Reed (0-1)

Game 4

October 15: Shea Stadium, Flushing, New York

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
St. Louis	2	0	0	1	3	0	0	0	0	6	11	2
New York	4	3	0	1	0	2	0	0	X	10	9	0
WP: Glendon Rusch (1-0)   LP: Darryl Kile (0-2) Home runs: STL: Jim Edmonds (1); Will Clark (1) NYM: Mike Piazza (2)

Game 5

October 16: Shea Stadium, Flushing, New York

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	3	2
New York	3	0	0	3	0	0	1	0	X	7	10	0
WP: Mike Hampton (2-0)   LP: Pat Hentgen (0-1)

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Memphis Redbirds	Pacific Coast League	Gaylen Pitts
AA	Arkansas Travelers	Texas League	Chris Maloney
A	Potomac Cannons	Carolina League	Joe Cunningham, Jr.
A	Peoria Chiefs	Midwest League	Tom Lawless
A-Short Season	New Jersey Cardinals	New York–Penn League	Jeff Shireman
Rookie	Johnson City Cardinals	Appalachian League	Luis Meléndez

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Memphis

External links

• 2000 St. Louis Cardinals
• 2000 St. Louis Cardinals team page at www.baseball-almanac.com