2000 St. Louis Cardinals season

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 by ten games over the Cincinnati Reds. In the playoffs the Cardinals defeated the Atlanta Braves a three-game sweep of the NLDS. They faced the New York Mets in the NLCS and lost in five games.

2000 St. Louis Cardinals
National League Central champions
League	National League
Division	Central
Ballpark	Busch Memorial Stadium
City	St. Louis, Missouri
Record	95–67 (.586)
Divisional place	1st
Owners	William DeWitt, Jr.
General managers	Walt Jocketty
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)
← 1999 Seasons 2001 →

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 Cardinals sweep of the Braves in the NLDS was notable because of the perception by the media that it would make it easier for their opponent in the Mets to reach the World Series.^[1][2] The Braves (the defending National League champion) had eliminated the Mets from the playoffs on the final day of the 1998 season and in the 1999 NLCS.^[2]

The 2000 Cardinals featured a completely revamped roster, assembled during a busy offseason following a losing 1999 campaign. Key acquisitions included second baseman Fernando Vina, from the Milwaukee Brewers, catcher Mike Matheny, from the Toronto Blue Jays, and centerfielder Jim Edmonds, from the Anaheim Angels. Matheny and Edmonds won Gold Gloves this year. Pitcher Darryl Kile, from the Colorado Rockies, was one of three new starters in the rotation. He went 20-9 and finished 5th in voting for the NL Cy Young Award.

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.^[3]
• 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.^[4]
• November 24, 1999: Heathcliff Slocumb was signed as a free agent by the Cardinals.^[5]
• December 15, 1999: Luis Ordaz was traded by the Cardinals to the Arizona Diamondbacks for Dante Powell.^[6]
• December 20, 1999: Juan Acevedo was traded by the Cardinals with two players to be named later to the Milwaukee Brewers for Fernando Vina. In June 2000 the Cardinals sent Eliezer Alfonzo and Matt Parker to the Brewers to complete the trade.^[7]
• January 5, 2000: Ernie Young was signed as a free agent by the Cardinals.^[8]
• January 7, 2000: Andy Benes was signed as a free agent by the Cardinals.^[9]
• March 18, 2000: Joe McEwing was traded by the Cardinals to the New York Mets for Jesse Orosco.^[10]
• March 23, 2000: Kent Bottenfield was traded by the Cardinals with Adam Kennedy to the Anaheim Angels for Jim Edmonds.^[11]

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

• v
• t
• e

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 v t e Source: NL Standings Head-to-Head
Team	AZ	ATL	CHC	CIN	COL	FLA	HOU	LAD	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.^[12]
• July 31: Traded Heathcliff Slocumb and Ben Johnson to the San Diego Padres for Carlos Hernández and Nate Tebbs (minors).^[5]
• July 31: Traded José León with cash to the Baltimore Orioles for Will Clark.^[13] 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
Plácido 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 Pérez	35	91	27	.297	3	10
Carlos Hernández	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

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Darryl Kile	34	232.1	20	9	3.91	192
Garrett Stephenson	32	200.1	16	9	4.49	123
Pat Hentgen	33	194.1	15	12	4.72	118
Rick Ankiel	31	175.0	11	7	3.50	194
Andy Benes	30	166.0	12	9	4.88	137
Britt Reames	8	40.2	2	1	2.88	31

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
Dave Veres	71	3	5	29	2.85	67
Mike James	51	2	2	2	3.16	41
Heathcliff Slocumb	43	2	3	1	5.44	34
Matt Morris	31	3	3	4	3.57	34
Alan Benes	30	2	2	0	5.67	26
Mike Timlin	25	3	1	1	3.34	26
Mike Mohler	22	1	1	0	9.00	8
Jason Christiansen	21	1	0	0	5.40	12
Gene Stechschulte	20	1	0	0	6.31	12
Mark Thompson	20	1	1	0	5.04	19
Mike Matthews	14	0	0	0	11.57	8
Dave Wainhouse	9	0	1	0	9.35	5
José Rodríguez	6	0	0	0	0.00	2
Jesse Orosco	6	0	0	0	3.86	4
Darren Holmes	5	0	1	0	9.72	5
Justin Brunette	4	0	0	0	5.79	2
Luther Hackman	1	0	0	0	10.13	0
Scott Radinsky	1	0	0	0	----	0

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^[14]