⭐ Division Winner

1981 St. Louis Cardinals

59-43 • .578 Win% • 1st in NL E

The 1981 St. Louis Cardinals went 59-43 (.578) finishing 1st in the NL E division. The club scored 464 runs, allowed 417, and played home games at Busch Stadium II. Team leaders included George Hendrick (18 HR, 61 RBI) and Bob Forsch (10-5, 3.18 ERA).

W (Wins):
Games credited to a pitcher whose team took a lead it never surrendered while he was the pitcher of record.
L (Losses):
Games charged to the pitcher of record when the opposing team took a lead it never surrendered.
RS (Runs Scored (team)):
Total runs a team scored across the season.
RA (Runs Allowed):
Total runs a team allowed across the season.

Data updated

📊 Season Record

59 Wins
43 Losses
.578 Win %
1st Rank
464 R 417 RA
Diff +47

📁 Franchise Info

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⚡ Quick Stats

464 Runs Scored
417 Runs Allowed
+47 Run Diff
1,010K Attendance

📈 vs. 1981 NL Average

Batting Avg .264 4% above the 1981 league average (.255)
OBP .335 5% above the 1981 league average (.319)
SLG .377 4% above the 1981 league average (.363)
Team ERA 3.63 4% worse than the 1981 league average (3.49)
Runs Scored 464 11% above the 1981 league average (420 R)

🏟️ Home Ballpark

🏟️
StadiumBusch Stadium II
📅
Home Games 53
👥
Total Attendance 1,010,247
📊
Avg per Game 19,061

⚾ Batting Leaders

Team HR Leaders — 1981

Batting Avg

1 Dane Iorg 0.327 2 Keith Hernandez 0.306 3 Gene Roof 0.300 4 Ken Oberkfell 0.293 5 Garry Templeton 0.288

Home Runs

1 George Hendrick 18 2 Keith Hernandez 8 3 Darrell Porter 6 4 Sixto Lezcano 5 5 Gene Tenace 5

RBI

1 George Hendrick 61 2 Keith Hernandez 48 3 Tom Herr 46 4 Ken Oberkfell 45 5 Dane Iorg 39
1981 St. Louis Cardinals — RBI
Player G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB AVG
Tom Herr 103 411 50 110 14 9 0 46 39 30 23 0.268
George Hendrick 101 394 67 112 19 3 18 61 41 44 4 0.284
Keith Hernandez 103 376 65 115 27 4 8 48 61 45 12 0.306
Ken Oberkfell 102 376 43 110 12 6 2 45 37 28 13 0.293
Garry Templeton 80 333 47 96 16 8 1 33 14 55 8 0.288
Dane Iorg 75 217 23 71 11 2 2 39 7 9 2 0.327
Sixto Lezcano 72 214 26 57 8 2 5 28 40 40 0 0.266
Tony Scott 45 176 21 40 5 2 2 17 5 22 10 0.227
Darrell Porter 61 174 22 39 10 2 6 31 39 32 1 0.224
Gene Tenace 58 129 26 30 7 0 5 22 38 26 0 0.233
Mike Ramsey 47 124 19 32 3 0 0 9 8 16 4 0.258
Tito Landrum 81 119 13 31 5 4 0 10 6 14 4 0.261
Gene Roof 23 60 11 18 6 0 0 3 12 16 5 0.300
Orlando Sanchez 27 49 5 14 2 1 0 6 2 6 1 0.286
Steve Braun 44 46 9 9 2 1 0 2 15 7 1 0.196
Lary Sorensen 23 46 1 3 1 0 0 0 0 21 0 0.065
Bob Forsch 20 41 0 5 1 0 0 3 1 10 0 0.122
Silvio Martinez 18 35 1 7 2 0 0 2 1 12 0 0.200
David Green 21 34 6 5 1 0 0 2 6 5 0 0.147
John Martin 18 33 2 7 2 1 0 8 2 14 0 0.212
Glenn Brummer 21 30 2 6 1 0 0 2 1 2 0 0.200
Julio Gonzalez 20 22 2 7 1 0 1 3 1 3 0 0.318
Bob Shirley 28 22 0 3 0 0 0 1 0 7 0 0.136
Joaquin Andujar 12 19 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 0 0.000
Andy Rincon 5 13 1 3 1 0 0 5 1 6 0 0.231
Bruce Sutter 48 9 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 4 0 0.000
Jim Kaat 41 8 2 3 1 0 0 2 1 0 0 0.375
Mark Littell 28 8 0 2 0 0 0 2 0 2 0 0.250
Dave LaPoint 3 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0.000
Doug Bair 11 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0.000
Joe Edelen 13 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0.333
Neil Fiala 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0.000
Jim Otten 24 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Bob Sykes 22 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 0.000
Luis DeLeon 10 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000

🎯 Pitching Leaders

Team K Leaders — 1981

ERA

1 Andy Rincon 1.77 2 Bruce Sutter 2.62 3 Bob Forsch 3.18 4 Lary Sorensen 3.27 5 Jim Kaat 3.40

Wins

1 Bob Forsch 10 2 John Martin 8 3 Lary Sorensen 7 4 Joaquin Andujar 6 5 Jim Kaat 6

Strikeouts

1 Bruce Sutter 57 2 Lary Sorensen 52 3 Bob Forsch 41 4 John Martin 36 5 Bob Shirley 36
1981 St. Louis Cardinals — Strikeouts
Player W L ERA G GS SV IP H ER BB SO
Lary Sorensen 7 7 3.27 23 23 0 140.1 149 51 26 52
Bob Forsch 10 5 3.18 20 20 0 124.1 106 44 29 41
John Martin 8 5 3.42 17 15 0 102.2 85 39 26 36
Silvio Martinez 2 5 3.99 18 16 0 97.0 95 43 39 34
Bruce Sutter 3 5 2.62 48 0 25 82.1 64 24 24 57
Bob Shirley 6 4 4.08 28 11 1 79.1 78 36 34 36
Joaquin Andujar 6 1 3.74 11 8 0 55.1 56 23 11 19
Jim Kaat 6 6 3.40 41 1 4 53.0 60 20 17 8
Mark Littell 1 3 4.39 28 1 2 41.0 36 20 31 22
Bob Sykes 2 0 4.58 22 1 0 37.1 37 19 18 14
Jim Otten 1 0 5.30 24 0 0 35.2 44 21 20 20
Andy Rincon 3 1 1.77 5 5 0 35.2 27 7 5 13
Joe Edelen 1 0 9.35 13 0 0 17.1 29 18 3 10
Doug Bair 2 0 3.45 11 0 1 15.2 13 6 2 14
Luis DeLeon 0 1 2.35 10 0 0 15.1 11 4 3 8
Dave LaPoint 1 0 4.22 3 2 0 10.2 12 5 2 4

👥 Roster (35)

Joaquin Andujar Doug Bair Steve Braun Glenn Brummer Luis DeLeon Joe Edelen Neil Fiala Bob Forsch Julio Gonzalez David Green George Hendrick Keith Hernandez +23 more

35 players

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The 1981 St. Louis Cardinals in brief

The 1981 St. Louis Cardinals finished 59-43, a .578 winning percentage, placing 1st in the NL East. The run column shows 464 for and 417 against. The team batting average of .264 was 4% above the 1981 league mark of .255. The St. Louis Cardinals staff finished with a 3.63 ERA; the league as a whole was at 3.49. The 1981 St. Louis Cardinals outscored the average club by 11% (464 against 420).

The home park, Busch Stadium II, recorded 1,010,247 in attendance, about 19,061 a game. For power, George Hendrick led the way with 18 homers. The hits leader was Keith Hernandez with 115. Bob Forsch was the top winner, with 10 victories. The strikeout leader was Bruce Sutter with 57. The saves leader was Bruce Sutter with 25.

Frequently Asked Questions about the 1981 St. Louis Cardinals

What was the 1981 St. Louis Cardinals record?
The 1981 St. Louis Cardinals finished 59-43 (.578 win pct).
Did the 1981 St. Louis Cardinals make the playoffs?
The 1981 St. Louis Cardinals finished first in their division.
Who led the 1981 St. Louis Cardinals in home runs?
George Hendrick led the 1981 St. Louis Cardinals with 18 home runs.
What was the 1981 St. Louis Cardinals team ERA?
The 1981 St. Louis Cardinals posted a team ERA of 3.63.
Did the 1981 St. Louis Cardinals win the World Series?
No. The 1981 St. Louis Cardinals did not win the World Series.
Where did the 1981 St. Louis Cardinals play?
The 1981 St. Louis Cardinals played home games at Busch Stadium II.
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