Friday, April 6, 1979, 7:38PM
Busch Stadium II
Attendance: 40,526, Time of Game: 2:06
Ken Boyer takes over the Cardinals as manager and this is his first Opening Day. He sends John Denny to the mound and will face the Phillies. Manager Danny Ozark counters with former Cardinals lefty Steve Carlton for his team.
Phillies Batting Order:
Pete Rose
Larry Bowa
Bake McBride
Greg Luzinski
Mike Schmidt
Garry Maddox
Manny Trillo
Tim McCarver
Steve Carlton
Cardinals Batting Order:
Lou Brock
Garry Templeton
Keith Hernandez
Ted Simmons
George Hendrick
Tony Scott
Ken Reitz
Mike Tyson
John Denny
Both teams go down in order in the first inning but each team counters with a home run as Garry Maddox bombs one off of Denny and Ted Simmons cranks the ball off Carlton. The score is tied 2-2 after two.
In the bottom of the 4th inning the Cardinals put four hits and two runs on the board with singles by Hernandez, Hendrick and Scott which is followed by a double from Ken Reitz. In the 6th one more is added as Scott doubles and Reitz singles for first and third followed by a sac fly from Tyson.The 7th inning spells the doom of Carlton as the Cardinals load the bases and he is replaced by Doug Bird who allows a triple to Scott and a double to Reitz and itis 8-1. That will be the final for the game.
Phillies Offense
HR: G Maddox (1, off J Denny, 2nd inn, 0 on, 2 outs to LF).
HBP: G Maddox (1, by J Denny).
TB: G Maddox 4; M Trillo 2; P Rose; G Luzinski.
GIDP: M Trillo (1).
RBI: G Maddox (1).
2-out RBI: G Maddox.
Team LOB: 5.
With RISP: 0 for 1.
Fielding
E: M Trillo (1).
Baserunning
CS: M Trillo (1, 2nd base by J Denny/T Simmons).
Cardinals Offense
2B: K Reitz 2 (2, 1 off S Carlton, 1 off D Bird); T Scott (1, off S Carlton).
3B: T Scott (1, off D Bird).
HR: T Simmons (1, off S Carlton, 2nd inn, 0 on, 0 outs to LF).
SF: M Tyson (1, off S Carlton).
IBB: M Tyson (1, by S Carlton); T Simmons (1, by S Carlton).
TB: T Scott 6; K Reitz 5; T Simmons 4; K Hernandez 2; G Templeton; G Hendrick.
RBI: T Scott 3 (3); K Reitz 3 (3); T Simmons (1); M Tyson (1).
2-out RBI: K Reitz 3; T Scott 3.
Team LOB: 6.
With RISP: 6 for 10.
Fielding
DP: 1. G Templeton-M Tyson-K Hernandez.
Baserunning
SB: L Brock (1, 2nd base off S Carlton/T McCarver).
Umpires: HP – Paul Pryor, 1B – Bob Sharp, 2B – Ray Perez, 3B – Bud Miller.
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The 1979 St. Louis Cardinals played 162 games during the regular season, won 86 games, lost 76 games, and finished in third position. They played their home games at Busch Stadium where 1,627,256 fans witnessed their 1979 Cardinals finish the season with a .531 winning percentage.
SALARIES in 1979
Keith Hernandez $500,000.00
George Hendrick $333,000.00
Lou Brock $125,000.00
Darold Knowles $102,500.00
Mike Dimmel $21,000.00
George Frazier $21,000.00
John Fulgham $21,000.00
Tom Herr $21,000.00
Dane Iorg $21,000.00
Terry Kennedy $21,000.00
Jim Lentine $21,000.00
Silvio Martinez $21,000.00
Dan O’Brien $21,000.00
Ken Oberkfell $21,000.00
Kim Seaman $21,000.00
Keith Smith $21,000.00
Bob Sykes $21,000.00
Roy Thomas $21,000.00
John Urrea $21,000.00
After the season First baseman Keith Hernández won the MVP Award batting .344, with 11 home runs and 105 RBIs. Hernández also won the Gold Glove. Left fielder Lou Brock collected his 3,000th career hit and played his final season in MLB.
Pete Vuckovich and Silvio Martínez each won 15 games. Garry Templeton became the first switch-hitter to collect 100 hits from each side of the plate and led the league in triples for a third consecutive season.