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 National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

. The Cardinals went 95-67 during the season, their best finish since 1987, and won the

National League Central The National League Central is one of Major League Baseball's six divisions. This division was created in 1994, by moving two teams from the National League West (the Cincinnati Reds and the Houston Astros) and three teams from the National League ...

division by ten games over the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

. In the playoffs the Cardinals defeated the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in ...

3 games to 0 in the

NLDS In Major League Baseball, the National League Division Series (NLDS) determines which two teams from the National League will advance to the National League Championship Series. The Division Series consists of two best-of-five series, featuring e ...

but lost to the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major lea ...

4 games to 1 in the

NLCS The National League Championship Series (NLCS) is a best-of-seven playoff and one of two League Championship Series comprising the penultimate round of Major League Baseball's (MLB) postseason. It is contested by the winners of the two National ...

. 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 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 The Rawlings Gold Glove Award, usually referred to as simply the Gold Glove, is the award given annually to the Major League Baseball (MLB) players judged to have exhibited superior individual fielding performances at each fielding position in bo ...

this year. Matheny was acquired from the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

during the off-season, while Edmonds was acquired from the

Anaheim Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team h ...

less than a week before the start of the season.

Offseason

*November 11, 1999: Alberto Castillo,

Matt DeWitt Matthew Brian DeWitt is a former major league pitcher who briefly played in 29 games with the Toronto Blue Jays (2000–2001) and the San Diego Padres (2002). He also pitched in the minor leagues for the Baltimore Orioles, Milwaukee Brewers a ...

, and

Lance Painter Lance Telford Painter (born July 21, 1967) is an English former Major League Baseball left-handed pitcher who played for the Colorado Rockies (-), St. Louis Cardinals (-, ), Toronto Blue Jays (-), and Milwaukee Brewers (). Although he started 28 g ...

were traded by the Cardinals to the

for Paul Spoljaric and Pat Hentgen. *November 16, 1999: Manny Aybar,

Brent Butler Justin Brent Butler (born February 11, 1978) is a retired Major League Baseball utility infielder. Butler attended Scotland High School in Laurinburg, North Carolina, graduating in 1996. He was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 3rd roun ...

Rich Croushore Richard Steven Croushore (born August 7, 1970) is an American former professional baseball relief pitcher who played for three different teams between and . Listed at 6' 4", 210 lb., Croushore batted and threw right-handed. He was signed by ...

, and José Jiménez were traded by the Cardinals to the

Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The team plays its home baseball games at Coors Fi ...

for Darryl Kile, Luther Hackman and

Dave Veres David Scott Veres (born October 19, 1966) is an American former professional baseball player who pitched in Major League Baseball from 1994 to 2003. Career On January 4, 2007, Veres signed a minor league deal with the Colorado Rockies. However, h ...

. * November 24, 1999: Heathcliff Slocumb was signed as a free agent by the Cardinals.Heathcliff Slocumb
at ''Baseball-Reference'' *December 15, 1999:

Luis Ordaz Luis Javier Ordaz (born August 12, 1975), is a former Major League Baseball utility infielder and current hitting coach for the Potomac Nationals. Ordaz played for the St. Louis Cardinals (1997–1999), Kansas City Royals (2000–2002) and Tampa ...

was traded by the Cardinals to the

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks (colloquially known as the D-backs) are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The ...

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

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

Record vs. opponents

Transactions

* June 5: Released Mike Mohler. * July 31: Traded Heathcliff Slocumb and Ben Johnson to the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penn ...

for Carlos Hernández and Nate Tebbs (minors). * July 31: Traded José León with cash to the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

for

Will Clark William Nuschler Clark Jr. (born March 13, 1964) is an American professional baseball first baseman who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1986 through 2000. He played for the San Francisco Giants, Texas Rangers, Baltimore Orioles ...

. Acquired to play in place of the injured

Mark McGwire Mark David McGwire (born October 1, 1963), nicknamed "Big Mac", is an American former professional baseball first baseman who played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1986 to 2001 for the Oakland Athletics and the St. Louis Card ...

, Clark responded with a .964

OPS In ancient Roman religion, Ops or ''Opis'' (Latin: "Plenty") was a fertility deity and earth goddess of Sabine origin. Her equivalent in Greek mythology was Rhea. Iconography In Ops' statues and coins, she is figured sitting down, as Chthon ...

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

against the

Roster

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''

Other batters

''Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in''

Pitching

Starting pitchers

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

Relief pitchers

''Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts''

NLDS

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.

NLCS

Game 1

October 11: Busch Stadium, St. Louis, Missouri

Game 2

October 12: Busch Stadium, St. Louis, Missouri

Game 3

October 14:

Shea Stadium Shea Stadium (), formally known as William A. Shea Municipal Stadium, was a multi-purpose stadium in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, Queens, New York City.

, Flushing,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

Game 4

October 15:

Shea Stadium Shea Stadium (), formally known as William A. Shea Municipal Stadium, was a multi-purpose stadium in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, Queens, New York City.

, Flushing,

Game 5

October 16:

Shea Stadium Shea Stadium (), formally known as William A. Shea Municipal Stadium, was a multi-purpose stadium in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, Queens, New York City.

, Flushing,

Farm system

Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., ''The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball'', 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007

References

External links

2000 St. Louis Cardinals at Baseball Reference2000 St. Louis Cardinals team page at www.baseball-almanac.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:2000 St. Louis Cardinals Season St. Louis Cardinals seasons National League Central champion seasons

St Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...