1971 St. Louis Cardinals season
The 1971 St. Louis Cardinals season was the team's 90th season in St. Louis, Missouri and its 80th season in the National League. The Cardinals went 90–72 during the season and finished second in the National League East, seven games behind the eventual NL pennant and World Series champion Pittsburgh Pirates.
Offseason
Regular season
The Cardinals scrapped their traditional buttoned jerseys for T-shirt style uniform tops, and would keep them until they switched back in 1992.
Third baseman Joe Torre won the MVP Award this year, batting.363, with 24 home runs and 137 RBIs. Pitcher Bob Gibson won a Gold Glove this year, and threw a no-hitter against the Pittsburgh Pirates on August 14.
Notable transactions
Player stats
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 | | 133 | 510 | 155 | .304 | 7 | 77 |
| 1B | | 129 | 380 | 86 | .226 | 16 | 54 |
| 2B | | 135 | 478 | 126 | .264 | 3 | 42 |
| SS | | 142 | 356 | 80 | .225 | 0 | 24 |
| 3B | | 161 | 634 | 230 | .363 | 24 | 137 |
| LF | | 157 | 640 | 200 | .313 | 7 | 61 |
| CF | | 83 | 292 | 80 | .274 | 9 | 27 |
| RF | | 89 | 301 | 73 | .243 | 7 | 48 |
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 |
| 149 | 609 | 192 | .315 | 7 | 74 |
| 90 | 259 | 67 | .259 | 3 | 28 |
| 88 | 173 | 39 | .225 | 0 | 11 |
| 77 | 162 | 38 | .235 | 2 | 16 |
| 56 | 128 | 37 | .289 | 4 | 22 |
| 32 | 72 | 18 | .250 | 1 | 10 |
| 65 | 71 | 21 | .296 | 1 | 12 |
| 34 | 60 | 13 | .217 | 1 | 6 |
| 25 | 28 | 5 | .179 | 1 | 2 |
| 17 | 19 | 4 | .211 | 0 | 1 |
| 4 | 11 | 3 | .273 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | 10 | 3 | .300 | 0 | 1 |
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 |
| 37 | 273.1 | 20 | 9 | 3.56 | 172 |
| 31 | 245.2 | 16 | 13 | 3.04 | 185 |
| 34 | 222.0 | 12 | 12 | 4.01 | 148 |
| 36 | 211.0 | 14 | 14 | 4.78 | 131 |
Other 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 |
| 23 | 89.2 | 3 | 10 | 5.32 | 48 |
| 19 | 49.2 | 0 | 2 | 3.81 | 21 |
| 9 | 36.0 | 1 | 2 | 6.00 | 8 |
| 13 | 26.2 | 0 | 1 | 4.39 | 11 |
| 2 | 10.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 13 |
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 |
| 51 | 6 | 1 | 8 | 3.43 | 49 |
| 50 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 2.12 | 24 |
| 45 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 2.65 | 19 |
| 43 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 3.53 | 46 |
| 10 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1.42 | 8 |
| 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5.40 | 5 |
| 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5.79 | 4 |
| 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10.29 | 4 |
| 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7.20 | 2 |
| 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12.27 | 4 |
| 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3.86 | 6 |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 2 |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9.00 | 1 |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 |
Awards and honors
Farm system
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Arkansas