2008 St. Louis Cardinals season
| 2008 St. Louis Cardinals | |
|---|---|
| Major League affiliations | |
|
|
|
|
| Location | |
|
|
|
|
| Results | |
| Record | 86-76 (.531) |
| Divisional place | 4th |
| Other information | |
| Owner(s) | William DeWitt, Jr., Fred Hanser |
| General manager(s) | John Mozeliak |
| Manager(s) | Tony La Russa |
| Local television |
FSN Midwest (Dan McLaughlin, Al Hrabosky) KSDK (NBC 5) (Jay Randolph, Rick Horton) |
| Local radio |
KTRS (Mike Shannon, John Rooney) |
| < Previous season Next season > | |
The St. Louis Cardinals' 2008 season was the 127th season for the franchise in St. Louis, Missouri and the 117th season in the National League. The Cardinals, coming off a 78-84 season that was their worst since 1999, improved by eight games, going 86-76 in 2008. However, this was only good for fourth place in the National League Central, 11.5 games behind the division champion Chicago Cubs.
Walt Jocketty, GM of the Cardinals for twelve years, was fired due to "tension mounting" that had "grown counterproductive ... with respect to some baseball issues." Tony La Russa, however, signed a contract to return to manage the Cardinals for his 13th and 14th seasons.John Mozeliak took Jocketty's place as GM. John Abbamondi, former senior director of labor economics working for Major League Baseball in New York, joined the Cardinals as assistant GM.
On March 13, it was announced that Mark Lamping, president of the Cardinals for 13 years, resigned to become the CEO of the New Meadowlands Stadium Company. Bill DeWitt III, son of Cardinals chairman William DeWitt, Jr. and formerly the team's vice-president of business development, took Lamping's place as president.
A major offseason story for the Cardinals was the hostile relationship between manager Tony La Russa and third baseman Scott Rolen. LaRussa publicly criticized Rolen on December 5, and Rolen requested a trade, but the team was unable to find a suitable offer at the winter meetings. On January 12, the Cardinals reached a tentative agreement with the Toronto Blue Jays to trade Rolen for their third baseman, Troy Glaus, and the trade was finalized on January 14.
Center fielder Jim Edmonds, the most senior member of the Cardinals' roster, having been with the team since the 2000 season, was traded to the San Diego Padres for single-A third baseman David Freese and cash considerations on December 14, 2007.
...
Wikipedia