2009 St. Louis Cardinals season
| 2009 St. Louis Cardinals | |
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| NL Central Champions | |
| Major League affiliations | |
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| Location | |
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| Results | |
| Record | 91–71 (.562) |
| Divisional place | 1st |
| 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' 2009 season was the 128th season for the franchise in St. Louis, Missouri and the 118th season in the National League. The Cardinals, coming off an 86-76 season and fourth place in the NL Central, got off to a strong start in April before a team-wide offensive breakdown caused them to fall behind the Cubs in the NL Central standings. Brilliant seasons from starting pitchers Chris Carpenter, Adam Wainwright, and Joel Piñeiro helped St. Louis to stay in contention until the key midseason acquisitions of Matt Holliday, Mark DeRosa, and Julio Lugo revived the Cardinal offense. An August 20–6 effectively ended the NL Central race, and the Cardinals won the division with a 91-71 record, seven-and-a-half games better than the second-place Cubs. However, their playoff run ended quickly when they were swept in three games by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Division Series.
The Cardinals retained the services of backup catcher Jason LaRue, signing him to another one-year contract.
On December 4, 2008, the Cardinals agreed to a trade with the San Diego Padres sending reliever Mark Worrell and a player-to-be-named-later (the Padres eventually chose minor-league pitcher Luke Gregerson) in exchange for shortstop Khalil Greene, who will make $6.5 mil, and will be eligible for free agency after 2009. Greene replaced César Izturis, who departed via free agency.
Utility infielder Aaron Miles, a member of the 2006 World Series champion Cardinals, signed a two-year deal on December 31 to play with the Cubs.Felipe López, who became the starting second baseman after a 2008 deadline trade and hit .385 for the Cardinals in two months, became a free agent and signed with the Diamondbacks. The third and last second baseman on the 2008 Cardinals, Adam Kennedy, was given his unconditional release on February 9. With no second baseman with significant big-league experience on the roster, outfielder Skip Schumaker was tabbed to make the unusual transition. Late in training camp Schumaker was designated the official starting second baseman.
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