2009 St. Louis Cardinals season
| 2009 St. Louis Cardinals | ||
|---|---|---|
| National League Central champions | ||
| League | National League | |
| Division | Central | |
| Ballpark | Busch Stadium | |
| City | St. Louis, Missouri | |
| Record | 91–71 (.562) | |
| Divisional place | 1st | |
| Owners | William DeWitt, Jr., Fred Hanser | |
| General managers | John Mozeliak | |
| Managers | Tony La Russa | |
| Television | FS Midwest (Dan McLaughlin, Al Hrabosky) KSDK (NBC 5) (Jay Randolph, Rick Horton) | |
| Radio | KTRS (Mike Shannon, John Rooney) | |
| ||
The 2009 St. Louis Cardinals season was the 128th season for the St. Louis Cardinals, a Major League Baseball franchise in St. Louis, Missouri. It was the 118th season for the Cardinals in the National League and their 4th at Busch Stadium III.
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 National League 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 NLDS.