First Baseman, St. Louis Cardinals
Age: 25
5th season
with Cardinals
Bats – Left, Throws
– Left
Height: 6’0” Weight: 180
Prior to 1979:
A California
native, Hernandez excelled in football and basketball, as well as baseball at
Capuchino High School in San Bruno before moving on to the College of San Mateo
from where he was chosen by the Cardinals in the 1971 amateur draft. Initially
assigned to St. Petersburg of the Class A Florida State League in 1972, he
batted .256 with 5 home runs and 41 RBIs over 84 games and posted an excellent
.991 fielding percentage at first base. He finished the season in Class AAA
where he proved to still be a work in progress. In 1973 Hernandez was with
Arkansas of the Class AA Texas League where he was again impressive in the
field, duplicating his .991 fielding percentage of ’72, while hitting an
uninspiring .260 with 25 extra base hits and 52 RBIs. Moving on to the Tulsa Oilers
of the Class AAA American Association, he hit .333 in 31 games and showed more
punch at the plate. Still with Tulsa in 1974, he topped the American
Association with a .351 batting average to go along with 14 home runs and 63
RBIs. He was named a league All-Star and received a late-season call-up to the
Cardinals, where he hit .294 in 14 games. Hernandez started the 1975 season in
St. Louis but, hitting poorly, he was sent down to Tulsa in June. After hitting
.330 in 85 games at Class AAA, he returned to the Cards late in the season and
finished with a .250 major league average. Taking over at first base for the
Cardinals in 1976, he started off slowly with the bat and finished at .289 with
21 doubles, 5 triples, 7 home runs, and 46 RBIs. In 1977 his production rose to
.291 with 41 doubles, 15 home runs, and 91 RBIs, along with 90 runs scored and
a .379 on-base percentage. Becoming known for his slick fielding, Hernandez
received his first Gold Glove in 1978, although his batting dropped to .255
with 32 doubles, 11 home runs, and 64 RBIs.
1979 Season Summary
Appeared in 161
games
1B – 160, PH – 2
[Bracketed
numbers indicate NL rank in Top 20]
Batting
Plate
Appearances – 698 [7]
At Bats – 610
[12]
Runs – 116 [1]
Hits – 210 [2]
Doubles – 48
[1]
Triples – 11
[5, tied with Larry Bowa]
Home Runs – 11
RBI – 105 [5]
Bases on Balls
– 80 [11]
Int. BB – 5
Strikeouts – 78
Stolen Bases – 11
Caught Stealing
– 6
Average - .344
[1]
OBP - .417 [2]
Slugging Pct. -
.513 [8]
Total Bases – 313
[6]
GDP – 9
Hit by Pitches
– 1
Sac Hits – 0
Sac Flies – 7 [9,
tied with eight others]
League-leading
runs scored were +6 ahead of runner-up Omar Moreno
League-leading
doubles were +2 ahead of runner-up Warren Cromartie
League-leading
batting average was +.013 ahead of runner-up Pete Rose
Midseason
snapshot: 2B – 24, 3B – 7, HR – 7, RBI – 57, AVG – .325, OBP – .397
---
Most hits, game
– 4 (in 4 AB) at Houston 5/8, (in 4 AB) vs. Chi. Cubs 8/10, (in 5 AB) vs. San
Diego 8/22, (in 5 AB) at NY Mets 9/22
Longest hitting
streak – 14 games
HR at home – 5
HR on road – 6
Most home runs,
game – 1 on eleven occasions
Multi-HR games
– 0
Most RBIs, game
– 5 at Montreal 7/30
Pinch-hitting –
2 of 2 (1.000) with 1 3B & 2 RBI
Fielding
Chances – 1643
Put Outs – 1489
Assists – 146
Errors – 8
DP – 145
Pct. - .995
Awards & Honors:
NL MVP: BBWAA (co-winner)
Gold Glove
All-Star
Top 5 in NL MVP
Voting:
Keith
Hernandez, StL.: 216 pts. – 4 of 24 first place votes, 64% share
Willie
Stargell, Pitt.: 216 pts. - 10 first place votes, 64% share
Dave Winfield,
SD.: 155 pts. – 4 first place votes, 46% share
Larry Parrish,
Mon.: 128 pts. – 38% share
Ray Knight,
Cin.: 82 pts. – 2 first place votes, 24% share
(1 first place
vote apiece for Joe Niekro, Hou., who ranked sixth, Kent Tekulve, Pitt., who
ranked eighth, Gary Carter, Mon., who ranked 17th & Bill
Madlock, SF/Pitt., who ranked 18th)
---
Cardinals went 86-76 to finish third in the NL Eastern Division, 12 games behind the division-winning Pittsburgh Pirates while leading the league in hits (1594), doubles (279), triples (63) and batting (.278). The Cardinals, rebounding from a dreadful year in 1978, contended until catcher Ted Simmons went down with an injury in June. The good-hitting club still managed to remain within striking range of the top for most of the season.
Aftermath of ‘79:
Hernandez
followed up his co-MVP season by finishing second in NL batting in 1980 (.321)
while leading the league in runs scored (111) and OBP (.408). He further
compiled 39 doubles, 8 triples, 16 home runs, and 99 RBIs and continued his
Gold Glove play at first base. In the strike-interrupted 1981 season Hernandez
batted .306 with 8 home runs, 48 RBIs, and 65 runs scored. He was once again a
Gold Glove recipient for a club that topped the circuit in fielding. The Cards
won the NL East in 1982 and, overcoming a slow start, Hernandez hit .299 with
33 doubles, 6 triples, 7 home runs, and 94 RBIs. He batted .333 in the
three-game NLCS sweep of the Atlanta Braves, and in the seven-game World Series
victory over the Milwaukee Brewers, he accounted for 8 RBIs, including one in
the come-from-behind win in Game 7. Hernandez’s tenure in St. Louis came to an end
during the 1983 season when, in mid-June he was traded to the New York Mets for
pitchers Neil Allen and Rick Ownbey. A highly unpopular deal among Cardinal
fans at the time, it came about due to Hernandez’s heavy cocaine use, which by
his own admission started in 1980 and had come to manager Whitey Herzog’s
attention. While he had continued to play well, drug abuse on the team forced
the manager’s hand and Hernandez became a Met. Determined to clean up his act
and help his new team, Hernandez batted .297 for the year, including .306 with
the Mets, with 12 home runs and 63 RBIs. He kept his string of Gold Gloves
alive as well. With the Mets benefiting from an infusion of talent in 1984,
they contended in the NL East while Hernandez provided solid veteran leadership
and hit .311 with 15 home runs and 94 RBIs, placing second in league MVP
balloting. Battling the Cardinals for division supremacy in 1985, the Mets
again finished second and the star first baseman batted .309 with 31 doubles,
10 home runs, and 91 RBIs. Testimony in an offseason drug trial led to Hernandez
reluctantly agreeing to stipulations imposed by Commissioner Peter Ueberroth to
avoid suspension for the 1986 season. The Mets won the NL East in 1986 and
Hernandez hit .310 with 34 doubles, 13 home runs, 83 RBIs, and a NL-leading 94
walks drawn. In the seven-game World Series win over the Boston Red Sox, he
again came through with key hits in Game 7. An All-Star for the last time in
1987, Hernandez batted .290 with 18 home runs and 89 RBIs. He had one final Gold
Glove season in 1988. In 1989, a knee injury limited him to 75 games and the
Mets chose to not offer him a contract for 1990. Hernandez signed with the
Cleveland Indians and retired during the ’90 season. Overall, for his major
league career, Hernandez batted .296 with 2182 hits that included 426 doubles,
60 triples, and 162 home runs. He scored 1124 runs and compiled 1071 RBIs and
98 stolen bases. With the Cardinals he batted .299 with 1217 hits, 265 doubles,
50 triples, 81 home runs, 595 RBIs, 81 stolen bases, and 662 runs scored.
Appearing in 30 postseason games, he hit .265 with two home runs and 21 RBIs. A
five-time All-Star, Hernandez also was awarded 11 Gold Gloves and two Silver
Sluggers. He finished in the top 5 in league MVP voting three times. In
retirement he went into broadcasting for Met telecasts. He was inducted into
the Mets Hall of Fame in 1997.
--
MVP Profiles feature players in the National or
American leagues who were winners of the Chalmers Award (1911-14), League Award
(1922-29), or Baseball Writers’ Association of America Award (1931 to present)
as Most Valuable Player.
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