St. Louis Cardinals

The St. Louis Cardinals (also referred to as "the Cards" or "the Redbirds") are a professional baseball team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are members of the Central Division in the National League of Major League Baseball. The Cardinals have won a National League record 10 World Series championships, second only to the New York Yankees in Major League Baseball who have 26.
The Cardinals were founded in the American Association in 1882 as the St. Louis Brown Stockings, taking the name from an earlier National League team. They joined the National League in 1892 and have been known as the Cardinals since 1900. The Cardinals began play in the current Busch Stadium in 2006, becoming the first team since 1923 to win the World Series in their first season in a new ballpark. The Cardinals have a strong rivalry with the Chicago Cubs that began in 1885.

1880s-1930s
The Cardinals were founded in 1882 as a member of the American Association called the St. Louis Brown Stockings, later shortened to the Browns. The club quickly achieved success, winning four AA pennants in a row, 1885-1888. Following these titles St. Louis played in an early version of the World Series, the first two times against the National League's Chicago White Stockings (now the Chicago Cubs). The 1885 series ended in dispute, but St. Louis won the 1886 series outright, beginning a St. Louis-Chicago rivalry that continues today. The American Association went bankrupt in 1892 and the Browns moved to the National League, leaving much of their success behind for the next three decades. The club changed its name to the Perfectos in 1899 before adopting the Cardinals name in 1900. The Cardinals' fortunes in the National League began to improve in 1920 when Sam Breadon bought the club and made Branch Rickey general manager. Rickey immediately moved the Cardinals to Sportsman's Park to become tenants of their American League rivals, the St. Louis Browns, and sold the Cardinals' ballpark. Rickey used the money from the sale to invest in and pioneer the minor league farm system with the Cardinals, which would produce many great players and lead to new success for the Cardinals.
Led by Hall of Famer Rogers Hornsby, who won the triple crown in 1922 and 1925, the Cardinals improved drastically during the 1920s. They won their first National League pennant in 1926, and then defeated the favored New York Yankees in seven games to win the World Series. The Cardinals, now led by Frankie Frisch, fell just short in 1927 before claiming another pennant in 1928. However, the Yankees avenged their 1926 loss by sweeping the Cardinals in four games in the World Series. The Cardinals, though, kept winning in the new decade, claiming back-to-back pennants in 1930 and 1931. The Cardinals matched up with the Philadelphia Athletics in both World Series, losing in 1930 but returning to win the 1931 series. In 1934 the team, nicknamed the Gashouse Gang for their shabby appearance and rough tactics, again won the pennant and then the World Series over the Detroit Tigers. Dizzy Dean won 30 games that season, the last National League pitcher to reach that mark. Joe Medwick won the triple crown in 1937, the last National League hitter achieve the feat, but the Cardinals failed to win another pennant until the end of the decade.

1940s-1970s
Outfielder Stan "The Man" Musial joined the Cardinals in 1941. Known to loyal fans as "Ol' Number 6", Musial spent 22 years in a Cardinals uniform and won three NL MVP Awards. In 1968, a statue of Musial was constructed outside Busch Stadium to honor his career. During World War II the Cardinals dominated the National League, winning three straight pennants from 1942-1944. The 1942 "St. Louis Swifties" won a franchise record 106 games and defeated the Yankees in the World Series. The team posted the second best records in team history with 105 wins in both 1943 and 1944. The Cardinals fell to the Yankees in the 1943 World Series in a rematch of the previous year. The 1944 World Series was particularly memorable as the Cardinals met their crosstown rivals, the St. Louis Browns, in the "Streetcar Series" with the Cardinals prevailing for their fifth title. In 1946 the Cardinals finished the season tied with the Brooklyn Dodgers, but claimed the pennant in a three-game playoff series. The Cardinals then won the World Series in seven games against the Boston Red Sox. In the bottom of the eighth inning in game seven with the score tied at 3-3, Enos Slaughter scored on a "Mad Dash" from first on a double to left-center to win the game and the series.
Rickey left the Cardinals to become general manager of the Dodgers in 1942, and after their 1946 win the Cardinals slid back to the middle of the National League for the next two decades. In 1953 the Anheuser-Busch brewery bought the Cardinals and August "Gussie" Busch became team president. He soon purchased Sportman's Park from St. Louis Browns owner Bill Veeck and renovated and renamed the ballpark Busch Stadium. The Browns, who had not been as successful or popular as the Cardinals in three decades, realized they could not compete with the deep pockets of the brewery. After the 1953 season, the Browns left St. Louis to become the Baltimore Orioles, and the Cardinals were left as the only major league team in town.
The Cardinals achieved another period of success in the 1960s with the help of a trade and a dominating pitcher. In 1964 the Cardinals traded pitcher Ernie Broglio and two other players to the rival Cubs for outfielder Lou Brock and two other players. The trade, since nicknamed Brock for Broglio, has become definitive of a trade which in retrospect is ridiculously lopsided. The Cardinals would prove to be on the good side of the trade as Brock would replace Musial, who had retired at the end of 1963, in leftfield and become a Hall of Famer. Behind Brock and pitcher Bob Gibson, who won 20 games for the first time, the Cardinals won the 1964 World Series over the Yankees. In 1966 the Cardinals moved to the new Busch Memorial Stadium and hosted the MLB All-Star Game that summer. The next year the team reached and won the 1967 World Series over the Red Sox. Gibson pitched three complete game wins, allowing only three earned runs, and was named World Series MVP for the second time (he was also MVP in 1964). In 1968, nicknamed the "Year of the Pitcher" for the domination of pitching over hitting throughout the majors, the Cardinals' Bob Gibson proved to be the most dominant pitcher of all. Gibson's earned run average of 1.12 is a live-ball era record and he won both the NL Cy Young Award and NL MVP Award. Behind Gibson's season the Cardinals reached the 1968 World Series against the Detroit Tigers. Gibson would pitch another three complete games and set the a World Series record with 35 strikeouts, including a single game record 17 in Game 1. However, a key error by Cardinals outfielder Curt Flood in Game 7 allowed the Tigers to win the series. Gibson would win a second Cy Young Award in 1970, but the Cardinals would fail to win a pennant during the next decade.

1980s-present
The Cardinals returned to their winning ways in 1981, however a rule change because of the strike-shortened season left the Cardinals out of the playoffs. Despite having the best overall record in the NL East, the Cardinals finished in second in both halves of the strike-split season. But just like in 1964, a trade would propel the Cardinals upward. Before the 1982 season began the Cardinals acquired shortstop Ozzie Smith from the San Diego Padres via a trade. With Smith, and playing a form of baseball nicknamed Whiteyball after manager Whitey Herzog, the Cardinals won the 1982 World Series over the Milwaukee Brewers. Whitey's Cardinals return to the 1985 World Series against the Kansas City Royals. The series was nicknamed the "I-70 Series" after the highway that connects the in-state rivals. The Royals won in seven games, but the series in most remembered for a blown call by umpire Don Denkinger in Game 6 that turned the tide of the series for the Royals. The Cardinals would also reach the 1987 World Series, losing to the Minnesota Twins. The Cardinals hit another period of little success in the early 1990s. That changed in 1996 when the Cardinals hired Tony La Russa away from the Oakland Athletics. The team won the NL Central that season and defeated the Padres in the NLDS before falling to the Atlanta Braves in the NLCS. In 1998 the Cardinals were the focus of the baseball world as slugging first baseman Mark McGwire broke the single season home run record by hitting 70 home runs. McGwire's epic pursuit of the record along with the Cubs' Sammy Sosa helped to re-popularize baseball after the 1994 strike.
The start of the new millennium coincided with a new era of success for the Cardinals as the team, led primarily by Albert Pujols, won the NL Central in six of seven years. The Cardinals would fall short in the post-season in 2000, 2001, and 2002 before missing the playoffs altogether in 2003. However, in 2004 the Cardinals won 105 games for the best record in baseball. They then defeated the Dodgers in the NLDS and the Houston Astros in an epic seven game NLCS to reach the 2004 World Series. But the Cardinals were swept by the Boston Red Sox, who won their first World Series in 86 years. The Cardinals won 100 games and another Central Division title in 2005, but lost in an NLCS rematch to the Astros. The Cardinals moved to the new Busch Stadium in 2006 and finally overcame the playoffs. The team struggled during the season, winning only 83 games. However that was enough to win a very weak Central division. In the playoffs the Cardinals caught fire and defeated the San Diego Padres in the NLDS, and then the New York Mets in another incredible seven game NLCS. In the 2006 World Series the Cardinals faced the heavily-favored Detroit Tigers, but won in five games for the franchise's tenth World Series title.
The 2000's also brought an incredible amount of tragedy to the Cardinals as several deaths struck the franchise. On June 18, 2002 long-time Cardinals radio broadcaster Jack Buck passed away at the age of 77. Just four days later, and much more shockingly, Cardinals starting pitcher Darryl Kile died the night before a game in Chicago against the Cubs. Kile was only 33 years old when he suffered heart failure in his sleep. Five years later, on April 29, 2007, Cardinals relief pitcher Josh Hancock, age 29, was killed in a car accident while driving drunk when his vehicle collided with a stopped tow truck that was aiding a disabled motorist.

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