CARDINALS HISTORY

The St. Louis Cardinals is an American Major League Baseball team based in Saint Louis, Missouri. They play in the Central Division of the National League. The team was founded in 1882 and moved to the National League in the 1892. Earlier the team was known St. Louis Brown Stockings (1882), St. Louis Browns (1883-1898) and St. Louis Perfectos (1899). In 1889, the team was purchased by Frank DeHauss Robinson and the club uniform was changed. The St. Louis Republic sportswriter William McHale started calling the team the "Cardinals" and by 1900 the nickname was accepted. The Cardinals have their home arena at Busch Stadium since 1966. The name of the stadium comes from the Busch family of Anheuser-Busch, who owned the baseball team until March 1996. In 1934, Dean and his younger brother, Paul, combined to win 49 games - still a single season record for brothers. Dizzy, whose real name was Jerome Herman Dean, won 30 of them, with Paul (nicknamed "Daffy") contributing 19 wins. In the 1940s, the Cardinals dominated the National League, and in 1944 they met their crosstown rivals, the St. Louis Browns, in the "trolley car Series". Stan "The Man" Musial arrived in St. Louis. Known to loyal fans as "Ol' Number 6", Musial spent 23 years in a Cardinal uniform. In the 1970s, a statue of Musial was constructed outside Busch Stadium downtown. In 1947, the Cardinals gained notoriety by attempting to boycott games against the Brooklyn Dodgers to protest the Dodgers' signing of a black player, Jackie Robinson. The alleged ringleader of the boycott was Enos Slaughter. National League president Ford Frick threatened to ban any players who boycotted any games, and the boycott never happened. The Cardinals did not sign a black regular until Curt Flood in 1958. The 1960s brought three National League pennants to St. Louis. Hall of Famers such as Lou Brock, Bob Gibson, Steve Carlton, and Orlando Cepeda led the "Redbirds" to a pair of World Series titles in the decade. In his 11 years as Cardinal manager, Herzog won three National League pennants, and a 1982 World Series title. The 1980s era Cardinals included stars Ozzie Smith, Willie McGee (who won two batting titles in a Cardinal uniform), John Tudor, Tom Herr, Jack Clark, Bruce Sutter, Keith Hernandez, Terry Pendleton, and Joaquin Andujar. In 2003 season, Pujols had a batting average of .359 with 43 home runs and 124 RBIs, winning the National League batting title. Widely expected to finish in third place, the Cardinals defied all expectations, except perhaps their own, with 105 wins and the franchise's first pennant in 17 years. Scott Rolen and Jim Edmonds posted MVP-caliber seasons, Albert Pujols put up his usual amazing numbers and the August addition of Larry Walker helped St. Louis lead the National League in runs scored. Meanwhile, Chris Carpenter headed a pitching staff of relative no-names that combined with an airtight defense to lead the league in runs allowed as well. Four starters totaled at least 15 wins, topped by Jeff Suppan's 16, as the Cardinals defeated the Dodgers and Astros in the playoffs to advance to the World Series. There they ran into the mighty Red Sox and were swept, giving Boston its first World Series title since 1918. The uniform colors of Cardinals are Cardinal red, White, and Navy blue with a logo design of one or two cardinals suspended on a baseball bat. St. Louis Cardinals have won one Wild Card title in 2001 and seven Division Titles in, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1996, 2000, 2002 and 2004. The Saint Louis Cardinals have won four American Association pennants in, 1885, 1886, 1887, 1888 and sixteen National League Pennants, 1926, 1928, 1930, 1931, 1934, 1942, 1943, 1944, 1946, 1964, 1967, 1968, 1982, 1985, 1987, and 2004. The most Prized possession in Baseball, the World Series has been captured by the St Louis Cardinals nine times, in 1926, 1931, 1934, 1942, 1944, 1946, 1964, 1967, and 1982.