Cardinals History

The Cardinals won the Central Division in 2000 with a record of 95-67. Even though the team didn’t feature McGwire, Will Clark strengthened the Cardinals Division Championship. However, the Cards lost the NLCS to the New York Mets in 5 games. In 2001, the Cardinals finished the season with a 93-69 record. The Cardinals made a post-season appearance as a Wild Card team. Since the Houston Astros, also of the same league finished the season with a same record of 93-69 the league organized a tiebreaker to decide the division champion. The Cardinals finished the season with the second-best record in the National League and Astros were declared the division champion. The eventual World Series champion Arizona Diamondbacks bested the Cardinals in the best-of-five series. Pujols who played early in the season because of Mark McGwire's continued injury problem, earned a spot on the All-Star team, and hit a team rookie record 37 HR on the way to the Rookie of the Year award. In 2002, the Cards were the heavy favorites in the NL. Though the injuries to almost the entire pitching stigmatized their performance the Cardinals won the Central Division after defeating the Diamondbacks 3 games to none to reach the NLCS. Darryl Kile was the only starting pitcher to remain healthy early in the season.

When Darryl Kile didn't show up for the game in Chicago for a series against the Cubs, to their utter disappointment they discovered that Kile had died in his sleep due to a cardiac arrest. The Cardinals dedicated the rest of the season to Kile whose inspired baseball helped them to win the Central Division with a solid record of 97-65. Scott Rolen who was acquired in a blockbuster deal around the trading deadline proved to be a great help for the team. In the NLCS, the San Francisco Giants in 5 games swept the Cards. In 2003, Albert Pujols established himself as one of the rising stars by challenging for the Triple Crown all season. He went on to win the batting crown with a solid .359 average. With Pujols, the Cardinals entered in a 3-team race for the NL Central crown. The Cards finished the season in 3rd place with a record of 85-77. In 2004, the Cards earned home advantage for the NLDS and NLCS. Powered with the best and a solid pitching staff the Cardinals won the Central Division crown against the Los Angeles Dodgers. The same season the Cards posted a MLB best record of 105-57, which was the second highest win total in franchise history. In the NLCS the Cardinals faced the Astros. Albert Pujols would deliver a game tying double, before Scott Rolen delivered a 2-run homer that helped St. Louis to win Game 7 and clinch the series. Pujols earned MVP honors. In the World Series, the Cardinals faced the Boston Red Sox. The Red Sox retained a leading position through the entire series and won their first World Series in 86 years. The St. Louis Cardinals is one of the oldest franchises of the professional baseball based in Saint Louis, Missouri. The St. Louis Brown Stockings came into existence in 1882 as a charter member of the American Association and in their very first season made an unbelievable World Series appearance.

McGee, a 23 year old rookie helped the club to mark this achievement. The team established an era of in which they ruled the sport of baseball for four years under Chris von der Ahe. In 1883, the club renamed themselves as the St. Louis Browns and until 1898 assumed this moniker. The Browns moved to the National League in 1892 when American Association dissolved. For a brief time they became the St. Luis Perfectos in 1899 to be eventually named St. Louis Cardinals a year later. The ruling era of Cardinals began in 1930s when Dizzy Dean, Joe Medwick, Pepper Martin and Enos Slaughter delivered magnificent scores in every game they played. In 1944 the Cards faced their cross-town rivals, the St. Louis Browns in the “Trolley Car Series.” With the procurement of Stan Musial, the Cardinals recorded some of their victorious seasons. In his 23 years of baseball experience he played his entire career with the Cardinals. He had a high batting average and is known as one of the best hitters of all time. In 1970, his sculpture was erected outside the Busch Stadium. In 1947, the Cardinals earned a notorious name with since they strongly disfavored the Brooklyn Dodgers procurement of a Negro player, Jackie Robinson. Lou Brock, Bob Gibson, Steve Carlton and Orlando Cepeda formed the nucleus of the team in 1960s and led it to a pair of World Series title in the respective decade. The Cardinals were satisfactory in 1970s but not brilliant as they were assumed to be.

New Cardinals manager Whitey Herzog recharged their unexciting performance. His strategic planning featured speed on the base paths, sparkling defense, and irregular roster moves. In his tenure of 11 years, he assisted the team to win three National League championships and a 1982 World Series title. He guided the line-up featuring Ozzie Smith, Willie McGee, John Tudor, Tom Herr, Jack Clark, Bruce Sutter, Keith Hernandez, Terry Pendleton and Joaquin Andujar. The 1985 World Series was perhaps the most contentious in the history of Cardinals since it baptized “I-70 Series”. In that series the Cardinals competed against the Kansa City and in order to clinch the winning title unfortunately went on to lose Game 6 and Game 7. In 1987, the Cardinals managed to reach the post-season playoffs but lost to the Minnesota in the World Series. In 1996 the Cards reached the playoffs, but the Atlanta Braves bested them for the National League pennant. In 1998, Cardinals' first baseman Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa of the Chicago Cubs competed against each other to set the record for scoring most home runs in single season. The Cardinals has won nine Fall Classic titles, fifteen National League flags and eight division champions. Ozzie Smith became one of the finest defensive shortstops of all time. Stan "The Man" Musial remains the most notably remembered Hall of Fame member of the Cards who played with the Cards for 22 years (1941-44, 46-63), earning seven N.L. Batting Titles, 3 MVP's and a .331 career batting average. He is known as one of the best hitters of all time. In 1970, his sculpture was erected outside the Busch Stadium. The team is also nicknamed as “Redbirds”. The Cards play their home games in the Busch Stadium. The logo of the team has a Cardinal bird balanced on a baseball bat. Their mascot is a Fredbird wearing the club’s uniform.