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Little Known Facts:
Player Factoids
•Six St. Louis Cardinals players have won the Rookie of the Year Award: Wally Moon (1954), Bill Virdon (1955), Bake McBride (1974), Vince Coleman (1985), Todd Worrell (1986) and Albert Pujols (2001).
•Out of the 16 players to win the Triple Crown for hitting, four of them were Cardinals players. Tip O’Neil (1887), Rogers Hornsby (two time winner, 1922 and 1925) and Joe Medwick (1937). Medwick was the last player from the National League to have won a Triple Crown. Tip O’Neil won the American Association Triple Crown in 1887.
•Sixteen Cardinals players have won an MVP Award: Rogers Hornsby (1925), Bob O’Farrell (1926), Jim Bottomley (1928), Frankie Frisch (1931), Dizzy Dean (1934), Joe Medwick (1937), Mort Cooper (1942), Stan Musial (1943, 1946, 1948), Marty Marion (1944), Ken Boyer (1964), Orlando Cepeda (1967), Bob Gibson (1968), Joe Torre (1971), Keith Hernandez (1979), Willie McGee (1985)and Albert Pujols (2005).
Interesting Team Tidbits
•The only other team to have retired more numbers than the Cardinals (10) is the New York Yankees with 16.
•The Cardinals became members of the National League in 1891, but prior to that were playing with the American Association under the team name the “Brown Stockings.” Their new name came from a change in uniform colors from brown to red in 1900.
•Prior to the Expansion Era, the St. Louis Cardinals were once the southern and westernmost team in professional baseball.
•Rivals of the team include the Chicago Cubs, the Houston Astros and the Kansas City Royals.
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Championships
The St. Louis Cardinals have earned 10 World Series titles (1926, 1931, 1934, 1942, 1944, 1946, 1964, 1967, 1982 and 2006), 17 National League Pennants (1926, 1928, 1930, 1931, 1934, 1942, 1943, 1944, 1946, 1964, 1967, 1968, 1982, 1985, 1987, 2004 and 2006), four AA Pennants (1885, 1886, 1887 and 1888), seven Central Division titles (1996, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005 and 2006) and three East Division titles (1982, 1985 and 1987). Their only Wild Card Berth was in 2001.
Famous Players
Rogers Hornsby – This Hall of Famer was known for his hitting, which was over .400 three times. He had the highest batting mark in the 20th Century with 4.24 in 1924. Hornsby is a 2x Triple Crown winner (1922 and 1925) and retired with the National League’s highest career average with .358.
Ozzie Smith – This 2002 Hall of Famer played shortstop for the Cardinals from 1982-1996. Smith was known for winning the Gold Glove Award for his defensive skills in 13 consecutive seasons. He racked up 2,460 hits and 580 stolen bases throughout his entire professional career.
Red Schoendienst – Schoendienst played two for two stints with the Cardinals, starting in 1945-1956, and again from 1961-1963. Despite spending nearly a year in the Army and sustaining a severe eye injury and an injured shoulder, Red returned to the Cardinals as a left fielder and brought in a league-high 26 stolen bases.
Stan Musial – “Stan the Man” played 22 straight seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals. Musial is considered the greatest player in the history of the Cardinals and is on the Sporting News list as the 10th greatest player of all time behind fellow Cardinal Rogers Hornsby. Musial had 475 career home runs and was elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1969.
Enos Slaughter – Enos played two stints with the Cardinals beginning in 1938 through 1942 and again from 1946 through 1953. Slaughter was known for his smooth, flat hitting style which helped make him a reliable hitter. In 2,280 games, Slaughter had 2,383 hits. He was a 10x All-Star and played in five World Series. He was elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985.
Ken Boyer – Playing primarily for the Cardinals (1955-1965), Boyer was the winner of the 1964 National League MVP Award. He had the third highest slugging average among third basemen with .462. He was a 5x Gold Glove winner. Other teams he played for included the New York Mets, the Chicago White Sox and the Los Angeles Dodgers, with his last game taking place on August 9, 1969. He was manager of the Cardinals from 1978-1980.
Jerome Dean – “Dizzy” was a pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals from 1930-1937. Known for his leadership in the “Gashouse Gang” team, he had a 30-7 record, was a World Series champion in 1934, a 4x National League All-Star, and had 4 seasons with 20 wins. He was elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1953.
Lou Brock – Brock played for two major league teams during his baseball career, the Chicago Cubs (1961-1964) and the St. Louis Cardinals (1964-1979). He was a left-fielder that batted and threw left-handed. He batted .348 and stole 38 bases in his career before retiring in 1979. He was a 6x All-Star selection and a 2x World Series Champion. Brock was elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985.
Bruce Sutter – This former relief pitcher was considered the first pitcher to effectively use the split-finger fastball which he affectionately called “The Jewel.” He was a 6x All-Star selection, won the 1979 National League Cy Young award and the 1982 Babe Ruth Award. He played for the Chicago Cubs, the Cardinals and the Atlanta Braves before playing his last game on September 9, 1988. He was elected into the Hall of Fame in 2006.
Bob Gibson – From 1959-1975, Gibson played for the St. Louis Cardinals, spending his entire professional career with the team. He had three powerful pitches including the fastball, sharp slider and looping curve ball. He couldn’t stay away from the team for very long by accepting a position as special instructor coach for the Cardinals. Gibson was a 9x Gold Glove Award winner, an 8x All-Star selection and a 2x National League Cy Young Award winner. He was elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1981.
Mark McGwire – McGwire’s crowning achievement while playing with the Cardinals was breaking the single-seasons home run record with 70 home runs. His final game was with the St. Louis Cardinals on October 7, 2001 with a tally of 583 home runs throughout his career. He was a 3x Silver Slugger Award winner and a 12x All-Star selection.
Team History
The St. Louis Cardinals are members of the Central Division in the National League of professional baseball. They currently hold the second place spot in most World Series Championships with 10 wins (the New York Yankees are first with 26). The team was established in 1882 under the name the St. Louis Brown Stockings. They joined the National League in 1892 and became the St. Louis Cardinals in 1900.
Their early days were successful, bringing home four American Association Pennants in a row from 1885-1888. St. Louis played an early version of the World Series against the Chicago White Stockings (currently the Chicago Cubs), winning what was considered to be a very controversial win. This began the current St. Louis-Chicago rivalry that still continues today. In 1892, the American Association went bankrupt, causing the St. Louis Browns (their shortened name) to move to the National League. The next three decades would be marked by a number of unsuccessful years and playoff droughts. The club briefly changed its name to the St. Louis Perfectos in 1899, before finally settling on the St. Louis Cardinals in 1900. The Cardinals considered calling themselves the Reds since their uniform colors changed from brown to red, but Cincinnati already held the name, so St. Louis chose the Cardinals.
During this time, another team owned by Frank and Stanley Robinson (owner of the Cardinals) called the Cleveland Spiders had poor attendance. The Cardinals’ performance didn’t impress the owners, and they decided to bring players from Cleveland over to the St. Louis Cardinals to help the team out. The Cardinals went from twelfth place with a record of 39-111 to fifth place. This caused a slow end to the Cleveland Spiders, and led to the contraction of the National League which opened the door to the American League as a rival of the National League. The 1920’s brought even more success to the Cardinals, given that their first World Series Championship took place during this time. They faced the unstoppable New York Yankees in seven games of the 1926 World Series, winning their first World Series in franchise history.
The highlights from the 1930’s include the creation of the Gashouse Gang. Dizzy Dean, Joe Medwick, Pepper Martin and Leo Durocher were top names in this crew. Although the Cardinals lost the 1930 World Series against the Philadelphia Athletics, this was definitely far from the end for the Cardinals. Dean Brothers Dizzy and Paul were two comical characters from the time. They were part of what became one of professional baseball’s most legendary groups, the Gashouse Gang. The group played hard and was often wild on the field. They earned a wide following during the depths of the Great Depression which helped alleviate some of the hardships people were feeling. This team won 95 games, went on to win the National League Pennant and defeated the Detroit Tigers in seven games during the World Series in 1934.
The 1940’s were highlighted by a number of wins for St. Louis. The 1942 team won 106 games, which is the most in franchise history. They went on to beat the New York Yankees again in the World Series. They made it to another World Series in 1944 against the Yankees, but got their revenge after winning only five games. They had the most National League appearances in the 40’s, and won four World Series titles in the same time. During their time with the East Division, they won three East Division titles (1982, 1985 and 1987). The Cardinals also won seven Central Division titles (1996, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005 and 2006), 17 National League Pennants (1926, 1928, 1930, 1931, 1934, 1942, 1943, 1944, 1946, 1964, 1967, 1968, 1982, 1985, 1987, 2004 and 2006) and 10 World Series Championships (1926, 1931, 1934, 1942, 1944, 1946, 1964, 1967, 1982 and 2006). This team has created a history of being an excellent team, making Cardinals tickets one of the hottest commodities around!
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