The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team that plays in the MLB’s National League Central division. The team franchise has been around since 1892 and have been a major force in professional baseball since. They currently play their home games at Busch Stadium in downtown St. Louis.
The franchise is undeniably one of the most successful in MLB as theyhave won 11 World Series Championships, the most of any NL team and second in MLB only behind the New York Yankees. Besides that, the team is also third in most National League pennants, with many division titles under their belts.
History
The team history began in 1881 when Chris von der Ahe purchased the Brown Stockings barnstorming club and renamed them the St. Louis Browns. The Browns then became a charter member of the American Association baseball league. The team quickly earned recognition for winning four league championships, qualifying them to play in the era’s professional baseball championship series, which was the forerunner to the modern World Series. In two of these championships, the Browns met the Chicago White Stockings, who later became the Chicago Cubs, which began an enduring rivalry between the two franchises.
In 1892, the Browns joined the National League. And later, in 1900, renamed themselves the Cardinals.
Notable Cardinals-Affiliated Persons
The Cardinals have many team-wide achievements. But these are just some of the big moments for individual players and cardinals-affiliated persons.
- Rogers Hornsby had a legendary feat when he batted two Triple Crowns.
- Dizzy Dean had a 30-win season in 1934.
- Stan Musial had 17 MLB and 29 NL records.
- Mark McGwire’s single-season home run record in 1998 and the 2011 championship team’s unbelievable comebacks.
- The Cardinals winning 105 or more games in four seasons and won 100 or more nine times across their career.
- Cardinals have won 20 league MVPs, four batting Triple Crowns, and three Cy Young Awards.
- The Cardinals have had many players and coaches inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame including Lou Brock, Dizzy Dean, Bob Gibson, Whitey Herzog, Rogers Hornsby, Joe Medwick, Stan Musial, Enos Slaughter, Branch Rickey, Red Schoendienst, Ozzie Smith, Ted Simmons, and Bruce Sutter.
About Busch Stadium
Busch Stadium, also knwn as either “New Busch Stadium” or “Busch Stadium III” is a baseball park located in St. Louis, Missouri. Construction began over 17 years ago on January 17, 2004 and was finally opened to the p;ublic on April 4, 2006. It currently serves as the home for the St. Louis Cardinals, the city’s MLB franchise.
The stadium replaced Busch Memorial Stadium (Busch Stadium II) and occupies a portion of the old stadium’s footprint. It was built atop a commercial area known as Ballpark Village.
Although the stadium has a recorded max capacity of 45,494 fans, it surpassed this by a wide margin with its record attendance on May 12, 2019. On this date, 48,556 fans came out to see a Mother’s Day match between the Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Naming History
In 2004, then Anheuser-Busch president August Busch IV announced the purchase of a 20-year naming rights deal for the new stadium. Team owner William Dewitt Jr. said “”From the day we began planning for the new ballpark, we wanted to keep the name ‘Busch Stadium.’ August Busch IV and Anheuser-Busch share our vision for continuing that tradition for our great fans and the entire St. Louis community.”
This led to the venue becoming the fourth stadium in St. Louis to carry the Busch Stadium name.
Features
Besides being known as one of the best ballparks in the MLB, Busch Stadium is also famous for several features that makes it stand out. Here are just a few.
Statues
Fans can go outside of the Gate 3 entrance to find a bronze statue of Cardinals legend Stan “The Man” Musial. There were other statues that surrounded the stadium, but they have since been moved to the corner of Clark and 8th streets outsid ethe Cardinals’ team store. The statues represent former Cardinal players and Hall of Fame inductees Enos Slaughter, Dizzy Dean, Rogers Hornsby, Red Schoendienst, Lou Brock, Bob Gibson, Ozzie Smith, and Ted Simmons.
Concessions
Fans have plenty of dining options to enjoy at the stadium, including the standard ballpark fare (bratwurst, nachos, and peanuts) to St. Louis favorites such as pork steak sandwiches and toasted ravioli. As you can guess, Budweiser holds the beer contract for the stadium, but local craft brews, including the Saint Louis Brewery, are also featured on the menu.
Make-Your-Own-Mascot Store
One well-beloved feature has to be the Make-Your-Own-Mascot store that features Freebird, the Cardinals’ team mascot. It’s operated by St. Louis-based Build-A-Bear and is located to center field across from Ballpark Village, so it could remain open even on non-game days.
Baseball Achievements
The Cardinals have had plenty of time to tally up an incredible record of winning seasons, awe-inspiring players, and strong coaches. Many of these players have individually earned awards and accolades for their part in making baseball one of the most timeless sports in the country. But you can’t ignore what the teams and rosters have accomplished as a unit.
So let’s take a look at some of the teamwide records and achievements.
11 World Series titles
1926,1931, 1934, 1942, 1944, 1946, 1964, 1967, 1982, 2006, 2011
19 NL Pennants
1926, 1928, 1930, 1931, , 1934, 1942, 1943, 1944, 1946, 1964, 1967, 1968, 1982, 1985, 1987, 2004, 2006, 2011, 2013
4 AA Pennants
1885, 1886, 1887, 1888
11 Central Division titles
1996, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2019
3 East Division titles
1982, 1985, 1987
5 Wild card berths
2001, 2011, 2012, 2020, 2021