A Basic History of the St. Louis Cardinals Baseball Team

The St. Louis Cardinals are a professional baseball team that plays in Major League Baseball. The Cardinals play in the Central Division of the National League.

The franchise was founded in 1882 in St. Louis as the St. Louis Brown Stockings. The team was also called the St. Louis Browns during this time. For the 1899 season, the team was called the St. Louis Perfectos.

For the 1900 seasons, the team changed its name to the St. Louis Cardinals, which it has remained since.

The franchise has played its home games at several stadiums including Sportsman's Park, Robison Field, and Busch Stadium.

The St. Louis Cardinals have won a total of ten Division titles, winning the Central seven times and the East three times.

The Cardinals won the East Division title in 1982, 1985, and 1987. They won the Central Division title in 1996, 2000-2002, and 2004-2006. The Cardinals also won the Wild Card berth in 2001.

Prior to being the Cardinals, the St. Louis franchise won four American Association Pennants consecutively from 1885-1888.

The St. Louis Cardinals have won the National League a total of seventeen times. The Cardinals won the National League in 1926, 1928, 1930, 1931, 1934, 1942-1944, 1946, 1964, 1967, 1968, 1982, 1985, 1987, 2004, and 2006.

The St. Louis Cardinals have also won the World Series ten times, winning it in 1926, 1931, 1934, 1942, 1944, 1946, 1964, 1967, 1982, and 2006.

Eight players have been inducted into the Hall of Fame with the St. Louis Cardinals logo on their plaque. Those players are Lou Brock, Dizzy Dean, Bob Gibson, Stan Musial, Red Schoendienst, Enos Slaughter, Ozzie Smith, and Bruce Sutter.

Ten players have had their numbers retired by the St. Louis Cardinals. Those players are Ozzie Smith - 1, Red Schoendienst - 2, Stan Musial - 6, Enos Slaughter - 9, Ken Boyer - 14, Dizzy Dean - 17, Lou Brock - 20, Jackie Robinson - 42, Bruce Sutter - 42, and Bob Gibson - 45. Robinson's number was retired throughout baseball in 1997. The number 42 was retired a second time to honor Bruce Sutter after he was inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Former owner Gussie Busch was honored on his 85^th birthday by retiring the number 85. Rogers Hornsby is also honored with the St. Louis logo as he played prior to numbers being worn.

The St. Louis Cardinals are currently owned by William DeWitt, Jr. and Fred Hanser. Tony LaRussa is the manager, and Walt Jocketty is the general manager.

The official colors of the St. Louis Cardinals are cardinal red, white, and navy blue. Their mascot is Fredbird.