St. Louis Cardinals

The beginnings of the St. Louis Cardinals extend far back into the 19th century, when, less than a decade after the end of the American Civil War, a team known as the Brown Stockings (in keeping with the love of that time for teams named after variously colored stockings) was founded in St. Louis. Perhaps realizing that brown was a less than attractive color to associate with stocking, the name was abbreviated to the Browns one year after the team went pro in 1882. The Browns played in four straight pre-official World Series (playing the impeccably dressed Chicago White Stockings, who would later become the Chicago White Sox, on two occasions) and won once, lost twice, and, er…tied (yes, tied the World Series) once because Game One got dark. The franchise tried out a flashy new name as the Perfectos in 1899 with red stripes on their shirts and socks, which gained them the popular nickname “The Cardinals” (after the beautiful bright red songbird that is now the team’s logo), so the team duly switched to the St. Louis Cardinals as the century turned, and have remained thus ever since. Their choice of the color red was to have long-standing ramifications not only on the baseball team’s image but on the gridiron as well, with the Kansas City Chiefs of the NFL adopting red uniforms as well. To this day, a visit to Busch Stadium or the Chiefs’ Arrowhead Stadium is a crimson, ruby, scarlet assault on the visual senses, from the players on the field to the fans in the stands to the decor of the grounds themselves. On the field, the Cardinals struggled through the first two decades of the century, recording just three winning seasons (over .500) between 1900 and 1920. Led by the legendary Roger Hornsby, however, the Cardinals started winning in the 1920s, winning their first National League pennant in 1926 to reach their first World Series against none other than the New York Yankees, manned by Babe Ruth and his Murderers’ Row of heavy hitters, all in their prime. It was one of the most memorably early World Series battles, known best for Ruth (possibly) calling a home run shot to center field by pointing before he smacked it out, but the Cardinals managed to force a Game Seven at Yankee Stadium, winning Game Six there 10-2. Clinging to a 3-2 lead with two out in the bottom of the 9th inning, the Cardinals walked Babe Ruth, who then attempted to steal second base. He was tagged out by player-manager Hornsby (in his final game for the team), ending the game and handing the Cardinals their first ever World Series triumph. The Cardinals got a taste for the postseason after that, appearing in four World Series in the next seven years, getting swept by the vengeful Yankees in 1928 and outlasted by the Philadelphia Athletics in 1930 before winning two nerve-shredding seven game series against the Athletics and Detroit Tigers. They came back in the 1940s to trade a pair of World Series with the Yankees again before beating cross-city rivals the St. Louis Browns (confusingly, a team that had moved from Milwaukee and, like a cuckoo bird, assumed the Cardinals’ previous name), then breaking Boston Red Sox hearts in a seven game epic thanks to the bat of the marvelously appellated Enos Slaughter. The Cardinals’ three World Series appearances in the 1960s were also ones for the ages, all going to seven games against the Yankees, Red Sox, and Tigers. They won the first two and should have beat the Tigers too, but crumpled after being up three games to one, losing the last two at home in St. Louis (including a 13-1 humiliation in Game Six). The next strong Cardinals team emerged in the 1980s, appearing in three more World Series and (quite incredibly) again going to seven games in all three! While the Cards beat the Milwaukee Brewers in 1985 with a late comeback in Game Seven in front of a home crowd, they would be on the wrong end of the bat against the Kansas City Royals and Minnesota Twins later in the decade, surrendering commanding series leads in both instances. The Cardinals have remained one of the best teams in MLB and a playoff contender more or less ever since, appearing in four more World Series throughout the 1990s and 2000s, losing to the Red Sox twice (after shattering their dreams for so long!), but seeing off the Tigers and the Texas Rangers (another great seven game series) to bring their franchise total of MLB championships to eleven. In fact, the Cardinals had their first losing season (under .500) in 17 years last season, dropping to the bottom of their division for the first time since 1990. No doubt it is only a blip in the team’s long winning history and Cardinals fans will keep coming to games decked out in their red, expecting many good things in the seasons to come. 

St. Louis Cardinals Rivalries

The St. Louis Cardinals’ long history of success in major league baseball has earned them their fair share of enmity among rival fans. The Cards have historical rivalries with teams they have faced many times in the World Series such as the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, and Detroit Tigers, as well as against the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets, who they have encountered frequently in the National League playoffs. The Cardinals’ most heated rivalries, however, are based on geography, with the I-55 Series against the Chicago Cubs and I-70 Series against their fellow Missouri state rivals, the Kansas City Royals (who they once lost to in the World Series) generating big crowds and local interest.

St. Louis is a big time sports loving town, making games fantastic experiences but tickets sometimes hard to come by. Get onto TicketX right away to find the best tickets to the St. Louis Cardinals games that you want to see at the most affordable prices.