Profile
| Affiliation | NL Central |
|---|---|
| Ballpark | Busch Stadium (III) |
| World Series Titles | 11 |
| NL Pennants | 19 |
Introduction
The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals have played their home games at Busch Stadium in downtown St. Louis. One of the nation's oldest and most successful professional baseball clubs, the Cardinals have won 11 World Series championships, the most of any NL team and second in MLB only to the New York Yankees. The team has won 19 National League pennants, third-most of any team. St. Louis has also won 15 division titles in the East and Central divisions.
In 1881, entrepreneur Chris von der Ahe purchased the Brown Stockings barnstorming club, renamed it the St. Louis Browns, and made it a charter member of the American Association baseball league. The team won four league championships, qualifying them to play in the era's professional baseball championship series, a forerunner of the modern World Series. In two of these championships, the Browns met the Chicago White Stockings, now the Chicago Cubs, launching the enduring Cardinals–Cubs rivalry.
In 1892, the Browns – also called the Perfectos – joined the National League. In 1900, the team was renamed the Cardinals. (Two years later, an unrelated St. Louis Browns team joined the American League.)
Notable Cardinals achievements include manager/owner Branch Rickey's invention of the farm system, Rogers Hornsby's two batting Triple Crowns, Dizzy Dean's 30-win season in 1934, Stan Musial's 17 MLB and 29 NL records, Bob Gibson's 1.12 earned run average (ERA) in 1968, Whitey Herzog's Whiteyball, Mark McGwire's single-season home run record in 1998, the 2011 championship team's unprecedented comebacks, and Albert Pujols’ 700th home run. The Cardinals have won 105 or more games in four seasons and won 100 or more nine times. Cardinals players have won 21 league MVPs, four batting Triple Crowns, and three Cy Young Awards. Baseball Hall of Fame inductees include Lou Brock, Dizzy Dean, Bob Gibson, Whitey Herzog, Rogers Hornsby, Joe Medwick, Stan Musial, Enos Slaughter, Branch Rickey, Red Schoendienst, Ozzie Smith, Ted Simmons, Bruce Sutter, and Scott Rolen.
In 2018, Forbes valued the Cardinals at $1.9 billion, the 7th-highest among MLB clubs and far more than the $147 million paid in 1995 by owner William DeWitt, Jr.'s investment group. In 2017, the team took in revenue of $319 million on an operating income of $40.0 million. John Mozeliak is the President of Baseball Operations, Mike Girsch is the general manager and Oliver Marmol is the manager. The Cardinals are renowned for their strong fan support: despite being in one of the sport's mid-level markets, they routinely see attendances among the league's highest, and are consistently among the top three in MLB in local television ratings.
Through 2022, the Cardinals' all-time win-loss record is 11,134-10,238 (.521).
Rivalries
With Chicago Cubs (I-55 Series)
The Cardinals–Cubs rivalry refers to games between the Cardinals and the Chicago Cubs. The rivalry is also known as the Downstate Illinois rivalry or the I-55 Series (in earlier years as the Route 66 Series) as both cities are located along Interstate 55 (which itself succeeded the famous U.S. Route 66). The Cubs lead the series 1,253–1,196, through October 2021, while the Cardinals lead in National League pennants with 19 against the Cubs' 17. The Cubs have won 11 of those pennants in Major League Baseball's Modern Era (1901–present), while all 19 of the Cardinals' pennants have been won since 1926. The Cardinals also have an edge when it comes to World Series successes, having won 11 championships to the Cubs' 3. Games featuring the Cardinals and Cubs see numerous visiting fans in either Busch Stadium in St. Louis or Wrigley Field in Chicago. When the National League split into two and then three divisions, the Cardinals and Cubs remained together. This has added excitement to several pennant races over the years. The Cardinals and Cubs have played each other once in the postseason, 2015 National League Division Series, which the Cubs won 3–1.
With Kansas City Royals (Show Me Series)
The Cardinals have an interleague and intrastate rivalry with the Kansas City Royals, dubbed the "Show-Me Series" after the nickname of the team's home state, Missouri; or the "I–70 Series" after the interstate highway that connects the cities. The teams first met in the 1985 World Series, which the Royals won 4–3, and which remains their only post-season meeting.
Since interleague play began in 1997, the Cardinals and Royals have met in four to six games each season, evenly split between the two cities. As of 2021, the Cardinals lead the overall series 71–50.
The rivalry heated up in 2015, when both teams held the best records in their respective leagues when they opened each of their two series. Had the Cardinals made it to the World Series, they would have faced the Royals in a rematch.
With Los Angeles Dodgers
Primarily a playoff rivalry; since 1892, The Cardinals and Dodgers have met 6 times in the postseason with 2 meetings in the NLCS falling in favor of the Cardinals. Both teams have recently grown a history of animosity towards one another since the late 2000s as both teams often met frequently in the postseason. The Dodgers have not fared as well against the Cardinals in the postseason. In five prior postseason series matchups, the Cardinals have won four with the Dodgers winning only the 2009 NLDS and the 2021 National League Wild Card Game.
Related Tags
St. Louis Browns: Their former crosstown rival, now they are relocated to Baltimore to become the Baltimore Orioles.
Kansas City Royals: Their current intra state rival after relocation of the Browns and the A's.
Arizona Cardinals (NFL): Both teams using "Cardinals" as their nickname and uniquely, the NFL's Cardinals are formerly playing in St. Louis in 1960 until 1987. (In that time the NFL's Cardinals are referred as Gridbird, Football Cardinals and Red Bird to avoid confusion with the MLB's Cardinals)
