Cardinals History
This page is dedicated to Erv Fischer, the St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame Musuem Historian. A member of the Cardinals Knot Hole Gang in 1934, Erv has been a Cardinal fan for over 70 years. He is also the co-founder of the St. Louis Society for American Baseball Research, SABR - "The Bob Broeg Chapter",
In appreciation of his long service to the St. Louis Cardinals & the Birdhouse, we dedicate our History Section.
Franchise Chronology
First Season: 1882, as a member of the new American Association. The "Browns" struggled to a 37-43 first-year record and finished fifth in the six team field.
1883-1900: The Browns captured 4 consecutive A.A. pennants from 1885 to 1888, but their success ended there When the A.A. folded after the 1891 season they joined the National League and sanked quietly into the second division.
1901-Present: The Cardinals trail only the New York Yankees in World Series Championships and only the Yankees and the Dodgers in Pennants. And all of their success was achieved after 1926, when they captured their first N.L. Flag and World Series. The history of Cardinals baseball has been colorful and consistent, spiced by some of sport's most memorable moments. St. Louis won two pennants in the 1920s, three in the 1930s, four in the 1940s, three in the 1960s, and three in the 1980s. Nine of the pennants led to championships, including the Gas House Gang's 1934 fall classic romp past Detroit and Enos Slaughter's 1946 Series-ending Mad Dash. The Cardinals have finished only first five times since divisional play began in 1969, but three of them resulted in World Series appearances (a 1982 victory, 1985 & 87 losses). The Cardinals, who lost the 1996 and 2000 NL Championship Series, were placed in the Central Division when the NL adopted the three-division format in 1994.
Team Colors: Red, Blue, Grey & White
Mailing Address:
St. Louis National Baseball Club, Inc.
Busch Stadium
250 Stadium Plaza
St. Louis, MO
314-421-3060
Opened: May 12, 1966
Owners: Fredrick Hanser, William DeWitt, Drew Baur
President & CEO: Mark Lamping
Vice-President & GM: Walt Jocketty
Manager: Tony LaRussa
World Champions: (9) 1926, 31, 34, 42, 44, 46, 64, 67, 82
National League Pennants: (15) 1926, 28, 30, 31, 34, 42, 43, 44, 46, 64, 67, 68, 82, 85, 87, 04
Divisional Titles: (5) 1982, 85, 87, 96, 00, 02, 04
In the House -
Award Winners
National League
Most Valuable Player
1985
Willie McGee
1979
Keith Hernandez
1971
Joe Torre
1968
Bob Gibson
1967
Orlando Cepeda
1964
Ken Boyer
1948
Stan Musial
1946
Stan Musial
1944
Marty Marion
1943
Stan Musial
1942
Mort Cooper
1937
Joe "Ducky" Medwick
1934
Dizzy Dean
1931
Frankie Frisch
1928
Jim Bottomley
1926
Bob O'Farrell
1925
Roger Hornsby
National League Cy Young Award
1970
Bob Gibson
1968
Bob Gibson
National League
Rookies of the Year
2001
Albert Pujols
1986
Todd Worrell
1985
Vince Coleman
1974
Bake McBride
1955
Bill Virdon
1954
Wally Moon
National League
Manager of the Year
2002 Tony LaRussa
1985 Whitey Herzog
1942 Billy Southworth
1941 Billy Southworth
St. Louis Cardinals
Hall of Famers
Pete Alexander 1926-1929
#Walter Alston 1936
Jake Beckley 1904-07
*Jim Bottomley 1922-32
Roger Bresnahan 1909-12
*Lou Brock 1964-1979
Mordecai Brown 1903
Jesse Burkett 1899-1901
Steve Carlton 1965-1971
Orlando Cepeda 1966-1968
Roger Connor 1894-1897
*Dizzy Dean 1930, 1932-1937
*#Leo Durocher 1933-1937
*Frankie Frisch 1927-1937
Pud Galvin 1892
*Bob Gibson 1959-1975
Burleigh Grimes 1930-1931, 1933-1934
*Chick Hafey 1924-1931
*Jesse Haines 1920-1937
*Rogers Hornsby 1915-1926, 1933
#Miller Huggins 1910-1916
Rabit Maranville 1927-1928
#John McGraw 1900
*Joe Medwick 1932-1940, 1947-1948
*Johnny Mize 1936-1941
*Stan Musial 1941-1944, 1946-1963
Kid Nichols 1904-1905
#Wilbert Robinson 1900
*Red Schoendienst 1945-1956, 1961-1963
*Enos Slaughter 1938-1942, 1946-1953
*Ozzie Smith 1982-1996
Dazzy Vance 1933-1934
Bobby Wallace 1899-1901, 1917-1918
Hoyt Wilhelm 1957
Vic Willis 1910
Cy Young 1899-1900
Managers Years with Cardinals
Roger Bresnahan 1909-1912
Roger Connor 1896
Frankie Frisch 1933-1938
Rogers Hornsby 1925-1926
#Miller Huggins 1913-1917
#Bill McKechnie 1928-1929
Kid Nichols 1904-1905
Red Schoendienst 1965-1976, 1980, 1990
*played more games as a Cardinals # name as a Manager / Executive
Final 2004 Hall of Fame voting results
The complete vote (506 ballots, 380 to gain election, 26 to remain on ballot):
Cardinals in red
Player Votes %
Paul Molitor 431 85.2
Dennis Eckersley 421 83.2
Ryne Sandberg 309 61.1
Bruce Sutter 301 59.5
Jim Rice 276 54.5
Andre Dawson 253 50
"Goose" Gossage 206 40.7
Lee Smith 185 36.6
Bert Blyleven 179 35.4
Jack Morris 133 26.3
Steve Garvey 123 24.3
Tommy John 111 21.9
Alan Trammell 70 13.8
Don Mattingly 65 12.8
Dave Concepcion 57 11.3
Dave Parker 53 10.5
Dale Murphy 43 8.5
Keith Hernandez 22 4.3
Joe Carter 19 3.8
Fernando Valenzuela 19 3.8
Dennis Martinez 16 3.2
Dave Stieb 7 1.4
Jim Eisenreich 3 0
Jimmy Key 3 0
Doug Drabek 2 0
Kevin Mitchell 2 0
Juan Samuel 2 0
Cecil Fielder 1 0
Randy Myers 1 0
Terry Pendleton 1 0
Danny Darwin 0 0
Bob Tewksbury 0 0
Players eligible for the first time for BBWAA election
2005: Jim Abbott, Jeff Blauser, Wade Boggs, Tom Candiotti, Chili Davis, Jeff King, Mark Langston, Jack McDowell, Willie McGee, Brian McRae, Jeff Montgomery, Otis Nixon, Tony Phillips, Mark Portugal, Terry Steinbach, Darryl Strawberry
2006: Rick Aguilera, Tim Belcher, Will Clark, Alex Fernandez, Gary Gaetti, Dwight Gooden, Ozzie Guillen, Juan Guzman, Orel Hershiser, Gregg Jefferies, Lance Johnson, Doug Jones, Roberto Kelly, Mickey Morandini, Hal Morris, Jaime Navarro, Luis Polonia, Mike Stanley, Walt Weiss, John Wetteland, Mark Whiten
2007: Harold Baines, Derek Bell, Dante Bichette, Bobby Bonilla, Jeff Brantley, Jay Buhner, Ken Caminiti, Jose Canseco, Eric Davis, Tony Fernandez, Tony Gwynn, Darryl Hamilton, Pete Harnisch, Charlie Hayes, Glenallen Hill, Ken Hill, Stan Javier, Wally Joyner, Ramon Martinez, Mark McGwire, Paul O’Neill, Gregg Olson, Cal Ripken Jr., Bret Saberhagen, Jeff Shaw, Kevin Tapani, Devon White, Bobby Witt
2008: Shawon Dunston, Travis Fryman, David Justice, Mike Morgan, Tim Raines, Randy Velarde
2009: Mark Grace, Dan Plesac, Matt Williams