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St. Louis Cardinals

Baseball is an outdoor sport in which a pitcher pitches a hard, fist sized ball to the hitting area of a batter. The batter hits the hard ball with a tapered, smooth, cylindrical bat made up of wood or metal. The batsman scores by running counter-clockwise within the four markers called the bases arranged at the corners of a diamond. Baseball is sometimes called hardball to differentiate it from similar games such as softball.

St. Louis had the Red Stockings and Brown Stockings in the National League when it opened in 1876, but did not have a permanent franchise there until Chris von der Ahe brought his Browns in after the American Association disbanded in 1891. The club did not do well in the National League at first. Later, it was renamed as Cardinals in 1899 for the color of the trim on their uniforms. It was not until Branch Rickey became president of the team in 1916 that it began moving toward the great success that has characterized the franchise.

Finally the franchise paid off in 1926, under manager Rogers Hornsby, as St. Louis won its first National League pennant and World Championship. They won again in 1928, and the Gas House Gang grabbed three more pennants in the early 1930 seasons. The Cardinals, featured a young slugger named Stan Musial, dominated the 1940 seasons, winning four pennants and three World Championships. The Redbirds found new vigor in the 1960 seasons as Bob Gibson's heroics on the mound and Lou Brock's daring on the bases led them to three pennants and two World Championships.

Whitey Herzog restructured the team around speed and pitching, guiding them to three pennants and a World Championship during the 1980 seasons. Through the end of the 1980 seasons, the Cardinals had won 14 pennants and more World Championships. The Cardinals finished the season with the best winning percentage in the Eastern Division, but missed the playoffs because they finished second in each of the two sections of the schedule, revised due to the mid-summer players strike.

In each half, the Cardinals played fewer games than the winners, and could have tied or won either half with the opportunity to play the same number of games. Bruce Sutter, one of several players obtained in winter trades by Whitey Herzog, won the Rolaids Relief Man award. The St. Louis Cardinals became the leading teams with potential players on its mark.

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