First Game: St. Louis 9, Louisville 7 (May 2, 1882)
Cy Young Winner: Bob Gibson, RH, 1968, 1970
Chris Carpenter, RH, 2005
N.L. MVP: Frank Frisch, 2B, 1931 Dizzy Dean, P, 1934 Joe Medwick, OF, 1937 Mort Cooper, P, 1942 Stan Musial, OF, 1943 Marty Marion, SS, 1944 Stan Musial, 1B, 1946, 1948 Ken Boyer, 3B, 1964 Orlando Cepeda, 1B, 1967 Bob Gibson, P, 1968 Joe Torre, 3B, 1971 Keith Hernandez, 1B, 1979 Willie McGee, OF, 1985
Albert Pujols, 1B, 2005
Rookie of the Year: Wally Moon, OF, 1954 Bill Virdon, OF, 1955 Bake McBride, OF, 1974 Vince Coleman, OF, 1985 Todd Worrell, P, 1986 Albert Pujols, OF, 2001
Manager of the Year: Whitey Herzog, 1985 Tony LaRussa, 1996
Tony LaRussa, 2002
Retired Uniforms: No. 1, Ozzie Smith, SS No. 2, Red Schoendienst, 2B No. 6, Stan Musial, OF-1B No. 9, Enos Slaughter, OF No. 14, Ken Boyer, 3B No. 17, Dizzy Dean, P No. 20, Lou Brock, OF No. 42, Bruce Sutter
No.42, Jackie Robinson
No. 45, Bob Gibson, P No. 85, August A Busch, Owner That's A Winner, Jack Buck
National League
Division Champions: 1996, Central Division 2000, Central Division 2001, Co-Central Division 2002 Central Division
2005 Central Division
National League
Champions: 1930, Lost to A's 1938, Lost to Yankees 1943, Lost to Yankees 1968, Lost to Tigers 1985, Lost to Royals 1987, Lost to Twins
2004, Lost to Red Sox
World Series Champions: 1926, N.Y. Yankees, 7 games 1931, Philadelphia, 7 games 1934, Detroit, 7 games 1942, N.Y. Yankees, 5 games 1944, St. Louis Browns, 6 games 1946, Boston, 7 games 1964, N.Y. Yankees, 7 games 1967, Boston 7 games 1982, Milwaukee, 7 games
2006, Tigers, 5 games
Home Attendance: 1992: 2,418,483 1993: 2,844,328 1994: 1,866,544 1995: 1,756,727 1996: 2,654,718 1997: 2,658,357 1998: 3,194,092 1999: 3,235,833 2000: 3,336,493 2001: 3,109,578 2002: 3,011,216
2003: 2,910,386
2004: 3,048,427
2005: 3,538,988
2006: 3,407,104
2007: 3,552,166
Gold
Glove Winners
2006
1B -- Albert Pujols
3B -- Scott Rolen
2005
OF -- Jim Edmonds
2004
C -- Mike Matheny
3B -- Scott Rolen
OF -- Jim Edmonds
2003
C -- Mike Matheny
3B -- Scott Rolen
SS -- Edgar Renleria
OF -- Jim Edmonds
2002
2B -- Fernando Vina
3B -- Scott Rolen
SS -- Edgar Renteria
OF -- Jim Edmonds
2001
2B -- Fernando Vina
OF -- Jim Edmonds
2000
C -- Mike Matheny
OF -- Jim Edmonds
1992
C -- Tom Pagnozzi
SS -- Ozzie Smith
1991
C -- Tom Pagnozzi
SS -- Ozzie Smith
1990
SS -- Ozzie Smith
1989
3B -- Terry Pendleton
SS -- Ozzie Smith
1988
SS -- Ozzie Smith
1987
3B -- Terry Pendleton
SS -- Ozzie Smith
1986
SS -- Ozzie Smith
OF -- Willie McGee,
1985
SS -- Ozzie Smith
OF -- Willie McGee
1984
P -- Joaquin Andujar
SS -- Ozzie Smith
1983
1B -- Keith Hernandez
SS -- Ozzie Smith
OF -- Willie McGee
1982
1B -- Keith Hernandez
SS -- Ozzie Smith
1981
1B--Keith Hernandez
1980
1B -- Keith Hernandez
1979
1B -- Keith Hernandez
1978
1B -- Keith Hernandez
1975
3B -- Ken Reitz
1973
P -- Bob Gibson
1972
P -- Bob Gibson
1971
P -- Bob Gibson
1970
P -- Bob Gibson
1969
P -- Bob Gibson
OF -- Curt Flood
1968
P -- Bob Gibson
SS -- Dal Maxvill
OF -- Curt Flood
1967
P -- Bob Gibson
OF -- Curt Flood
1966
P -- Bob Gibson
OF -- Curt Flood
1965
P -- Bob Gibson
1B -- Bill White
OF -- Curt Flood
1964
1B -- Bill White
OF -- Curt Flood
1963
P -- Bobby Shantz
1B -- Bill White
3B -- Ken Boyer
OF -- Curt Flood
1962
P -- Bobby Shantz
1B -- Bill White
1961
1B -- Bill White
3B -- Ken Boyer
1960
1B -- Bill White
3B -- Ken Boyer
1959
3B -- Ken Boyer
1958
3B -- Ken Boyer
After a losing season in 1882, Von der Ahe hired Ted Sullivan, a noted judge of baseball talent, to manage the Browns. Sullivan brought in third baseman Arlie Latham and pitcher Tony Mullane to strengthen a team that already boasted a fine pitcher in Jumbo McGinnis (25-18 in 1882) and one of the game's premier first basemen in Charlie Comiskey. Although Sullivan quit before the end of his first season because of the continued interference of the volatile Von der Ahe, the Browns finished second in the AA, just a game behind champion Philadelphia.
When Mullane left the Browns in 1884, the club slipped to fourth. But help was on the way. In July Von der Ahe purchased the Bay City, Michigan club to acquire its heavy-hitting pitcher Dave Foutz and in September added another hitting pitcher, "Parisian Bob" Caruthers, to the roster. In 1885, with Comiskey managing, left fielder Tip O'Neill blossoming into one of baseball's best hitters, and Caruthers and Foutz winning 40 and 33 games, the Browns rose to the top, 16 games ahead of second-place Cincinnati. They finished on top four years in a row, tying Chicago's White Stockings (3-3-1) in the 1885 World Series and defeating them four games to two the next year for the AA's only Series triumph over their NL rivals.
Pitcher Silver King joined the club in 1887, and outfielder Tommy McCarthy arrived the following year. They helped keep the Browns at the top of the AA through 1888 (although the team lost the World Series both years). But Von der Ahe's sale of Foutz and Caruthers to Brooklyn following the 1887 season boosted Brooklyn to second place in 1888. The next year Brooklyn edged the Browns for the pennant, and the club's first era of greatness was over.
When the AA folded after the 1891 season, the Browns were taken into the NL, but fared poorly there, finishing ninth and eleventh of the 12 clubs in the divided season of 1892. They rose no higher than ninth in the remaining years of Von der Ahe's ownership, dropping into the cellar (63½ games out) in 1897 and returning to the bottom with a club-worst 111 losses the next season.
In 1899 new owners Frank and Stanley Robison (who also controlled the Cleveland Spiders) transferred the best Cleveland players and their manager to St. Louis. Dubbed the Cardinals, the revitalized St. Louis club fell short of perfection. They rose to a first-division fifth place in 1899 and 1900, and to fourth in 1901 before sinking back into the second division for a dozen years.
After Stanley Robison died in 1911 (his brother Frank
had died in 1905), the club passed into the possession of Frank's daughter
Helene Britton, who ran it behind the scenes until, in 1916, she sold it to a
syndicate headed by her attorney James C. Jones. Jones hired Branch Rickey
away from the AL Browns to run the club.
Rickey's Cards
Rickey took over a team with two chief assets: Manager Miller Huggins and a promising young infielder, Rogers Hornsby. Before Hornsby arrived, Huggins had managed the Cards to third place in 1914 and, after a pair of losing seasons, brought them up to third again in 1917. Huggins was lost to the New York Yankees the next year, and Rickey left the club temporarily for military service in the Great War. When Rickey returned in 1919, he took over as manager himself, and in 1921 and 1922 saw the team finish third, closer to the leaders than the club had finished since joining the NL in 1891. Led by Hornsby's .397 and .401 batting, the team hit over .300 both seasons.
Sam Breadon, one of the Jones group of owners, increased his investment in the Cardinals until by 1920 he was majority stockholder and club president, with Rickey as vice president and general manager. Breadon moved the Cards out of the inadequate wooden Cardinal Park during the 1920 season and into the more modern Sportsman's Park, owned by the Browns (and built on the site of Von der Ahe's original grounds).
Early in the 1925 season, with the Cards in last place, Breadon replaced Rickey as field manager with second baseman Hornsby. The switch worked. In 1925 the Cardinals rebounded to fourth, and in 1926 they captured their first pennant in four decades by edging Cincinnati in the final week of the season after an August spurt had shot them into pennant contention. The season was made perfect by victory in the World Series over Miller Huggins's Yankees.
That winter Breadon and his irascible player-manager had a falling out, and Hornsby found himself traded to the New York Giants for second baseman Frank Frisch and pitcher Jimmy Ring. The trade enraged Cardinal fans, but the team finished a close second in 1927, and returned to the top (under new manager Bill McKechnie) in a tight race the following season.
McKechnie, fired after the Yankees swept the Cards in
the 1928 World Series and rehired in the midst of a Cardinal slump the next
season, left to manage the Boston Braves in 1930. Former catcher Gabby Street,
who replaced him, led the Cards back to the top again for successive pennants
in 1930 and 1931, and in 1931 to a World Series victory over the Philadelphia
Athletics. The 1930 race saw the club shoot from below .500 in mid-June to 30
games above .500 by season's end, overtaking three other teams to clinch the
flag just three games from the finish. The 1931 team ran away with the
pennant, leading all the way and finishing 13 games in front. Outfielder Chick
Hafey and first baseman Jim Bottomley finished first and third in NL batting,
and pitcher Bill Hallahan led the league in strikeouts (for the second year in
a row) and tied for the lead in wins with 19. Four of the league's top five
base stealers, including league-leader Frank Frisch, and outfielder Pepper
Martin in his first full season, were Cardinals.
Frisch Manages
When the Cards dropped to sixth place in 1932 and showed little improvement the following year, Breadon replaced Manager Street with Frisch. As when he had named Hornsby to manage, Breadon's move paid immediate dividends. Though the club finished fifth that season, their record improved after Frisch took over, and the next year, in a season-long uphill struggle, the Cards won 13 of their final 15 games to pass the front-running New York Giants in the final week.
Writers labeled the 1934 Cardinals the "Gas House Gang" for their rowdy and daring play. In addition to team veterans Frisch and Martin (who had been shifted from the outfield to third base), the gang included shortstop Leo Durocher, left fielder Joe "Ducky" Medwick, and the team's leading hitter and slugger, first baseman Rip Collins, who in a career-best season led the league in slugging average and tied for first in home runs.
Cardinal pitching was headed by the league-leading Dizzy Dean (30-7) and his rookie brother Paul (19-11). Of the team's final nine wins, Diz and Paul accounted for seven. Each won another pair in the Cards' World Series triumph over Detroit.
The next two seasons the Cardinals moved into the lead late in the season only to wind up second. After the team slipped into the second division in 1938, Breadon replaced Frisch as manager with Ray Blades, who led a late-season run for the flag in 1939 but finished second. When the Cards failed to contend in 1940, Breadon brought up Rochester Manager Billy Southworth for a second time. Southworth had failed as McKechnie's replacement in 1929, but this time he stuck, becoming one of the club's greatest helmsmen.
Meanwhile, Branch Rickey was revolutionizing baseball as he built the game's first and most extensive farm system of minor league clubs. The Cardinals' farm teams would—until the other major league clubs caught on and caught up—provide St. Louis with a competitive advantage in the recruitment and development of young players.
In the closing days of the 1941 season, perhaps the
Cardinal system's greatest product arrived at the big club: Stan Musial.
Southworth brought the club in a close second that year after a season-long
back-and-forth struggle with Brooklyn. The next year—Musial's first full
season—the Cardinals enjoyed their winningest season ever: 106 victories.
They needed them all, too, for Brooklyn won 104 games, leading the race until
mid-September, when the Cardinals passed them and held on to a narrow lead by
winning 12 of their final 13 games. St. Louis pitchers Mort Cooper and Johnny
Beazley finished one-two in National League wins and ERA, while Enos Slaughter
and Musial paced the Cardinal offense. The club maintained its momentum in the
World Series, taking the Yankees in five games.
St. Louis retained its preeminence for two more years as baseball
gradually lost players to military service in World War II. Slaughter and
Beazley were gone by 1943. But Cooper remained to compile two more 20-plus
winning seasons, and Musial was not called until after the 1944 season. With
105 wins in both 1943 and 1944, the Cards ran away with two more pennants,
losing to the Yankees in the 1943 World Series, but taking their sixth world
title the next year from their St. Louis landlords, the AL champion
Browns.
Owner Breadon had fired Branch Rickey in 1942 (objecting to the personal profit Rickey made from selling the club's unneeded farm players), and Southworth left to manage the Boston Braves after the 1945 season (in which the Cards failed to catch the leading Chicago Cubs, finishing second). Rickey went to head the Brooklyn Dodgers, building for them a farm system and tapping the large reservoir of black players. In 1946, the last year of all-white major league ball, the Cards, managed now by Eddie Dyer, and the Dodgers waged a two-team pennant race, ending the season in the first major league tie for first place. St. Louis won the first two games in a best-of-three playoff and went on to surprise the favored Boston Red Sox in the World Series. With the war over, the team was back at full strength. Slaughter led the league in RBIs, and Musial led it in most other offensive categories; pitcher Howie Pollet led the league in ERA (as he had in 1943 before leaving for the war) and in wins, with 21.
But St. Louis was slow to integrate its club and lost ground to teams like Brooklyn, whose black players brought an immediate upswing in the club's success. The Cards began poorly in 1947, but recovered to finish second to Brooklyn, though never offering a serious challenge for the flag. After the season Breadon sold the club to Fred Saigh and U.S. Postmaster General Robert Hannegan. Musial enjoyed his finest season in 1948, but the club finished second again in a lackluster race. The next year, though, the Cards and Dodgers tangled in a season-long struggle for first place that was not resolved until the last day of the season when Brooklyn came out on top.
The Cardinals threatened to move to Milwaukee, but beer magnate August Busch Jr. purchased the club early in 1953 and the same year bought Sportsman's Park from the Browns (who were moving to Baltimore). With Busch's infusion of money and enthusiasm, the club slowly revived. They made runs for the pennant in 1957, 1960, and 1963, but each time tailed off sharply in the final week of the season.
The Cards were playing below .500, in seventh place, in mid-June 1964 when the arrival (via a trade with the Cubs) of speedy young Lou Brock sparked a revival of both team and player. Brock, who had been hitting .251 in Chicago, with 10 stolen bases, hit .348 the rest of the season and stole 33 more bases as the Cards hurtled into the midst of a four-way race for the pennant that was settled only when they took the flag with an 11-5 win on the final day. After surprising the Yankees in the World Series, the Cardinals were themselves surprised when Manager Johnny Keane left to take the Yankee helm. The club slipped into the second division for a couple of years under the management of their great former second baseman Red Schoendienst as Manager
Owner Busch built the Cardinals a striking new stadium in 1966, and the next season the team rebounded to the top again, running away from the field in the last half of the season behind the heavy hitting of Orlando Cepeda, the bat and speed of Lou Brock, and a pitching staff of remarkable breadth and balance. Bob Gibson's three World Series wins over Boston edged the Cards to a ninth world title and set the stage for Gibson's astonishing season the following year.
With his 22 wins leading the Cards to another pennant in 1968, Gibson hurled 13 shutouts and compiled an ERA of just 1.12—both feats the best in more than half a century, and both ranking among the top five big league performances ever. After winning two World Series games, Gibson lost Game 7 as Detroit took the crown.
Red Schoendienst continued as Cardinal manager through 1976, a club-record 12 years, but led the team to no more championships. When division play was inaugurated in 1969, geography was ignored as the Cards were installed in the East to add strength to what seemed the weaker division. But it was 14 years before they won their first division championship. Four times they finished second, losing twice by only 1½ games, in the back-to-back tight races of 1973 and 1974.
Dorrel "Whitey" Herzog was in his first full season as Cardinal manager before the club again finished that near the top. In the strike-shortened divided season of 1981, the Cards compiled the best overall record in the NL East, but because they had finished the two halves of the season second to Philadelphia and Montreal they were ineligible for postseason play.
With the defensive wizard shortstop Ozzie Smith (acquired from San Diego) and rookie speedster Willie McGee bolstering an already strong team, the Cardinals of 1982, after prevailing against the Phillies in the race for the East, swept West champion Atlanta for the pennant and captured their tenth World Series crown in a seven-game struggle with Milwaukee.
After two seasons out of the running, the Cards in 1985 gained the power of veteran Jack Clark (acquired from San Francisco) and the speed of rookie Vince Coleman. With career-best seasons from Willie McGee and newly acquired pitcher John Tudor, the team edged the New York Mets for the division title and defeated Los Angeles for the pennant—but lost the World Series in seven games to Kansas City.
Jack Clark missed two-thirds of the 1986 season due to injury, and the Cards finished below .500, but they rebounded to edge the Mets again for the championship of the East in 1987 as Clark and Vince Coleman enjoyed their finest seasons at the bat. But the reinjured Clark made only a token appearance as the Cards edged San Francisco for the league championship, and he missed the World Series entirely as St. Louis bowed to Minnesota in seven games. That winter Clark signed as a free agent with the Yankees and in 1988 the Cardinals dropped to fifth place, 25 games out.
With solid pitching and hitting, and the league's best fielding, the 1989 Cardinals drew within half a game of the division lead on September 8, then fell out of the race with six straight losses, finishing third. As the season drew to its close, longtime owner August Busch Jr. died at age 90. The next July, with the club uncharacteristically mired at the bottom of the NL East, Manager Whitey Herzog resigned. Under new manager Joe Torre the Cards revived briefly, but then dropped their final seven games to ensure their first basement finish in 72 years.
Reliever Lee Smith provided the key to St. Louis's 1991 rebound to second place: his 47 saves, a new NL record, preserved more than half the wins of a team that won 37 of its games by a single run. Smith saved another 43 games in 1992 and the Cards won nearly as often as they had the previous year, but this time finished third. The Cardinals' defense developed a leak in 1993, and their pitching faltered, but four regulars—Bernard Gilkey, Todd Zeile, and newcomers Gregg Jefferies and Mark Whiten—scaled new heights offensively to keep the Cardinals competitive through much of the season and give them another third-place finish. In 1994 the team--now playing in the NL's new Central Division--performed below .500 for the first time since 1990.
The weak-hitting Cards slipped to fourth in 1995. Manager Joe Torre was fired as the season wound down and was replaced by interim manager Mike Jorgensen and ultimately by former A's pilot Tony LaRussa. The big news of the year, however, came in December when Anheuser-Busch sold the club for $150 million to an investment group headed by St. Louis banker Andrew Baur and William DeWitt Jr., whose father had once owned the Browns and the Reds.
The Cards won their first National League Central Division title after winning just 62 games the year before. Then they dispatched the Padres in three games in the Divisional Playoffs and had Atlanta down 3-1 in the LCS. The Cardinals failed to win a playoff series for the first time in history when they lost to Atlanta. Three players hit 20 home runs - Lankford, Gaetti and Gant.
In 1997 the Cards once again made history by acquiring Mark McGwire in a trade with the Oakland A's. Later that season McGwire signed with the Cards instead of opting for free agency. McGwire went on to hit 58 home runs and tied Babe Ruth for being the only players to hit 50 or more home runs in two consecutive seasons. McGwire made even more history the following years. In 1998, Mark McGwire broke the single season home run record by hitting 70 home runs. In 1999 McGwire became only the second person in history to hit 60 home runs in two season and entered the 500 home run club.
The Cards started the 2000 season with a bang, by acquiring AL Golden Glove Award winner Jim Edmonds right before the beginning of the season. This acquisition along with new pitching helped solidify the team and bring compete for the Central Division Championship. In the middle of the season, Mark McGwire was injured and looked to be out most of the season. This event helped spawn another memorable moment, when the St. Louis Cardinals acquired Will "The Thrill" Clark from the Baltimore Orioles. His contribution helped propel the Cardinals to lead the NLC, ending up 10 games up on the second place Cincinnati Reds. The Cardinals then swept the Atlanta Braves in a best of five series to face the New York Mets for the National League Championship. The Mets defeated the Cards in 5. In October of 2000, Will Cark retired from baseball, sighting that he had done everything he had wanted to and wanted to go out on top. He did so retiring as a St. Louis Cardinal.
In 2001 the Cardinals did not fair as well as the previous year. Injuries devastated the roster, causing Mark McGwire to sit out most of the year along with a rotation of injuries among the remaining starters. Due to these injuries a young rookie by the name of Albert Pujols was called upon to fill some of these holes. He did just that and more. Taking the National League by storm, Pujols hit over 20 home runs and played almost every position except pitching and catcher. A mid-season trade from the Padres acquiring Woody Williams helped the club rise from as far as 5 games back to tied for the Central Division with the Houston Astros by the end of the season. Due to their losing record against the Astros, the Cardinals assumed the Wild Card schedule and played the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Cardinals lost the series on the Diamondbacks way to becoming the World Series Champions. At the end of the year, Mark McGwire announced his retirement from baseball, doing so as a Cardinal stating that he did not want to play if he could not perform at his bets.
The Cardinals' 2002 season was one in which heartache and success were interwoven with each other. St. Louis fulfilled the expectations of a National League Central title but meeting those expectations proved far more difficult than imagined as the team had to endure the deaths of pitcher Darryl Kile and Hall of Fame broadcaster Jack Buck. The Cardinals' biggest asset in Spring Training -- depth at starting pitching -- turned into a mirage well before the heat of the St. Louis summer months as injuries forced the team to use 23 different pitchers, including 14 different starters. Despite the obstacles, the Cardinals won 97 games and swept Arizona in the first round of the playoffs. The team fell short of its ultimate goal -- a World Series title -- when it lost to San Francisco in the National League Championship Series.
The Cardinals entered spring training '03 with obvious pitching concerns accompanying a lineup considered the best in its league. But coming off a 97-win 2002, there was little reason to believe the Redbirds couldn't win the 90 games that would likely win a milquetoast division. Instead, the Cardinals left spring training with more questions than when they arrived. And by early May, pitching concerns had only multiplied them. These Cardinals hit better, scored more and committed almost 30 fewer errors than last season. However, injuries and a lackluster at best pitching staff proved too much to overcome. If last season's adversity gave rise to a crusade, this season's misfortunes only led to a grind leaving the Cardinals in 3rd place in the National League Central Division
Many of the “experts” predicted that the 2004 St. Louis Cardinals would be fighting for third place in the National League’s Central Division, instead they scored the most runs in the National League. They were second to the Atlanta Braves in ERA (by .003 of an earned run over the span of the entire staff’s season), but allowed the fewest runs in the National League. This team completely dominated the NL Central race by leading the Cubs and Astros for much of the season and by a rather large margin for the entire year, despite not being picked to compete for the title. The Cardinals then went on to win the NLDS versus the Dodgers in 4 games and the NLCS versus the Astros in 7 games. The Cardinals faced the Boston Red Sox in the World Series. Even though the Cardinals had dominated for most of the year, the pitching and timely hitting were not there and the Cardinals were swept in 4 games, giving the World Series Championship to the Red Sox.
Even though they won the NL in '04, many of the “experts” predicted that the 2005 St. Louis Cardinals would be fighting for second or third place in the National League’s Central Division. Instead they were one of the highest scoring teams in the NL, averaging 5 runs a game and had one of the lowest ERA's in the NL too. This team completely dominated the NL Central race by leading the Cubs and Astros for much of the season and by a rather large margin for the entire year, despite not being picked to compete for the title. The Cardinals then went on to win the NLDS versus the Padres in 3 games and the NLCS versus the Astros, losing the NLCS in 6 games. The season did not end in complete sadness as Chris Carpenter was named the NL Cy Young award winner and Albert Pujols was named the NL MVP.
Much of the '05 year was spent celebrating the last season in the concrete donut known as Busch Stadium. The attendance topped over 3.5 million throughout the regular season. As a piece of trivia, the last hit in this Busch stadium was by Mark Grudzielanek, the last out was by Yadier Molina via a flyball to right field and the last strikeout was by John Mabry and he was struck out by Dan Wheeler of the Houston Astros.
The 2006 version of the Cardinals started as a year of hope. The Cardinals were opening a new ballpark with what appeared to be a good team coming out of Spring Training. The experts picked the Cardinals to win the division, only because they were in a weak division. The experts weren't that far off. After starting strong, the team went into Inter-League play and lost almost every game. From there, even though they never lost the lead, they were fighting tooth and nail to hold it. During the course of the season, outfielder Jim Edmonds was out for two months due to a concussion and post concussion syndrome. The Cardinals were also without the help of infielders Scott Rolen, David Eckstein and Albert Pujols. Even though it came down to the last game of the season, the Cardinals were able to hold on and win the division. From there, though, the worm had seemed to turn.
The Cardinals went into the 2006 playoffs as underdogs. They beat the San Diego Padres in 5 games, and then went on to play the New York Mets, as underdogs, in the NLCS. The Cardinals and Mets duked this one out with the Cardinals winning in 7 games. Jeff Suppan was named the NLCS MVP for his gutsy pitching performances. The Cardinals then went into the World Series with 2 to 1 odds against them winning. The Cardinals won the series in 5 games, playing good fundamental baseball with superb pitching and timely hitting from many of the "non superstars". The World Series MVP was David Eckstein.
The 2007 Cardinals saw the team coming off of the highs of the World Series and watched the season turn quickly to a series of lows. Even starting in spring training, the team saw several players injured and not able to start the season. Even worse, shortly after the season started, the Cardinal's ace pitcher, Chris Carpenter was injured and wound out being out the season. This trend continued on and included the death of Cardinal's relief pitcher Josh Hancock. While the Cardinals fought to take first place, they were never able to hold that position and were relegated to the middle of the pack in the division.
Shortly after the season ended, owner Bill DeWitt fired long time general manager Walt Jocketty as part of shake up in the team. This shake up did not end with the front office, the Cardinals also traded All-Star Centerfielder Jim Edmonds to the Padres and All-Star Third Baseman Scott Rolen.
Some information taken from Total Baseball IV: The Official Encyclopedia of Major League Baseball, the 1997 Official Major League Baseball Fact Book, published by the Sporting News, and various AP reports.