The St. Louis Cardinals have part of the National League since 1892. Originally, St. Louis's team was called the Browns, then briefly the Perfectos, before becoming the Cardinals in 1900. The St. Louis Cardinals hold the second highest number of league MVPs, 19, to the Yankees' 22. Star player Albert Pujols most recently won in 2008. Pujols has played for nine seasons in the Major League and only for St. Louis. Every spring, fans flock to the park, looing for St. Louis Cardinals tickets.
Aside from MVPs, St. Louis Cardinals players have won four of Major League's sixteen Triple Crowns. Rogers Hornsby won the triple crown in 1922 and in 1926. The last player in the National league to win a Triple Crown was the Cardinals' own Joe Medwick in 1937.
For several decades leading up through World War II, the St. Louis Cardinals dominated the National League. Soon after Hornsby won his last Triple Crown, he became the manager of the team. With Hornsby as manager, the Cardinals won their first World Series in 1926 against the Yankees. A few years later the Cardinals faced the Yankees again in the World Series, but were defeated. In 1934, the "Gashouse gang" won the pennant and the World Series against Detroit. The team had earned the name "Gashouse gang" from their untidy, scruff appearances. In 1942, the Cardinal's stellar record of 102-42 immortalized them as one of the greatest teams in baseball. With the average age of players under 27, this team went on to win the World Series again, defeating the Yankees. Cardinals won the World Series again in 1944 and 1946, continuing their domination of the league.
Following the 1946 season, the St. Louis Cardinals fell into a mediocre period. However, the Cardinals returned to dominance in 1964, by finishing first in their division, winning the Pennant for the first time in 18 years destroying the Yankees in the World Series. For the next few years, the Cardinals won three out of five pennants. Bob Gibson served as the star pitcher of the team. The Cardinals saw two more trips to the World Series, winning in 1967 and losing in 1968.
Again the Cardinals returned to mediocrity by not winning a single pennant in the 1970s. In the early 1980s, the Cardinals acquired shortstop Ozzie Smith, who greatly contributed to the team's success. The Cardinals went on to win the 1982 World Series against the Milwaukee Brewers. Their success did not last into the 1990s however and the Cardinals underwent another dry period.
In 1998, the Cardinals took center stage when Mark McGwire chased after Roger Maris's homerun record , catapulting him into the single home run record race with Sammy Sosa. Cardinals tickets in the midst of the home run race were hard to come by. McGwire eventually captured the record and this epic race restored the popularity of baseball among many fans.
By the new millennium, the Cardinals saw much success led by Albert Pujols. In this decade, the Cardinals have won the NL Central division six out of seven years. Albert Pujols has seen so much success that he is considered one of the greatest players in current baseball. It was against the Cardinals (in '04) that the Boston Red Sox "curse of the Bambino' was lifted when the Boston Red Sox won the World Series at the Cardinals' home. Cardinals won their 10th World Series title at home during the 2006 season.
