St. Louis Cardinals Info: The St. Louis Cardinals won their tenth World Series Championship Title in the 2006 season under the management of Tony La Russa.The Cardinals has 83 regular season wins, the fewest ever by a Word Series champion, and came close to not being in the Series at all after a mid season slump. It was the National League's first title since the 2003 Florida Marlins.
St. Louis beat San Diego Padres and the New York Mets in the first two rounds, going on to defeat the Detroit Tigers in game 5 of the 2006 World Series. David Eckstein, the 5”7 Short Stop, was named the Series MVP after obtaining a batting average of .364. He was on base six times in his final nine plate appearances in the last two games. First Baseman Albert Pujols finished the season with 49 homeruns, 137 RBI’s, and a batting average of .331
The Browns, who won't be known as the Cardinals until 1900, make their National League debut on Apr. 12 with a 14-10 loss at home to the Chicago Colts, later to be renamed the Cubs. The St. Louis Cardinals played in 5 different parks before finally calling The Busch Memorial Stadium home, in downtown St. Louis, on May 12, 1966.
The Cardinals also have endured four name changes since the Franchise started in 1882 as the St. Louis Brown Stockings, then became the St Louis Browns in 1883-1898, the St. Louis Perfectos in 1899, and then onto the St. Louis Cardinals in 1900.
The St. Louis Cardinals has produced 38 Baseball Hall of Famers, including the great Rogers Hornsby, Ozzie Smith, and Cy Young, just to name a few. Rogers Hornsby was closest player the National League had, statistically speaking, to babe Ruth. In 1922 Hornsby won the Triple Crown with 42 home runs, 152 RBI and a .401 batting average. Hornsby won his second Triple Crown with 39 home runs, 143 RBI and a .403 average in 1925. Later that year he became Manager of the Club and continued to play as well until 1937.
The team boast 17 (NL) Pennants, 7 Central Division titles, 3 East Division titles, and 10 World Series Titles. The St. Louis Cardinals manager, Tony La Russa, is the fifth ever lawyer/manager in baseball history. He came aboard with the Cardinals in 1996, and in 2004 he became the sixth manager in history to win pennants with both American and National League teams; in 2006 he became the first manager ever to win multiple pennants in both leagues and became one of only two managers to win the World Series in both leagues. He is one of only two managers to be named Manager of the Year in both leagues. La Russa has an impressive 2297-1986 record as a manager, and he is ranked third all-time for total number of career wins.
