St. Louis Cardinals Wallpaper
History about the St. Louis Cardinals
The St. Louis Cardinals is a National Football League team formed as
part of the American Association in 1882. The team was also known as
St. Louis Brown Stockings (1882), St. Louis Browns (1883-1898), and
St. Louis Perfectos (1899). They were finally known as Cardinals in
1900.
During the 1930s era, the Cardinals comprised of players like
Dizzy Dean, Joe Medwick, Pepper Martin and Enos Slaughter nicknamed
"House Gang". In 1934, Dean and his younger brother, Paul, led the
league to 49 wins which is still a single season record for brothers.
Jerome Herman Dean won 30 games and Paul added another 19 wins. During
the 1940s, the Cardinals lead the National League and played against
their cross-town rivals, the St. Louis Browns, in the "trolley car
Series". Stan Musial also joined the Cardinals, better known as "Ol'
Number 6" by his fans. He had a long career with Cardinals, playing 23
years with them.
A statue of Musial is also built outside Busch
Stadium downtown in due respect. In 1947 the Cardinals earned
disrepute as they protested by trying to boycott games against the
Brooklyn Dodgers as they had signed a black player, Jackie Robinson
.Enos Slaughter was the leader of the boycott but the National
League president Ford Frick warned to ban any players who boycotted
any games. The boycott never took place and the Cardinals themselves
signed a black player, Curt Flood in 1958. In the 1960s Hall of famers
such as Lou Brock, Bob Gibson, Steve Carlton, and Orlando Cepeda
leaded the team to a pair of World Series titles. The league also won
three National League pennants.
The St. Louis Cardinals just had an
average record in the 1970s till new Cardinal Manager Whitey Herzog
took charge of the team. Herzog's brand of baseball, known in St.
Louis as "Whiteyball", had speed on the base paths, dazzling defense,
and alternative roster moves. Under Heroz's guidance the team won
three National League pennants, and a 1982 World Series title. The
team comprised of star players such as Ozzie Smith, Tom Herr, Jack
Clark, Bruce Sutter, Keith Hernandez, Willie McGee, John Tudor, Terry
Pendleton, and Joaquin Andujar.The Cardinals reached the post-season
in 1987, losing to Minnesota 4-3 in the World Series, and in 1996,
when the Atlanta Braves defeated them for the National League pennant.
In 1998 Cardinals' first baseman Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa of the
Chicago Cubs fought hard to set the record for maximum home runs in
one season. McGwire crossed Roger Maris's record on September 8 with
#62, and played further to finish with 70. Barry Bonds broke his
record hitting 73 home runs in 2001. In 2001, the Cardinals lost to
the New York Mets in the National League championship title.
Later the Cardinals moved forward to the post-season as a "Wild
Card" team after posting the second-best record in the National League
but lost the division to the Houston Astros. The Arizona Diamondbacks
won over the Cardinals in a five-game playoff series. The following
year, Cardinals won the Central Division knocking down the
Diamondbacks 3 games, but lost 4 games to 1 to the San Francisco
Giants. In 2004, St. Louis Cardinals had the best record in the
National League and the most number of wins since the 1940s. Playing
the Division Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Cardinals won
the series 3-1. Albert Pujols helped St. Louis win Game 7 to take
series, and was named MVP. The Cardinals played against the Boston Red
Sox in the 2004 World Series. But unfortunately the Cardinals were
defeated by the Red Sox in four games and lost the series to them.