100 Fun Facts About St. Louis Cardinals

The Cardinals won their 11th World Series in 2011 by beating which team?

Texas Rangers pitchers were twice one strike from the title in Game 6, but the Cardinals tied it both times, won in the 11th inning and took Game 7 for an 11th championship, the most of any National League club.

What is the name of the Cardinals' feathered mascot?

Fredbird debuted in 1979 and is famous for 'beaking' fans' heads with his oversized bill and tossing T-shirts into the stands.

The future Cardinals began play in 1882 in which beer-selling league?

American Association clubs charged 25 cents, played on Sundays and sold beer, all things the National League banned; St. Louis moved to the National League in 1892 after the Association folded.

The Cardinals' name first meant a color: as the story goes, who admired the red of their new uniforms?

A woman in the stands called the red trim 'a lovely shade of cardinal', and sportswriter Willie McHale put 'Cardinals' in print; birds reached the jersey only in 1922.

Which Cardinals executive got the birds-on-the-bat logo idea from a table arrangement in a Ferguson, Missouri church?

Branch Rickey was the evening's speaker in 1921 when Allie May Schmidt's cardboard redbirds caught his eye; her father, a printing-firm art director, drew up the logo that reached jerseys in 1922.

The Cardinals' first World Series title, in 1926, came against which team?

New York Yankees slugger Babe Ruth walked with two out in the ninth inning of Game 7, then was thrown out trying to steal second, and the tag by player-manager Rogers Hornsby ended the Series.

Which veteran pitcher struck out Tony Lazzeri with the bases loaded in Game 7 of the 1926 World Series?

Grover Cleveland Alexander was 39 and had pitched a complete-game win the day before; stories say he came in hung over, though he always insisted he was sober.

What was the nickname of Rogers Hornsby, who hit .424 for the Cardinals in 1924?

'The Rajah' won two Triple Crowns in St. Louis, yet ten weeks after managing the Cardinals to the 1926 title he was traded to the Giants for Frankie Frisch.

The rowdy 1934 champion Cardinals are remembered by what nickname?

The Gashouse Gang played to the name in Game 7 of the World Series: after Joe Medwick's hard slide into third, Detroit fans pelted him with fruit and bottles until the commissioner ordered him out of the game.

Which Cardinal was the last National League pitcher to win 30 games in a season, doing it in 1934?

Dizzy Dean went 30-7, and he and his brother Paul combined to win all four Cardinals games in that year's World Series against Detroit.

The 1944 World Series pitted the Cardinals against which crosstown team?

The St. Louis Browns shared Sportsman's Park with the Cardinals, so every game was played there and it was nicknamed the Streetcar Series.

Whose 'Mad Dash' from first base won Game 7 of the 1946 World Series against the Red Sox?

Enos Slaughter was running on the pitch when Harry Walker lined a hit to left-center; legend has him ignoring his coach's stop sign while Boston shortstop Johnny Pesky held the relay a beat too long.

Stan Musial's 3,630 career hits split exactly evenly between which two categories?

Home and road games each brought Musial 1,815 hits, and the last two of them were singles in his final game, played in St. Louis in 1963.

Stan Musial became 'Stan the Man' after which rival team's fans kept saying 'Here comes the man' as he batted?

Brooklyn Dodgers fans had watched Musial wreck their pitching at Ebbets Field; St. Louis writer Bob Broeg learned of the line from the Cardinals' traveling secretary and put it in his column.

After Anheuser-Busch bought the Cardinals in 1953, Gussie Busch tried to rename the ballpark after which beer?

Budweiser Stadium was turned down by baseball as a beer advertisement, so he settled for the family name, Busch Stadium, and the brewery then brought out a beer called Busch.

In June 1964 the Cardinals acquired Lou Brock from the Cubs in exchange mainly for which pitcher?

Ernie Broglio had won 18 games in 1963 but won only seven in three seasons as a Cub, while Brock helped St. Louis win the World Series that October and went on to the Hall of Fame.

Whose 130 steals in 1982 broke Lou Brock's modern single-season record of 118?

Rickey Henderson took the record for Oakland; Brock had built his own mark by filming opposing pitchers with a home-movie camera to study their pickoff moves.

After Bob Gibson's 1.12 ERA in 1968, the 'Year of the Pitcher', what did baseball change for 1969?

The mound's height was cut from 15 inches to 10 and the strike zone narrowed, to give hitters a chance after a season in which Gibson threw 13 shutouts.

Bob Gibson struck out 17 Tigers in Game 1 of the 1968 World Series, breaking whose record?

Sandy Koufax's 15 from 1963 was matched when Gibson fanned Al Kaline, then passed with Norm Cash and Willie Horton; no pitcher has topped 17 in a World Series game since.

Before baseball, Cardinals Hall of Famer Bob Gibson briefly played for which basketball team?

Harlem Globetrotters games filled four months for Gibson after college, until the Cardinals offered a contract on the condition that he give up basketball and play baseball only.

The 1967 champion Cardinals, led by MVP Orlando Cepeda, went by what nickname?

El Birdos won 101 games and the World Series; Cepeda, traded away by the Giants a year earlier after a knee injury, was the National League's unanimous MVP.

Which Cardinals center fielder took baseball's reserve clause to the Supreme Court?

Curt Flood refused a 1969 trade to Philadelphia and sued baseball; he lost Flood v. Kuhn 5-3 in 1972, but an arbitrator gave players free agency just three years later.

Which manager led the Cardinals to the 1967 title, eight years after tuberculosis cost him part of a lung?

Red Schoendienst had beaten long odds before: an injury to his left eye as a teenager left him struggling against right-handed pitchers, so he became a switch-hitter.

What name was given to the speed-and-defense style of the 1980s Cardinals?

'Whiteyball' took its name from manager Whitey Herzog, who was also general manager from 1980 to 1982 and built the 1982 champions for Busch Stadium's turf.

The 1982 Fall Classic against Milwaukee earned what beer-themed nickname?

The Suds Series matched two beer capitals: St. Louis, where Anheuser-Busch owned the Cardinals at the time, and Milwaukee, home of its rival Miller.

After Garry Templeton made obscene gestures at home fans in 1981, the Cardinals traded him to San Diego for which shortstop?

Ozzie Smith had just hit .222 to Templeton's .288, yet he went on to win 11 straight Gold Gloves in St. Louis and a plaque in the Hall of Fame.

Which rookie base stealer missed the 1985 World Series after Busch Stadium's automatic tarp rolled over his leg?

Vince Coleman had stolen 110 bases, a rookie record, before the freak accident during the playoffs; the Cardinals played the World Series without their leadoff man and lost in seven games.

Which umpire called Jorge Orta safe in Game 6 of the 1985 World Series, a call replays showed was wrong?

Don Denkinger's call put the tying run on base with St. Louis three outs from the title; Kansas City rallied to win 2-1, then took Game 7 by 11-0.

Which split-finger reliever was the first pitcher in the Hall of Fame without ever starting a game?

Bruce Sutter lost his old pitches to arm surgery as a teenage minor leaguer, so a Cubs instructor taught him the split-finger; it carried him to the Hall of Fame without a single start.

For nearly 47 years the Cardinals' radio voice ended every win with what phrase?

"That's a winner!" became the title of Jack Buck's memoir; the man who became the club's voice had once been fired from its booth to make room for another announcer, and was later hired back.

Which Cardinal hit two grand slams in the same inning, off the same pitcher, on April 23, 1999?

Fernando Tatís came up with St. Louis trailing 2-0 in the third inning in Los Angeles; the lineup batted around, Chan Ho Park was still pitching, and the second slam made it a record eight RBI in one inning.

Mark McGwire hit 70 home runs in 1998, breaking whose single-season record of 61?

Roger Maris had held the record for 37 years, while McGwire's 70 lasted only three before Barry Bonds hit 73; Maris himself played his last two seasons as a Cardinal.

Mark McGwire's record-breaking 62nd home run of 1998 came off which Cubs pitcher?

Steve Trachsel's low pitch became a line drive just over the left-field wall, and his own teammate Sammy Sosa, McGwire's rival in the home run race, ran in from right field to embrace him.

In which round of the 1999 draft did the Cardinals select Albert Pujols?

Pujols went in the 13th round, 402nd overall; two years later he was the unanimous NL Rookie of the Year with an NL rookie-record 130 RBI.

Pujols hit 49 home runs in 2006 but lost the MVP vote to which Phillies slugger?

Ryan Howard hit 58 home runs to take the award; Pujols, the winner in 2005, 2008 and 2009, had to settle that October for a World Series ring.

Which shortstop was MVP of the 2006 World Series, won by an 83-win Cardinals team?

David Eckstein began the Series 0-for-11, then went 6-for-9 in the last two games; that 83-78 club still has the worst record of any World Series champion.

Which rookie closer struck out Detroit's Brandon Inge for the final out of the 2006 World Series?

Adam Wainwright, filling in for an injured closer, had already struck out Carlos Beltrán with the bases loaded to win the pennant; he then became a starter and won 200 games, all for St. Louis.

The 2011 Cardinals erased a 10½-game deficit to take the wild card from which team?

Atlanta Braves fans saw a sure playoff place vanish: St. Louis won 23 of its last 32 games, then took the finale 8-0 in Houston on the night Atlanta lost its own.

Whose 11th-inning walk-off homer won Game 6 of the 2011 World Series for the Cardinals?

David Freese had tied Game 6 with a two-out, two-strike triple in the ninth, and was named Series MVP after the Cardinals took Game 7 behind Chris Carpenter.

What animal became the Cardinals' good-luck charm after running across the field in the 2011 playoffs?

A squirrel darted across home plate just as Philadelphia's Roy Oswalt threw a pitch in the Division Series; the Cardinals won the game, and Rally Squirrel shirts and towels followed them all the way to the title.

Which law-school graduate won a franchise-record 1,408 games as Cardinals manager?

Tony La Russa was admitted to the Florida bar in 1980 but chose the dugout over a law office; after 16 seasons in St. Louis he retired three days after winning the 2011 World Series.

Which Cardinals catcher, whose two older brothers also caught in the majors, won nine Gold Gloves?

Yadier Molina hit a career-worst .216 in 2006, then sent St. Louis to the World Series with a ninth-inning home run in Game 7 of the NLCS; the first of his Gold Gloves came two years later.

The Busch Stadium that opened in 2006 hosted its first major league game against which opponent?

Milwaukee Brewers hitters lost that April 10 opener 6-4 after an Albert Pujols home run; in October the Cardinals capped the new park's first season by winning the World Series there.

Which interstate runs directly between St. Louis and Chicago, home cities of the rival Cardinals and Cubs?

I-55 covers the roughly 300 miles from St. Louis to Chicago; for all their history as neighbors, the two clubs never met in a modern postseason until the 2015 Division Series.

Which first baseman won the 2022 NL MVP in his fourth season with the Cardinals?

Paul Goldschmidt had twice finished second in the voting as an Arizona Diamondback; four years after the trade that brought him to St. Louis, he won with 22 of the 30 first-place votes.

Which saloon owner bought the future Cardinals in the 1880s after noticing how ballgames filled his bar?

Chris von der Ahe knew little about baseball, but he sold tickets for 25 cents so that fans had money left for beer, and his club won four straight league titles from 1885.

Who was the first Cardinals pitcher to throw two no-hitters?

Bob Forsch was drafted as a third baseman and became a pitcher only after he failed to hit in the minors; he went on to no-hit the Phillies in 1978 and the Expos in 1983.

Which trio of sluggers in the 2000s Cardinals were nicknamed 'MV3'?

Pujols, Edmonds and Rolen each finished in the top five of the 2004 MVP vote as the Cardinals won a major-league best 105 games.

Which Cardinals first baseman shared the 1979 NL MVP award with Willie Stargell, the first tie in the award's history?

Keith Hernandez and Stargell each drew 216 points from the voters; four years later, after a long feud with his manager, the former batting champion was traded to the Mets.

Whose investment group bought the Cardinals from Anheuser-Busch in the mid-1990s?

Bill DeWitt Jr. grew up in the game: his father owned the city's other big-league club, and as its nine-year-old batboy in 1951 he lent his uniform to Eddie Gaedel, the 3-foot-7 pinch hitter.

Which broadcaster, later a Cubs icon, called Cardinals games for 25 seasons before the team let him go?

Harry Caray joined the Cardinals' booth in 1945 and stayed through 1969, his longest run with any team. His contract was not renewed after a disappointing season.

The Cardinals shortstop nicknamed the Wizard marked each Opening Day with which acrobatic move?

A backflip became his ritual after a promotions director talked him into one as a rookie in 1978. Hurt in 1986, he let his four-year-old son Nikko do it instead.

Which Cubs slugger hit 66 home runs while chasing Mark McGwire's 70 in the summer of 1998?

Sammy Sosa lost the home run race but won the 1998 NL MVP award, driving in 158 runs to McGwire's 147.

Whose career stolen-base record, long thought unbreakable, did the Cardinals' Lou Brock pass in 1977?

Ty Cobb had stolen 892 bases, a mark some thought as safe as Babe Ruth's 714 home runs. Brock finished with 938 and led the National League in steals eight times.

Stan Musial's final hit in 1963 skipped past which rookie second baseman for the Cincinnati Reds?

Pete Rose, who went on to become baseball's all-time hit king, could not reach the single. Musial retired after the game at age 42 with 3,630 hits.

The Cardinals signed a teenage Stan Musial in 1938 to play which position, before an injury changed his path?

Pitcher was his first trade: he went 18–5 in the minors in 1940 before a shoulder injury turned him into a full-time outfielder.

Which sport did the other St. Louis Cardinals, a pro team sharing the name from 1960 to 1987, play?

Football came to town when the NFL's Cardinals moved from Chicago, and locals called them the Big Red to avoid confusion. They left for Arizona in 1988.

Which way of developing players did the Cardinals pioneer in the 1920s?

The farm system, built by buying up minor league clubs, fed the Cardinals nine pennants and six World Series titles between 1926 and 1946.

Which breed of draft horse circles the warning track at Busch Stadium on the Cardinals' Opening Day?

Clydesdales have made the lap since the decades when Anheuser-Busch owned the team, and they also appear during the playoffs.

Helene Britton of the Cardinals became the first woman to hold which major league job in 1911?

Team owner was a role she inherited from her uncle, and she kept the club until 1917 despite other owners pressing her to sell. She also began a Ladies' Day promotion.

Which comic book creator paid millions at auction for the ball Mark McGwire hit for his 70th home run?

Todd McFarlane, the creator of Spawn and an avid baseball fan, later also bought Barry Bonds's record-breaking 73rd home run ball at auction.

Which Cardinals left fielder, nicknamed Ducky, won the National League Triple Crown and MVP award in 1937?

Joe Medwick led the league with a .374 average, 31 home runs and 154 RBIs that year. No National League hitter matched the feat for the rest of the century.

Which second baseman, called the Fordham Flash, joined the Cardinals when they traded away Rogers Hornsby?

Frankie Frisch arrived from the Giants after the 1926 season. He became the Cardinals' player-manager in 1933 and made the first three All-Star teams.

Which daring Cardinals baserunner of the 1930s was known as the Wild Horse of the Osage?

Pepper Martin made his name in the 1931 World Series, where his bat and his legs drove a Cardinals upset. The nickname honored his aggressive style on the bases.

Which Cardinals third baseman and team captain won the 1964 National League MVP award?

Ken Boyer drove in a league-best 119 runs as the Cardinals won their first pennant in 18 years. The team retired his number 14 in 1984.

Which Cardinals outfielder won the 1990 NL batting title despite an August trade to the American League?

Willie McGee had already batted enough times in the National League to qualify, so his .335 mark stood while he finished the season in Oakland.

Which 1960s Cardinals third baseman went on to call the team's games on radio for 50 years?

Mike Shannon moved to the booth in 1972 after a kidney disease ended his playing career. Raised in St. Louis, he stayed on the air until 2021.

Which Tennessee city is home to the Redbirds, the Triple-A affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals?

Memphis got the Redbirds as an expansion team in 1998, and their downtown home, AutoZone Park, opened two years later.

Which 50,000-watt radio station became the flagship of the Cardinals' network in the 1950s?

KMOX first aired the Cardinals during the 1926 World Series, less than a year after it signed on. At night its signal reaches most of the United States.

Cardinals great Stan Musial entertained crowds at Hall of Fame inductions by playing which instrument?

Harmonica was his party piece, and in 1994 he recorded 18 songs sold with an instruction booklet. He lay in state in 2013 with one in his lapel pocket.

Which former Cardinals catcher, with no coaching experience, was hired to manage the team after the 2011 title?

Mike Matheny became the first manager in history to reach the playoffs in each of his first four seasons, a run that included the 2013 pennant.

Which Cardinals catcher of the 1960s later became a celebrated television analyst for Fox Sports?

Tim McCarver signed with St. Louis at 17 and played in four decades before moving to the booth. He was the preferred catcher of the fiery Bob Gibson.

Which Cardinals first baseman of the 1960s was elected president of the National League in 1989?

Bill White was elected unanimously and became the first Black executive to hold so high a post in American sports. He served until 1994.

Which Phillies starter and close friend did the Cardinals' Chris Carpenter beat 1–0 to win a 2011 playoff series?

Roy Halladay and Carpenter had come up together as Toronto teammates. Carpenter allowed only three hits in the deciding game in Philadelphia.

Which switch-hitting Cardinals catcher of the 1970s entered the Hall of Fame in 2021?

Ted Simmons retired with the National League record for home runs by a switch-hitter, 182, despite spending several years in the American League.

Which Cardinals left-hander lost his control in the 2000 playoffs and returned to the majors as an outfielder?

Rick Ankiel threw five wild pitches in one inning that October, the first man to do so since 1890. As a Cardinals outfielder he later hit 47 home runs.

Which future Hall of Famer did the Cardinals trade to Philadelphia in 1972 after a salary dispute?

Steve Carlton was dealt on Gussie Busch's orders, then won 27 games that year for a last-place club. He went on to four Cy Young Awards.

Which backup catcher on the 1964 champion Cardinals became famous as a comic actor and broadcaster?

Bob Uecker seldom played for St. Louis but earned a ring. He later played the team announcer in the film Major League and a sportswriter father in the sitcom Mr. Belvedere.

Which Cardinals third baseman won the 1971 NL MVP award and later managed the team in the 1990s?

Joe Torre batted .363 with a league-best 137 RBIs in 1971. Fired by St. Louis in 1995, he was hired in the Bronx that November and won four World Series there.

Whose line drive broke Cardinals ace Bob Gibson's leg in July 1967, weeks before his World Series heroics?

Roberto Clemente's liner fractured the leg, yet Gibson faced three more batters before the bone snapped. He returned in September and won three World Series games.

In which Florida town do the Cardinals share a spring training ballpark with the Miami Marlins?

Jupiter's ballpark opened in 1998 and holds fewer than 7,000 fans. The Montreal Expos were the Cardinals' first co-tenants there.

Which team sent third baseman Nolan Arenado and $51 million to the Cardinals in a 2021 trade?

Colorado Rockies management paid part of his salary to move him and got five players back, including pitcher Austin Gomber.

Mark McGwire rejoined the Cardinals in 2010, the year he admitted using steroids, in which job?

Hitting coach was his role for three seasons, in which the Cardinals led the National League in batting average and on-base percentage.

Before the Cardinals name arrived, St. Louis sportswriters gave the 1899 club which short-lived nickname?

Perfectos lasted a single season, when the Robison brothers loaded the roster with stars from their other team, the Spiders, and finished 84–67.

Whose tax evasion case forced him to sell the Cardinals to Anheuser-Busch in 1953?

Fred Saigh pleaded no contest and was sentenced to 15 months in prison. He passed up richer out-of-town bids, including one from Houston, and took the brewery's lower offer.

Which Cardinals outfielder hit four home runs and drove in 12 runs in a single game in 1993?

Mark Whiten tied the single-game records for both home runs and RBIs that night against the Reds, in the second game of a doubleheader.

Which Cardinals utility man, nicknamed the Secret Weapon, appeared at all nine positions in the late 1980s?

José Oquendo covered every spot but catcher in 1987, pitching included, and finally caught in 1988 to complete the set.

Which fiery Cardinals reliever of the 1970s was nicknamed the Mad Hungarian?

Al Hrabosky would turn his back on the batter, pound the ball into his mitt, then storm back and stare the hitter down as the home crowd roared.

The Cardinals retired number 85 to honor brewery boss Gussie Busch; what did the number represent?

His age at the time was 85, an unusual reason to retire a number. Busch had run the club since the brewery bought it in 1953.

Which American League team do the Cardinals meet each year in the interleague rivalry called the I-70 Series?

Kansas City Royals games against the Cardinals are also called the Show-Me Series, after Missouri's nickname. Interstate 70 connects the two cities.

Which national sportscaster began calling Cardinals games in 1991, filling in for his broadcaster father?

Joe Buck first filled in on local radio and television while his father, Jack, worked national telecasts. He kept calling Cardinals games after Fox Sports hired him.

Which pastel road-uniform color from the 1980s did the Cardinals bring back in 2019?

Powder blue returned under the name Victory Blue, worn for Saturday road games. The originals dated from the late 1970s.

Which famous American highway lends its name to the Cardinals' historic rivalry with the Chicago Cubs?

Route 66 ran from Chicago through Missouri on its way to Santa Monica, California, linking the two baseball towns from 1926.

Which Cardinals catcher grew up across the street from Yogi Berra and later co-hosted NBC's Today show?

Joe Garagiola was raised on the Hill, the Italian-American neighborhood of St. Louis, and co-hosted Today from 1967 to 1973.

Whose three-run homer in Los Angeles clinched the 1985 National League pennant for the Cardinals?

Jack Clark hit it in Game 6 of the NLCS. St. Louis had given up four players to get the slugger in a trade that February.

Bob Gibson attended which university on a basketball scholarship before joining the Cardinals?

Creighton gave Gibson a full athletic scholarship for basketball, and he majored in sociology. Omaha later named a street beside its old ballpark for him.

Before a 1994 realignment, the Cardinals and Cubs were both placed in which National League division?

NL East was an odd label for two Midwestern clubs, but the grouping kept their rivalry strong. The Cardinals moved to the new Central division in 1994.

Which slick-fielding Cardinal of the 1940s, nicknamed the Octopus, won the 1944 National League MVP award?

Marty Marion had unusually long arms that reached for grounders like tentacles. He was the first shortstop in National League history to win the award.

Which future Hall of Famer lost 1–0 twice in 1999 to Cardinals rookie José Jiménez, once by no-hitter?

Randy Johnson and the Arizona Diamondbacks were no-hit on June 25. Ten days later Jiménez beat them again by the same score, this time on a two-hitter.

Which manager led the Cardinals to three straight pennants and over 100 wins a year from 1942 to 1944?

Billy Southworth won 106, 105 and 105 games in those seasons and two World Series titles, then took the Boston Braves to the 1948 pennant.