St. Louis Cardinals Tickets

In 1882, the St. Louis Cardinals entered the American Association as the Brown Stockings; and in 1892, the Brown Stockings joined the National League. They changed their name to the Cardinals in 1900. The Cardinals played in Busch Stadium II until 2005, when the team moved to Busch Stadium III. The Cards have taken the World Series championship eleven times, most recently in 2011. They’ve played in 18 World Series, tying it for most World Series appearances by a National League team with the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants. Famous Cardinals include Cy Young, Rogers Hornsby, Bob Gibson, Whitey Herzog, Stan "The Man" Musial, and Dizzy Dean.

Busch Stadium III, Home to the St. Louis Cardinals

The third incarnation of Busch Stadium has 61 luxury boxes and 3,706 club seats. On April 10, 2006, the official opening day of the stadium, the Cardinals beat the Milwaukee Brewers 6 to 4 behind the home run power of Albert Pujols and the pitching of Mark Mulder. On October 28, 2011, 47,399 fans watched as the Cardinals won their eleventh World Series. Busch Stadium III was also host to the 2009 All-Star Game. The University of Missouri plays one game per year at Busch III. Popular performing artists such as the Eagles, Dave Matthews Band, and U2 have all performed at the stadium.

St. Louis Cardinals and the National League Central

The St. Louis Cardinals are members of the NL Central, which also includes the Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds, Houston Astros, Milwaukee Brewers, and Pittsburgh Pirates. They have won eight division titles, along with three National League pennants and two World Series championships. The Cardinals’ fiercest rivalry is with the Chicago Cubs, who too are in the NL Central, but they also have a rivalry with the Kansas City Royals (of the AL Central). Both the Cards and the Royals are based in Missouri, and their interleague games are dubbed the I-70 series, after a major thoroughfare between the two locales.

St. Louis Cardinals 2012 Team Outlook

For the St. Louis Cardinals, 2011 was a storybook year with a fairytale ending, but the offseason quickly turned into a tragedy when their franchise superstar, Albert Pujols, decided to leave the only team he has ever known in order to sign a $254 million contract with the Los Angeles Angels. The Cardinals did sign Carlos Beltran to help replace some of Pujols' offensive prowess, but Pujols is a once-in-a-lifetime player-he is irreplaceable. Despite this considerable loss, the Cardinals are the defending World Series champions and will have much of their team back in 2012. This includes ace pitcher Adam Wainwright, who missed the entire 2011 season in order to recover from Tommy John surgery. Pujols is a big loss, no doubt, but the Cardinals can win without him.