History of the St. Louis Cardinals (1875–1919) facts for kids
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The St. Louis Cardinals are a professional baseball team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They play in the National League (NL) which is part of Major League Baseball (MLB).
Baseball became popular in the United States in the 1800s. St. Louis's first professional team was called the St. Louis Brown Stockings. This team is connected to today's Cardinals. The Brown Stockings joined the National Association (NA) in 1875. This was St. Louis's first fully professional baseball club. However, the NA league ended after that season.
In the winter of 1875, St. Louis and five other teams formed a new league called the National League (NL). They started playing in 1876. The Brown Stockings had early success. But some players were caught in game-fixing scandals. This led to the team going bankrupt and being kicked out of the NL. They lost their professional status. Some players, led by outfielder Ned Cuthbert, kept playing as a semi-professional team until 1881.
Interest in professional baseball grew again in St. Louis. Grocery and brewery owner Chris von der Ahe noticed large crowds watching the local team. He bought the club in 1881. He and other team owners, who also owned breweries, wanted to create a new league. This league would compete with the National League. So, St. Louis became a founding member of the American Association in 1882. This brought professional baseball back to St. Louis.
This Brown Stockings team became the main Major League team in St. Louis. They are now known as the Cardinals. In the American Association, the Cardinals created the first St. Louis sports dynasty. They had the best record in the league every year from 1885 to 1888. They also had the best all-time record in that league's history. They won their first interleague championship (like an early World Series). They beat their rivals, the Chicago White Stockings (now the Chicago Cubs), in the 1886 World Series.
The American Association faced problems and closed after the 1891 season. The St. Louis team, now called the "Browns," rejoined the National League. But their success disappeared. From 1892 to 1920, for 29 seasons, St. Louis had only five winning seasons. They finished in last or next-to-last place 17 times. The club also changed managers 31 times. They changed their name twice, finally becoming the "Cardinals" in 1900. After this long period of struggle, the Cardinals started to win championships again in the 1920s.
Contents
Team Names and Leagues (1875-1919)
This section shows how the team's name and league changed over time.
Team Names
- 1875–1882: St. Louis Brown Stockings
- 1883–1898: St. Louis Browns
- 1899: St. Louis Perfectos
- 1900–present: St. Louis Cardinals
League Affiliations
- 1875: National Association
- 1876–1877: National League
- 1878–1881: Independent – semi-professional
- 1882–1891: American Association
- 1892–present: National League
Early Baseball in St. Louis (1875–1881)
First Professional Teams (1875–1877)
In 1875, St. Louis started two professional teams in the National Association: the Brown Stockings and the Red Stockings. The Red Stockings did not play well and soon disappeared. The Brown Stockings got famous players like Lip Pike, known for his long home runs. Pud Galvin led the NA with a 1.16 ERA in 1875. The Brown Stockings finished their first season with a 39–29–2 record. After five years, the NA league closed down.
After the NA ended, six of its teams, including the Brown Stockings, joined two new teams to form the National League (NL). In 1876, St. Louis improved their record to 45–19, finishing third. George Bradley pitched almost every game for the Brown Stockings that year. He threw the first no-hitter in Major League history. He also led the NL with a 1.23 earned run average (ERA).
Decline and Comeback (1877–1881)
St. Louis was kicked out of the NL after the 1877 season. This was because of a game-fixing scandal involving some players. The team went bankrupt. Even so, they kept playing as a semi-professional team for four years. Outfielder Ned Cuthbert worked hard to keep the team playing games.
A sportswriter named Alfred Henry Spink worked to bring professional baseball back to St. Louis. The team's play helped fans get excited about the sport again. Cuthbert got the attention of Chris von der Ahe, a local saloon and grocery store owner. Before the 1882 season, Von der Ahe bought the Brown Stockings. He made Spink the team's secretary and business manager. Von der Ahe and other owners formed a new league called the American Association. This league was a rival to the National League.
American Association Era (1882–1891)
St. Louis finally found consistent success in Major League baseball starting in 1882. This was their first year in the American Association (AA). They finished fifth with a 37–43 record. In 1883, the team's name was officially shortened to the Browns. They became one of the league's best teams, finishing second.
Led by manager Charlie Comiskey, the Browns became the top team in the league. They won four championships in a row from 1885 to 1888.
Championship Run (1885–1888)
During their four-year championship run, pitcher Bob Caruthers and outfielder Tip O'Neill were star players for the Browns. O'Neill won the first batting triple crown in team history in 1887. This means he led the league in batting average (.435), home runs (14), and runs batted in (123). He also led the league in many other hitting categories.
In 1885, Caruthers won 40 games and had a 2.07 earned run average, both best in the AA. The next year, Caruthers also played in the outfield and was one of the AA's best hitters. Dave Foutz was another great player who could both pitch and hit well. In 1886, he led the AA with a 2.11 ERA and won 41 games. Pitcher Silver King had an amazing 45–20 record with a 1.63 ERA in 1888. His pitching performance that year is one of the best in baseball history.
The Browns had their best winning percentages in 1885 (.705) and 1887 (.704). They finished with a winning percentage of .625 or better eight times. The Browns played in all ten seasons of the American Association. They had 780 wins and 432 losses, which is a .689 winning percentage. Both their win total and winning percentage are league records. Their four championships are also the most in league history.
Early World Series and AA's End
Because they won the AA championships, the Browns played in an early version of the World Series from 1885 to 1888. In these games, the AA champion played the NL champion. The Browns played against the Chicago White Stockings (now the Chicago Cubs) in the first two World Series. The 1885 series ended in a tie. But St. Louis won the 1886 series outright. This started a strong St. Louis-Chicago rivalry that still exists today. The 1886 World Series was the only one won by an AA team. In 1887, St. Louis lost to the Detroit Wolverines. In 1888, they lost to the New York Giants.
The Browns' best years were ending. They would not win another AA championship. But they remained one of the league's strongest teams until the end. They finished second twice and third once in the next three seasons. On the last day of the 1891 season, pitcher Ted Breitenstein threw a no-hitter. This was his first Major League start. It was also the first no-hitter in team history. And it was the last no-hitter in the American Association, as the league went bankrupt after the 1891 season. The Browns then moved to the National League. They left behind much of their success for the next three decades.
Early National League Struggles (1892–1919)
After the American Association collapsed, the Browns joined the National League. St. Louis has been in the NL ever since. Unfortunately, the Browns had to let other NL teams choose their best players first. Manager Charlie Comiskey left for the Cincinnati Reds. Without Comiskey, the Browns' first season in the National League in 1892 was disappointing. They had only their second losing record as a professional team. Their winning percentage dropped sharply.
This began a long period of struggle for the team. Between 1892 and 1919, St. Louis had only five winning seasons. They finished in last or next-to-last place 16 times. They never won a championship and had four seasons with 100 or more losses. Also, 26 different managers led the team during this time.
In 1893, the team moved to a new park called "New Sportsman's Park". But the team still struggled to find the success they had in the American Association. Their worst season was 1897, when they finished 29–102. This .221 winning percentage is still the worst in team history.
After years of poor performance and losing money, a big fire at New Sportsman's Park in 1898 destroyed the stadium. This forced the team into bankruptcy. Owner Chris von der Ahe had to sell the team. Frank Robison, who also owned the Cleveland Spiders, bought the team. His brother, Stanley Robison, became co-owner.
Hoping to change the team's luck, Robison gave them new uniforms with cardinal red trim in 1899. He also dropped the "Browns" name. Local sportswriters started calling them the "Perfectos." Robison also moved many talented players from his Cleveland Spiders team to St. Louis. Three future Hall of Famers, Cy Young, Jesse Burkett, and Bobby Wallace, came to St. Louis. This helped the Perfectos finish fifth in both 1899 and 1900. Their 84–67 record in 1899 was the team's best until 1921.
Meanwhile, the Cleveland Spiders had a terrible year in 1899, losing 134 games. After that season, the National League reduced the number of teams from twelve to eight. This opened the door for a new league, the American League (AL), to form and compete with the NL. The AL became a very strong league, similar to the NL.
During a road trip to Chicago, a sportswriter heard a fan say, "Oh, isn't that a lovely shade of cardinal" about the team's new uniforms. Fans liked the name "Cardinals." The next year, in 1900, the team officially changed its name to Cardinals.
A New Rival: The St. Louis Browns
In 1902, an American League team moved to St. Louis from Milwaukee. This team took the old name of Browns. This created an instant rivalry that lasted for five decades. The new Browns were popular in St. Louis. They often had more fans than the Cardinals, even though both teams had similar success.
In 1911, Helene Hathaway Britton inherited the Cardinals from her father. She became the first female owner of a professional sports team in United States history. She renamed the Cardinals' stadium Robison Field in memory of her father. Britton owned the Cardinals until 1917, when she sold her shares to a group of investors. This group included her attorney James C. Jones and a car dealer named Sam Breadon.
Financial Struggles and a New Era
The Cardinals had little money, so they struggled to sign good players. Kid Nichols pitched and managed for the Cardinals in 1904. Miller Huggins was a player-manager who led the league in walks twice. Slim Sallee pitched for the Cardinals from 1908 to 1916, winning 106 games.
In 1914, the team surprised everyone by finishing third. This was their best finish in the National League since 1876. Pitcher Bill Doak led the NL with a 1.76 ERA. He also finished second in shutouts and wins. Doak is credited with designing the modern baseball glove in 1919. He suggested adding a web between the thumb and forefinger to create a pocket.
The team still needed a strong leader for baseball operations. In 1917, the Cardinals convinced Branch Rickey, who was then president of the Browns, to join them. Rickey became president and business manager of the Cardinals. He was reluctant at first because the Cardinals were struggling financially. But he wanted to stay in St. Louis with his family.
After finishing near the bottom of the NL in 1916, the 1917 Cardinals tried to match their 1914 success. Rogers Hornsby, a young slugging second baseman, was becoming a star. He led the NL in slugging percentage and on-base plus slugging (OPS).
Sam Breadon, the car dealer who owned a small part of the team, started to invest more money. He became chairman of the board. In late 1919, Breadon became the team president, replacing Rickey. Rickey then became vice president. He also continued to manage the team on the field until 1925.
Rickey was very good at finding and developing new players. He and Breadon worked well together. Breadon trusted Rickey with player decisions. This partnership became one of the most powerful in sports. Rickey soon developed a new system for finding and training players, called a farm system. This system helped the Cardinals become a dominant team again in the 1920s.
For the next historic period, see: 1920–1952.
1875–1919 | 1920–1952 | 1953–1989 | 1990–present
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