The St. Louis Cardinals were founded in 1882 and moved to the National League in the 1892 with earlier the team names as St. Louis Brown Stockings (1882), St. Louis Browns (1883- 1898) and St. Louis Perfectos (1899). The St. Louis Republic sportswriter William McHale started calling the team the "Cardinals" and by 1900 the nick was accepted.  During the 1940s, the Cardinals dominated the National League. The 1960s brought three National League pennants to St. Louis. In 1964, Cardinals proved themselves as a strong team, sprawling the Phillies by 6 1/2 games and finished atop the NL and won the World Series.

After a less-than-successful 1970s, new Cardinal manager Whitey Herzog revived the winning tradition at Busch Stadium. In his 11 years as Cardinal manager, Herzog won three National League pennants, and a 1982 World Series title.

The Cardinals reached the playoffs 1996, but the Atlanta Braves defeated them for the National League pennant. In 1998 Cardinals' first baseman Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa of the Chicago Cubs battled to set the record for most home runs in one season.

In 2004, St. Louis posted the best record in the National League, and their most wins since the 1940s, earning home advantage for the NLDS and NLCS.

The Cardinals have Busch Stadium as their home arena since 1966. The stadium will be demolished, to be replaced by a new 46,000-seat ball park scheduled to open in April 2006.

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