St. Louis Cardinals Hats

• The Cardinals received their nickname from a fan commenting on the beautiful "cardinal shade of red", it was not until later that the Cardinal bird actually became the team mascot and logo.
• The Cardinals have won 9 World Series titles in 16 appearances, with their first coming in 1926 and the last Championship coming in 1982.
• In 1985, as the Cardinals face their interstate rivals the Kansas City Royals leading the series 3-2, a missed call by the umpire rules Jorge Orta safe at first base. This play sparks a rally by the Royals forcing a game 7 in which the Royals spank the Cards 11-0, in what goes down as one of the most controversial World Series ever.
• On September 8, 1998 Mark “Big Mac” McGwire hit his 62nd home run of the season to pass the single season home run record set by Roger Maris in 1961. He would go on to hit a total of 70 homers that year. It took 37 years for Maris’ record to fall, but only 3 years for Barry Bonds to set it at 73 (but Bonds holds another distinction as being one of the most hated players in Baseball). Buy Cardinals Tickets With Mark McGwire retiring the year before many people would think the Cardinals would struggle without the home run hitting power house. The Cardinals however were able to combat Big Mac’s absence with some strong replacements. Albert Pujols backed up his Rookie of the Year award by hitting 185 times and crushing 34 HRs and 127RBIs. Mid season the longtime voice of the Cardinals Jack Buck died after a battle with cancer. Just 4 days later 33 year old starting pitcher Darryl Kile was found dead in a Chicago hotel. After understandably struggling after the losses the Cardinals dedicate the rest of their season to their fallen friends and won the Central Division. Scott Rolen was acquired in a blockbuster trade and helped the Cardinals down the stretch. St. Louis swept the Arizona Diamondbacks in the NLDS only to get knocked off by the San Francisco Giants in the NLCS bringing an end to their season of ups and downs. Despite injuries plaguing the starting rotation the Cardinals were able to remain in the 3 team race for the NL Central crown. Again Pujols would lead the team with a .359 average, 43 homers and 124 RBIs and would finish 2nd in NL MVP voting. Putting the disappointing 2003 season behind them the Cardinals acquired some help for the next year in Julian Tavarez and Marlon Anderson. Tony Womack was also brought in right before the 2004 season to fill the void at second base left after Fernando Vina left town. It turns out the Cardinals were building a strong team for the next season. 105 wins had not been achieved by any Cardinals team since 1944. 60 years later in 2004 the Cardinals reach this feat once again as they win the NL Central handily. The Cards put up massive numbers in 2004 thanks to the bats of Albert Pujols, Scott Rolen, and Jim Edmonds, along with the late season addition of Larry Walker. In the NLDS against the LA Dodgers the Cardinals ripped the ball apart as the won the series in 4 games. The NLCS brought the red hot Astros of Houston into Busch. This series would show that home field does give a team an advantage as the home team would win all 7 games and advance the Cardinals to their first World Series since 1987. Their opponents the Boston Red Sox were coming off the greatest comeback in sports history, a 3-0 series deficit to the New York Yankees, and were playing as well as anyone had all year. After a slugfest in game one bats would cool off and the Cardinals would be swept by the BOSox. Some off season transactions rid the Cardinals of three key players including Edgar Renteria to their World Series opponent the Red Sox, Tony Womack to the high paying New York Yankees, and Mike Matheny to the San Francisco Giants. Replacing Renteria the Cardinals signed free agent David Eckstein of the Angels and moved 2nd year Yadier Molina, who had a solid rookie season as a backup, into the catcher spot for Matheny.