St. Louis Cardinals
American Association (1882-1891)
National League (1892-Present)

(a.k.a. St. Louis Browns, 1882-1898)
(a.k.a. St. Louis Perfectos, 1899)

In 1881 a new club, the St. Louis Browns, began playing games on the field which had been vacated by the Brown Stockings after they dropped out of the National League. In 1882, the club became a founding member of an upstart major league, the American Association. Though the Association lasted only until 1891, four of its clubs still survive in the National League today, including the St. Louis franchise, which transferred to the NL in 1892. In 1898, Chris Von der Ahe, the Browns original owner, was forced to sell the club. The new owners changed the club colors, and in 1899 the team became known as the Cardinals. The rest is a history which has been told often in books. The Gashouse Gang, El Birdos, and Whiteyball have all earned their place in baseball's lore.

What follows is an overview of the early history of the St. Louis Cardinals franchise, starting with its ten years in the American Association and going through to the end of the nineteenth century. This period of the Cards history is often overlooked in many histories of the club, but the early years of the team saw both some of the best and the worst of baseball in St. Louis. The St. Louis franchise was a dominent force in the American Association in the 1880's, but as good as they were in the 1880's, they were just as bad in the 1890's. By the end of the century, only a wholesale team swap kept the Cardinals in the National League. The team on the other end of the deal suffered through the worst season in history and was dropped from the league.

Part 1: The origin of the American Association
Part 2: The early years in the AA (1882-1884)
Part 3: The glory years, Act I (1885-1886)
Part 4: The glory years, Act II (1887-1888)
Part 5: The fall from the top (1889)
Part 6: The Player's Revolt (1890)
Part 7: The end of the American Association (1891)
Part 8: The Browns in the National League (1892-1898)

The season-by-season record for the St. Louis Browns in the American Association
Year    Won    Lost      GB         Place        Manager         
1882     37     43       18     5th out of 6     Ned Cuthbert
1883     65     33        1     2nd out of 8     Ted Sullivan
                                                 Charles Comiskey
1884     67     40        8     4th out of 13    Jimmy Williams
                                                 Charles Comiskey
1885     79     33     (16 up)  1st out of 8     Charles Comiskey     Tied Chicago 3-3-1 in WS
1886     93     46     (12 up)  1st out of 8     Charles Comiskey     Beat Chicago 4-2 in WS
1887     95     40     (14 up)  1st out of 8     Charles Comiskey     Lost to Detroit 10-5 in WS
1888     92     43    (6.5 up)  1st out of 8     Charles Comiskey     Lost to New York 6-4 in WS
1889     90     45        2     2nd out of 8     Charles Comiskey
1890     78     58       12     3rd out of 9     Count Campau
                                                 Joe Gerhardt
                                                 John Kerins
                                                 Tommy McCarthy
                                                 Chief Roseman
1891     86     52      8.5     2nd out of 9     Charles Comiskey
10 yrs  782    433    (.644)

Part 9: A new beginning, the St. Louis Cardinals

Following the demise of the American Association after the 1891 season, four teams from that league, including the Browns, joined the National League before the 1892 season. The St. Louis franchise did not fare well in the nineties, in part due to poor management by Von der Ahe. The club was sold after the 1898 season to G. Gruner, who immediately sold it to Frank and Stanley Robison. The Robisons also owned the Cleveland Spiders in the National League, and they proceeded to switch the best players from Cleveland to St. Louis prior to the 1899 season, including future Hall of Famers Cy Young, Jeese Burkett, and Bobby Wallace. (Basically the entire teams were swapped.) The Spiders went 20-134 in 1899 and were shown the door out of the league. The Robisons changed the St. Louis team's uniforms, adding bright red trim and red socks, and the rest is history!

The story is that the Robisons changed the uniforms to remove the bad memories of Von der Ahe's Browns. Early in the 1899 season, a female fan in the stands, observing the uniforms, remarked, "Oh, what a lovely shade of cardinal." A sportswriter with the St. Louis Republic, William McHale, overheard the remark and began using the name in print. Officially, the St. Louis team was known as the Perfectos in the national media in 1899, and they became the Cardinals in 1900.

For further details on the Cardinals successes and failiures in the 20th century, I refer you to any of the numerous other web pages out there (some of which are given below). Maybe I'll add more details later to my own site.

The year-by-year record for the St. Louis Cardinals from 1892 to 1996.

The St. Louis Cardinals Player Database

The St. Louis Cardinals Player Database is now online! Search for players by name, team, or season, for both the major club and the minor league system (1993-present in progress). The database includes transactions, major league stats, and minor league stats from Cardinals farm clubs since 1993. (The minor league database is in progress, and only includes AAA stats before 1998.)

All-time Cardinals Rosters

Can't tell your Redbirds without a score card? Check out these team rosters!
Team Roster National League (1892-Present) Updated for 1997.
Team Roster American Association (1882-1891)

Here are statistics for Hall of Famers who played in St. Louis.

St. Louis and the minors
The Cardinals franchise under Branch Rickey is credited with developing the modern concept of the farm system. Here is a brief overview of the Cardinals minor league system.

The draft was instituted in 1965 as a means to control the bonis paid to new players by ending the bidding wars between teams. Since 1965, the Cards have had decent success with their top picks each year. Here is a brief summary of the Cardinals draft choices through the years.

St. Louis transactions
Ever wondered how the Cards got Scipio Spinks, or what happed to the memorable Joaquin Andujar? For a listing of Cardinals from 1960 to the present, along with a notation about how they joined the Cards and where they went next, take a look at this page of Cardinals Transactions.
The transactions database is searchable. Go here for search capabilities.

Baseball cards

I'm slowly compiling for the web lists of baseball cards of players for the Cardinals. Here are the lists I have completed so far. More sets will be added as I process them.
The Searchable Cardinals Baseball Card Database

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