Busch Stadium - St. Louis Cardinals

​The St. Louis Cardinals are members of the Central Division in the National League of Major League Baseball. The Cardinals have won a National League record 10 World Series championships, second only to the New York Yankees (who have 27) in Major League Baseball.

The Cardinals were founded in the American Association in 1882 as the St. Louis Brown Stockings, taking the name from an earlier National League team. They joined the National League in 1892 and have been known as the Cardinals since 1900. The Cardinals began play in the current Busch Stadium in 2006, becoming the first team since 1923 (NYY) to win the World Series in their first season in a new ballpark. The Cardinals have a strong rivalry with the Chicago Cubs that began with the 1885 World Series.

The Cardinals play their home games at Busch Stadium in downtown St. Louis. Busch Stadium, also called Busch III, opened for the 2006 season at a cost of $346 million and can hold 46,861 people.The Cardinals finished their inaugural season in the new Busch Stadium by winning the 2006 World Series, becoming the first team since the 1923 New York Yankees to win the World Series in their first season in a new ballpark. The ballpark has numerous statues of great former Cardinal players outside, including the iconic statue of Stan Musial in front of the third base entrance.

Busch Stadium is the Cardinals' fourth home ballpark and the third to be named Busch Stadium. The Cardinals' original home ballpark was Sportsman's Park from 1882–1893 when they were playing in the American Association and known as the Browns. During 1893, the Cardinals moved to a new ballpark originally called New Sportsman's Park but more commonly remembered as Robison Field which served as their home from 1893–1920. During 1920 the Cardinals returned to the original Sportsman's Park and became tenants of their crosstown rivals, the St. Louis Browns. In 1953, the Cardinals were purchased by the Anheuser-Busch Brewery and the new owner subsequently purchased Sportsman's Park from the Browns and renamed it Busch Stadium, becoming Busch I. The Browns then left St. Louis for Baltimore after the season. The Cardinals moved to Busch Memorial Stadium, or Busch II, in downtown St. Louis during the 1966 season and played there until 2005. It was built as the multi-purpose home of both the baseball Cardinals and the St. Louis football Cardinals, now the Arizona Cardinals. The current Busch Stadium was constructed immediately south of and partly on top of the site of Busch Memorial Stadium.

The start of the new millennium coincided with a new era of success for the Cardinals as the team, led primarily by Albert Pujols, won the NL Central in six of seven years. The Cardinals would fall short in the post-season in 2000, 2001, and 2002 before missing the playoffs altogether in 2003. However, in 2004 the Cardinals won 105 games as they amassed the best record in baseball. They then defeated the Dodgers in the NLDS and the Houston Astros in a seven game NLCS to reach the 2004 World Series against the Boston Red Sox. However, the Cardinals were swept and because the American League had home-field advantage, having won the All-Star Game, the Cardinals ended up seeing Curse of the Bambino broken on their field.

The Cardinals won 100 games and another Central Division title in 2005, but lost in an NLCS rematch to the Astros. The Cardinals moved to the new Busch Stadium in 2006 and finally overcame the playoffs. Despite winning only 83 games during the season, the Cardinals defeated the San Diego Padres in the NLDS and the New York Mets in a seven game NLCS. In the 2006 World Series, the Cardinals faced the heavily-favored Detroit Tigers, but won in five games for the franchise's tenth World Series title.[9]

On August 22, 2009 they defeated the San Diego Padres for the 10,000th win in franchise history, becoming only the 4th team to accomplish the feat, after the San Francisco Giants, Chicago Cubs, and Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Cardinals became the first Major League Baseball club to clinch a Division title in 2009, beating the Colorado Rockies on September 26. Despite having the fewest total victories of the 4 National League clubs headed towards postseason play, the Cardinals were considered as strong contenders for the league pennant because of their strong starting pitching and offense. The Cardinals were however swept in three games by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the best-of-five National League Division Series. The Cardinals lost the NLDS despite having beaten the Dodgers 5 out of 7 times in the regular season.

The 2009 season also saw 3 Cardinal players leading the National League in 3 major categories. First baseman Albert Pujols's 47 home runs was tops in the majors, pitcher Adam Wainwright's 19 wins was the most in the National League (and tied for most in the majors with 3 American League pitchers), while Chris Carpenter's ERA of 2.24 was the lowest in the National League (and second in the majors to Zach Greinke of the Cards' cross-state rival Kansas City Royals). Both Wainwright and Carpenter are regarded as strong candidates for the Cy Young Award, while Pujols is regarded as one of the favorites to win the MVP award. On October 5, 2009, Carpenter was named the National League's Comeback Player of the Year.