2006 St. Louis Cardinals

Congratulations to all the participants in the 2006 World Series and especially to the players and fans of the St. Louis Cardinals, who won the national championship by defeating the Detroit Tigers four games to one!

After a dominating performance in the 2005 MLB season, the St. Louis Cardinals should have been poised to make another strong showing in 2006. The Cardinals finished the 2005 regular season with 100 wins and a .617 win average, placing them not just at the top of the National League Central but at the top of Major League Baseball. Unfortunately for the Cards, that did not translate to a World Series berth, so St. Louis baseball fans were hoping to see even more improvements in the Cardinals' game this season. Injuries and streakiness, including a 7-game downhill slide at the end of the season instead left the Cards with only 83 in the win column.

Once in the playoffs, their luck took a turn for the better. They eliminated the San Diego Padres, took the NLCS from the New York Mets, and finally, dominated the Detroit Tigers to win their first World Series since 1982. That makes 10 such titles for the St. Louis Cardinals, now second only to the New York Yankees in World Series victories.Tickets to the new Busch Stadium will keep on selling like hotcakes - don't miss your chance to catch the St. Louis Cardinals in action in 2007!

The best record in Major League Baseball also belonged to the St. Louis Cardinals in 2004--they owned everyone they played until they ran into the Boston Red Sox juggernaut in the World Series.

The St. Louis Cardinals franchise is one of the oldest and most storied teams in all of baseball. The Cardinals organization has been a member of the National League since 1892, formally assuming the name "Cardinals" in 1900. The team has won a total of nine World Series Championships in its history, the last one coming in 1982.

There are 36 Hall of Fame "Cards" who played part or all of their careers with the St. Louis Cardinals. Four of the most famous are Stan Musial, Lou Brock, Bob Gibson, and Ozzie Smith. Musial was a lefty who could hit for power, but always had a high batting average, and he is known as one of the best hitters of all time. Brock was one of the speediest players in history, at one time having the all-time stolen base record. Gibson was an overpowering and intimidating right-handed pitcher who is first in wins (251), complete games (255), shutouts (56), innings pitched (3,884.1) and strikeouts (3,117) in the Cardinals record book. Ozzie Smith is known as one of the best defensive shortstops of all time. The current team plays in the National League Central against such rivals as the Houston Astros, Cincinnati Reds, and their biggest rival, the Chicago Cubs.

The Cardinals are managed by former Oakland A's manager Tony La Russa. La Russa was a lawyer and is now regarded by his peers as one of the game's top managers. His honors had included Manager of the Year recognition in four seasons, two N.L. Central Division titles, most recently in 2002, five A.L. Western Division titles, three A.L. pennants and one World Series Championship. Of course, those totals were increased along the road to the Cardinals’ 2006 Word Series victory.

The team is led by its solid number one starter, Chris Carpenter, and by its powerful offense. Cardinal's ticket holders are always treated to an offensive explosion, led by Scott Rolen, Jim Edmonds, and Albert Pujols. Pujols has been an MVP candidate since he first entered the league in 2001. He has played 3rd base, 1st base and the outfield for the Cardinals, but no matter where he is playing defense, his offense is unparalleled among right-handed hitters in the National League. In the postseason, yet another name was on everyone’s lips; shortstop David Eckstein provided both excellent defense and game-winning hits to become the MVP of the World Series.

Since 1966, Cardinals' ticket holders have been going to baseball games at Busch Stadium. Named for its owners, the Busch family, the stadium has been one of the best places to watch baseball since it opened. Recent improvements include the installation in 1997 of a hand-operated scoreboard flanked by flag decks commemorating the club's World Series Championships and retired numbers, the return in 1996 to a natural-grass playing surface, which replaced the artificial turf that had been in place since 1970, the opening in 1996 of the Family Pavilion, featuring a variety of games and attractions for families and children, and Homer's Landing, a picnic area located above the bullpen in left-center field, and the return of a more traditional "ballpark green" color scheme for the outfield fence and stadium trim. In 2006, the team played in a new Busch Stadium, which was built even as the former ballpark next door was being dismantled.