The St. Louis Cardinals are one of the National League's flagship franchises, playing at Busch Stadium in front of a fan base widely regarded as among the most knowledgeable and passionate in baseball. With a history stretching back to the 19th century, the "Best Fans in Baseball" have watched the Redbirds win championships across nearly every era of the sport, from the Gashouse Gang to the Cardinal Way. Few cities identify with their baseball team the way St. Louis does with the Cardinals.
Founded in 1882 as the St. Louis Brown Stockings, the franchise later became the Cardinals and built one of the National League's richest championship traditions, winning 11 World Series titles from 1926 through 2011. Legends including Rogers Hornsby, Stan Musial, Bob Gibson, Ozzie Smith, and Albert Pujols have defined different generations of Cardinals baseball, and the franchise's player-development pipeline has long been considered a model franchise-building approach known as "the Cardinal Way."
Source: RateGame Editorial