UPDATED FOR THIS COLUMN THROUGH THE START OF 2011 WORLD SERIES!
One of my pet peeves is the absence of handy reference material for historic occasions when you need them – and no situation is more irritating in that regard than World Series time when we have a club like the New York Yankees or the St. Louis Cardinals playing and all the blah-blah talk starts about their numerous previous appearances with only oblique or incomplete mention of their earlier records in same.
To remedy that missing feature in 2011, here are the bare bones records of the St. Louis Cardinals and the Texas Rangers in their prior times on the World Series docket through 2010:
ST. LOUIS CARDINALS: 17 World Series Appearances; 10 World Series Championships.
DATES, FOES, & RESULTS IN GAMES WON & LOST (WITH SERIES WINS IN BOLD TYPE):
1926 vs. New York Yankees, Won, 4-3.
1928 vs. New York Yankees, Lost, 4-0.
1930 vs. Philadelphia Athletics, Lost, 4-2.
1931 vs. Philadelphia Athletics, Won, 4-3.
1934 vs. Detroit Tigers, Won, 4-3.
1942 vs. New York Yankees, Won, 4-1.
1943 vs. New York Yankees, Lost, 4-1.
1944 vs. St. Louis Browns, Won, 4-2.
1946 vs. Boston Red Sox, Won, 4-3.
1964 vs. New York Yankees, Won, 4-3.
1967 vs. Boston Red Sox, Won, 4-3.
1968 vs. Detroit Tigers, Lost, 4-3.
1982 vs. Milwaukee Brewers, Won, 4-3.
1985 vs. Kansas City Royals, Lost, 4-3.
1987 vs. Minnesota Twins, Lost 4-3.
2004 vs. Boston Red Sox, Lost, 4-0.
2006 vs. Detroit Tigers, Won, 4-1.
TEXAS RANGERS: 1 World Series Appearance; 0 World Series Championships.
2010 vs. San Francisco Giants, Lost, 4-1.
2011 represents the 18th World Series appearance by the St. Louis Cardinals and the 2nd by the Texas Rangers. It should be duly noted, as baseball historian Cliff Blau points out in his comment upon this column, that this particular “Cardinal” franchise was known as the Browns during the 19th century and that they were involved in four pre-moder era world championship series as such from 1855 to 1888, winning the first two, although the 1885 victory was disputed. My reporting begins with the Modern Era (1900) and only covers the period of the modern World Series games played between the National and American Leagues, most often annually, from 1903 through the present time.
Historical Note Two: The original St. Louis Browns were members of the American Association from 1883-1891 before moving to the National League in 1892 and continuing their original identity as the Browns through 1897. After two full seasons of play as the St. Louis Perfectos (1898-1899), the franchise changed its name to the St. Louis Cardinals in 1900 and the rest is history. They’ve been the Cardinals ever since.
What about those American League Brown? Easy. When the original Milwaukee Brewers of the new American League moved their franchise into the hands of competitive St. Louis interests in 1902, they also changed their mascot identity to Browns as an act of taunting competition with the National League Cardinals. The Cardinals and Browns were St. Louis competitors from 1902 through 1953 when economics finally won out in favor of the National League red birds. The Browns moved east in 1954, becoming the Baltimore Orioles that they have remained through this day.
As for the 2011 World Series, I say, “Go Cardinals! Go Rangers!” For the next week or so, you two clubs have the undivided attention of our large little baseball world. Please give us a Series that we will hate to say goodbye to when it’s done. The winter is a long time to spend staring out windows and waiting for spring as your first World Series manager, Rogers Hornsby, once described his personal formula for getting through the off-season. The time passes easier when we have a few thrilling plays and performances from a dramatic World Series to reflect upon during the long gray cold days of winter.
Tags: St. Louis Cardinals, Texas Rangers, World Series Records
The Pecan Park Eagle 
October 19, 2011 at 4:04 pm |
Bill, as always, enjoying the work your doing! But this world series appearance by the cardinals is the 18th time they’ve been to the fall classic! You missed the 1987 series when the twins beat the cards in 7 games. kirby puckett had an incredible year, leading the AL with 207 hits while posting a .332 average.Take care, keep up the great work!
October 19, 2011 at 4:26 pm |
Thanks, Shaun!
I’ve made the corrections in the column. Errors are what you get when you work in a hurry with no editorial oversight. My bad.
Bill
October 20, 2011 at 1:52 am |
The Cardinals also played in the World Series from 1885-1888, winning the first two (although the 1885 championship was disputed).
October 20, 2011 at 12:49 pm |
Cliff:
I should have clarified that my accounting was going to start with the modern era (1900) and that my data would only include facts from the contemporary World Series period. As per usual, thanks for keeping all of us with both feet anchored to the literal base of the game’s total history.