History


 
Cardinals Timeline
CARDINALS TIMELINE
1892-1900 | 1901-1925 | 1926-1950 | 1951-1975 | 1976-2000 | 2001-Present
Timeline
1952  - In late 1952, when it appeared that Fred Saigh might sell the club to out-of-town interests who might seek to move it, Anheuser-Busch, Inc., led by its president, August A. Busch Jr., stepped in and purchased the club. The sale was announced on February 20, 1953.
1953  - Bill Veeck, owner of the A.L. Browns knew as soon as the sale of the Cardinals to Anheuser-Busch, Inc. was announced, he would seek to sale his team. Veeck negotiated the sale of Sportsman's Park to A-B on April 9. Following the 1953 season, the park was renovated and renamed Busch Stadium. The Browns were sold to a group of Baltimore investors and left St. Louis to become the Orioles.
1954  - Musial hit five home runs in a May 2 double-header against the Giants at Busch Stadium.
1957  - Musial established an N.L. endurance record by extending his streak of consecutive games played to 895 before being forced to the bench by injury. The mishap occurred at Philadelphia on August 22, when he tore a muscle and chipped a bone in his shoulder blade as he swung at and missed a high, outside pitch. He won the batting title with a .351 average.
1958  - Musial, pinch-hitting in the sixth inning, doubled against the Cubs at Wrigley Field on May 13 to collect his 3,000th career hit. Curt Flood played 121 games in his rookie campaign.
1962  - Musial, nearing his 42nd birthday, made a bid for his eighth batting title by hitting .330, but Tommy Davis of the Los Angeles Dodgers won the crown with a .346 mark. Twenty-three-year-old Bob Gibson was recalled from the minors.
1963  - Musial, who won seven N.L. batting titles in his 22-year career with the Cardinals and had a lifetime average of .331, announced his retirement. His famous No. 6 became the first Cardinal number to be retired on September 29. The All-Star infield of Julian Javier, Dick Groat, Ken Boyer and Bill White set the tone for 1964.
1964  - St. Louis won its first National League pennant in 18 years and defeated the New York Yankees four games to three to win the World Series. It was a team effort as Bob Gibson won two games; Ken Boyer hit a grand slam to win the fourth game; Tim McCarver, who batted a Series-high .478, smashed a 10th-inning home run to win the fifth game; and Ron Taylor and Roger Craig combined for 9.2 scoreless innings of relief.
1966  - The Cardinals ended a 47-year stay in old Busch Stadium, closing out the old ballpark in a 10-5 loss to San Francisco May 8. After a two-game series in Chicago, the Cardinals returned home May 12 to Busch Memorial Stadium, their new 50,000-seat ballpark in downtown St. Louis where the Cardinals christened the new playground with a 12-inning, 5-4 win over Atlanta. The Cardinals also hosted the All-Star game in their new park in July.
1967  - The Cardinals won 101 games and rolled to the pennant by a margin of 10-1/2 games. Bob Gibson pitched three complete-game victories and Lou Brock put on one of the finest offensive displays in World Series history as the Cardinals were crowned World Champions by defeating the Boston Red Sox, four games to three.
1968  - The Cards won their second straight pennant as Bob Gibson was nearly invincible with a 22-9 record, leading the NL with a 1.12 earned run average, 268 strikeouts and 13 shutouts as he captured the NL Most Valuable Player award and became the first Cardinal ever to win the Cy Young Award. In World Series play, the Cardinals led three games to one, but the Detroit Tigers rallied to win the last three contests and claim their first World Championship since 1945.
1971  - Joe Torre led the NL in hitting (.363), hits (230) and runs batted in (137) while popping 24 homers on his way to the NL Most Valuable Player award. Bob Gibson threw a no-hitter at Pittsburgh on Aug. 14, Steve Carlton went 20-9, and Lou Brock led the NL with 64 stolen bases, becoming the first Major League player to steal 50 or more in seven consecutive seasons.
1974  - Lou Brock stole 118 bases to break Maury Wills’ single-season mark and moved from ninth to second on the all-time career stolen base list, while Bob Gibson struck out the 3,000th batter of his career. The Cardinals drew more than 1,800,000 fans, the third-highest home attendance in their history.