The St. Louis Cardinals will play in the World Series for the 19th time. Here is a list of their previous appearances:
—TV schedule for 2013 World Series
2011: Beat Texas Rangers 4-3. What became the Cardinals' 11th World Series victory appeared to be destined to be the Rangers' first. But Chris Carpenter and his compatriots had other ideas. The Cardinals came off the deck in Game 6, erasing a two-run deficit in the ninth on a triple by David Freese, and again in the 10th. Freese then delivered an 11th-inning walkoff homer. Albert Pujols had three homers in Game 3. He would depart after the season.
2006: Beat Detroit Tigers 4-1. Manager Tony La Russa bring another talented team to the series, with Albert Pujols flanked by Jim Edmonds and Scott Rolen in the heart of the order. Yadier Molina was emerging as an elite catcher. Errors cost the Tigers dearly in all four losses. The Cardinals got by with a sketchy pitching staff by had a lockdown closer in Adam Wainright.
2004: Lost to Boston Red Sox 4-0. Rebuilding after a long Series playoff drought, the Cardinals came in with a young slugger named Albert Pujols. They had a potent offense but ran into a buzzsaw in the Red Sox. It was Boston's first championship since 1918, ending "the curse of the Bambino." The Cardinals couldn't crack Curt Schilling and Pedro Martinez, and Manny Ramirez was among Sox stars.
1987: Lost to Minnesota Twins 4-3. John Tudor led a talented pitching staff in a series in which the home team won all seven games. The Cardinals were handicapped by a late-season injury to slugger Jack Clark, but they had an explosive offense based on speed and timely hitting. They had limited power, however. Ozzie Smith and the Running Redbirds came close but couldn't pull off the win.
1985: Lost to Kansas City Royals 4-3. Don Denkinger. There, we said it. In truth the Cardinals blew a 3-1 series lead in the I-70 Series, and Denkinger's blown call at first base was in Game 6. The Cardinals still rue the loss of this series. Their firepower was better, the pitching was deeper -- but they lost by not closing it out.
1982: Beat Milwaukee Brewers 4-3. The Cardinals were decided underdogs against the Brewers, whose high-powered offense had them nicknamed "Harvey's Wallbangers" in honor of manager Harvey Kuehn. The Beer Series was clouded by the absense of Brewers closer Rollie Fingers. Joaquin Andujar led the Cardinals pitching, Willie McGee emerged as a series hero and Darrell Porter was named MVP.
1968: Lost to Detroit Tigers 4-3. After allowing a 3-1 series lead to evaporate before winning in seven in 1967, the Cardinals again found themselves forced into Game 7. This time they lost a third consecutive game. Bob Gibson struck out a record 17 Tigers in Game 1. But the series turned in Game 5 when Lou Brock was tagged out at home while trying to score standing up. And in Game 7, Curt Flood misjudged a Jim Northrup fly ball that settled the series.
1967: Beat Boston Red Sox 4-3. Boston's Impossible Dream came to an end as Bob Gibson won three games. Orlando Cepeda led the Cardinals cast that included Lou Brock, Curt Flood and in right field Roger Maris. Jim Lonborg was the Sox's pitching star, and Carl Yastrzemski on the Triple Crown, but the Cardinals took the series when Gibson outdueled a tired Lonborg in the finale and contributed a home run.
1964: Beat New York Yankees 4-3. In their first series in 18 years, the Cardinals rode Bob Gibson to victory. Hitting stars included series MVP Ken Boyer and Tim McCarver. It was the last series for Mickey Mantle and the end of the Yankees' long dominance in the American League. After the series, the Yankees fired manager Yogi Berra and replaced him with Johnny Keane, who quit the Cardinals. The Cardinals' late run at the NL title was fueled by the acquisition of Lou Brock.
1946: Beat Boston Red Sox 4-3. Baseball's first full season after World War II saw another first: The Cardinals and Dodgers tied and staged the majors' first playoff series. The Cardinals won the first two of three scheduled games. The Series was a classic, marking Ted Williams' only participation and the last for Stan Musial. Enos Slaughter's "mad dash" from first to home on a Harry Walker hit secured the victory in Game 7. Might things have been different if center fielder Dom DiMaggio had not left with an injury?
1944: Beat St. Louis Browns 4-2. The Streetcar Series saw all six games played at Sportsman's Park. It was the only time the Browns would make the Series, and only the third time a Series was staged in one stadium (1921 and '22 were played in the Polo Grounds between the Yankees and Giants). Musial was among the few stars playing.
1943: Lost to New York Yankees 4-1. Both teams lost stars to war service. Among them were Moore and Slaughter from the Cardinals; Joe DiMaggio and Phil Rizzuto for the Yanks. Footnote: A B-17 buzzed Yankee Stadium during Game 1.
1942: Beat New York Yankees 4-1. Say hello to the St. Louis Swifties. Rickey's farm system produced a whole new batch of stars, including a rookie batsman named Stan Musial. With Musial in left with Terry Moore in center and Enos Slaughter in right, it was one of the best outfields baseball has seen. Red Ruffing held the Cardinals in check in Game 1, but the rest was all Redbirds. It was the first full year of World War II, and profound changes were coming to baseball.
1934: Beat Detroit Tigers 4-3. Dizzy and Paul Dean. Joe Medwick. Leo Durocher. Pepper Martin. The Gas House gang delivered a rowdy conclusion to the first era of Cardinals success. The Deans won two games each, and Game 7 is remembered for Medwick's run-in with Tigers third baseman Marv Owen. When fans pelted Medwick with all manner of garbage before the bottom of the seventh inning commissioner Kennesaw Mountain Landis ordered him out of the game to prevent a riot. The Cardinals won the finale 11-0.
1931: Beat Philadelphia Athletics 4-3. Facing the Mack Men a second time, the Cardinals rode a firey horse to victory. John Leonard Roosevelt Martin, a/k/a Pepper, ran wild in the series. Future Cardinals Hall of Famers Jim Bottomley and Chick Hafey got their second championship, and spitball pitcher Burleigh Grimes led the pitchers. Manager Frankie Frisch won the first of his two Cardinals championships.
1930: Lost to Philadelphia Athletics 4-2. Connie Mack's last great A's teams included Hall of Famers Jimmy Foxx, Mickey Cochrane, Lefty Grove and Al Simmons. Grove and George Earnshaw won twice. The Cardinals never got on track.
1928: Lost to New York Yankees 4-0. Murderers Row got its revenge by wiping out the Cardinals. Babe Ruth hit three home runs in Game 4. Lou Gehrig had as many RBIs and the Cardinals.
1926: Beat New York Yankees 4-3. It was the Cardinals' first trip to baseball's championship series, the result of Branch Rickey's success building through a revolutionary farm system. Rogers Hornsby was the Cardinals' star. The series' key moment came when Grover Cleveland Alexander was summoned to replace Jesse Haines with the bases loaded in the seventh inning of Game 7. Alexander struck out Tony Lazzeri and shut down the Yankees. Babe Ruth was caught stealing for the final out.