The team finished the 2002 season with a 98-64 record and won the NL West Division Title, but were swept out in the NLDS by the St. Louis Cardinals.

The team with the best overall record in the major leagues, the Cincinnati Reds, failed to win their division in either half of that season and were controversially excluded, as were the St. Louis Cardinals, who finished with the NL's second-best record.

The Cardinals have enjoyed an overwhelming advantage over their Chicago rivals in the regular season standings since the Cubs last participated in a World Series ( 1945 ): in the 66 seasons from 1946 through 2011 the Cardinals have finished ahead of the Cubs 49 times.

In that same span the Cardinals have had 45 seasons in which their winning percentage was over. 500, while the Cubs have finished over that mark 19 times ( they finished at an even. 500 twice ).

The Cardinals finished the season with a 12-2 record overall and shared the Empire 8 Conference title.

In the 2005 NLDS, the reigning National League champion St. Louis Cardinals, who finished the season with the majors ' best record, swept the Padres in three consecutive games.

Dallas finished the regular season winning the NFC East with a 10-4 record, winning their final five regular season games to overcome the St. Louis Cardinals ( who lost their final three games and fell to third place in the final standings ) and New York Giants ( who lost their finale 31-3 to the Los Angeles Rams ; a Giants victory would have given New York the NFC East title based upon a better division record ).

The Rams barely outscored their opponents in total points, 323 to 309, and finished the regular season with a 9-7 record, the worst ever by a team who advanced to the Super Bowl ( that record was later tied by the Arizona Cardinals in Super Bowl XLIII and the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLVI ).

He finished second to St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Bob Gibson for the NL MVP award, earning six first place votes.

His first major league pitch ( July 3, 2006 ) was hit for a home run by Atlanta Braves left fielder Ryan Langerhans ; Kinney finished the 2006 season winning a championship ring with the Cardinals as 2006 World Series Champions.

Brock's contributions to the Cardinals ' championship season were recognized when he finished in tenth place in voting for the 1964 National League Most Valuable Player Award.

In 1932, the Stapes finished dead last, defeating only the Giants and the Chicago Cardinals.

Hornsby finished the season with a. 246 average in 57 at-bats while the Cardinals finished in sixth place in the National League ( NL ).

The team finished 84 – 70, 17 games back of the pennant-winning Cardinals, and four games back of the Giants.

Despite Musial's late contributions, the Cardinals finished two and one-half games behind the 100-game-winning Dodgers.

The Cardinals finished the season tied with the Dodgers, prompting a three-game playoff for the pennant.

However, the Cardinals, with 96 wins, finished one game behind the Dodgers.

Executives Jim Toomey of the St. Louis Cardinals, Alan Roth of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Irv Kaze of the Pittsburgh Pirates awarded saves to pitchers that finished winning games but were not credited with the win, regardless of the margin of victory.

Perry had similar numbers in 1968: he posted a 16-15 record, but with a then-career-best 2. 45 ERA on a Giants team that finished second to the St. Louis Cardinals.

Even with Gibson's 18 wins and the extra motivation of teammate Stan Musial's impending retirement, the Cardinals finished six games out of first place.

In 1948, Sain won 24 games against 15 losses and finished second in the voting for the Most Valuable Player Award behind the St. Louis Cardinals ' Stan Musial, who had won two legs of the triple crown.

Arizona had postseason victories over the St. Louis Cardinals ( 3 – 2 in the NLDS ) and the Atlanta Braves ( 4 – 1 in the NLCS ) to advance to the World Series where, in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York City, they beat the three-time reigning champions, the New York Yankees, 4 to 3, to become the youngest expansion franchise to win the World Series ( in just their fourth season of play ).

His 1, 820 games played ranks fourth in Cardinals ' history behind Ozzie Smith, Lou Brock, and Stan Musial.

Along with Hornsby's two, Tip O ' Neill won in the now-defunct American Association in 1887 while the team was known as the St. Louis Browns, and Joe Medwick added the Cardinals ' fourth in 1937.

The Kelleys were tied for fourth place in the league with the Packers and the Chicago Cardinals.

Ronald Moore was taken by the Phoenix Cardinals in the fourth round in 1993 and played six seasons.

In the World Series rematch with the Cardinals, he gave New York a 2-1 lead in the fourth inning of Game 1 – a 4-2 win – with a solo homer, and scored the first run in a 2-1 win in Game 4.

The fourth and final disputed title was the 1925 NFL Championship controversy between the Pottsville Maroons and the Chicago Cardinals.

After two straight fourth place finishes, and early exits from the playoffs, the Red Wings dismissed Clyde King, a hold over from the Cardinals era, as manager of the team, and named Darrell Johnson in his place.

Gaetti was drafted three times before finally signing with the Twins: first by the St. Louis Cardinals in the fourth round of the 1978 Major League Baseball Draft ( then held annually in January ) and again in 1978 by the Chicago White Sox in the third round of the June secondary draft before he was drafted by the Twins in the first round of the June secondary portion of the 1979 draft.

In that World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals, Lonborg pitched Game Two in what was only the fourth one-hitter in Series history and followed that up with another victory in Game Five by limiting St. Louis to three hits.

In his first campaign with the Cardinals, in 1996, La Russa clinched the National League's Central Division title ( and also finished National League Runner-Up ), a feat his club repeated in 2000, 2001, 2002 ( his fourth Manager of the Year award ), 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2009 ( the Cardinals also tied for the National League Central crown with the Houston Astros in 2001 ).

La Russa's fourth Manager of the Year award was arguably the most emotional ; La Russa led the Cardinals to the National League Championship Series ( where they would ultimately lose in five games to the San Francisco Giants ) in a year in which the Cardinals were traumatized by the deaths of beloved Hall of Fame broadcaster Jack Buck and 33-year-old pitcher Darryl Kile just four days later.

The Cardinals broke through with three in the fourth off McLain.

After the Cardinals scored their runs in the fourth inning, the rest of the game was an exercise in Tiger hitting futility as the closest they came to scoring occurred in the sixth inning.

The 1942 World Series featured the defending champion New York Yankees against the St. Louis Cardinals, with the Cardinals winning the Series in five games for their first championship since and their fourth overall.

He was originally drafted by the Arizona Cardinals in the fourth round of the 2001 NFL Draft and last played for the Tampa Bay Storm of the Arena Football League in 2006.

By the time Metcalf rushed for an 11-yard fourth quarter touchdown, the game was already out of reach for the Cardinals.

He later made a diving interception against Kurt Warner of the Arizona Cardinals in the fourth quarter.

Despite the Cardinals finishing the season in fourth place, Simmons would finish in 10th place in the National League Most Valuable Player Award balloting.

He finished in 6th place in the National League Most Valuable Player Award balloting as the Cardinals ended the season in fourth place.

In Mabry's only season with over 400 at bats, he led the Cardinals with 161 hits and was fourth in the National League for first basemen in fielding percentage at. 994 and was errorless in 14 games in the outfield.