The Best St. Louis Cardinals Seasons and Every October Run

By 4Baseball Staff · November 5, 2026 · 12 min read

The best St. Louis Cardinals teams by record and every postseason series the franchise has played, from the 1880s through 2022, organized by era, with the eleven modern World Series titles and the near misses.

Few clubs have an October résumé as long as the St. Louis Cardinals'. Through the 2025 season the franchise has played 55 postseason series in the historical record, won 31 of them and lost 24, and its 12 World Series victories include one from the 1880s, when the club was the St. Louis Browns of the American Association. Eleven of those titles came in the modern era, from 1926 onward, a total second only to the Yankees'.

This article takes those 55 series in order. It starts with the club's best regular seasons by record, because the best teams and the champions are not always the same, and then moves through the franchise's eras: the Browns of the 1880s, the Rickey and Hornsby years of the 1920s and 1930s, the war-time dynasty, the Gibson decade, the Herzog teams, and the long modern run under Tony La Russa and after.

For the people behind these teams, read the best players in Cardinals history, position by position; for the franchise's story outside of October, read the history of the St. Louis Cardinals.

The best regular seasons by record

Winning percentage across seasons of 100 or more games gives a ranking in which the 19th-century teams dominate, because they played fewer games against thinner competition. The historical top six for the franchise are 1885 (79-33), 1887 (95-40), 1942 (106-48), 1943 (105-49), 1944 (105-49) and 1888 (92-43). Three of those six belong to the American Association Browns, all of them under Charlie Comiskey, who managed the club from 1883 to 1891 and won 563 games.

The modern teams deserve their own table, because they played 154 games and later 162 against opponents drawn from a larger talent pool. Run totals come from the historical record.

Two things stand out. The best regular-season teams did not always win the Series: 1943, 2004, 1985 and 2005 all won 100 or more games and fell short. And several champions were far from the best teams: the 2006 club won only 83 games (83-78) and still won the World Series, the lowest regular-season total of any of the champions in this article.

The Browns of the 1880s: four pennants and one title

The franchise began in 1882 as the St. Louis Brown Stockings and was known as the Browns from 1883 to 1898; it did not become the Cardinals until 1900. It played in the American Association, a rival major league, and won four straight pennants from 1885 to 1888. Its postseason opponents were the champions of the National League, in a series that was a loose forerunner of the modern World Series.

The 1885 series is recorded as 3-3 in the historical record, and Chicago is listed as the winner; it is the one series of the four that is still argued over. In 1886 the Browns beat Chicago four games to two, and that is the title the database credits to the franchise. The 1887 and 1888 series were longer than a modern Series, with 15 and 10 games respectively, which is why the game counts above do not look like modern scores.

Those four seasons contain the franchise's best winning percentages, but they are better read as a different sport than as a benchmark. The Cardinals' later success is a National League story that starts in 1892, when the franchise joined the senior circuit.

1926 to 1934: Rickey's system, Hornsby and the Gas House Gang

The franchise had not won a pennant since 1888 when it found a way to win in the 1920s. Branch Rickey managed the team from 1919 to 1925 and compiled a 458-485 record, a losing mark that hides what he was building: a system of farm clubs that supplied players for decades. Rogers Hornsby, who won the Most Valuable Player Award in 1925, succeeded Rickey as manager that year, and in 1926 the team won its first modern pennant with an 89-65 record.

The 1926 World Series went seven games against the New York Yankees, and St. Louis won it four games to three. It was the first of eleven modern titles. The moment people remember is Grover Cleveland Alexander's relief appearance late in Game 7, but the series result is the point here: a franchise that had never won a modern pennant beat the Yankees of Ruth and Gehrig.

The late 1920s and early 1930s brought four more pennants and a pattern of wins and losses in the Series against the American League's best:

The 1928 sweep came against a Yankee club that had won 110 games the year before, a team covered in the 1927 Yankees by the numbers. The 1930 team scored 1,004 runs, an extraordinary total, and still lost the Series. The 1931 team won its rematch with the Athletics, and Frankie Frisch won the Most Valuable Player Award. The 1934 champions, the Gas House Gang, were led on the mound by Dizzy Dean, the Most Valuable Player Award winner that year, and his brother Paul.

1942 to 1946: the war-time dynasty

The five years from 1942 to 1946 were the best stretch in the franchise's history, and they came during the Second World War. The club won four pennants in five years, three titles and a fourth Series appearance, with the best regular-season records the club has ever posted in the modern era. Billy Southworth managed the team through 1945, and Eddie Dyer took over in 1946.

The 1942 club went 106-48, the best record of the modern franchise, and beat the Yankees four games to one in the Series. The 1943 club won 105 games and lost the rematch with the Yankees, one game to four. The 1944 club won 105 games again and beat the St. Louis Browns, four games to two, in an all-St. Louis World Series played in a park the two teams shared. In 1946 the club went 98-58, and beat the Boston Red Sox four games to three.

Stan Musial was the Most Valuable Player in 1943, 1946 and 1948; Mort Cooper won it in 1942 and Marty Marion in 1944. The 1946 Series is best remembered for Enos Slaughter's run from first base on a hit in Game 7, a play that has been argued over for decades. Pitching carried those teams: the 1942 club allowed only 482 runs, the 1943 club 475 and the 1944 club 490.

1964 to 1968: Gibson, Brock and three pennants in five years

After eighteen years without a pennant, the club won three in five seasons. The 1964 team went 93-69 and won a seven-game Series against the Yankees, four games to three. Ken Boyer was the league's Most Valuable Player, and Bob Gibson was the Series MVP. Gibson's career totals with the club, 251 wins and 3,117 strikeouts, are both franchise records and were built over a career that began in 1959.

The 1967 team went 101-60 and beat the Boston Red Sox, four games to three, again in seven games. Orlando Cepeda was the league's Most Valuable Player, and Gibson won three games in the Series and was named its MVP for the second time. The historical career postseason line for Gibson is 7 wins and 2 losses with a 1.89 earned run average, 92 strikeouts in 81 innings.

The 1968 season is one of the most extreme pitching years of the modern era. Gibson went 22-9 with a 1.12 earned run average and 268 strikeouts, and the club scored only 583 runs while allowing 472, yet won 97 games and the pennant. The Series went seven games against the Detroit Tigers, and St. Louis, which had led three games to one, lost it, three games to four. Gibson won both the Cy Young and Most Valuable Player awards that year. It is among the most painful losses in the franchise's modern history.

1982 to 1987: Whiteyball

Whitey Herzog managed the club from 1980 to 1990, winning 822 and losing 728, and built a team around speed, defense and relief pitching. The 1982 club went 92-70 and won the division, swept Atlanta three games to none in the best-of-five championship series, and beat the Milwaukee Brewers four games to three in the Series. It was the club's ninth modern title.

The 1985 club went 101-61, beat Los Angeles four games to two in the championship series, and then lost the Series to Kansas City, three games to four, in a series remembered for a controversial call at first base in Game 6 by umpire Don Denkinger. Vince Coleman was the Rookie of the Year, and Willie McGee was the league's Most Valuable Player. The 1987 club went 95-67 and beat San Francisco four games to three, then lost the Series to Minnesota, three games to four. In that Series the home team won all seven games, a first for the World Series.

Three Series in six years produced one title and two defeats, each decided in game seven. These were not overpowering offenses: the clubs scored 685 and allowed 609 in 1982, scored 747 and allowed 572 in 1985, and scored 798 and allowed 693 in 1987. Lou Brock's 888 stolen bases for the club, the franchise record, came before this era, but Vince Coleman's 549 and Ozzie Smith's 433 show that the style continued.

1996 to 2002: the first La Russa years

Tony La Russa took over in 1996 and managed the club through 2011, winning 1,405 games and losing 1,177. His first Cardinals team won the division at 88-74, swept San Diego three games to none, and then lost the championship series to Atlanta, three games to four, after leading three games to one.

The club won 95 games and the division in 2000, beat Atlanta three games to none, and lost the championship series to the Mets, one game to four. In 2001 it won 93 games, finished second in the division and took the wild card, and lost a five-game division series to Arizona, two games to three. Albert Pujols was the Rookie of the Year that season. In 2002 the club went 97-65, swept Arizona in the division series and lost the championship series to San Francisco, one game to four. That season was shadowed by the deaths of pitcher Darryl Kile and broadcaster Jack Buck in June.

Mark McGwire's 220 home runs for the club, from 1997 to 2001, were the era's headline, and the club scored 887 runs in 2000. None of those teams reached the Series.

2004 to 2006: the Pujols peak and a surprise champion

The 2004 club went 105-57, the best record of the La Russa years, and beat the Los Angeles Dodgers three games to one in the division series. It then beat Houston four games to three in the championship series and was swept by the Boston Red Sox in the World Series, four games to none. Boston ended a long championship drought that year. For the Houston view of the same series, see the best Houston Astros seasons and every October run.

In 2005 the club won 100 games, swept San Diego, and lost the championship series to Houston, two games to four. Pujols was the league's Most Valuable Player, and Chris Carpenter won the Cy Young Award. It was the last season in the second Busch Stadium, which the club had occupied since 1966, and it set the club's attendance record for that park at 3,538,988.

The 2006 club is the strangest champion the franchise has had. It won the division at 83-78, beat San Diego three games to one and the Mets four games to three, and then beat Detroit four games to one in the Series. It had an ordinary run differential (781 scored, 762 allowed), the thinnest of any champion in this article. It was also the first season in the third Busch Stadium.

2009 to 2015: Game 6, a wild card and another pennant

The club won the division in 2009 and was swept by the Dodgers in the division series, zero games to three. It reached October again in 2011 by claiming the wild card on the last day of the regular season, finishing 90-72 behind Milwaukee. It then beat Philadelphia three games to two, Milwaukee four games to two, and Texas four games to three in the Series. Game 6 of that Series, in which the club twice came within a strike of elimination, is one of the best-known games in postseason history. La Russa retired after the season, and Pujols left for another club.

Mike Matheny managed the club from 2012 to 2018 and won 591 games and lost 474. His clubs won four division titles or wild cards in his first four years and one pennant, in 2013. The 2012 club came back to beat Washington after trailing in the decisive game and then lost the championship series to San Francisco after leading it three games to one. The 2015 club won 100 games and lost to the Cubs in four games, a series that foreshadowed the Cubs' rise in the division. See the history of the Chicago Cubs for the other side.

2019 to 2025: the quiet years

The most recent stretch has been the least successful for the franchise by its own standards. In 2019 the club won the division at 91-71, beat Atlanta three games to two in the division series, and was swept by Washington four games to none in the championship series. The 2020 club went 30-28 in the shortened season and lost its wild-card series to San Diego, one game to two. The 2021 club went 90-72, finished second and lost the one-game wild-card round to the Dodgers.

The 2022 club won the division at 93-69, and Paul Goldschmidt was the league's Most Valuable Player, the first for the club since Pujols in 2009. It lost the wild-card series to Philadelphia, zero games to two. That was also the final season of catcher Yadier Molina, who had been with the club since 2004, and the season in which Pujols returned for a last year and passed 700 career home runs. Adam Wainwright, the franchise's second-leading strikeout pitcher, pitched his last season in 2023. In 2025 the club finished 78-84, fourth in its division. As of the 2025 season, the franchise's most recent pennant was 2013 and its most recent title 2011.

Reading the whole record at once

Across 55 series, the club's results divide neatly by round. It has won 12 of 23 World Series, 7 of 14 National League championship series, and 10 of the 12 division series it played from 1996 through 2014. Its modern World Series record is 11 wins and 8 losses.

The Series that went the distance stand out. Of the 19 modern World Series the club has played, 11 went to a seventh game: 1926, 1931, 1934, 1946, 1964, 1967, 1968, 1982, 1985, 1987 and 2011. St. Louis won eight of those and lost three (1968, 1985 and 1987), which is a better record in the last game than a coin flip would give, though eleven games is a small sample.

The Series results against Boston are a useful case in point. The club beat the Red Sox in 1946 and 1967 and lost to them in 2004 and 2013. The results against the Yankees are 1926, 1942 and 1964 wins and 1928 and 1943 losses, a 3-2 record against the franchise with the most titles in the sport. For the format behind these matchups, see the history of the World Series.

Common questions

How many World Series has St. Louis won? Twelve in the historical record, counting the 1886 title won as the American Association Browns. Eleven came after 1925: 1926, 1931, 1934, 1942, 1944, 1946, 1964, 1967, 1982, 2006 and 2011.

What is the club's best record? Among seasons of 100 or more games, the historical record ranks 1885 (79-33) first by winning percentage. In the modern era the 1942 club at 106-48 is the best.

Who is the club's winningest manager? Tony La Russa, with 1,405 wins from 1996 to 2011. Red Schoendienst is second on the club list in games managed, with 1,041 wins from 1965 to 1990.

Which opponent has the club met most in the World Series? The Yankees, five times: 1926, 1928, 1942, 1943 and 1964. The Cubs (1885, 1886 and the 2015 division series) and the Brewers (1982 and 2011) are the division rivals who appear in the list too; see the history of the Milwaukee Brewers and the history of the Cincinnati Reds for the rest of the division.

Did the club make the playoffs after 2022? The historical sheet shows no postseason series after 2022. The club finished 78-84 in 2025.

Where to go next

The ballpark where most of this history was made has its own page: read the Busch Stadium guide and visit the Busch Stadium page for dimensions. For today's club, see the Cardinals team page and the Cardinals topic page.