Boom and Bust in St. Louis

The St. Louis Cardinals, despite winning more World Series than any Major League franchise except for the New York Yankees, have seen their share of dry spells when they were shut out of the postseason. Like the American economy, the Cardinals have seen their fortunes cycle through prolonged ups and downs, with booms in 1885–1888, 1926–1946, 1964–1968, 1982–1987 and 1996–2011, and busts in 1889–1925, 1947–1963, 1969–1981 and 1988–1995. Drawing on years of research, this book chronicles the Cardinals’ periods of success and failure and explains the reasons behind them.

Jon David Cash has taught at several colleges and universities and lives in Crossett, Arkansas.

Jon David Cash
Foreword by Jeffrey Kittel
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 208
Bibliographic Info: 20 photos, appendices, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2020
pISBN: 978-1-4766-8083-5
eISBN: 978-1-4766-3896-6
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments ix
Foreword by Jeffrey Kittel: Roots of Early St. Louis Ball-Playing 1
Preface 15
Introduction: St. Louis and the Midwest and the Frontier of MLB 23
1. The Cardinals’ Family Robison 45
2. Branch Rickey, Sam Breadon and Creation of the Farm System 52
3. The Rajah’s Redbirds of 1926 60
4. Managerial ­Merry-Go-Round 69
5. Rise and Decline of the Gas House Gang 81
6. St Louis Swifties 92
7. Slicing the Baloney Too Thin 107
8. Bing Devine Ends a Pennant Drought 118
9. El Birdos 129
10. Vern Rapp, Ken Boyer and Whitey Herzog 135
11. Exit ­Anheuser-Busch, Enter Tony La Russa 141
Epilogue: St. Louis Cardinals Baseball, 2012–2019 155
Appendix A: St. Louis Cardinals Baseball Franchise Records, 1882–2019 157
Appendix B: ­Single-Season and Career Leaders for Cardinal Franchise, 1882–2019 165
Appendix C: Noteworthy Achievements 166
Chapter Notes 171
Bibliography 177
Index 191

“A first- rate introduction [to the Cardinals]”—Missouri Historical Review