The St. Louis Cardinals are a professional baseball team based in St. Louis, Missouri who play at Busch Stadium, located at 700 Clark Avenue. They are members of the Central Division in the National League of Major League Baseball. The Cardinals were founded in the American Association in 1882 as the St. Louis Brown Stockings, taking the name from an earlier National League team. The joined the National League in 1892, changed their names to the "Perfectos" in 1899 and took Cardinals as their official name in 1900.
The Cardinals are the reigning World Series champions after defeating the Texas Rangers in seven games in the 2011 World Series. In all, they have won 11 World Series, the most of any National League team, and second overall only to the New York Yankees with 27. Their 18 NL pennants tie them with the Dodgers and Giants for most among NL clubs and second overall to the Yankees' 40 appearances. Their success has been attributed in part to timely trades over the years, their willingness to take conservative spending risks, and the creation of the Minor League system in the 1920s by Branch Rickey. Thirty-four Cardinals have been selected to the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame, including Stan Musial, Bob Gibson, Rogers Hornsby, Rickey, and Whitey Herzog. The Cardinals have a well-known long-standing rivalry with the Chicago Cubs.