An inside look at the faith that guides the all-stars. The St. Louis Cardinals have long been one of the most successful franchises in the major leagues. They have won 11 World Series titles and some of the most famous players in the history of the game have worn the storied “Birds on the Bat” uniform. While that on-field success has been well documented, Intentional Walk is the first book which goes beyond the story of what happens on the field to take an in-depth look at the men inside the Cardinal uniforms, and examine how their strong Christian faith is one of the driving forces behind their success. Intentional Walk features the stories of Adam Wainwright, David Freese, Lance Berkman, Matt Holliday, Carlos Beltran, Jason Motte and other members of the 2012 Cardinals, written as those players and the rest of the team tried to repeat the 2011 world championship. The book talks about how they became Christians and offers their testimony about what it means for them to have God play such a prominent role in their lives. Playing for first-year manager Mike Matheny, a strong Christian as well, these men talk about their success and failure, about the challenges that come from playing baseball at the highest level, and how thankful and blessed they are to have that God-given ability. In the end, however, what is far more important to them is their life-long relationship they have established with Jesus Christ.

By 1964 the storied St. Louis Cardinals had gone seventeen years without so much as a pennant. Things began to turn around in 1953, when August A. Busch Jr. bought the team and famously asked where all the black players were. Under the leadership of men like Bing Devine and Johnny Keane, the Cardinals began signing talented players regardless of color, and slowly their star started to rise again. Drama and Pride in the Gateway City commemorates the team that Bing Devine built, the 1964 team that prevailed in one of the tightest three-way pennant races of all time and then went on to win the World Series, beating the New York Yankees in the full seven games. All the men come alive in these pages--pitchers Ray Sadecki and Bob Gibson, players Lou Brock, Curt Flood, and Bobby Shantz, manager Johnny Keane, his coaches, the Cardinals' broadcasters, and Bill White, who would one day run the entire National League--along with the dramatic events that made the 1964 Cardinals such a memorable club in a memorable year.

Examines the history, players, and future of the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team.

Chronicles the history and tradition of the St. Louis Cardinals, from the era when they were managed by Branch Rickey in the years following World War I to the present day.

The history of the St. Louis Cardinals professional baseball team from its inaugural 1882 season to today, spotlighting the team's greatest players and most memorable moments.

An unforgettable look at a lifetime of Cardinals baseball packed with Mike Shannon's passion for the game Mike Shannon's voice served as the soundtrack of St. Louis Cardinals baseball for 50 years. Millions of fans have enjoyed his observations, insight, and magical storytelling on radio broadcasts. Now, with the help of Hall of Fame baseball writer Rick Hummel, the St. Louis native and lifelong Cards fan takes fans behind the mic, into the clubhouse, and beyond as only he can. Shannon weaves countless unforgettable tales, from childhood memories growing up in south St. Louis to champagne-soaked World Series celebrations as a player in 1964 and 1967, plus encounters with Cardinals legends ranging from Bob Gibson and Ozzie Smith, to Albert Pujols and Yadier Molina. This unmissable autobiography gives fans a rare seat to over six decades of Cardinals history, hijinks, and lore.

As we all know, St. Louis is the best baseball town in America, but the city's major league history is not confined to the Cardinals. For several decades, until the middle of the twentieth century, St. Louis fielded a second professional team. True, it was mostly a losing team, but it once featured a first baseman who hit .400, a legendary Negro League star, and a pitcher who would go on to throw a perfect game in the World Series. They were the St. Louis Browns--the forerunners of the current Baltimore Orioles and a part of St. Louis's rich baseball history.

-- First published in 1944, Frederick G. Lieb's history of the St. louis Cardinals is one of the fifteen highly regarded team histories commissioned by G. P. Putnam's Sons in the 1940s and 1950s, most of which were written by Hall of Fame sportswriters. Of the fifteen team histories, only Lieb's Cardinals history was expanded for a later edition. Lieb, who covered more than eight thousand games and every World Series for a half century, devotes considerable space to the Gas House Gang and its antics, anecdotes, and humor. He covers the Cardinal pennants in 1926 and 1928 (vs. the Yankees), 1930 and 1931 (vs. the Athletics), 1934 (vs. the Tigers), 1942 and 1943 (vs. the Yankees), and the city series of 1944 (vs. the Browns). Legendary Cardinals and their illustrious opponents include Grover Cleveland Alexander, Adrian C. "Cap" Anson, Sunny Jim Bottomley, Harry "the Cat" Brecheen, Ty Cobb, Mickey Cochrane, Mort Cooper, Dizzy and Paul Dean, Bill Dickey, Joe DiMaggio, Leo Durocher, Jimmie Foxx, Frankie Frisch, Lou Gehrig, Lefty Grove, Rogers Hornsby, Miller Huggins, Napoleon Lajoie, Marty Marion, Pepper Martin, Ducky Medwick, Johnny Mize, Stan Musial, Babe Ruth, George Sisler, Enos Slaughter, Tris Speaker, Rube Waddell, and Cy Young. Chronicling the Cardinals from 1899 through the 1944 season, this book is illustrated with nineteen black-and-white photographs. The St. Louis Cardinals: The Story of a Great Baseball Club is the first of seven baseball histories Lieb wrote for the Putnam series. As Bob Broeg wrote in the foreword to this book, "If Fred Lieb wasn't the first to write a full-fledged history of the colorful Cardinals, he certainly was, as Dizzy Dean would say, 'amongst 'em'. .. . His credentials as one of the first two living writers elected to Cooperstown's writing wing in 1973 included many unusual accolades. He was the young man -- in 1920 -- who convinced baseball to count all runs on a game-winning homer, not just the one that created the game's difference. He also was the man who labeled Yankee Stadium exactly what it was -- 'The House that Ruth Built.'"

History of the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team from its beginning and into the Majors

Written by veteran sportswriter and Cardinals insider Rob Rains, Taking Flight answers two basic questions – what makes the Cardinals different from other organizations, and why are they so successful? Perhaps the most important man in the history of the organization was George Kissell. Among the future managers who came under Kissell's tutelage were Sparky Anderson, Joe Torre, Tony La Russa and the Cardinals' current manager, Mike Matheny. Kissell's imprint is still everywhere on the Cardinals' organization, nearly five years after his death. So too is the work of longtime coach and catching instructor Dave Ricketts, the man who first trained Matheny and later, Yadier Molina. It is the men such as Kissell and Ricketts, who worked for years without fame or notoriety, who helped mold the Cardinals into the franchise it is today.