JUPITER, Fla. -- The St. Louis Cardinals have followed an amazingly reliable competitive cycle over the past eight decades, with world championships coming in alternating decades. The Cardinals popped champagne in the 1940s, the 1960s, the 1980s and the first decade of the 2000s (though 2011 narrowly spills into the following decade).
What’s more amazing is that the team can maintain connections between those eras. Red Schoendienst, who broke into the league in 1945, still shows up almost every spring at the team’s camp. Fellow Hall of Famers such as Bob Gibson, Lou Brock and Ozzie Smith from the 1960s and 1980s championship teams are around both during spring training and at times in the regular season.