The St. Louis Cardinals, a professional baseball franchise based in St. Louis, Missouri, compete in the National League (NL) of Major League Baseball (MLB). Prior to entering the NL in 1892, they were also a member of the American Association (AA) from 1882 to 1891. They have won 11 World Series titles as an NL team, one pre-World Series championship and tied another against the NL. Since 1900, the team has been known as the Cardinals. They were originally named the Perfectos. Baseball teams like St. Louis employ a manager to make on-field decisions for the team during the game, similar to the head coach position of other sports. A number of coaches report to the manager, including the bench coach, first and third base coaches, and pitching and hitting coaches, among other coaches and instructors. Mike Matheny, a former catcher for the Cardinals from 2000 to 2004, has been the manager since 2012. He is signed through 2017.
Matheny is one of 63 total individuals who have managed the Cardinals, more than any other Major League franchise. Between 1882 and 1918 – 37 total seasons – 37 different managers stayed the helm. Ned Cuthbert became the first manager of the then-Brown Stockings in 1882, serving for one season. Also an outfielder for a former club, he was directly responsible for bringing professional baseball back to St. Louis after a game-fixing scandal expelled the earlier team from the NL in . He rallied a barnstorming team that attracted the attention of eventual owner Chris von der Ahe, who directly negotiated for the team to be a charter member of a new league, the AA, in 1882.Charles Comiskey was the first manager in franchise history to hold the position for multiple seasons. He also owns the highest career winning percentage in franchise history at .673, four American Association pennants (1885–1888) and one interleague championship (before the official World Series existed). He also held the record for most career wins in team history with from 1884 to 1945 (563 total) and games managed (852) until 1924. However, von der Ahe changed managers more than any other owner in team history – a total of 27 in 19 season oversaw the team on the field. After the Robison era began, stability marginally improved: nine managers in 20 years from 1899 to 1918. Jack McCloskey, Roger Bresnahan, and Miller Huggins each managed three or more seasons from 1906 to 1917, becoming the first group to manage multiple seasons in succession.