The St. Louis Cardinals are a storied organization that's been around for over 120 years. Along the way they've managed to win the most World Series titles in the National League. They've won championships in a litany of ways, but one of the most peculiar cases comes in 1982 when, fresh of a decade of malaise that reflected the nation's emasculated sense of pride and an economy that crashed every few years, the Cardinals perfected a minimalist system of baseball that would lead them to dominate the 1980s over powerhouses like the New York Mets, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Philadelphia Phillies. The Cardinals won the most games in the National League during this decade, despite hitting the fewest amount of homers and sporting a bottom of the barrel payroll. They did this by playing a smart, tenacious, and highly aggressive game that took advantage of their plastic field, deep outfield dimensions, and willingness to challenge their opponent on the basepaths and on defense. Like all great teams, they adopted the persona of their manager, Whitey Herzog, a man we're all going to know better in this episode.

Written by Tom

Produced by Tom, Nik, Josh, and Ryan

Music by Nik and Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio

Performed by Tom, Nik, Ryan, and Josh

Give us money here so we can get episode 2 out faster: https://patreon.com/worstfansinbaseballpodcast

Read our writing here: worst-blog-in-baseball.com">https://the-worst-blog-in-baseball.com

Follow us on Twitter: @worstfanspod, @WorstFansTom, @WorstFansJosh, @budterracebro, @WorstFansNik