The St. Louis Cardinals have won 11 World Series trophies and been to an additional eight Fall Classics since the turn of the 20th century. The organization has every digit in the ones column of the year represented with either a World Series victory or a World Series appearance. Therefore, the franchise has something to celebrate each year with some type of historical recognition.

The 2026 season has two such teams to recognize: the 1926 and 2006 World Series championship squads.

The 1926 Cardinals were the first iteration of the team to win a World Series, and this will be the 100th anniversary of that great team. The 1926 club features MVP catcher Bob O’Farrell, Cardinals legend Rogers Hornsby, Les Bell, and Jim Bottomley on the position player side. The pitchers included 20-game winner Flint Rhem, veteran Grover Alexander, and Hall of Famer Jesse Haines.

This team finished with an 89-65-2 record en route to a first place finish in the National League. They then went on to beat the mighty New York Yankees. These were the Yankees led by Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and the group that would come to be known as Murderers’ Row.

The Cardinals and Yankees went back and forth all series, and it would take seven games for a winner to be declared. The series ended dramatically when Babe Ruth was thrown out trying to steal second base, thus ending Game 7 and the World Series, giving the Cardinals their first World Series trophy. Strong pitching from the Cardinals starters, particularly Grover Alexander, helped lead the Cardinals past the Yankees.

2026 will also be the 20th anniversary of the 2006 World Series champion Cardinals.

In 2006, the Cardinals entered the postseason with only 83 wins and an underdog persona despite having the Big Three of Albert Pujols, Jim Edmonds, and Scott Rolen. This team also included Chris Carpenter, Jeff Suppan, and Jason Isringhausen on the pitching side. The Cardinals’ 83 wins that year would represent the lowest win total for any World Series champion.

The Cardinals once again squared off against a superior team in the Detroit Tigers in the 2006 World Series. This Tigers team boasted a star of their own in Carlos Guillen along with Ivan Rodriguez and Brandon Inge. The calling card of the 2006 Tigers, however, was their excellent pitch that included Jeremy Bonderman, Nate Robertson, and Justin Verlander. These Tigers won 95 games in the regular season and stomped the Oakland Athletics and New York Yankees in their previous two postseason series.

The Cardinals handled the Tigers with relative ease, winning the World Series in only five games thanks to excellent pitching from Chris Carpenter and a breakout by young pitcher Adam Wainwright. This would be the franchise’s tenth World Series trophy.

The 2026 St. Louis Cardinals rebuild stands in stark contrast to the 1926 and 2006 World Series champion clubs.

In what should be a year of recognition and celebration for these historic teams, the focus on the 2026 Cardinals will instead be on the rebuild that the club is going through. For an organization that has such a storied history, it’s difficult for fans to go through such a tumultuous time period.

The focus on the 2026 Cardinals will be on the future, not necessarily the past. While fans would love to watch the team win its twelfth World Series trophy in 2026, the odds are certainly stacked up against them. With veterans like Sonny Gray and Willson Contreras being traded already and rumors swirling around other leaders like Brendan Donovan, JoJo Romero, and Nolan Arenado, there’s a very high chance that the Cardinals finish with a sub-.500 record for the third time in four seasons.

There will be plenty of recognition for the 1926 and 2006 World Series champion Cardinals next year, but the on-field performance will pale in comparison to those great teams of old.

The hope is that Chaim Bloom’s work this winter will help set up the Cardinals for continued success beyond the 2026 season. Fans may have to be a little more patient if they’re hoping to see a great team that mirrors those of the 1926 and 2006 World Series champion clubs.