The team was formed as part of the American Association in 1882 where they enjoyed a four-year dynasty under flamboyant owner Chris von der Ahe. Initially they were known as the "Brown Stockings", named for a previous professional team in the city, whose name was one of several "Stockings" teams inspired by the success of the Cincinnati Red Stockings. This new team's nickname was quickly shortened to "Browns". The Browns squared off against the National League's Chicago White Stockings twice in the early version of the World Series. The Series of 1885 ended in dispute and with no resolution. St. Louis won the 1886 Series outright, the only Series of that era that was won by the AA against the NL. The vigorous St. Louis-Chicago rivalry continues to this day.
The Browns joined the National League in 1892 following the bankruptcy of the American Association. They were briefly called the Perfectos in 1899 before settling on their present name, a name reportedly inspired by switching their uniform colors from brown to red, with red striped stockings and red-trimmed uniforms. Also in 1899, the Cardinals' owner transferred much of the talent from the other team he owned, the Cleveland Spiders, to the St. Louis franchise.
The Cleveland Spiders had built a reputation in the early years of baseball as one of the BEST teams in the National League. That was until their owners, the Robison brothers, bought an additional franchise in St. Louis. The brothers looked at the fan support base and decided that St. Louis held the most promise. So, the Robisons shipped every starter from the 1888 Spiders lineup to St. Louis. The Spiders were left with only a few quality players -- Lave Cross, Joe Quinn and Tommy Dowd. Tommy Tucker was talked out of retirement to play one more season. This led to the demise of the Spiders.
The Perfectos finished fifth in the National League in 1899 with a record of 84-67 and played their games at newly built League Park (later known as Robison Field) in St. Louis, where the dimentions were: Left field: 470 ft.; shoot the chutes at the left field foul pole and in right center: 625 ft.; deepest left center: 520 ft.; center field: 500 ft. (1893); right center: 330 ft.; right field: 290 ft. (1893); backstop: 120 ft. (1893); foul territory: huge.
With the change of the team color from brown to red, sportswriter Willie McHale, of the St. Louis Republic, heard a lady fan remark, "What a lovely shade of cardinal," the new nickname was used in his column, and struck a chord with St. Louis fans, and the team adopted it as the official nickname the following season.
| 1899 ST. LOUIS PERFECTOS TEAM ROSTER | |||||||
| Pitchers | |||||||
| No. | Name | Pos | Bats | Throws | Height | Weight | Born |
| -- | Bates, Frank | P | -- | R | -- | -- | -- |
| -- | Cuppy, Nig | P | R | R | 5'7" | 160 | 7/3/1869 |
| -- | Jones, Cowboy | P | L | L | 5'11" | 160 | 8/23/1874 |
| -- | McBride, Pete | P | R | R | 5'10" | 170 | 7/9/1875 |
| -- | Powell, Jack | P | R | R | 5'11" | 195 | 7/9/1874 |
| -- | Sudhoff, Willie | P | R | R | 5'7" | 165 | 9/17/1874 |
| -- | Sutthoff, Jack | P | L | R | 5'9" | 175 | 6/29/1873 |
| -- | Thomas, Tom | P | R | R | 6'4" | 195 | 12/27/1873 |
| -- | Wilson, Zeke | P | R | R | 5'10" | 165 | 12/24/1869 |
| -- | Young, Cy | P | R | R | 6'2" | 210 | 3/29/1867 |
| Catchers | |||||||
| No. | Name | Pos | Bats | Throws | Height | Weight | Born |
| -- | Buelow, Fritz | C | R | R | 5'10" | 170 | 2/13/1876 |
| -- | Criger, Lou | C | R | R | 5'10" | 165 | 2/3/1872 |
| -- | O'Connor, Jack | C | R | R | 5'10" | 170 | 6/2/1869 |
| Infielders | |||||||
| No. | Name | Pos | Bats | Throws | Height | Weight | Born |
| -- | Burke, Jimmy | 2B | R | R | 5'7" | 160 | 10/12/1874 |
| -- | Childs, Cupid | 2B | L | R | 5'8" | 185 | 8/8/1867 |
| -- | Cross, Lave | 3B | R | R | 5'8" | 155 | 5/12/1866 |
| -- | Flood, Tim | 2B | R | R | 5'9" | 160 | 3/13/1877 |
| -- | McKean, Ed | SS | R | R | 5'9" | 160 | 6/6/1864 |
| -- | Parent, Freddy | 2B | R | R | 5'7" | 154 | 11/25/1875 |
| -- | Schreckengost, Ossee | 1B | R | R | 5'10" | 180 | 4/11/1875 |
| -- | Tebeau, Patsy | 1B | R | R | 5'8" | 163 | 12/5/1864 |
| -- | Wallace, Bobby | SS | R | R | 5'8" | 170 | 11/4/1873 |
| Outfielders | |||||||
| No. | Name | Pos | Bats | Throws | Height | Weight | Born |
| -- | Blake, Harry | -- | R | R | 5'7" | 165 | 6/16/1874 |
| -- | Burkett, Jesse | -- | L | L | 5'8" | 155 | 12/4/1868 |
| -- | Donlin, Mike | -- | L | L | 5'9" | 170 | 5/30/1878 |
| -- | Heidrick, Emmett | -- | L | R | 6'0" | 185 | 7/29/1876 |
| -- | Hemphill, Charlie | -- | L | L | 5'9" | 160 | 4/20/1876 |
| -- | Miller, Dusty | -- | L | R | 5'11" | 170 | 9/10/1868 |
| -- | Stenzel, Jake | -- | R | R | 5'10" | 168 | 6/24/1867 |
