Enthusiastic and knowledgeable fans give the city a reputation as "a top-notch sports town" and "Baseball City USA." The Sporting News rated St. Louis the nation's "Best Sports City" in 2000.[1] The St. Louis Cardinals, one of the oldest franchises in Major League Baseball, have won 11 World Championships, which is second all-time only to the New York Yankees, who have won 27 titles.[2]
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The city of St. Louis has earned 13 professional sports championships. The St. Louis Cardinals have won 11 World Series Championships, with one of the championships played against the old cross-city rival St. Louis Browns in 1944. The St. Louis Rams have won one Super Bowl Championship (1999). The St. Louis Hawks won the 1958 NBA Finals for the franchise's only championship. The St. Louis Blues made 25 consecutive playoff appearances from 1979-80 to 2003-04.[3] Despite never winning the Stanley Cup, they have made three trips to the finals (1968–1970).
Saint Louis University football coach Eddie Cochems developed the first modern passing offense in American football history in 1906. Cochems' star halfback, Bradbury Robinson, threw the first legal forward pass on September 5, 1906, in a 22-0 victory over Carroll College at Waukesha, Wisconsin. SLU dropped football as an intercollegiate sport in 1949.
The 2009 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was the 80th midseason exhibition between the all-stars of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL), the two leagues comprising Major League Baseball.[5] The game was held on July 14, 2009, at Busch Stadium.[6][7] The game was the first all star game held in St. Louis since 1966.[8] It was the seventh All-Star Game to determine home field advantage at the 2009 World Series, with the American League winning all seven games to date under this format. Currently, the National League leads, 40–38–2, but has not won since 1996.
St. Louis was home to two National Basketball Association teams (the St. Louis Hawks and the St. Louis Bombers) and also to the American Basketball Association's Spirits of St. Louis before the ABA-NBA merger in June 1976. In March 2005, the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis hosted the final two rounds of the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship, also known as the Final Four. In April 2009, the Edward Jones Dome hosted the NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Championship Final Four.
St. Louis was also home to four prominent twentieth-century boxers, Sonny Liston, Henry Armstrong, and brothers Leon and Michael Spinks. The two are the only brothers in boxing history to have both captured the Heavyweight boxing title. Leon's son Cory Spinks has also held a world title.
St. Louis is also one of the few cities in the country that plays host to local Corkball leagues. Corkball is a "mini-baseball" game featuring a 1.6 oz. ball and bat with a barrel that measures just 1.5". Corkball is St. Louis's classic baseball game. Originally played on the streets and alleys of St. Louis in the early 1900s, today the game has leagues formed around the country as a result of St. Louis servicemen introducing the game to their buddies during World War II and the Korean War. It has many of the features of baseball, yet can be played in a very small area because there is no base-running.
Gateway International Raceway hosts NHRA Drag Racing and NASCAR racing events 5 miles (8 km) east of the city in Madison, Illinois.
St. Louis has long had a reputation as being one of America's soccer hotbeds, and is home to what is arguably the richest soccer history in the nation. In addition to being the former home of several professional teams, including the St. Louis Stars of the NASL, St. Louis has a strong tradition of prep and select soccer, which is followed very closely by many people in the city. It has been suggested that prep soccer in St. Louis enjoys a similar following to prep hockey in Minnesota. The Saint Louis University men's soccer team has made 16 NCAA Final Four appearances and has won 10 national championships. The team consistently ranks in the Top 10 of all Division I soccer teams in attendance. Of most pride to many St. Louisans was the 1950 World Cup team, which defeated England 1-0, in what is perhaps the greatest upset in World Cup history. Five of the eleven players on the team were from St. Louis, including many from the historically Italian neighborhood known as The Hill. This event was chronicled in the 2005 film The Game of Their Lives (released on DVD as The Miracle Match). Noteworthy is the fact that every U.S. World Cup team in history has included at least one St. Louisan on its roster, and 29 St. Louisans have been inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame.[9] Several current American soccer stars hail from St. Louis, including Brad Davis, Chris Klein, Pat Noonan, Matt Pickens, Steve Ralston, Mike Sorber, and Taylor Twellman.
The St. Louis Soccer Hall of Fame[9] was established in 1971.[10] The Hall of Fame is located at the Midwest Soccer Academy, in St. Louis.[11] It includes a museum with various exhibits.[12] The first annual dinner was held in 1971.[13]
On September 11, 2007, officials announced plans for St. Louis council to build a soccer-specific stadium in Collinsville, which would have paved the way for a St. Louis team to enter Major League Soccer in 2009 as the 16th team; however, MLS decided to award the 16th franchise to Philadelphia instead. The stadium in Collinsville was never built due to lack of funding. Saint Louis Athletica was one of the seven teams competing in the inaugural season of Women's Professional Soccer, which started play in March 2009 and increase to ten teams by 2010. Athletica played its home matches on the campus of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and later moved to west county. The team folded in May 2010 when donors did not continue to fund the team.
There are also several minor league teams in the area. The Gateway Grizzlies (Minor League Baseball) of the Frontier League, which plays at GCS Ballpark across the river in Sauget, Illinois. The River City Rascals (Minor League Baseball) also of the Frontier League, play at T.R. Hughes Ballpark in nearby O'Fallon, Missouri. The Missouri River Otters were part of the (United Hockey League) from 1999 until they folded in 2006; they used to play at Family Arena in St. Charles, Missouri. The River City Rage are an Arena Football team that play in United Indoor Football at Family Arena. The St. Louis Stunners are a basketball team that play in the newly reincarnated American Basketball Association.
In 2006, the College Cup was played at Hermann Stadium on the campus of Saint Louis University. The Scottrade Center hosted the 2007 Frozen Four college ice hockey tournament on April 5 and April 7, 2007. The Scottrade Center also hosts the annual "Braggin' Rights" game, a men's college basketball rivalry game between the universities of Illinois and Missouri. St. Louis is roughly equidistant from the two campuses.
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