The Bird Standard

If you want a quick snapshot of what has made the St. Louis Cardinals the NL equivalent of the Yankees - minus the $220 million payroll and all the tabloid drama - Bernie Miklasz of the St. Louis Post Dispatch provides the raw numbers.

Since Bill DeWitt Jr. took ownership of the franchise before the 1996 season, the Cardinals have won 60 postseason games, more than any MLB franchise except the Yankees. 

The Birds on the Bat have won three NL pennants and two more World Series in DeWitt's days. They have won 15 postseason series and are now 9-2 in the NLDS. The Cardinals are competing in their eighth NLCS since 2000 and their ninth in DeWitt’s 18 seasons as owner. 

Here's the number of postseason wins by current NL Central teams since DeWitt purchased the Cardinals from Anheuser-Busch in the winter of 1995:  

Cardinals 60.  

Brewers 6.  

Cubs 6.  

Pirates 3.  

Reds 2.  

(The Astros, who moved to the AL West this season, won 15 postseason games as a member of the NL Central between 1996 and 2012.)  

While saluting his team’s excellent season, Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle praised the Cardinals for establishing the winning standard that the Pirates and so many others aspire to. 

“This club here, the St. Louis Cardinals organization, has gotten used to this,” Hurdle said. “The sustainability is what separates great organizations.”