The St. Louis Cardinals, a franchise that also played under the names of the St. Louis Browns and the St. Louis Perfectos in the team’s early days, have thrown 10 no-hitters over its history. MLB does not consider the original National League St. Louis Brown Stockings (1875–1877) part of franchise history, probably because the team was expelled from the NL due to game fixing and spent its time barnstorming from 1878–1881.
Although the first MLB no-hitter is credited to the NL Brown Stockings’ George Washington Bradley (1876), MLB considers Ted Breitenstein as the thrower of the Cardinals franchise’s first no-hitter, an 1891 gem thrown when the Browns were an American Association club. However, to further complicate things, the Cardinals consider their birth date as 1882 when the Browns joined the National League, so Breitenstein’s no-no appears on the MLB list but does not appear on the team list.
Of the Dean brothers, oddly, it is Paul, not Dizzy, who has a Cards no-no to his credit. Bob Forsch is the only Cardinals pitcher to throw two for the team, and he’s half of baseball’s only brotherly duo (Ken Forsch, Houston) to throw sibling no-nos.
Here are the Cardinals’ no-hitters:
| 1 | Ted Breitenstein |
|---|---|
| St. Louis Browns (AA) | |
| Sunday, October 4, 1891 (First game of doubleheader) St. Louis Browns 8, Louisville Colonels 0 Sportsman’s Park (St. Louis) (His first of two no-hitters; his first career start) |
|
| 2 | Jesse Haines |
| St. Louis Cardinals (NL) | |
| Thursday, July 17, 1924 St. Louis Cardinals 5, Boston Braves 0 Sportsman’s Park (St. Louis) | |
| 3 | Paul Dean |
| St. Louis Cardinals (NL) | |
| Friday, September 21, 1934 (Second game of doubleheader) St. Louis Cardinals 3, Brooklyn Dodgers 0 Ebbets Field (Brooklyn) (Dean breaks the longest no-hitter drought in Major League baseball history in terms of game days at 535, a record that stands today.) |
|
| 4 | Lon Warneke |
| St. Louis Cardinals (NL) | |
| Saturday, August 30, 1941 St. Louis Cardinals 2, Cincinnati Reds 0 Crosley Field (Cincinnati) | |
| 5 | Ray Washburn |
| St. Louis Cardinals (NL) | |
| Wednesday, September 18, 1968 St. Louis Cardinals 2, San Francisco Giants 0 Candlestick Park (San Francisco) | |
| 6 | Bob Gibson |
| St. Louis Cardinals (NL) | |
| Saturday, August 14, 1971 St. Louis Cardinals 11, Pittsburgh Pirates 0 Three Rivers Stadium (Pittsburgh) | |
| 7 | Bob Forsch |
| St. Louis Cardinals (NL) | |
| Sunday, April 16, 1978 St. Louis Cardinals 5, Philadelphia Phillies 0 Busch Stadium (St. Louis) (His first of two no-hitters) |
|
| 8 | Bob Forsch |
| St. Louis Cardinals (NL) | |
| Monday, September 26, 1983 St. Louis Cardinals 3, Montreal Expos 0 Busch Stadium (St. Louis) (His second of two no-hitters) |
|
| 9 | Jose Jimenez |
| St. Louis Cardinals (NL) | |
| Friday, June 25, 1999 St. Louis Cardinals 1, Arizona Diamondbacks 0 Chase Field/Bank One Ballpark (Phoenix) | |
| 10 | Bud Smith |
| St. Louis Cardinals (NL) | |
| Monday, September 3, 2001 St. Louis Cardinals 4, San Diego Padres 0 Qualcomm Stadium (San Diego) |
Factual errors
Such as?
Cardinals consider their birth year as 1892, not 1882.
I am aware of that, but the American Association team that played from ’82 to ’91 transitioned into the NL Cardinals, whether the team chooses to acknowledge that or not.