The years 1947 through 1963 were dark, frustrating times for fans of the St. Louis Cardinals. This was before playoff baseball, when the only way to play in the World Series was to finish first in the National or the American League. After the Cardinals won the 1946 World Series, the team finished second five times, but no better, for 17 seasons.
I didn't give a hoot. As a teenager in the early 1950s, my team, inexplicably, was the woebegone St. Louis Browns. When the Browns were spirited away to Baltimore in 1954 and became the Orioles, it was impossible to switch allegiance to the Cardinals, who were still the Bad Guys.