| 2012 St. Louis Cardinals | ||
|---|---|---|
| National League Wild Card Winners | ||
 | ||
| League | National League | |
| Division | Central | |
| Ballpark | Busch Stadium | |
| City | St. Louis, Missouri | |
| Record | 88–74 (.543) | |
| Divisional place | 2nd | |
| Owners | William DeWitt Jr. Fred Hanser Klingaman Group | |
| General managers | John Mozeliak | |
| Managers | Mike Matheny | |
| Television | Fox Sports Midwest (Dan McLaughlin, Al Hrabosky, Rick Horton) | |
| Radio | KMOX (1120AM) (Mike Shannon, John Rooney) | |
| Stats | ESPN.com Baseball Reference | |
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The St. Louis Cardinals 2012 season was the 131st season for the franchise in St. Louis, Missouri, the 121st season in the National League, and the seventh at Busch Stadium III. The Cardinals made their 25th trip to the postseason in 2012 after taking the NL Wild Card title by one game over the Atlanta Braves on the last day of the regular season in 2011. They began the 2012 season away against the Miami Marlins on April 4. St. Louis was coming off a 90–72 (.556) season, a second-place finish in the National League Central Division, the aforementioned wild card berth, and their National League-leading 11th World Series championship.
In 2012, they finished with an 88–74 (.543) record and second place in the NL Central. By virtue of coming in second to the Atlanta Braves, they won the second National League Wild Card spot, and then beat the Braves in the NLWC Game. They then played the NL East champion Washington Nationals in the NLDS and beat them in five games to advance to the NLCS against the San Francisco Giants. However, they lost to the Giants in seven games after leading the series 3 games to 1.