Another season begins: here’s the best of 135 Opening Days in Baseball Heaven

Now that the Cardinals have put their wheels back on the rails with a weekend sweep of the Atlanta Braves, perhaps fans will be able to breath easy and actually enjoy Opening Day back in St. Louis.

Monday's game with the Milwaukee Brewers will mark the 135th time the city has celebrated the unofficial holiday. In that time, the Cardinals have been known by three other names — the Brown Stockings, the Browns and, for a single season in 1899, the Perfectos — and have brought baseball back to town in five different ball parks.

All-time, St. Louis is 71-62-1 in home openers. Seven of those wins proved to be the first step toward a World Series championship. Four of the losses were forgotten hiccups on the way to another ring.

What impact Monday's game has on the rest of the season remains to be seen. In the meantime, here's a look back at some fun facts, records and memorable moments in St. Louis Opening Day history:

Facts and Records

Record by ballpark: St. Louis has hosted opening day in five different ballparks. Here's how they did at each: Grand Avenue Grounds (1882-1892) 7-3-1; Robison Park (1893-1920) 13-15; Sportsman's Park/Busch Stadium I (1921-1965) 27-18; Busch Stadium II (1966-2005) 21-19; Busch Stadium III (3-7).

Most frequent opponent: Pittsburgh and Chicago have each visited St. Louis 35 times on Opening Day. The Cardinals/Browns hold a 18-17 advantage over the Pirates/Alleghenys in such games, but the Cubs/Orphans/Colts have spoiled the fun for the home crowd 19 times while taking 16 losses.

By the month: Baseball season has opened in St. Louis 126 times during the month of April and the Cardinals are 66-60 in those games. But, three times since 1998, the Cardinals have opened on March 31 and have won two of those. The first three home openers in history all were played in May, including the latest opener ever played on the 15th, 1883. The Browns/Cardinals are 3-0 in home openers played in May.

Most lop-sided win: The Cardinals won their home openers by nine runs three times. In 1899, its final season as the Browns, St. Louis defeated the Cleveland Spiders 10-1; In 1922, the Cardinals knocked off the Pittsburgh Pirates, also 10-1; and in 1978, they gave it to the Pirates again, 11-2.

Most lop-sided loss: The Redbirds took it on the chin by nine twice, both 13-4 losses. The first was in 1954 to the dreaded Cubs and the second was in 2013, when the eventual National League champions fell to the Reds.

Most runs scored: The Cardinals scored 14 runs to the Pirates seven in 1928.

Most runs allowed: The Chicago Colts welcomed the Browns/Cardinals to the National League with a 14-10 beating in 1892.

Highest scoring: 24 runs in 1892. See details from entry above.

Lowest scoring: The Pirates clipped the Redbirds, 1-0, on Opening Day in 1902. The Cardinals returned the favor in 1980.

Longest winning streak: The Cardinals won seven straight home openers from 1947 through 1953. The Cubs were victims four times during the streak.

Longest losing streak: The Cardinals lost five straight home openers from 1938 through 1942. The Cubs spoiled the home team's fun three times during that streak.

Memorable Moments

1927, 1932, 1935, 1943, 1945, 1947, 1965, 1968, 1983, 2007, 2012 - Any time your team can raise the championship pennant in the ballpark is special. It's happened 11 times during Opening Day in St. Louis, more than any other National League city.

1891 The only tie in Opening Day history was a 7-7 standoff between the Browns and Cincinnati Porkers. The Cincinnati squad had been thrown to together by Browns' owner Chris von der Ahe after the Queen City’s original team, the Red Stockings, bailed for the National League. The Porkers were better known as "Kelly's Killers" after their Hall of Fame captain Michael "King" Kelly, the former Red Stocking. Von der Ahe's effort to bail out the American Association that year is ironic since he was became a key figure in making the National League dominant and enduring. He moved the Browns to the NL the following year while both the American Association and the Porkers folded.

1926 - Hall of Famer "Sunny" Jim Bottomley had two hits and four RBIs, including an eighth inning home run that proved to be the game winner, in a 7-6 win over the Pirates. The Cardinals went on to win their first National League pennant and first World Series title of the modern era.

1942 - The Cubs came to Sportsman's Park to hand the Cardinals a 5-4 defeat. But Cardinals fans got their first look at a rookie named Stan Musial, who had two hits in five at bats.

1944 - Max Lanier shut out the Pirates on just two hits in a 2-0 Cardinals win. Musial and Whitey Kurowski had RBI hits for the eventual World Series champions.

1955 - Center fielder and eventual NL Rookie of the Year Bill Virdon hit an 11th-inning, walk-off home run against Dave Koslo to give the Cardinals an 8-7 win.

1966 - The Cardinals had two home openers that year. The first was at the old ballpark on April 13. Curt Flood had RBI hits in the first and eighth innings for St. Louis, but John Hernstein drove home Dick Allen with a pinch hit single in the 12th inning to give the Phillies a 3-2 win. Then, on May 12, a helicopter lifted home plate from Grand and Dodier and lowered into the empty space awaiting it downtown, in the brand-new Busch Stadium No. 2. It was another 12-inning affair, this time with the home team coming out on top with a walk-off. Lou Brock was the hero when he roped a single off knuckle-baller Phil Niekro to drive home Flood.

1967 - Lou Brock battered San Francisco Giants ace Juan Marichal with a triple, home run and three RBI while Bob Gibson struck out 13 batters to complete a 7-0 shutout win.

1968 - A couple hours after the team unfurled the World Series championship pennant below the upper deck in center field, pinch hitter Dave Ricketts singled home pinch runner Dick Simpson to clinch a 2-1 walk-off win over the Atlanta Braves.

1974 - The Pirates took a one-run lead in the top of the 10th inning, but the Cardinals tied it in the bottom half of the winning with a RBI single from pinch hitter Tim McCarver and won it, 6-5, with a walk-off RBI single from second baseman Ted Sizemore. Brock got caught stealing second base that day, but the 118 successful attempts he made over the next 161 games set a new record.

1980 - Pete Vuckovich struck out nine and George Hendrick singled home Bobby Bonds in the second inning to complete a 1-0 win over the Pirates. It’s easy to forget the Cardinals picked up Bonds for the season. The former Giants slugger and Barry’s dad hit just .203 over 84 games.

1990 - Willie McGee drove home Milt Thompson and Vince Coleman with a double in the bottom of the ninth to tie the Expos, 5-5. Willie then won it by driving home Thompson with a walk-off single in the 11th.

1995 - The Cardinals went into the bottom of the ninth down by a run to the Phillies, but hometown boy Scott Cooper, acquired that off-season from the Boston Red Sox, drove home Bernard Gilkey and Ozzie Smith with a walk-off single. Cooper had three hits and four RBI that day, but ended up being a bust and the Cardinals' won just 62 games in a strike-interrupted season.

1997 - On a fridgid April evening, manager Tony LaRussa summoned McGee, now 38 years old, to pinch hit with two out in the ninth inning of a 1-1 game with the Montreal Expos. McGee deposited the first pitch he saw from Ugueth Urbina over the wagon gate in right-center field for the walk-off win.

1998 - Mark McGwire hits home run No. 1 on his way to a record-breaking 70. The bases-loaded bomb came off Dodgers' starter Ramon Martinez in the fifth inning.

2006 - The Cardinals christened the current version of Busch Stadium with a 6-4 win over the Brewers. Albert Pujols hit the stadium's first home run and Mark Mulder got the win on the mound. Mulder made just 17 starts that year then was barely heard from again. Pujols finished second in the MVP voting, won his first Gold Glove and led St. Louis to its first World Series championship in 24 years. The Cardinals also joined the 1923 New York Yankees as the only clubs to bring a new stadium a championship in its first season.

2010 - Albert Pujols had two hits including a three-run home run as part of a four RBI day to lead the Cardinals to a 5-0 win. Adam Wainwright was in line for his first career complete-game shutout, but was pulled in the ninth so that Jason Motte could nail it down with a save.

This story was originally published April 10, 2016 at 7:01 PM with the headline "Another season begins: here’s the best of 135 Opening Days in Baseball Heaven."