2020 St. Louis Cardinals season
Introduction


The **2020 St. Louis Cardinals season** was the [139th](/wiki/List_of_St._Louis_Cardinals_seasons "List of St. Louis Cardinals seasons") for the [St. Louis Cardinals](/wiki/St._Louis_Cardinals "St. Louis Cardinals") of the [Major League Baseball](/wiki/Major_League_Baseball "Major League Baseball") (MLB), a [franchise](/wiki/Professional_sports_league_organization "Professional sports league organization") in [St. Louis](/wiki/St._Louis "St. Louis"), [Missouri](/wiki/Missouri "Missouri"). It was the 129th season for the Cardinals in the [National League](/wiki/National_League_%28baseball%29 "National League (baseball)"), and their 15th at [Busch Stadium III](/wiki/Busch_Stadium "Busch Stadium"). They entered the season as defending NL Central champions.

On March 12, 2020, MLB announced that because of the ongoing [COVID\-19 pandemic](/wiki/COVID-19_pandemic "COVID-19 pandemic"), the start of the regular season would be delayed by at least two weeks in addition to the remainder of spring training being cancelled. Four days later, it was announced that the start of the season would be pushed back indefinitely due to the recommendation made by the [CDC](/wiki/Centers_for_Disease_Control_and_Prevention "Centers for Disease Control and Prevention") to restrict events of more than 50 people for eight weeks.

On June 23, commissioner [Rob Manfred](/wiki/Rob_Manfred "Rob Manfred") unilaterally implemented a 60\-game season. Players reported to training camps on July 1 in order to resume spring training and prepare for a July 24 [Opening Day](/wiki/Opening_Day "Opening Day").

On July 1, 2020, it was announced the Cardinals would play the [Chicago White Sox](/wiki/Chicago_White_Sox "Chicago White Sox") on August 13 in the inaugural [MLB at Field of Dreams](/wiki/MLB_at_Field_of_Dreams "MLB at Field of Dreams") game, replacing the [New York Yankees](/wiki/New_York_Yankees "New York Yankees"). The appearance in [Dyersville, Iowa](/wiki/Dyersville%2C_Iowa "Dyersville, Iowa") also replaces the team's canceled trip to [London](/wiki/London "London") in June for a series with [National League Central](/wiki/National_League_Central "National League Central") rivals, the [Chicago Cubs](/wiki/Chicago_Cubs "Chicago Cubs").. On August 3, MLB canceled the Field of Dreams game due to "logistical problems."

The Cardinals made the expanded playoffs but lost to the [San Diego Padres](/wiki/2020_San_Diego_Padres_season "2020 San Diego Padres season") in the [NLWCS](/wiki/2020_National_League_Wild_Card_Series "2020 National League Wild Card Series"). The Cardinals suffered just their second winner\-take\-all game loss in the postseason over their last 10 winner\-take\-all postseason games played dating back to 2002 ([2012 NLCS Game 7](/wiki/2012_National_League_Championship_Series "2012 National League Championship Series") being the other).


Why was the season delayed by at least two weeks?