base, and since its first Super Bowl appearance in 1977, the Broncos have become one of the most successful operations in the NFL. In St. Louis: A World Series champ in first year After selling the Broncos, Howsam returned to baseball. In the wake of the Continental League's demise, Rickey, then 80, rejoined the Cardinals in as a part-time but influential advisor to the Redbirds' owner, Gussie Busch. In mid-August , with the Cardinals seemingly about to finish well behind the first-place Philadelphia Phillies, Busch fired general manager Bing Devine and replaced him with Howsam—reputedly at Rickey's urging. On August 17, the day of Howsam's hiring, St. Louis was in fifth place at 63–55, nine games behind Philadelphia. However, the team Howsam inherited ended up winning 30 of its last 44 games—including eight in a row from September 24–30—and captured the NL pennant on the last day of the season, as the Phils collapsed. Then, behind Bob Gibson, they defeated the Yankees in the World Series. During the victory celebration after the clinching seventh game, Howsam was given credit for the St. Louis turnaround. This rankled several of the players, most of whom felt Devine's acquisition of Lou Brock in June provided the final piece of the puzzle. Furthermore, Howsam did not have an opportunity to make major changes to the roster in his six weeks as general manager, which began two months after the June 15 trade deadline then in effect as the Cardinals' 25-man roster remained virtually the same from August 17 through the World Series. Howsam's two full years as Cardinals' general manager (1965–66) failed to deliver a pennant, with St. Louis winning 80 and 83 games, respectively. Howsam installed popular Red Schoendienst as manager and he rebuilt the Redbirds infield, trading away veterans Ken Boyer, Bill White and Dick Groat in a bid for more pitching help. In 1966, Howsam acquired future Hall of Fame first baseman Orlando Cepeda from the San Francisco Giants in midseason and right fielder Roger Maris from the Yankees (in exchange for third baseman Charley Smith, acquired as part of the Boyer trade) during the winter interleague trading period. Howsam resisted making a big trade to replace Boyer, instead staying in house and moving long-time outfielder Mike Shannon to third base to replace Boyer. With Howsam's contributions, the Cardinals were poised to win back-to-back pennants in 1967–68. But in December 1966,