The St. Louis Cardinals, based in St. Louis, Missouri, are a professional baseball franchise that compete in the National League of Major League Baseball (MLB). The club employs coaches who support – and report directly to – the manager. Coaches for various aspects of the game, including pitching, hitting, baserunning and fielding, give instruction to players to assist them in exercising the major disciplines that must be successfully executed to compete at the highest level. These specialized roles are a relatively new development, as coaches initially did not have specific roles and instead had titles such as "first assistant", "second assistant", etc. St. Louis Cardinals coaches have played an important role in the team's eleven World Series titles. Many are retired players who at one time played for the team. Coaching is often part of the path for Major League managerial hopefuls, as a coach's previous experiences typically include managing and/or coaching at the minor league level. Charley O'Leary and Heinie Peitz, both former Cardinals players, became the first coaches the Cardinals employed as positions separate from the manager in 1913.