We’re on day 4 of our theme week on Baseball Team Name Origins. Today we’re talking about the St. Louis Cardinals, who were – surprise! – not named for the bird! Professional baseball started in St. Louis in 1875 with the Brown Stockings of the National Association. When the NA folded after that season, St Louis joined the National League as a charter member. The team’s name changed a few more times – to Browns in 1883 and the Perfectos in 1899. As the Perfectos, the team added cardinal red to the trim of their jerseys and stripes on their socks. Later that season, a sportswriter for the St. Louis Republic included an account in a column of a female fan he had heard commenting on the uniforms, “What a lovely shade of cardinal”. Fans latched onto the name “Cardinals” and in 1900 the team officially changed their name.
Management didn’t start thinking about “Cardinals” in terms of birds until 1921. That’s when general manager Branch Rickey happened to see a colorful cardboard cardinal arrangement at a Presbyterian Church where he was speaking. With the help of a graphic designer, Rickey came up with the cardinal perched on a bat that is still a familiar staple of the team’s uniform today. While the team had been known as the Cardinals for 20 years at this point, this logo changed the perception from the color to the bird.
The Cardinals are the oldest MLB team west of the Mississippi and one of the most successful professional baseball clubs. They’ve won 11 World Series championships, the most in the NL and second only to the Yankees. The team has won 19 NL pennants, 3rd-most of any team after the Dodgers and Giants. The Cardinals are notable for their strong fan support, dubbed “Cardinal Nation”. They routinely have some of the highest attendance in the league and are consistently in the top 3 in MLB in local television ratings. Notable Cardinals achievements include manager/owner Branch Rickey’s invention of the farm team system, Mark McGwire’s single season home run record in 1998, the 2011 championship team’s unprecedented comebacks, and Albert Pujols’ 700th home run in 2022.