Springfield Cardinals

MiLB infobox
name = Springfield Cardinals
founded = 2005
city = Springfield, Missouri
misc =

uniform
class level = AA
past class level=
current league = Texas League
conference =
division = North Division
past league =
majorleague = St. Louis Cardinals
pastmajorleague =
uniform =
nickname = Springfield Cardinals (2005-present)
pastnames =
ballpark = Hammons Field
pastparks =
leaguechamps =
divisionchamps = 2007 (1st & 2nd half)
misc6 =
owner = St. Louis Cardinals
manager = Ron "Pop" Warner
gm = Matt Gifford

The Springfield Cardinals are a minor league baseball team based in Springfield, Missouri. The team, which plays in the Texas League, is the Double-A affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals major-league club, and is owned by the Cardinals. The club plays at Hammons Field.

The Springfield Cardinals began play in the 2005 season. Prior to the 2005 season, the St. Louis Cardinals Class AA affiliate was the Tennessee Smokies located near Sevierville, Tennessee.

Attendance at Hammons Field for Springfield Cardinals games has been incredible, as the club has averaged nearly 7,000 fans per game for all four years of franchise history. They ranked #2 in average attendance for all of Double-A baseball for each of the first three seasons, trailing only the Frisco RoughRiders, who are located in a much bigger market, just outside of Dallas, TX. Springfield was #3 in 2008, trailing Frisco and Corpus Christi.

The Springfield Cardinals clinched their first Texas League playoff appearance when they won the First Half North Division crown on June 15th, 2007. Springfield clinched by virtue of a 7-3 victory over the Wichita Wranglers and a Tulsa Drillers 8-7 loss to the Arkansas Travelers. Springfield clinched the Second Half North Division crown on September 2, 2007 when they beat the Arkansas Travelers, their main threat to the Second Half crown, 11-1. This gave them home-field advantage in the division playoffs against the team with the next best overall record, the Tulsa Drillers. Springfield would go on to defeat the Tulsa Drillers 3-0 in the best-of-five series, advancing to the 2007 Texas League Championship Series, their first in franchise history. The San Antonio Missions brought an end to Springfield's magical season, as they defeated the Cards three games to one in the best-of-five Championship Series.

The Springfield Cardinals have groomed a number of players for their parent club, the St. Louis Cardinals. Josh Kinney, Troy Cate, Andy Cavazos, Brendan Ryan, Chris Perez and pitcher-turned-power-hitting outfielder Rick Ankiel all spent significant time playing for the Springfield Cardinals.

The Springfield Cardinals' all-time franchise win-loss record is 285-269 as of the end of the 2008 regular season. Their inaugural season record was right at the .500 mark (winning percentage) at 70-70. In their second season, the Cardinals took a step back, going 66-72 with two games not played because of called games. The 2007 season was much more successful with the Cardinals posting a record of 73-63 (four games called due to weather) and sweeping both the first and second halves.

On March 28-29, 2008, the St. Louis Cardinals visited Hammons Field for the second time in franchise history (2005). While St. Louis took Friday's exhibition game by a score of 3-2, their Double-A affiliate rebounded on Saturday and posted a 10-3 victory, their first win over their big-league affiliate.

Springfield finished the 2008 season with a franchise-best record of 76-64, but missed out on the playoffs for the third time in four years.

Through the 2008 season, a total of 15 former Springfield Cardinals have gone on to make their major league debuts with the St. Louis Cardinals.

The Original Springfield Cardinals

Springfield, Missouri originally saw professional baseball teams in that city clear back to 1905 when the team was independent and was named the Springfield Highlanders. For nearly 30 years the team bounced back and forth in the name game, calling themselves the Highlanders to the Jobbers to the Midgets and Merchants. There were several years where no team existed at all.

Beginning in 1932, however, the St. Louis Cardinals purchased a minor league teams, renamed them to the Cardinals, and placed them in Springfield. That year, the Springfield Cardinals went on to win the first of several Western Association titles. With a front office headed up by the great Branch Rickey, Springfield went on to go to the playoffs in 1932, 1934, 1935, 1938, 1939 and 1941. The Cards also won league titles in 1932, 1934, 1937, and 1941.

Following the 1946 season, St. Louis saw fit to move the team from the White City Ballpark (buried now underneath the parking lot of the Assemblies of God Headquarters) to St. Joseph, Missouri, where they remained the Cardinals affiliate there until 1953. The city of Springfield saw a briefing reemergence of minor league baseball as the rival Chicago Cubs moved their affiliate to Springfield and taking the name Springfield Cubs. The team lasted only one season.

Though there was a gap of 63 years, most in the Springfield and St. Louis organization consider the current Cardinals the same group that was running the bases in 1932. Many pieces of fan apparel actually says "Springfield Cardinals circa 1932". The deck on top of the Cardinals dugout also has the championship banners from the 1930s and 1940s as well.

Major-Minor League Heroes

Springfield played host to several players that would go on to the Major League and Senior Circuit scene. The greatest of these was Stanley Frank Musial, also known as Stan "The Man". Stan played many of his minor league days in Springfield and garnered a huge following among the fans coming to White City Ballpark at the intersection of Campbell Avenue and Division Street. In fact, when Stan was called up to the minor leagues by the St. Louis Cardinals fans lamented greatly over the loss of their hero. Signs strewn the bus terminal as fans bade farewell. Local lore says that Stan told some of the fans that he would come back to Springfield again. Whether or not that was true has yet to be told, but in April of 2005, Stan Musial played his harmonica to the tune of "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" to a crowd of near 12,000 during the inaugural St. Louis vs. Springfield Cardinals game.

Among other stars of the great game include Dizzy Dean and his brother Paul, Pepper Martin, and Joe Medwick. George Herman "Babe" Ruth also spent some time playing ball in Springfield, but not as a member of the Redbirds.

Previous franchise history

The current Redbirds are a relatively new team, dating back to just 2005. Previous to this, it was known as the El Paso Diablos. That team's owners sold the franchise due to poor attendance and the potential to make more money in a fast-growing metropolitan area.

The team was reportedly to have been sold to John Q. Hammons and his family.Fact|date=April 2008 The Texas League and Minor League Baseball both approved the deal, but Major League Baseball - which must also sign off on sales of teams in the organized minor leagues - denied permission. This is possibly because the Hammons family owns a stake in some casinos;Fact|date=April 2008 of course, gambling in all forms is a sensitive issue in MLB. The Cardinals then bought the team themselves.

The previous Double-A affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals was the Tennessee Smokies in 2003 and 2004.

2008 roster

External links

* [http://www.springfieldcardinals.com/ Springfield Cardinals official website]
* [http://www.thestlcardinals.com St. Louis Cardinals Minor Leagues at Scout.com]