Why are the cardinals named the cardinals?

Answer 1

The squirrel, known by St. Louisans as the "Rally Squirrel", was one of two unofficial mascots adopted by the team and fanbase during the 2011 season (the other was Allen Craig's pet tortoise, "Torty". Craig was quoted multiple times that season saying "Do it for Torty!"). The legend was born on October 5, 2011 in the St. Louis Cardinals' home field, Busch Stadium. This was technically the squirrel's second appearance (he had ran onto the field the night before but didn't really impact play). The squirrel ran across home plate during a Cardinals at-bat during game 4 of the NL Division Series, causing a distraction that resulted in pitcher Roy Oswalt throwing a poor pitch to Cards batter Skip Schumaker, and made his escape into the stands. A squirrel would make another appearance before game 5, however since the final game was played in Philadelphia, one can assume this was a different squirrel. Since the Cardinals won games 4 and 5, the Rally Squirrel became a good-luck charm and Squirrel fever followed the Cardinals and their fans all the way through October, en route to the team's 11th World Series championship. The hat you're referring to is probably some themed merchandise licensed by the team during this time to capitalize on the phenomenon

Answer 2

The Iowa State teams were known as the Cardinals until 1895. That year many tornados hit the area doing a lot of damage. So the story goes, Iowa State travelled to Northwestern for a game and won 36-0. The following day the headline in the Chicago Tribune newspaper read "Struck by a Cyclone: It Comes from Iowa and Devastates Evanston Town". The name Cyclones stuck.

It is difficult to depict a cyclone in a costume, so the school kept the cardinal in honor of the school's history. Also, Iowa State's school colors are gold and cardinal red.

Answer 3

According to the book "When Football Was Football: The Chicago Cardinals and the Birth of the NFL," the team became the "Cardinals Social and Athletic Club" in 1901. That club evolved into the Racine Cardinals in 1916 and became the Chicago Cardinals in 1920.

Answer 4

The Chicago Cardinals were originally known as the Morgan Athletic Club, founded in 1901 on Chicago's Irish South Side. They adopted the name "Chicago Cardinals" in 1924 as a tribute to George Cardinal Mundelein, Chicago's Archbishop who, in 1924, was elevated to the position as a Prince of the Church by His Holiness, Pope Pius IX. Of course in order not to alienate the team from the non-Catholic population of Chicago (and non-Catholics were definiteloy a minority in a city dominated by emigrants from Ireland, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Bohemia, Slovakia and Croatia), the team adopted the logo of the red bird, but the honor given to the city's greatest cleric was understood by everyone. By the time the team moved to St. Louis before the 1960 season and became the St. Louis Cardinals, few if any fans remembered the reason why they were called the Cardinals. Nevertheless many St. Louis fans thought the team should be renamed after St. Louis--that is King Louis IX (1214-1270) of France, the namesake of the city, and be known as the St. Louis Saints or the St. Louis Kings in order not to be confused with the Baseball Cardinals. In the end, tradition proved more powerful, and the team improbably remains today the same Cardinals in Arizona as it was in Chicago though hardly anyone in the Protestant state of Arizona knows that their team name was created as an honor to Chicago's greatest Catholic archbishop.

Answer 5

They are named for the bird known as the Cardinal or Redbird. Interestingly, the state bird of Missouri since 1927 is the Eastern Bluebird.

Answer 6

They were known as the Racine Normals. they bought their uniforms from the local college, University of Chicago. they were marron. They changed their names to fit the uniform they had.

Answer 7

Cardinals are mascots because if it's a team named cardinals why wouldn't they have a Cardinal as a mascot.