Cardinal Nation
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Cardinal Nation, or Redbird Nation, is a term that describes the massive popularity of the St. Louis Cardinals baseball franchise, not just in St. Louis, but all over the Midwest and South. The team is traditionally popular in these regions and Cardinals games are broadcast on radio and television affiliates in nine states: Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Tennessee. In addition, the team is also popular in other Major League markets, notably Colorado, where the Cardinals were the team of choice until the creation of the Rockies franchise in the 1990s. To this day, the Cardinals have many fans in attendance at games on the road in Denver, as well as every other Major League venue.
Cardinals fans are known for traveling to see their team on the road as well and fill nearly half of Wrigley Field in Chicago when the Cubs and Cardinals carry on their classic rivalry each season. The same is true when Cubs fans fill up nearly half of Busch Stadium in Saint Louis when the Cubs visit. When the Kansas City Royals play the Cardinals in Kansas City every season during interleague play, the games often sell out unlike most other poorly attended Royals games.
One reason for the large popularity of the Cardinals outside of Saint Louis is the fact that the Cardinals were broadcast on the 50,000 watt KMOX radio station, which has the power to reach the entire continental United States at night time. Many fans around the nation grew up listening to two of the greatest baseball broadcasters in history, Jack Buck and Harry Caray, call Cardinals games in the 1950s and 1960s. The Cardinals were also popular in the Western United States before any teams arrived or were expanded over there. During this period, which took place before widespread Major League expansion, the Cardinals had no competition for the loyalties of baseball fans throughout a huge swath of the Midwest and South. Plus, the Cardinals have been one of the most successful baseball franchises in history with 17 national league pennants and a National League record ten World Series Championships. They are second only to the New York Yankees in total World Series Championships in all of baseball.
Notable fans:
- Chingy
- J-Kwon
- Nelly
- Kristin Cavallari
- John Grisham
- Billy Bob Thornton
- Gretchen Wilson
- Jason LaBruyere
- Matt Hughes
- Kay Campbell
- Jack Stucki II
- Bill Clinton
- John Goodman
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