The Omaha Cardinals were a minor league baseball team based in Omaha, Nebraska , from 1947 through 1959. They played in the Class A Western League through 1954 and in the Triple-A American Association from 1955 to 1959 as an affiliate of their major league namesake, the St. Louis Cardinals .
25-717: The Omaha Packers had played in the Western League from 1900 through 1936 , but the club moved to Rock Island, Illinois in August 1936, and the entire league — devastated by the Great Depression — folded after the 1937 campaign. When the Western League was reborn in 1947, the Cardinals placed a farm club in Omaha. The team drew over 138,000 fans and placed second in the league in attendance, even though it
50-547: A division title but drew a little more than a third of 1955's total. Among the Omaha Cardinals who had subsequent major league careers are included Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher and Omaha native Bob Gibson , Curt Flood , Don Blasingame , Barney Schultz , and manager Keane, who won the 1964 National League pennant and MLB world championship (powered by Gibson's pitching) with the St. Louis Cardinals, and then piloted
75-529: A revived American Association. The franchise has operated continuously ever since. Omaha Packers The Omaha Packers were a minor league baseball team based in Omaha, Nebraska . Between 1879 and 1935, Omaha minor league teams had a long tenure as members of the Western League and Western Association , winning five league championships. Omaha teams played under numerous other nicknames prior to
100-471: Is now a residential area. Cleveland Forest Citys The Forest Citys were a short lived professional baseball team based in Cleveland in the early 1870s. The actual name of the team, as shown in standings, was Forest City , not "Cleveland". The name "Forest Citys" was used in the same generic style of the day in which the team from Chicago was called the "Chicagos". Modern writers often refer to
125-781: The Council Bluffs Rails . The team disbanded on July 27, 1935, with a 33–31 overall record. Omaha regained a franchise, when the Omaha Robin Hoods rejoined the Western League in 1936. The new owners were the Fontenelle Brewery, makers of a beer labeled "Robin Hood". The Omaha Robin Hoods were forced to play some early games in Lincoln, Nebraska , due to weather. Then a fire destroyed the Omaha ballpark in
150-882: The New York Yankees . Omaha dropped out of the American Association after 1959, as the league shrunk in size. After a year's hiatus, the Los Angeles Dodgers operated a Triple-A affiliate, the Omaha Dodgers , in 1961–1962, when the Association disbanded. Then, after six seasons without a professional team, the Kansas City Royals brought Triple-A baseball back to Omaha in 1969 with the Omaha Royals , playing in
175-567: The Omaha Crickets in 1928–1929. The Crickets finished 71–86 (6th) in 1928 and 81–75 (3rd) in 1929. As the Omaha "Packers" (1930–1935), Omaha continued play in the Western League. The Omaha Packers finished 2nd in 1930, with a 76–66 record. Omaha then finished last in the eight–team league in 1931 (49–97) and 1932 (48–88). The Packers finished 63–61 (5th) in 1933 and 49–79 (7th) in 1934. The 1935 Omaha Packers were 22–15, when Omaha moved to Council Bluffs, Iowa , on June 25, 1935, to become
200-735: The Omaha Green Stockings , played as members of the Northwestern League , where all the other members had "stockings" monikers. The 1879 Mashers/Green Stockings finished with a 5–13 record playing alongside the Davenport Brown Stockings , Dubuque Red Stockings and Rockford White Stockings in the four–team league. In 1885, the Omaha Omahogs became founding members of the early Western League . The Omaha Omahogs played as members of
225-533: The Buffaloes to lead the Western League. Baseball Hall of Fame player Heinie Manush hit .376 with 20 home runs for the Omaha Buffaloes in 1922. Omaha finished 1921 95–73 (2nd), 1922 91–77 (4th) and 1923 92–74 (4th) before the 1924 Omaha Buffaloes finished 103–61 and captured the 1924 Western League Championship under Manager Art Griggs . Remaining in the Western League, the franchise played as
250-511: The Omaha Indians in 1902, winning 27 games. The Indians finished last with a 49–79 record in 1903. The 1904 Omaha Rangers finished with a record of 90–60 to capture the 1904 Western League Championship under Manager Pa Rourke. The team was led by Jack Pfiester and Del Howard . After the success of 1904 under owner/manager Billy "Pa" Rourke, the renamed Omaha Rourkes played in the Western League from 1905 to 1920. Rourke managed
275-625: The Omaha Omahogs in 1892, at age 20. The 1895 Omaha Omahogs moved to Denver, Colorado , during the Western Association season on July 22, 1895, before the team folded on August 22, 1895. In 1898, the Omaha Omahogs rejoined the Western League under Hall of Fame league President Ban Johnson and were 22–39 when the franchise relocated to become the St. Joseph Saints on July 6, 1898. In 1900, now owned by Manager Pa Rourke,
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#1732787246727300-575: The Omaha Omahogs rejoined the Western League. Omaha remained as members for the next 35 seasons of the Western League. The Omahogs finished 4th in 1900 and 5th in 1901. The Omaha Indians (1902–1903) finished 84–56 (.600) in 1902, just percentage points behind the Kansas City Blue Stockings (82–54 .603) for the Western League Championship. Baseball Hall of Fame inductee Mordecai Brown pitched for
325-475: The Omaha in 1898, 1900–1910, 1912–1915 and 1917. The 1907 Omaha Rourkes finished 84–63 to win the 1907 Western League Championship. In Pa Rourke's last season as Manager, Omaha finished 92–57 to capture the 1917 Western League Championship. The franchise became the Omaha Buffaloes (1921–1927), after owner Pa Rourke sold the team to new owner/manager Barney Burch. In 1921, Jack Lelivelt hit. 416 for
350-531: The Western League in 1887, 1892, 1898 and 1900–1901. The 1885 inaugural Western League season featured the Omahogs and the Cleveland Forest Citys , Indianapolis Hoosiers , Kansas City Blues , Milwaukee Milwaukees and Toledo Avengers . Omaha gained a franchise in the new league after St. Paul, Minnesota , withdrew their proposed team due to financial difficulties. Omaha folded after starting
375-645: The becoming the "Packers" in 1930. Baseball Hall of Fame members Mordecai Brown (1902), Joe Kelley (1892), Heinie Manush (1922), Kid Nichols (1889) and Frank Selee (1888-1889, MGR) were all members of Omaha teams. After a partial season in 1936, the Omaha Packers were succeeded in the Western League by the Omaha Cardinals in 1947. The Western League franchise helped set the foundation for today's Class AAA Omaha Storm Chasers . Minor league baseball first came to Omaha, Nebraska, in 1879, as
400-631: The club as the "Cleveland Forest Citys", which does not reflect 1870s usage, but does distinguish the team from the Rockford, Illinois, professional team that was also called "Forest City", that being a long-standing nickname of both of those cities. Professional baseball began in Cleveland in 1869, following the lead of the first openly professional team, the Cincinnati Red Stockings , on the other side of Ohio. The Forest City club
425-500: The early morning hours of August 14, 1936. Omaha, at 56–44, was forced to move to Rock Island, Illinois , where the team finished the 1936 season as the Rock Island Islanders . After the 1936 season, Omaha remained without a minor league team until the Omaha Cardinals rejoined the Western League in 1947. From 1885 through 1898, the various short-lived Omaha teams played their home games at several locations on
450-469: The first National Association game, as the visiting team against the Kekionga club of Fort Wayne, Indiana . They were shut out by a score of 0-2. The Forest City club's record over its two seasons was poor, winning 16 and losing 35. The small quantity of games was typical in the early years, when teams often played only once a week. The team folded after the 1872 season. This article about
475-545: The north side of Omaha. According to newspaper writeups in the Omaha Bee and other local sources, supplemented by Sanborn maps in some years, the early ballparks of the various clubs were: After those various false starts in the 19th century, Omaha professional baseball moved to the south side and finally found some success. From 1900 to 1936, Omaha played home games at the Omaha Baseball Park . The ballpark
500-778: The season with a record of 4–24. Omaha was replaced by the Keokuk Hawkeyes on June 6, 1885. The league itself folded on June 15, 1885. The Omaha Omahogs were members of the Western Association in 1888–1890 and 1894–1895, before rejoining the reformed Western League both times. The 1888 Omahogs were a charter member of the Western Association, along with the Chicago Maroons , Davenport Onion Weeders , Des Moines Prohibitionists , Kansas City Blues, Milwaukee Brewers , Minneapolis Millers , St. Louis Whites , St. Paul Apostles and Sioux City Cornhuskers in
525-563: The ten–team league. The 1889 Omaha Omahogs finished with a record of 83–38 to capture the Western Association Championship behind Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Kid Nichols and with Baseball Hall of Fame manager Frank Selee . The 1891 Western Association team was named the Omaha Lambs for just one season, finishing 51–39 to place 3rd in 1891. Baseball Hall of Fame inductee Joe Kelley hit .316 for
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#1732787246727550-495: Was also known as Rourke's Park from 1911 to 1934 and Vinton Street Park from 1935 to 1936. The park was sometimes called Western League Park as well, or just League Park . The ballpark had a capacity of 10,000 (1920), 8,500 (1931) and 6,000 (1936), with dimensions (Left, Center, Right) of 320-368-298 (1936). Fans entered at entry gates on 15th Street and Vinton Street. In 1927, Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig played in an exhibition game at Rourke Park that drew thousands. The ballpark
575-497: Was bounded by South 15th Street (west, third base); Vinton Street (south, first base); buildings and Castelar Street (north, left field); and buildings and South 13th Street (east, right field). City directories give the address as 2519 South 15th Street. The Vinton Street Park was destroyed by fire in August 1936, forcing Omaha to move to Rock Island, Illinois , and finish the season as the Rock Island Rocks . The site
600-638: Was compelled to play its first two seasons in Council Bluffs, Iowa , while Rosenblatt Stadium was under construction. The Western League franchise remained at or near the top in attendance and won pennants in 1950 and 1951. After the 1954 season, Omaha replaced the Columbus Red Birds as the Cardinals' affiliate in the American Association. In its first Triple-A season, the club, managed by Johnny Keane , drew over 316,000 fans, but by 1959 crowds had dwindled. The last Omaha Cardinals club won
625-702: Was the first fully salaried Cleveland team, beginning in 1870 as an independent. The club played against amateur, semipro, and professional teams, including the racially integrated Resolutes Club from Oberlin College . In 1871 the Forest Citys joined the first professional league, the National Association . The Forest Citys' home games were played at the National Association Grounds in Cleveland. Forest City played in
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