The Springfield Cardinals are a Minor League Baseball team based in Springfield, Missouri . They are members of the Texas League 's North Division and serve as the Double-A affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals . The Springfield Cardinals began play in 2005. Since its inception, the team's home venue has been Hammons Field .
24-418: The Springfield Cardinals won three Texas League North 1st Half Division titles, two Texas League North 2nd Half Division titles, two Texas League North championships and one Texas League championship (2012). Through the 2020 season, a total of 114 former Springfield Cardinals have gone on to make their Major League debut with St. Louis with an additional 27 others debuting with different MLB teams. Previously,
48-525: A best-of-five series to determine division champions. Then, the North and South Division winners played a best-of-five series to determine a league champion. In 2021, the Double-A Central held a best-of-five series between the top two teams in the league, regardless of division standings, to determine a league champion. As of 2022, the winners of each division from both the first and second halves of
72-403: A front office led by future Hall of Famer Branch Rickey , Springfield also went to the playoffs in 1931, 1932, 1934, 1935, 1937, 1938, 1939, and 1941, and won league titles in 1931, 1932, 1934, 1937, and 1939. Following the 1946 season, St. Louis moved the team to St. Joseph, Missouri , where it remained until 1953. The city of Springfield saw a brief re-emergence of minor league baseball when
96-496: A week later after appearing in three games. He was recalled in mid-August, hitting off the bench in two games. He was outrighted to Triple-A on November 20, 2013. That winter, Curtis played for the Águilas Cibaeñas of the Dominican Winter League . He played the entire 2014 season with Triple-A Memphis. He was granted free agency after the season. On December 23, 2014, Curtis signed a minor league contract with
120-781: Is a Double-A baseball league in the United States. The circuit was founded in 1888 and ran through 1892. After two years of dormancy, it was revived as the Texas Association in 1895, the Texas-Southern League in 1896, and the Texas League from 1897 to 1899. With the exception of three years during World War II (1943–1945) and one year during the COVID-19 pandemic (2020), the Texas League has been in continual operation since 1902. A league champion
144-477: Is a brightly colored red bird named Louie. He has been a mascot for the team since its formation in 2005. He is the "little brother" of Fredbird , the mascot of the MLB 's St. Louis Cardinals . Their second mascot is a fluffy dog named Fetch. He is a fluffy beagle received by Louie as a birthday gift on Opening Day in 2006. During home games they can be found entertaining fans by tossing t-shirts and taking photos. When
168-404: Is determined at the end of each season. Champions have been determined by postseason playoffs, winning the regular season pennant, or being declared champion by the league office. From 1952 to 1964, the league recognized both a pennant winner and a playoff winner; they were declared co-champions. For the 2019 season, the first-half and second-half winners within each division (North and South) met in
192-609: The Cincinnati Reds . Excluding a month-and-a-half stint on the disabled list late in the season, he played the entire 2015 season with the Triple-A Louisville Bats . He elected free agency on November 6, 2015, but later re-signed with the Reds. Curtis spent the 2016 campaign back with Louisville, playing in 89 games and batting .291/.404/.435 with nine home runs and 50 RBI. He elected free agency following
216-582: The Double-A Central , which was divided into two divisions. Prior to the 2022 season, MLB renamed the Double-A Central as the Texas League, and it carried on the history of the league prior to reorganization. Active Texas League teams appear in bold . Jermaine Curtis Jermaine Antwann Curtis (born July 10, 1987) is an American former professional baseball left fielder . He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for
240-609: The Frisco RoughRiders three games to one in the best-of-five Championship Series. Key players included Kolten Wong , Jermaine Curtis , Carlos Martinez , Trevor Rosenthal , Vance Albitz , Oscar Taveras , and Xavier Scruggs . The Springfield Cardinals play at Hammons Field . It is located in Springfield, Missouri, and has a capacity of 7,986 plus approximately 2,500 general admission seating. The Springfield Cardinals have two mascots. Their first and main mascot
264-764: The St. Louis Cardinals . Curtis attended the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where he played college baseball for the UCLA Bruins baseball team. In 2007, he played collegiate summer baseball with the Chatham A's of the Cape Cod Baseball League and was named a league all-star. The St. Louis Cardinals selected Curtis in the fifth round of the 2008 Major League Baseball draft . He made his professional debut that season playing for
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#1732801658761288-611: The 1930s and 1940s. The current Cardinals are a relatively new team, dating back to just 2005. Previous to this, they were known as the El Paso Diablos . That team's owners sold the franchise to the St. Louis Cardinals and were then moved to Springfield as part of their minor league system. The previous Double-A affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals was the Tennessee Smokies in 2003 and 2004. Springfield has also been
312-560: The 1941 season, batting .379 and quickly becoming a fan favorite. In April 2005, Musial threw out the ceremonial first pitch and played his harmonica to the tune of " Take Me Out to the Ball Game " to a crowd of nearly 12,000 during the inaugural St. Louis vs. Springfield Cardinals game. Among other players to come through Springfield are Dizzy Dean and his brother Paul , Pepper Martin , and Joe Medwick . List of Texas League champions The Texas League of Minor League Baseball
336-618: The 2012 campaign, during which they finished first in the North Division in second half of the season, posted a division-best and franchise mark with a 77–61 record, and won the Texas League Championship. They went on to defeat the Tulsa Drillers 3–2 in the best-of-five divisional playoff series, advancing to the 2012 Texas League Championship Series, their second in franchise history. Springfield defeated
360-542: The Cardinals were organized into the Double-A Central. In 2022, the Double-A Central became known as the Texas League, the name historically used by the regional circuit prior to the 2021 reorganization. On May 1, 2023, the Springfield Cardinals were sold by the St. Louis Cardinals to Diamond Baseball Holdings . Springfield, Missouri , has hosted professional baseball teams since as early as 1905, when
384-794: The Class A-Short Season Batavia Muckdogs . In 2009, he played for the Class A-Advanced Palm Beach Cardinals and Class A Quad City River Bandits . He played for Palm Beach and the Double-A Springfield Cardinals in 2010. Curtis spent the entire 2011 season with Springfield, but played that winter with the Cañeros de Los Mochis of the Liga Mexicana del Pacífico . He opened the 2012 season with
408-535: The Springfield Highlanders began play. For nearly 30 years, the team was variously called the Highlanders, Jobbers, Midgets, and Merchants. There were several years when no team existed at all. In 1931, the St. Louis Cardinals purchased a minor league team, renamed it the Cardinals, and relocated it in Springfield. That year, the team won the first of several Western Association titles. With
432-519: The St. Louis Cardinals' Double-A affiliate was the Tennessee Smokies , located near Sevierville, Tennessee . The Springfield Cardinals' Texas League North rivals are the Arkansas Travelers ( Seattle Mariners ), Northwest Arkansas Naturals ( Kansas City Royals ), Tulsa Drillers ( Los Angeles Dodgers ), and Wichita Wind Surge ( Minnesota Twins ). In conjunction with Major League Baseball's restructuring of Minor League Baseball in 2021,
456-480: The Triple-A Memphis Redbirds , but ended the season with Double-A Springfield. He again played winter ball with Los Mochis after the season. He began the 2013 season with Memphis, but was called up by the St. Louis Cardinals on April 26 after Matt Adams was placed on the disabled list. Curtis made his major league debut the next day as a pinch hitter . He was optioned back to Triple-A about
480-540: The home of various other non-affiliated minor league clubs including the Springfield Highlander (1905), Jobbers (1911), Merchants (1920), Springfield Midgets (1906-1909, 1921–1929; the 1930 club being affiliated with the St. Louis Browns ) and the Red Wings (1931). These former teams were generally Class C ball clubs in the former Western Association . The Cardinals’ most successful season has been
504-422: The rival Chicago Cubs moved its affiliate to Springfield for one season taking the name Springfield Cubs. Though there was a gap of 63 years, most in the Springfield and St. Louis organizations consider the current Cardinals the same group which existed in 1932. Many pieces of fan apparel actually say "Springfield Cardinals circa 1932." The deck on top of the Cardinals dugout also has the championship banners from
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#1732801658761528-401: The season meet in a best-of-three division series, with the winners of the two division series meeting in a best-of-three championship series. The 2020 season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic , and the league ceased operations before the 2021 season in conjunction with Major League Baseball 's (MLB) reorganization of Minor League Baseball. In place of the Texas League, MLB created
552-554: The season on November 7, 2016. On December 1, 2016, Curtis signed a minor league contract with the Oakland Athletics organization. In 78 games split between the Double–A Midland RockHounds and Triple–A Nashville Sounds , he batted .296/.412/.374 with one home run and 32 RBI. Curtis elected free agency following the season on November 6, 2017. On January 21, 2018, Curtis signed a minor league deal with
576-803: The team is on the road, Louie and Fetch attend local events in the community. Pitchers Catchers Infielders Outfielders Manager Coaches [REDACTED] 7-day injured list * On St. Louis Cardinals 40-man roster ~ Development list # Rehab assignment ∞ Reserve list ‡ Restricted list § Suspended list † Temporarily inactive list Roster updated November 19, 2024 Transactions → More rosters: MiLB • Texas League → St. Louis Cardinals minor league players Springfield played host to several players that would go on to play in Major League Baseball. Stan Musial played 87 games for Springfield during
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