Fredbird is the official
mascot
A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as fi ...
for the
St. Louis Cardinals
The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals hav ...
major league baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
team. He is an anthropomorphic
cardinal
Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to:
Animals
* Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds
**''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae
**''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...
wearing the team's uniform. Fredbird can always be found entertaining young children during baseball games at
Busch Stadium
Busch Stadium (also referred to informally as "New Busch Stadium" or "Busch Stadium III") is a baseball stadium located in St. Louis, Missouri. The stadium serves as the home of the St. Louis Cardinals, the city's Major League Baseball (MLB) f ...
. His name is derived from "Redbird", a synonym for the cardinal bird and for the Cardinals themselves. Fredbird was introduced on April 6, 1979, by the Cardinals, then owned by
Anheuser-Busch
Anheuser-Busch Companies, LLC is an American brewing company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. Since 2008, it has been wholly owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV (AB InBev), now the world's largest brewing company, which owns multiple glo ...
, to entertain younger fans at the games.
![Fredbirdwiki cycle](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a3/Fredbirdwiki_cycle.jpg)
He quickly became popular with fans for his dancing, habit of "beaking" the heads of supporters, and for throwing
T-shirt
A T-shirt (also spelled tee shirt), or tee, is a style of fabric shirt named after the T shape of its body and sleeves. Traditionally, it has short sleeves and a round neckline, known as a ''crew neck'', which lacks a collar. T-shirts are general ...
s into the stands. In later years, he has been joined by "Team Fredbird", a group of young women employed by the club who help him with his T-shirt toss and occasionally in other duties. He can also be seen rallying the crowd regularly during pregame on-field ceremonies, and, occasionally, he finds time to sit behind (or on top of) the dugout to get the crowd going. After every Cardinal home victory, Fredbird takes a flag with the team's logo onto the field and waves it around. He is one of baseball's best-known mascots, and he makes hundreds of appearances year-round in the St. Louis area. Fredbird can also be seen on television once a week on the Cardinal's Kids TV show with former Cardinal
Brad Thompson
Bradley Joseph Thompson (born January 31, 1982) is an American former professional pitcher who played in Major League Baseball for the St. Louis Cardinals and Kansas City Royals from 2005–2010.
Career
Thompson was drafted by the St. Louis Card ...
.
He came under slight controversy in 2015 when he was seen holding a sign saying "Police Lives Matter" when the Cardinals said that Fredbird was not involved in any sort of political activity. However, a man and a woman asking for a quick photo with Fredbird said that he was unaware of the sign. Eventually, the Cardinals asked the police association that had the sign to take the sign down.
Fredbird store at the ballpark
See also
*
Rally Squirrel
Rally Squirrel is the name given to an American gray squirrel (''Sciurus carolinensis'') which appeared on the field and ran across home plate at Busch Stadium during a 2011 National League Division Series (NLDS) Major League Baseball game betwee ...
, who joined Fredbird as a secondary mascot during the 2011 postseason
*
List of Major League Baseball mascots
This is a list of current and former Major League Baseball mascots, sorted alphabetically.
The tradition in the Major League Baseball mascot began with Mr. Met, introduced for the New York Mets when Shea Stadium opened in 1964. Although some masc ...
References
External links
Cardinals official website
{{St. Louis Cardinals
Major League Baseball team mascots
Bird mascots
St. Louis Cardinals
Mascots introduced in 1979
Culture of St. Louis