Мемфис Редбердс: История и Достижения Бейсбольной Команды

The Memphis Redbirds are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple A affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals. They are located in Memphis, Tennessee, and are named for their Major League Baseball affiliate. The Redbirds play their home games at AutoZone Park, which opened in 2000 and is located in Downtown Memphis. The team previously played at Tim McCarver Stadium in 1998 and 1999. The Redbirds were established as an expansion team of the Triple A Pacific Coast League (PCL) in 1998. In conjunction with Major League Baseball's reorganization of Minor League Baseball in 2021, they were placed in the Triple A East, which became the International League in 2022. A total of eight managers have led the club and its over 500 players. As of the completion of the 2023 season, the Redbirds have played in 3,559 regular season games and compiled a win–loss record of 1,784–1,775 They have appeared in the postseason on seven occasions and won the PCL championship in 2000, 2009, 2017, and 2018. The Redbirds won the Triple A National Championship Game in 2018. They have a postseason record of 34–24 Combining all 3,617 regular season and postseason games, Memphis has an all time record of 1,818–1,799 .

The first professional baseball team in Memphis was the Memphis Reds of the League Alliance in 1877. A different Reds team was created as a charter member of the original Southern League in 1885. After a seven year span with no professional team, Memphis became host to the Memphis Blues, a Double A team of the Texas League, in 1968. Memphis gained an expansion team in the Double A Southern League that played from 1978 to 1997.

The Memphis Redbirds were created as an expansion franchise of the Triple A Pacific Coast League in 1998. Initially, the team was owned as a non profit community entity called the Memphis Redbirds Baseball Foundation, which operated the Redbirds until 2009 when management was turned over to Global Spectrum, a Comcast owned company. While a new ballpark, AutoZone Park, was being constructed for the team, they played their first two seasons (1998–99) at the city's Tim McCarver Stadium. The Redbirds became the top minor league affiliate of the Major League Baseball's St. Louis Cardinals. Memphis' team name, logo, color scheme, and uniforms were all based on those of the St. Louis team. In their inaugural season, the club was managed by Gaylen Pitts. The Redbirds played their first game on the road at Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha, Nebraska. In game one of the doubleheader, the Omaha Royals defeated the Redbirds, 3–2. The team finished their first season of play with a 74–70 record, three games out of first place, leaving them second out of four teams in their division. They finished the 1999 season in third place with a 74–64 record. In 2000, Memphis moved into the newly constructed AutoZone Park. In the park's first regular season game, held on April 14, the Redbirds defeated the Iowa Cubs, 14–3. Memphis went on to clinch the Pacific Coast League's American Conference East Division championship by ending the season in first place, 131/2 games ahead of the second place Oklahoma RedHawks. In the American Conference series, the Redbirds defeated the Albuquerque Isotopes, three games to two, and advanced to the league finals. The Redbirds went on to face the Indianapolis Indians, league champions of the Triple A International League, in the best of five Triple A World Series. Memphis lost, three games to one. The team finished each of the next three seasons in fourth place—2001 (62–81), 2002 (71–71), and 2003 (64–79). The 2002 campaign was a particularly tight race within the American Conference East Division, as the fourth place Redbirds were a mere three games behind first place Oklahoma. Players Jason Bowers, Matt Duff, and Jason Ryan represented Memphis, as they were elected to the PCL All Star Team. Pitcher Dan Haren was selected for the 2004 PCL All Star Team and was chosen as the PCL Star of the Game—the most valuable player representing the league. The team finished third (71–72) in 2005, 3 1/2 games behind the eventual league champion Nashville Sounds. From 2006 to 2007, Memphis finished further out of first place with records of 58–86 in 2006 and 56–88 in 2007. The 2008 season began a reversal of the team's fortunes. Though winding up in second place in 2008, the team, under second year manager Chris Maloney, managed a second place finish with their 75–67 record. In 2009, the Redbirds' first place finish (77–67) earned them the American Conference North Division title and a return to the postseason for the first time in nine seasons. In the American Conference series, Memphis faced the Albuquerque Isotopes, sweeping them in three straight games. Having finished the 2010 season in a tie for first place with the Iowa Cubs (82–62), Memphis was awarded the American Conference North title by virtue of having won the regular season series against Iowa. Memphis started the postseason by defeating the Oklahoma City RedHawks, 3–0, to win the American Conference championship.]] The 2011, the club narrowly missed the postseason, finishing second with a 77–66 record. In 2012, manager Chris Maloney, the longest tenured skipper in team history, was hired as St. Louis' first base coach. He was replaced by Ron Warner. He led the Redbirds to finish in third place (57–87) and 27 games out of first. The team fared better in 2013, ending up in second place (69–75), just one game behind the eventual league champion Omaha Storm Chasers. In March 2014, the Redbirds were purchased by their major league parent club, the St. Louis Cardinals. They were defeated in the conference series, three games to one, by Omaha, who later won the PCL title. The Cardinals sold their majority interest in the team to Peter B. Freund of Trinity Baseball Holdings in March 2016. Memphis ended the 2016 season in fourth place with a 65–77 record. Prior to the 2017 season, the Redbirds unveiled new logos and uniforms. The primary logo is designed to look like a neon sign, such as those seen on nearby Beale Street, consisting of the team name and a redesigned image of team mascot, Rockey the Redbird. A secondary logo uses similar neon tubing to form an "M" in the shape of a music note to honor the city's blues and rock 'n' roll heritage. Led by PCL Manager of the Year Stubby Clapp, the 2017 Redbirds clinched the division title with a 91–50 record. They went on to defeat the Colorado Springs Sky Sox, 3–2, to win the American Conference championship. In the PCL finals, the Redbirds defeated the El Paso Chihuahuas, 3–2, to win their third PCL championship. Stubby Clapp won the PCL Manager of the Year Award for a second time in 2018. Right hander Dakota Hudson won the PCL Pitcher of the Year Award. The team once again finished with the league's best record, winning the 2018 American Southern Division title with an 83–57 record. They defeated the Oklahoma City Dodgers, three games to one, to win the American Conference championship. The Redbirds won their second PCL championship in as many years by beating the Fresno Grizzlies, 3–1. Memphis finished the 2019 season in second place with a 69–71 record under manager Ben Johnson. The start of the 2020 season was postponed due to the COVID 19 pandemic before ultimately being cancelled on June 30.

Following the 2020 season, Major League Baseball assumed control of Minor League Baseball in a move to increase player salaries, modernize facility standards, and reduce travel. As a result, the Pacific Coast League was disbanded, and the Redbirds were placed in the Triple A East, where they continued to serve as the top farm club for the St. Louis Cardinals. Memphis began competition in the new league on May 4 with a 7–5 loss to the Durham Bulls at AutoZone Park. They lost the next four games before collecting their first Triple A East win with a 7–6 victory in 10 innings over Durham on May 9. Memphis ended the season in fifth place in the Southeastern Division with a 57–63 record. No playoffs were held to determine a league champion; instead, the team with the best regular season record was declared the winner. Memphis placed 12th in the league standings. Prior to the 2022 season, the Redbirds were sold to Diamond Baseball Holdings, a group which operates other affiliated Minor League Baseball teams and is led by Pat Battle and former team owner Peter B. Freund. Memphis began IL play with an Opening Night win against the Gwinnett Stripers, 2–1, at AutoZone Park on April 5. They ended the season in sixth place in the Western Division at 73–77. Playing under a split season format in 2023 in which the teams with the best league wide records at the end of each half qualified for the playoffs, Memphis missed the first half title by nine and a half games, placing eighth at 39–36. They dropped further back in the second half, placing 17th at 32–42, fifteen and a half games back. Overall, the team went 71–78. Luken Baker won the International League Most Valuable Player Award and Masyn Winn was chosen for the IL Top MLB Prospect Award.

+Memphis Redbirds records (last five seasons)SeasonRegular seasonPostseasonRef. (Reference)RecordWin %LeagueDivisionGB (Games behind)RecordWin %Result 2019 69–71 .493 8th 2nd 6 — — — Totals 270–289 — — — 4–4 — —

Memphis' chief rivals have been those based in Nashville. Located approximately 200 mile (322 km) to the northeast and connected to Memphis by Interstate 40, Nashville has fielded several teams which have competed in the same leagues as Memphis' teams since the late 19th century. The Redbirds entered the rivalry when they joined the Pacific Coast League in 1998. In 2009, Memphis clinched the American Conference North Division title, finishing the season just two games ahead of Nashville, which spent the majority of the season in first place. As of the completion of the 2023 head to head series, the Sounds lead the 26 year rivalry against the Redbirds with a record of 220–186 in 405 meetings. From 2012 to 2015, the two teams competed in the I 40 Cup Series, a season long, 16 game promotional series between the clubs. Whichever of the two won the most games played between them was declared the winner and got to keep the trophy cup until the next season. The losing team donated game tickets to a charity selected by the winner. The Sounds won the inaugural 2012 contest (9–7), and Memphis won the 2013 series (7–9). The teams discontinued the promotion after the 2015 season.

The Redbirds played their first two seasons at Tim McCarver Stadium while a new, permanent stadium was being constructed downtown. The stadium was built in 1963 for use as an American Legion field. When the Texas League's Memphis Blues came to town in 1968, it became their home ballpark. It was later used by the Memphis Chicks until 1997. The stadium, with an 8,800 person capacity, was demolished in 2005.

The Redbirds' current home ballpark is AutoZone Park, which opened on April 1, 2000, originally seated 16,000 and was later downsized in 2015 to the current seating capacity of 10,000 people. The reduced seating due to $6 million in renovations allowed for picnic tables, seating in grassy areas, and the elimination of the popular left field bluff seating. It was constructed in downtown Memphis at a cost of $80.5 million. It was built to Major League Baseball standards, but with the absence of outfield seats or food vendors far down the foul lines. The first game played at the park was an exhibition between Memphis and St. Louis. A standing room only crowd witnessed the big league club defeat their Triple A affiliate, 10–6. An alternate jersey is a power blue pullover v neck reminiscent of those worn by St. Louis in the 1980s. Striped bands of red, white, and blue adorn the neck and sleeve openings. The front features an image of Rockey the Redbird looking over his shoulder, ball in hand, as if waiting to pitch the ball, on the left chest (this is an homage to a classic St. Louis Cardinals logo, used in the 1950s, sometimes known as the "Dirty Bird"). Road uniforms were identical to those worn for home games with only a few exceptions: jerseys and pants were made from gray material, the St. Louis patch was absent from the sleeve, and the cap was navy blue with a red button and a red "M" with white border.

All Memphis Redbirds games are televised live on MiLB. TV. Jack Keffer is the team's lead broadcaster. Steve Selby was the voice of the Redbirds from 2000 until before the 2021 season, when he retired. Evan Stockton followed Selby as the lead broadcaster in 2021. Past broadcast commentators have included Tom Stocker, David Kelly, Charlie Lea, and Reggie Williams. Since 2018, a select number of games are also broadcast on KTRS 550 AM in St. Louis, allowing Cardinals fans to keep tabs on up and coming players as well as promoting the Redbirds and Memphis tourism to the St. Louis market.

The Memphis Redbirds' mascot is an anthropomorphic cardinal named Rockey the Redbird. He is bright red with black eyebrows and feathers around the face and a yellow beak and legs. He wears the same style jerseys as the team bearing the number 901, which is Memphis' telephone area code. He made his debut in the Redbirds' inaugural 1998 season.

Six individuals have won league awards in recognition of their performance while with the Redbirds. Stubby Clapp won the PCL Manager of the Year Award in 2017 and 2018. Dakota Hudson was selected for the PCL Pitcher of the Year Award in 2018. Of those players, only Brandon Dickson (2010 and 2012) and Ryan Sherriff (2016 and 2017) have been selected twice while playing for Memphis.

The Memphis Redbirds have not honored any of their players by retiring their uniform numbers. However, the St. Louis Cardinals' retired numbers are also retired throughout the Cardinals' minor league organization. When a number is retired, only the player with the retired number can wear that number if he returns to that team as a player or coach. This ensures that the number will be associated with one player of particular importance to the team. The following numbers are, therefore, also retired by Memphis:

Over the course of 24 seasons, the Memphis Redbirds have employed 8 managers. The duties of the team manager include team strategy and leadership on and off the field. Three managers have guided the team to win the Pacific Coast League championship: Gaylen Pitts (2000), Chris Maloney (2009), and Stubby Clapp (2017 and 2018). Clapp also led Memphis to the Triple A championship in 2018. Maloney is the longest tenured manager in team history, having managed the team for 717 games from 2007 to 2011. +Memphis Redbirds managerial recordNo. (Number)ManagerSeason(s)Regular seasonPostseasonRef. (Reference)GamesWinsLossesWin %Apps. (Appearances)WinsLossesWin %1 1998–2002 711 364 347 .512 1 7 6 .538 2 2003 64 22 42 .344 — — — — 3 2003–2006 510 244 266 .478 — — — — 4 2007–2011 717 367 350 .512 2 9 4 .692 5 2012–2014 431 205 226 .476 1 1 3 .250 6 2015–2016 286 138 148 .483 — — — — 7 2017–2018 281 174 107 .619 2 13 7 .650 8 2019–present 559 270 289 1 4 4 .500 Totals 1998–2023 3,559 1,784 1,775 7 34 24 —