Fredbird
Fredbird | |
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Fredbird in 2013 | |
First appearance | April 6, 1979 |
Information | |
Gender | Male |
Occupation | Mascot |
Fredbird is the official mascot for the St. Louis Cardinals major league baseball team. He is an anthropomorphic cardinal wearing the team's uniform. Fredbird can always be found entertaining young children during baseball games at Busch Stadium. His name is derived from "Redbird", a synonym for the cardinal bird and for the Cardinals themselves.
Fredbird was introduced in April 6, 1979 by the Cardinals, then owned by Anheuser-Busch, to entertain younger fans at the games.
He quickly became popular with fans for his dancing, habit of "beaking" the heads of supporters, and for throwing T-shirts 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, doing a Cardinal's Kids Club show with former Cardinal Andy Benes.
Fredbird store at the ballpark
See also
- Rally Squirrel, who joined Fredbird as a secondary mascot during the 2011 postseason
- List of Major League Baseball mascots
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Fredbird. |