Memphis Redbirds
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Memphis Redbirds

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 600 players.

As of the end of the 2025 season, the Redbirds have played in 3,863 regular-season games and compiled a win–loss record of 1,942–1,921 (.503). They have appeared in the postseason on six 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 30–20 (.600). Combining all 3,913 regular-season and postseason games, Memphis has an all-time record of 1,972–1,941 (.504).

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. The city's Southern League team was known as the Grays in 1886 and 1888, the Browns in 1887, simply Memphis in 1889, the Giants in 1892 and 1894, the Fever Germs in 1893, and the Lambs/Giants in 1895.

The city's longest-operating baseball team, first known as Memphis Egyptians, was formed in 1901 as a charter member of the Southern Association. From 1909 to 1911, this club was called the Turtles before receiving its best-known moniker, the Chickasaws, often shortened to Chicks, in 1912. The original Chicks remained in the league through 1960, winning eight pennants, one playoff championship, and one Dixie Series title. Russwood Park, their home ballpark, was destroyed by fire in April 1960. With the cost of building a new facility too high, the team dropped out of the league after the 1960 season.

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. After six seasons, the Blues moved up to the Triple-A International League in 1974, but the franchise was revoked by the league due to financial problems after the 1976 season. Memphis gained an expansion team in the Double-A Southern League that played from 1978 to 1997. The Chicks were relocated to nearby Jackson as the West Tenn Diamond Jaxx in 1998 to make way for a new Triple-A team.

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.

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