Many baseball teams have unique manes for their fan bases (i.e. “Red Sox Nation” and “Yankee Universe”). The St. Louis Cardinals are no exception as their fan base has come to be called Cardinal Nation. Where does that term come from? How did it come to be?
According to Douglas Feldman, author of Dizzy and the Gashouse Gang: The 1934 St. Louis Cardinals and Depression-Era Baseball, the term probably originated in the 1930s as the increasing popularity of radio made Major League Baseball available to millions of American Households.
Being a member of Cardinal Nation means that you are a member of a brotherhood and sisterhood of fans who have been joined together by the common bond of rooting for one of the most tradition-bound franchises in baseball – winners of 19 National League Pennants and 11 World Championship, making them (with the exception of the Yankees) the most successful team in baseball.