1924 Cardinals

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In 1924 the Birds on the Bat were tweaked again, and featured new birds and new lettering. Notably the C in Cardinals was rendered very large with a radical swooping shape. Despite Branch Rickey’s claim of how much ridicule the team faced over their sleeve numbers, we continue to see the numbers in the photographic record from 1924. We show the numbers in red for 1924, but there is a possibility they could have been black as they were in 1923. We see a new stripe pattern on the road socks. We do not know the exact colors of the sock striping.

Photos of this STL emblem and physical samples displayed at the Cardinals museum show this sweater in a deep almost maroon color, and with an off-white / cream color STL.

A 1926 Warm-up sweater worn by Jesse Haines. The sweater has cream trim at the cuffs and at the shoulders of the shawl collar. A cream wool felt “STL” adorns the left chest.

1924 St. Louis Cardinals team photo with STL sweaters.

Is this jersey a very convincing fake? This jersey went up for auction years ago, labeled as an early 20s Cardinals road jersey. The auction was withdrawn because its authenticity went into question. The glaring issue from this jersey is that it doesn’t have pinstripes. The other issue is that it has no player tag sewn into the shirt. Perhaps this was created as a sample in 1924, 1925, or 1926, and never made it to the playing field. Perhaps it was made for an offseason barnstorming tour?

Newspaper Accounts

Sioux City Journal: May 7, 1924
The Cardinals will be spic and span in snappy new uniforms. The Cardinal color scheme is brought out in the suits and it will be a neat looking baseball club that will trot out on the field Thursday. Each of the players has been numbered for the convenience of the fans and the numbers will appear in the program.