Congratulations, Cardinals

By now I'm sure you know that the Arizona Cardinals beat the Eagles for the franchise's first NFC Championship and Super Bowl appearance in two weeks when they play the Steelers in Tampa. The Cardinals, of course, are one of the oldest NFL franchises, one of only two remaining NFL charter members (the other is the Bears) and from 1920 to 1959, the Cardinals called Chicago home and for most of that time shared Comiskey Park with the White Sox. For nearly 40 years, the same boundaries and rivalry that seperated Chicagoans in the summer extended into the fall and winter. By the 1950s, however, the Cardinals were struggling on the field and at the gate, and competing against the much more popular Bears was simply not an option. Sadly, in 1959, the same year the White Sox broke a 40-year dry spell and set off celabratory air raid sirens, the Cardinals played their last games in Chicago. By March 1960, the NFL approved the Cardinals' move and that following season was the franchise's first in St. Louis.

The irony is that while I'm writing this, I'm wearing a Bears t-shirt. Being born in the '80s, I don't feel much, if any, connection to the Cardinals (to be honest, I barely remember their days in St. Louis). While I have no emotional attachment to the Cardinals, they do have South Side roots and their current relevance in the sports world gives me the opprotunity to run a few photos of The Baseball Palace of the World retrofitted for football.

This first one is my favorite, it is a picture taken during a game between the Cardinals and Packers in 1946. You can see the infield and part of the pitchers mound to the right, and notice that this predates Comiskey's trademark exploding scoreboard in centerfield.

Say hello to John Panelli. Better known for his outstanding collegiate career at Notre Dame than his swan song with the Cardinals, Panelli was a key member of Notre Dame's 1946 and 1947 National Championships and was the 13th overall pick in the 1949 NFL Draft. He played professionally with the Lions and Cardinals until he retired from football in 1953. In this photo, he's posing just outside of Comiskey's infield with the famous arched windows clearly behind him. There are some other good team photos of the 1952 and 1953 Cardinals posted on johnpanelli.com, both taken at Comiskey and both prominently featuring the arched windows.

Finally, a 1958 Topps trading card featuring a team photo taken at Comiskey Park. Yes, the picture quality isn't great, but the one noticeable detail is the monster scoreboard obviousy visible in the background.