Celebrate Diversity

Since 2004, Cardinals Care, the charitable arm of the team, has orchestrated the innovative Redbird Rookies program, a free co-ed baseball/softball league for kids from diverse backgrounds and historically marginalized communities. In addition to providing all the uniforms, gloves, bats, balls and other equipment needed for each team, Redbird Rookies also provides off-field support in the areas of health, education, mentoring and the cultural arts for each of the nearly 2,500 kids who participate in the program every year.

There are fans of the Cardinals throughout the United States, Latin America and the world. Although our fans come from different places and speak different languages, we are all united by our passion and love for the St. Louis Cardinals. The Cardinals are committed to reaching our Spanish speaking fans across all platforms.

Cardinals fans can hear every home game in Spanish thanks to Cardinals broadcasters Polo Ascencio and Bengie Molina, who have been calling Cardinals games since 2016. Cardinals Spanish broadcasts can be heard locally on La Tremenda 880AM and online via MLB Audio at cardinals.com or on the MLB app (subscription required).

Fans can follow and interact with @cardenales on all social platforms and even pick up a Spanish pocket schedule. The Cardinals are proud members of the St. Louis Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

The Cardinals continue to stand with our players, fans, and The Players Alliance in the fight for social justice. The Players Alliance was formed by a group of Black Major League Baseball players, standing together to change our game and use our platform for positive change.

The Cardinals and The Players Alliance partnered on the Pull Up Neighbor tour in 2020 to provide food, baseball gear, and more to St. Louisans. In 2021, The Players Alliance made a stop at Busch Stadium on Tuesday, August 17th as part of the Gear For Good Tour. The event included an opportunity for fifteen Cardinals Care Redbird Rookies athletes to participate in a meet and greet with Jack Flaherty and Jordan Hicks, followed by a Q&A session with Cardinals Front Office executives. The Players Alliance also presented each athlete with a bag full of baseball equipment.

The Cardinals are proud to support the mission of the Players Alliance to create an inclusive culture within baseball and the community, where differences are leveraged to elevate racial equality and provide greater opportunities for the Black community, both in our game and the places we live in, play in, and care about most.

The Cardinals Theme Tickets program is a unique ticket sales initiative targeted towards niche markets and groups, and celebrates multiple community and heritage events each year. With the purchase of a Theme Ticket, fans receive an exclusive promotional item and access to a pre-game event. A portion of each ticket sold is donated back to a charity serving each community. Pride Night, Fiesta Cardenales, and African American Heritage Day have become highlights of the Theme Tickets schedule.

As part of its commitment to help and support children in our community, Cardinals Care has built or renovated 24 youth ballfields throughout the St. Louis metropolitan area. Most recently, the Cardinals dedicated Stars Park Field at Harris-Stowe State University on June 25, 2021. The $1.2 million state-of-the-art baseball and softball facilities broke ground in July 2020 during the 100th anniversary of the Negro Leagues and sits on the site that served as the home field of the Negro National League’s St. Louis Stars from 1922-31.

The St. Louis Cardinals partnered with Diversity Awareness Partnership (DAP) to develop the EXPLORE Baseball Youth Career Immersion program where diverse high school students from the surrounding St. Louis community come to learn about possible career opportunities in baseball. This multi-session program teaches students how to best prepare themselves for a career in the baseball industry, and creates a recruitment pipeline as we strive to continue to develop an inclusive and diverse workforce.

The First Pitch program is designed to introduce & prepare diverse college students for careers in baseball. This program will focus on key areas such as industry exposure, knowledge of the organization as an employer, professional networking, interview-skill development, resume building, and sales-specific training that could ultimately lead to a successful transition into entry level positions with the St. Louis Cardinals. This four-day program introduces selected participants to the world of sports and prepares them for future careers.

MLB’s Diverse Business Partners program seeks to promote efficiency and profitability for Major League Baseball and its Clubs while extending Baseball's ability to contribute to the economic growth, strength and well-being of diverse communities. Since the formation and initial implementation stages of the DBP program in 1998, MLB has incurred expenditures over $1 billion with diverse-owned businesses, making DBP an industry-leading program. The program has grown since its beginning to not just include minority and women owned businesses but also veteran-owned, LGBT-owned businesses and small businesses.

In 2022, the Cardinals will announce and present the Jackie Robinson "Most Valuable Diverse Business Partner" (MVDBP) to one of our own suppliers. The MVDBP Awards are given on an annual basis, in recognition of Jackie Robinson Day, to minority-owned, women-owned and other diverse-owned businesses and organizations whose work reflects the character and commitment to the excellence of Jackie Robinson's legacy.

The Cardinals are proud to participate in the "MLB On Deck" Diversity in Ticket Sales Program. This eight-week-long program aims to provide the basic tools, knowledge, and understanding of the ticket sales business, giving the students valuable insight as they prepare for the interview process for entry level sales positions. Sessions are hosted by MLB and MLB Club personnel with guest speakers from throughout the sports industry. With a focus on engaging with underrepresented participants, MLB aims to grow the diversity and visibility of these groups within the industry, by placing individuals who successfully complete this program directly into hiring pipelines with clubs.