New Orleans Pelicans Baseball

The New Orleans Pelicans were a minor league professional baseball team based in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded in 1887, the Pelicans became part of the Southern Association in 1901. From 1915 through 1957, they played home games at Pelican Stadium (also known as Heinemann Park), formerly located at the downtown river corner of Carrollton Avenue and Tulane Avenue in Mid City New Orleans. After that, they played for 2 years at Tad Gormley Stadium in City Park. The team disbanded at the end of the 1959 season.
Daniel Victor Cazenave played for the team in the late 1930s and early 1940s.
Other notable Pelicans included Shoeless Joe Jackson, Cotton Knaupp, Oyster Joe Martina, and Dixie Walker. The team photo to the right is of the 1910 Pelicans, Southern Association Champions (#12, Shoeless Joe Jackson, was about to go on to fame in the majors).
In the 1950s, the team was associated with the Pittsburgh Pirates and was managed by Danny Murtaugh. Other notable Pelican managers included Larry Gilbert and Abner Powell, the later of whom is credited with introducing the "rain check".
The Pelicans' name briefly resurfaced during the 1977 season when New Orleans acquired a Triple-A minor league team. The Louisiana Superdome, home of the New Orleans Saints football team, was home to the team for that season, where they brought in over 200,000 fans (good enough for second in the league). The team moved the next season to Springfield, Illinois, and were re-named the Redbirds. The team subsequently moved to Louisville, Kentucky and then on to Memphis, Tennessee where it continues to operate as the top minor league affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals.