| Cologne Cardinals | |
| Native Name: | Cologne Cardinals Sports-Club e.V. |
| League: | Baseball (men)
Softball (women, mixed)
|
| Division: | North |
| Location: | Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) |
| Ballpark: |
|
| Founded: | 1983 |
| Nickname: | Cards |
| League Champs: | 1 (1990) |
| Colors: | red, white & blue |
| Coach: | Alex Braham |
| President: | Georg Apfelbaum |
| Website: | www.colognecardinals.de |
The Cologne Cardinals are a German baseball and softball team based in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia. The team is organized as a registered sports association under German law and has the support of a large number of volunteers. Founded in 1983, the team plays their home games at Circlewood Stadium in the Müngersdorf sports park, in the proximity of Cologne's soccer facilities.[1]
The Cardinals compete in the German Baseball-Bundesliga and won one championship title in 1990. Since the relegation of the Mannheim Tornados, the Cologne Cardinals are the last remaining founding member of the Bundesliga.
The Cologne Cardinals were established following a division from the Cologne Dodgers in 1984. The Cardinals used to play in the South Division, but were moved to the North Division when the league expanded to eight teams per division in 1993. After winning the German baseball championship in 1990, the team experienced two relegations in 1996 and 2010. However, the Cardinals have maintained their position in the top division without interruption since 2011. In 2024, the Cologne Cardinals qualified for the playoffs for the first time since their relegation, but were ultimatively defeated in the quarter-finals by the Regensburg Legionäre.[2]
In addition to the Bundesliga team, the Cardinals are represented by three other teams in the 2nd Bundesliga Northwest, the Verbandsliga NRW, and the Bezirksliga Rhineland.
In the early 2000s, the Cologne Cardinals softball team was a regular contender for the German softball championship. After the team was relegated following the season in 2008, it returned to the softball Bundesliga in 2022.[3] A second women's team competes in the Verbandsliga NRW.
In addition to the women's softball program, the MixedCards team participates in a self-contained fastpitch softball league. The league is open to all players, regardless of their skill level.[4] The team with the best record qualifies for the German Mixed Softball Champions League in the following year.
Since their foundation in 1983, the Cardinal's home ballpark has been a former equestrian venue in the Müngersdorf sports park. In 1997, the facility was converted into a baseball stadium with a 312 feet right field to meet North American Major League standards.[5] Additionally, the facility features a softball field and adjacent training facilities. For the 2001 European Baseball Championships in Cologne, Bonn, and Solingen, the Circlewood Stadium had a capacity of approximately 1,000 spectators.[6] Beyond the Circlewood Stadium, a second ballpark is situated at the sports park on Biesterfeldstraße in the northwestern region of Cologne, which is primarily utilized by the softball teams.[7] [8]