[Mick]

Mantle twice???

Sorry, meant to write "Cobb".  These five Triple Crown winners would have won the Triple Crown in either league that year:

Ty Cobb, 1909
Rogers Hornsby, 1922
Lou Gehrig, 1934
Ted Williams, 1942
Mickey Mantle, 1956

To the Cardinal question: actually, no, the Cardinals were not named after birds or exalted priests. In 1899 a woman in the stands gushed about the players' uniforms containing a "lovely shade of cardinal." St. Louis Republic reporter Willie McHale overheard her and included her remark in his column the next day. The rest, as they say, is history. Addition of the Cardinal as an ornithological mascot came later.

[Mick]

Mantle twice???

Sorry, meant to write "Cobb".  These five Triple Crown winners would have won the Triple Crown in either league that year:

Ty Cobb, 1909
Rogers Hornsby, 1922
Lou Gehrig, 1934
Ted Williams, 1942
Mickey Mantle, 1956

To the Cardinal question: actually, no, the Cardinals were not named after birds or exalted priests. In 1899 a woman in the stands gushed about the players' uniforms containing a "lovely shade of cardinal." St. Louis Republic reporter Willie McHale overheard her and included her remark in his column the next day. The rest, as they say, is history. Addition of the Cardinal as an ornithological mascot came later.