Heroes Off The Field: In 1911, St. Louis Cardinals Became First Responders In Bridgeport Train Wreck

. . . At 3:32 a.m. on that steamy Tuesday morning, the Federal Express jumped off the rails in Bridgeport, the massive locomotive hurtling over the embankment and smashing onto Fairfield Avenue, car after car forming a mountain of smoldering wreckage, burying the passengers.

At that moment, the St. Louis Cardinals became Connecticut's team — first responders at one of the worst transportation disasters in state history.

Theirs were the only cars that remained on the track, and the 22 members of this professional baseball team scrambled down the 18-foot embankment, some in pajamas and bare feet.

"Many a victim of the wreck owes his life to the promptness of the St. Louis National League Baseball team," reported The Hartford Times the following afternoon. . . .