Advice for a soon-to-be transplanted Cards fan?

by effin fisk on Aug 9, 2007 12:00 PM EDT

After a quarter of a decade living in southwest Missouri, I'm packing up and moving to be with my girlfriend in L.A. I've got tons of family and friends there, too, which makes for an exciting move and an easy(ish) transition.

But...

This also means saying goodbye to Cardinals country. Home games will no longer be three hours away, and I can't look for $5 in loose change to buy a lawn seat for the AA team here in Springfield anymore. I know that "Cardinal Nation" is everywhere, but it's going to feel strange listening to conversations about the Dodgers & Angels while sipping a beer at a bar.

Before I go, I wanted to ask advice from other non-Midwest fans. How do you stay connected? What's the best cost-effective TV/Radio/Internet plan for following the games? What do you do for playoff games (should someone tamper with the thermostat in Hell, allowing us to sneak into the postseason)? Any advice is appreciated.

Peace out, Missouri.

0 recs | Comment 25 comments

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I live in Bakersfield

And make it to at least one Cardinals game in LA every year. I have been to playoff games in '04 and '05 in LA and San Diego, and San Fran isn't that far away either.

It's a drag to only make it to so few live games every year, and to always be one of the visiting fans, but VEB, mlb.tv, and the MLB extra innings package on Dish Network make it possible to keep track of games.

by lawman3842 on Aug 9, 2007 12:00 PM EDT 0 recs

Gameday Audio

has always been my choice because I love Mike Shannon. Plus it's the cheapest option (less than $20/season). It got me through a year in Red Sox Nation.

My parents pay for access to FSN Midwest on their DirectTV plan. This is awesome but, since I'm perfectly fine with the radio and an occassional game on TV, I didn't want the extra expense.

by cardsgirlinAR on Aug 9, 2007 12:06 PM EDT 0 recs

you can get individual FSN

channels added to your DirecTV account? how much does it cost for one?

I''m a Jenius!

by gibbons on Aug 9, 2007 3:57 PM EDT up 0 recs

MLB.tv

I got it for the first time this year and overall have been fairly happy with it. Biggest benefit for me is that I can watch games without tying up the TV every night so the wife doesn't get pissed :). Dodgers games will be blacked out where you live of course and maybe Padres games as well. Actually I would go on the mlb.tv website and enter your future zip code at the bottom of the page to check all blacked out teams, they can be pretty wacky sometimes.

by mikedallas23 on Aug 9, 2007 12:08 PM EDT 0 recs

mlb.tv

mlb.tv is the best option. it's helped me survive three years(and counting) in red sox land.

i believe it is like 120 for the whole season for the highest resolution package.

by jroman on Aug 9, 2007 12:20 PM EDT up 0 recs

I have XMRadio and MLB Extra Innings

it seems to work the best, although you have to watch/listen to the hometeams broadcasts from time to time.

You also miss out on a good chunk of the Channel 5 broadcast, as well as now ALL of your Fox Saturday Baseball games will be Dodgers/Giants.

Call up PJ Walters!

by Hardcore Legend on Aug 9, 2007 12:14 PM EDT 0 recs

XM or MLB radio is great

I'm in Orange County and radio is really the best option because most games are on while we are still at work.

It is fun to make the trek down to SD to watch games though. Petco is a great park.

by OCCardsFan on Aug 9, 2007 12:24 PM EDT up 0 recs

For me

I try in a few different ways:

I read the STL Post Dispatch online.
VEB has been a great find over the past two seasons.
Because I live in New Jersey, I try and make it to at least one Cards game a year in Philly and NYC. Things are close enough here that I have been able to see the team play in DC as well. In Cali, you might be able to see the Card- Dodgers and maybe even the Cards- Padres series.
I got gameday audio this season and I think it is worth the price.
Cable TV is a nice move as well. I can see the all Mets- Cards series online as well as the odd ESPN games and the Braves- Cards series.

by JMedwick on Aug 9, 2007 12:19 PM EDT 0 recs

i've been out of st. louis

for over 15 years now. i've seen virtually every game that the cards have played here in denver. as soon as the schedule comes out, i start planning.

as far as watching goes, the convenience of mlb.tv is nice, but the cable/direct tv season package is well worth the $160 bucks.

veb and the post online are daily necessities.

i have a couple of friends out here who also happen to be cardinals fans, so playoffs i'll have people over to our place, or we'll head to a local place to watch together.

a friend and i will also text each other during significant games.

by sdesserman on Aug 9, 2007 12:37 PM EDT 0 recs

and during insignificant ones

by tdawg on Aug 9, 2007 2:39 PM EDT up 0 recs

and chat on the phone

but only according to prevailing juju. if the game/inning is going well and we talk and it goes bad, we get off the phone quickly. if the game/inning is going poorly we may attempt to get in touch to reverse the juju. you get the idea. it's all about superstition (like say, a playoff beard...).

by sdesserman on Aug 9, 2007 7:21 PM EDT up 0 recs

Becoming a Dodger fan...

has significant benefits:

Listening to Vin Scully and Rick Monday for free
Dodger Thoughts by Jon Weisman
Lots of exciting young players (Kemp, Loney, Billingsley etc...)
Awesome weather to take in a game
A GM that makes impossibly stupid moves, which gets the fan base nice and riled up

Not saying you should abandon the Cards, but it's OK to have a favorite team and a favorite local team.

Ease LaDunketty out gently, thank him profusely, and... Hire Antonetti!!!

by guayzimi on Aug 9, 2007 12:48 PM EDT 0 recs

Question...

I went to Chavez Ravine for a Dodgers-Padres game a little over a month ago...are Dodger fans always that nuts?

The ushers got booed 6-7 times. Anytime there was a San Diego logo or mention, they went nuts over that too. By far the most...spirited...crowd I've ever seen.

by whopperman on Aug 9, 2007 7:59 PM EDT up 0 recs

I've had stuff thrown at me

on multiple occasions. Once this year during a cards game when we were blowing them out (it was the only one we won in LA this year) and they started a comeback in the 9th inning- ridiculous- i was wearing a bland red collared shirt with khakis for chrissakes, minding my own business, and some dude on the 2nd level just dumps his soda on me. Then once, either last year or 2004 (can't remember, game was vs Az) when I wore a Milton Bradley jersey I bought from a dude in hollywood for $10 (dumb idea). Trying to impress a girl who was a dodgers fan, I had no idea about the whole bradley thing at the time... But I've been to probably 20 games there and it's generally a really cool place to watch a game. My current GF loves the blue margaritas and dodger dogs are great, and they have guinness on tap in the field level IIRC.

The ushers are incredibly cool too, and will let you move pretty much wherever you want in the stadium as long as you have tickets for that level...

"This is a ball club with issues." -Nats announcers (talking about the Cardinals)

by SleepyCA on Aug 9, 2007 10:58 PM EDT up 0 recs

I liked the place

I'll get the Top Deck tickets next time I go...we got field level out in the RF corner and then spent most of the game walking around.

The only time we were checked for a ticket was to go down to field level.

They didn't even get pissed when we, um, mistakenly wandered into the concourse of the suite level. We thought the escalators kept going up to the top level.

I have to admit, I didn't like the Dodger Dog.

FWIW, I really liked PETCO.

by whopperman on Aug 10, 2007 4:30 PM EDT up 0 recs

The best and only reason to be a dodger fan

http://jonathanhernandez.com/images/touch-milano.jpg

by rocKStark5 on Aug 10, 2007 4:44 PM EDT up 0 recs

It's DirecTv Extra Innings

every day.

The good thing is being in SoCal You have Dodgers, Padres and if they would ever play in Anaheim the Angels to see the Cards at.

...and...

playoffs?!?

Playoffs!?!

You want to talk about playoffs?

PLAYOFFS!!!

Oh I don't know. Dieing a little every second while watching in on TV seems to have worked out pretty well so far for me.

by Harknights on Aug 9, 2007 1:11 PM EDT 0 recs

second the above endorsement of mlb.tv

enjoy going to dodger stadium when the cardinals are the away tea. There is a special beauty in cheering against the home crowd. There are a series of great Cardinals blogs out there that really give you a bit of the feel of being back in MO.

by Valatan on Aug 9, 2007 1:14 PM EDT 0 recs

Another Orange County Cards Fan

Grew up on the east side, moved out to Cali in '99. The wife and I will go see the Cards play in Dodger Stadium or this year we hit Petco. Both are enjoyable. I've become used to the dirty looks and rooting against the home team. When I go home and are surrounded by Cards fans I dont know what to do. As far as following the cards stltoday.com and VEB keep me probably more connected than I was when I lived back home.

by FunkeeC on Aug 9, 2007 2:48 PM EDT 0 recs

Oh ya

MLB.TV for me as well, I can watch the games at work or at home, which is nice.

by FunkeeC on Aug 9, 2007 2:48 PM EDT up 0 recs

VEB and MLB.tv are the choices for me

(that sentence could only have been written in this century)

You're lucky: I spent a lot of time living in the Houston-area, meaning that I was forced to watch 19 annual Cards-'Stros games with Bill Brown announcing. Somehow, I also get Gameday Audio with the MLB.tv, so that's nice for blacked-out games (get used to those).

Also, it's a stark realization that St. Louis is an obscenely small market, but it's one that you will quickly make. The first time someone asks you, "Where's Missouri again?" try not to mock their foundational education. They just don't know any better.

by sjoshi on Aug 9, 2007 2:53 PM EDT 0 recs

Basically the same thing here

Living in the outer-most burbs of Chicago, I've relied on being able to see Cubs/Cards games on TV and of course Braves/Cards games. With that and with the random ESPN pickups that usually gets me around 25-30 games I can see on TV.

I also have really nice tickets next week for the Cards/Brewers game on Tuesday, which will be kind of cool, as I've only ever been to Busch II and III as far as big league stadiums go.

I can't really tell you about the cable packages, etc. because as I'm putting my wife through law school, we're currently too poor to shell out extra money to Comcast, but take advantage of being able to see different parks!

Next year I'm hoping the Cards come to US Cellular, so I might be able to hit both Wrigley and the Cell to see the Cards :)

by mtalken on Aug 9, 2007 3:18 PM EDT 0 recs

Direct TV

I have Direct TV and the Extra Innings package so I get, and watch, almost every game through that. I'm blacked out when they play Houston but I can watch them through the Astros' affiliate while listening to their insufferable announcers, Bill Brown and Jim Deshaies.

When I can't watch a game on EI, I also have mlb.tv. I pay too much for the mlb.tv compared to the number of times I use it, but it's there. The best package, though it's the most expensive, is the Extra Innings package. The picture quality is much better and I get to sit on the sofa and watch the game rather than sitting at my less than comfortable computer chair.

by chuckb on Aug 9, 2007 4:21 PM EDT 0 recs

Good luck w/the move

I lived out in DC for 3 years and have just moved to Wisconsin to be with my GF here. Before that, I finished up high school and college living in Chicago. I also spent a semester in China and another 6 months in England after graduating.

I've found that since I've moved I'm actually a much bigger Cardinals fan than I used to be. Obviously if you're growing the playoff beard and visiting VEB while you live in STL, you're not going to be able to discover them and reignite your fandom.

Still, it's great when you can go to a game or bar and find tons of Cardinals fans when there really isn't a good reason for there to be tons of them in your area.

I've never had MLB.TV but I got it for my Dad last year. He wasn't a huge fan simply because he didn't really have time to watch enough of the games. My brother is the same way. He moved out to San Francisco 2 years ago and it's often hard for him to watch east coast/midwest games since they're simply on too early.

Try to imagine those early afternoon playoff games on Pacific time!

Still, I think if you read VEB, game summaries, watch some game day at work, you'll find it's not a horrible way to exist as a fan.

The only thing I miss is that the day after the World Series no one in DC even cared and I know if I were in St. Louis it would have been awesome. What can you do though?

by dontEATnachos on Aug 9, 2007 6:41 PM EDT 0 recs

MLB.TV Premium...

I live in NY. Nothing but Yankees & Mets here, so I pay $120 for everything; MLB.TV, Gameday Audio, MLB Mosaic, archive video, download video, highlight reel, clickable linescores, etc.

For me, it's well worth the money.

by jdubya on Aug 9, 2007 9:19 PM EDT 0 recs