Proud to be a Cards' fan

by Oregonian Redbird on Sep 23, 2007 11:28 PM EDT Comment 14 comments

I don't know about you folks, but after tonight's game, I'm almost prouder to be a St. Louis Cardinals' fan than I was 11 months ago. The reasons are many, but they include: a team that is out of the race but didn't wilt in a bullpen game in the national spotlight; the spontaneous ovations given to Biggio in the top of the 8th and Edmonds in the bottom of the 8th; 40,000 people still in the seats to watch Pujols' 99th RBI in the bottom of the 9th; the class with which LaRussa and Jocketty have and continue to show in their dealings with the team and the media; the respect the players show for LaRussa, regardless of how he is portrayed by outsiders. The Cardinals remain a proud franchise with incredible fans, and that will not change even if the makeup of the team changes. Tonight might mark the end of an era, and it's an era we'll remember fondly. As ugly as this year was, it can't diminish what this team has accomplished in the past 7 years.

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At the game tonight

was kind of a weird vibe. We all knew it was the last time we got to walk into our own stadium (a stadium which still doesn't quite feel like our stadium) as World Champions, but we also knew the team on the field is in no way, shape, or form a World Champ.

But the guys played their butts off, most of the fans stuck with it (I'd like to note that "superfan" Sign Guy left in the eight inning with the score 1-1). The Biggio AB was nice (him popping out was better), but the ovation for Jimmy and Alberts ABs were spectacular. I (heck, we) thought Albert had won it, but not quite. Letting Rick finish it off was a nice touch -- I can't wait to watch a whole season of those two next year.

The rather feeble octogenarian lady behind me that tapped me on the shoulder, gave me a tiny high five and whispered "Leave it up to Rickey!" after the game was nice. Shannon giving the crowd a few waves on his night was nice, too. The guys all coming out and tipping their caps was best of all.

It's been a long, terrible season, and I'm sure a lot of them are glad it's about over. And while they didn't finish out with all of the talent in the world, the did finish it out with plenty of grit.

(Somewhere, Joe Morgan approves.)

Thanks for '07, gents. Now go get some real pitchers and lets try over in '08!

Well, let's go to the old mill anyway -- get some cider!

by Alxfritz on Sep 24, 2007 12:07 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

What a great first-hand account--thank you

I especially loved your story about the octogenarian lady sitting behind you. That completed the game for me, picturing her tapping you on the shoulder, giving a little high five and praising Rickey as the guy who would come through. That must have been some night. Thanks for sharing what it was like for all of us who couldn't be there and had to suffer through the non-commentary of ESPN.

by nycardfan on Sep 24, 2007 10:56 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

hey alex

not trying to defend the sign guy, but he is from springfield, MO, so he does have a drive

i have to say that the game tonight had me feeling better about this team than i have in a while

one question: was so batting third because it was his last home game?

Pujols is the greatest Cardinal in my lifetime.

by bigcardsfan5 on Sep 24, 2007 12:57 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Could be....

So's final game at home....and a few others.

"40,000 people still in the seats to watch Pujols' 99th RBI in the bottom of the 9th; the class with which LaRussa and Jocketty have and continue to show in their dealings with the team and the media; the respect the players show for LaRussa, regardless of how he is portrayed by outsiders. The Cardinals remain a proud franchise with incredible fans,......"

The respect the players have for TLR, the coaching crew, Walt, the fans and the way they play the game with the injury odds against them, shows how little we actually know about this game outside of the numbers and the "fan-dom" type baseball thinking we leave on this Blog...I'm humbled by what takes place between the lines on the diamond and in the stadium...the rest is fodder.

Youth movement or not, I want Carpenter, Speezio JEd and Rolen back in '08...yeah, those old guys that play the game like pros.

by cardschinmusic on Sep 24, 2007 7:15 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Agree

I agree with your humbleness and I especially agree with your Signature. I can't wait for the offseason to start but I want a core of this years team back, they are fighters that somehow still made it out to the field every single day the field was "playable (stupid NY)" except for one day when there was no way they were able to play and for that I salute them and wish them the best.

I am very proud to be a Cards fan this season even with the losing (why oh why can they not win when I go I am 0-4 this year with close games for most and two Wainwright games)

by StLHugo on Sep 24, 2007 8:34 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I think it's been an inspiring year as well

We can so easily get lost in big dollar deals, and the shortcomings of manager and players, and how we're not getting what we're entitled to as fans, that we don't often hear what chinmusic said so well: "I'm humbled by what takes place between the lines on the diamond..." And I would add, what takes place between teammates.

That's a sentiment people used to feel. And I think it's something our players deserve, especially this year, when they have struggled through so much and have supported one another so well in continuing to fight, even after they've been knocked out of contention. All the speculation about some nefarious "culture" brewing in the clubhouse has been, imo, insulting to this team.

Wainwright articulated the kind of "culture" that has already started to shape him as a young "ace" when he said a few days ago: "The important thing you're seeing with this team, even with all the guys out and all the injuries and all the situations we've been placed in all year, our team continues to go out and battle. I don't know what it looks like on the outside, looking in, but being in this clubhouse, I'm really proud of the guys in here."

Pujols echoed that feeling of support and pride in his fellow players when he deflected the press away from his 99th RBI night to Ankiel's game-winning triple: "It was great to see that (hit) with all the things he has gone through the last couple of weeks. It couldn't happen to a better person than him."

And finally, TLR, for all his faults (and I do think he has definite faults) also has rare virtues. I'm proud that he can delight in his players simply because they play hard and with heart in the midst of adversity and terrible losing streaks. Even if this sounds corny, I think it's true: he doesn't have to win it all to win.

TLR showed this virtue in how thrilled he was with the "almost wins" earlier in the week. And he showed it again last night when he said, "There's a lot of times we're not good enough, but I'll tell you, we've got great heart on this team. You can't deny that. And to finally get the win we deserved after as many times as we kept pushing, in the last game at home, that's 'Fantasy Island' stuff. I can't be happier for the guys on our club, and our fans."

by nycardfan on Sep 24, 2007 12:10 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

The ovation

for Biggio is a great example of why Cards fans are among the best in sports. I was very proud of that too.

by hit and run on Sep 24, 2007 1:02 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Are there really only 7 posters who would say

they are "proud to be a Cards' fan?"

It would've been interesting if this diary had asked "Why are you a Cards' fan?"

I wonder if the responses would run more along the line of "born a Cardinal, always a Cardinal"? Or are people able to give specific reasons for why they continue to be a Cards' fan?

Anyway, after that last home game, the paucity of responses to this diary was both surprising and not surprising. But it did make me question why people identify themselves as a "fan", especially if they are so disatisfied with both the players and the managers/coaches/GM who constitute the team now, and, most likely, in the future.

Those people would be interesting to hear from, as much as people who freely admit that they are "proud to be a Cards' fan".

by nycardfan on Sep 25, 2007 10:27 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Why?

I am a baseball fan because of my father who loved to take me to games on the rare occasions we got to visit with each other. Most of the time these were Orioles games and once it was a Padres game at Qualcomm. But I grew up in the mid west near StL so my mother would take me to Cards games where I would watch this amazing man run out into the outfield and do a back flip before every game. He would then amaze me in the field. Ozzie and Cal are the reasons I love baseball and love watching a good SS play. The feeling of Busch II during a game, the classic look of the uniforms, the antics of Ozzie, the home runs of Edmonds and now Pujols those are the reasons I am a Cardinals fan. Love the game, love the city, love the team. I also grew up just loving baseball so much that I didn't realize when I moved away from StL at such a young age that I was supposed to hate the Cubs and thus I always rooted for StL, Bal and then the Cubs in all games. I have also always been drawn to certain players, I went to high school at the same school Steve Finley went too and he was a favorite of my Padre fan cousins so he is one of my favorites, my love for SSs hasn't ended either as BRyan was one of my favorite minor leaguers for the past two seasons and Tulowitzki (sp?) is one of my current favorites to watch. I guess this is the reason why I like watching Jose Reyes as well but for some reason I just can't stand Jetter. This game and this team will always be there regardless of whether or not I like the decisions made by the team or the players.

by StLHugo on Sep 25, 2007 10:39 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

that gives so much more color

to being a "Cards' fan". Thanks for responding to my question with such interesting details. Maybe it's one people would find more common ground on.

by nycardfan on Sep 25, 2007 11:01 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Why?

I guess I should answer my own question since I asked it of others. I don't have as interesting a reply as Hugo does. But like Hugo, I would continue to call myself a fan even if some new manager or GM came in who I decidely did not like. It would be more difficult if I thought most players no longer fit into a tradition of what I think of as "Cardinal baseball".

I was at first nudged into becoming a Cards' fan through marriage. My husband grew up in St. Louis and has been going to games his whole life. He started taking me to games in St. Louis and in other places when the Cards came to town. And he's shared over time his great love for Cardinal history.

I at first found baseball to be boring and slow (now I bite my fingernails during pitching duels). I gradually began to tolerate it, then I liked it, and for some unknown reason, I came to love it--to the point that my baseball loving husband rolls his eyes at me because I like to watch every game to the end, even when they are down 18-1 or are in the 14th inning.

Because we lived near Jupiter Florida for eight years, I was able to go to spring training each year, meeting players and watching them before they came under the pressures of the season. Those up-close encounters really influenced my personal feelings for many of the guys who are still playing on our team. It will be difficult for me when they retire. But having people like Wainwright and Ludwick and Brendan Ryan (if he's on the team) and Ankiel will make the transition easier. And I'm really looking forward to new players coming up, like Colby Rasmus.

by nycardfan on Sep 25, 2007 11:57 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

why i love the cards

i am glad nycardfan asked this question, and it is interesting to see the different reasons why people are fans of this team

as for me, i live about 100 miles southwest of st louis, so geographical proximity i am sure is part of it, but i have never felt anything even close to this for the football cardinals, rams, or blues

the fact that they were the local team, and therefore i could get them on radio and see many games on tv may have helped, but the reason i came to love this team is because i grew up baseball-wise during the glory years of the 80's

i was 10 when they won in 1982, and have been hooked since, there are many things over the years which have kept me a card fan, with the only thing that was negative over the years being the end of the brewery reign

i am sure if you asked a passionate fan of most teams in baseball, they could tell you several things that stand out to make them/keep them fans

some of the moments for me are as follows, in chronological order as best as possible:

brummer stole home, willie robbed the homer in the series, and hit two of his own, andujar pitching like an ace, sutter striking out thomas
having to trade hernandez, and being outraged, only to find out the truth later
sutter put up one of the best closer seasons in cards history (except that day in wrigley), andujar being a 20 game winner
the heat is on (could there have been a better theme song for that team?), coleman ROY with his 110 steals, willie MVP and batting title, herr driving in 110 with only 8 homers, tudor having the best non cy young season i have seen, andujar winning 20 for the second year in a row, the post season homers by ozzy and jack, and in the end, an umpires call may have cost the series
third straight year of 100 steals for coleman, ozzie's best offensive season, clark first card with 30+ homers since dick allen, willie with 100 rbi, pendleton with 96 rbi, a rotation that was just good enough, an unexpected hero in the NLCS in jose oquendo, the lawless homer in the series
made it interesting in september, guerrero had a great season, as did magrane and deleon
mark whiten- 4 homers, 12 rbi, the other standout was tewksbury
back in the playoffs, end for ozzie, benes good year, blew 3-1 lead in NLCS
enter mark mcgwire
the great homerun race, and even though we doubt it now, that was the most interesting non-playoff team we have seen
jim edmonds starts a cards career that at this point, IMHO, makes him the best centerfielder in the history of the team, darryl kile wins 20, and is one of those guys who just fits the cardinal mold perfectly
albert starts a career that has made hime the best cardinal since musial, mattymo wins 22, the end for mcgwire, but the most spine-chilling moment of the year (for me anyway) was jack buck's address after 9/11
toughest year mentally ever for the team and fans because of deaths of kile and buck
105 wins, most since the 1940's, the MV3 as good a trio as we may see, made the series, got swept
another 100 wins and NLCS appearance, carpenter wins first cy since gibby, albert wins mvp, moment of the year: albert's homer off lidge, close of busch 2
open of busch 3, albert as good as ever, mediocre regular season, but they turn into a juggernaut in october, winning series number 10, and causing me to cry like a baby afterwards
team not good, but after last years finish, i am giving them a pass, mainly due to the injuries

Pujols is the greatest Cardinal in my lifetime.

by bigcardsfan5 on Sep 25, 2007 2:26 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I was born

a baseball fan. My mom said that as a toddler, I would talk about Bob Gibson and Stan Musial and Ty Cobb and Babe Ruth. I spouted off batting averages and ERAs and W-L records. We didn't live with my dad; my mom has no idea where I got all this knowledge from.

I've always lived in St. Louis. But I had an American League team to root for in the A's, for some reason. I loved Mark McGwire since his rookie season. I was four. It's just crazy how into baseball I've always been.

For as long as I can remember, I've loved baseball. I played baseball with all the boys in the neighborhood; I was always pitcher because I had excellent control. The other kids couldn't find the plate. I played softball through high school. As a young girl, I wore number 6 to honor Musial. I played shortstop to honor Ozzie.

We were poor, so I didn't go to many games. When I went, it was because someone gave my mom tickets. I loved the game. I kept score from a young age. My grandpa gave me a framed black & white photo of the '64 Cardinals. I hung it on my bedroom wall. I had a deep respect for the history of the game, and a voracious appetite for knowledge. I talked baseball with anyone who would listen to my endless prattling and explanations. I still do.

Spantalones

by spants on Sep 25, 2007 3:50 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs