FanPost

Thoughts From A New Fan

So, I grew up a baseball fan--but being from Buffalo, NY I never really had a team. (Many in buffalo rooted for the yankees, but that wasn't going to happen).

 

When I went to the Unviersity of Maryland (in the greater Wash DC area) I thought I had finally found a team--the Nationals.  I went to their grand opening, and was really excited about finally having a team.  But, baseball in D.C. is probably lower than soccer on the totum pole, so for whatever reason, and, well the Nats suck, and will suck for the forseable future. (we'll see if they have the balls to sign this stud kid from SD State or not).

Anyways, last July I moved down here for law school.  And the first thing I noticed was that I was finally in a baseball town.  I immediately started acquainting myself with the staff, the players and kinda getting a feel for the fanbase.  Needless to say I was impressed with the fans, and moreover I realized that St. Louis also has a front office that, while it has limits, is willing to spend (a requisite in my opinion for undertaking fandom).


Then, there was my first experience with Cubs-Cards.  My father and I were touring some of the colleges in the Midwest with my sister (who was looking at some midwestern schools for undergrad last year) and we found a feed of the game.  We listened, the game was back and forth.  We made it home by the time Aaron Miles hit his walk off home run.  It was at that point that I was hooked--at least for the moment.

Well, the Cards fell out of contention, and I'll admitt, my attention to the team waned, as I was preparing for law school.  But this year, I have yet to miss a game in it's entirety--not only are the Cards officially my team, but I'm damn proud of this squad.

Looking at this team, outside of Pujols, the whole lot of them are a bunch of blue collar players (Maybe WW and certainly Carp when he's healthy are also excluded).  They get by on guile, hustle and in my opinion GREAT managing from Tony LaRussa.

I know a lot of you like to rant about Tony, but to be honest, I've never had more fun watching a manager than I've had watching TLR. (and yes I'm aware the object isn't entertainment but wins...but still I'm a big TLR fan). 

And you know what, I think that when the dust settles, the Cards will be right there again in mid-late July with a chance to get hot and make the playoffs.  If Carp can stay healthy, the prospects are even better.

I don't know about you guys, but I'm excited about this team--maybe it's because I'm a noob.

I'm also really excited moving forward with Colby--he looks studly lately.

Also, if anyone could direct me to a good DVD type thing that would give me a good rundown on cardinals history (or even a special moment in cards history) I'd be thrilled.

In case you were wondering, as a new comer--yes Big Mac was a roider--and I think he should come clean--then he's a no brainer for the hall of fame.  The longer he remains silent---the worse his HOF chances become IMO.