FanPost

How I became a fan of the St. Louis Cardinals

I was born at Barnes Jewish Hospital in St. Louis in 1955 on Memorial Day weekend and being a Cardinals fan was just a given - right there in my blood.

There were few televised games back then, but as early as I can recall I’d sit close by my Grandfather’s side on the porch swing listening to Harry Cary on 50,000 Watt KMOX Cardinals Radio each weekend as if all that particular experience encompassed, were life itself. My Grandpa James was a very proficient man and quite the semi-pro catcher during the 1930’s and 1940’s in St. Louis. I still can see the fancy ring his friend flashed at my Grandpa’s 95th Birthday; Amateur Baseball Hall of Fame, a St. Louis tradition and organization. And I remember that 3rd baseman telling me "Your Grandpa was a HELL OF A CATCHER!" I am told that George Bent James - usually caught 18 innings on any given Sunday.

My fandom was further solidified when I saw the Stan The Man in person at the old Sportsman’s Park, sometime prior to the 1962 season. I don’t really remember any specifics but I do recall a sense of something special happening with my Daddy saying in earnest … "Watch #6 Son". I can almost swear I remember those Budweiser Eagle wings flapping after a Home Run, but that could be just a manufactured memory in the space and time warp of those early "Mad Men" days.

I do recall this riddle: "Son, how do you make Budweiser?" Answer: "Send him to school!" which plays nicely with a story of another St. Louis legend, Yogi Berra, the only man in MLB history with 10 WS rings. When Yogi was in 8th grade, his last school year he was asked "How do you like school?" Yogi’s Answer: "Closed!"

When we moved to Burbank California in 1962 it was a whole new world with the L.A. Dodgers becoming a team I’ve followed ever since. I once told my Mother I was running away and she packed me a bedroll and a lunch to trek that Mountain at the end of E. Tujunga Drive. I recall specifically getting out of school early one day when my father came in his big fancy company car, A White Chevrolet Impala, to pick me up with my little sister Nancy in the front seat…I ran across the street and my Dad said something to the effect of "You didn’t look both ways!" So I dutifully and promptly ran blindly back across the street in a Mad Dash, and proceeded to look both ways before I could cross to enter the car for a fun afternoon of California sun.

I loved L.A. but my Grandmother wouldn’t have it and we mysteriously returned to St. Louis almost as quickly as we departed. We moved right back into our house my father had bought on the GI Bill, which hadn’t yet sold. It was sad to move right in the middle of that magical Dodgers 1963 season. I recall excitedly telling a friend of mine about Clayton Kershaw almost exactly 10 years ago comparing him to Koufax. His response was "Humph!!! Sutton won more than any of em!". Consider me somewhat schooled. On the bright side the Cardinals infield started the All-Star game that year, 1963.

I remember Stan The Man retiring after the 1963 season and was told about how he once took a voluntary pay cut for not playing up to his own standards. I think my Father really enjoyed relaying those kinds of a life lessons about standards to his children. I recently learned that Ted Williams did as much in the same year, 1960. Was something going on with the ball in 1959?

I still have Tim McCarver’s 1962 rookie card which I treasure nowadays. McCarver did write Baseball for Brain Surgeons after all. I also have the utmost affection for my Curt Flood cards. Mr. Flood’s (The man who changed professional sports forever with his selfless and principled actions) - 1959 card features the very clear Spring Training image of #6 in the background - Quite the metaphor. Stan The Man lost many counting stats to WWII Service like numerous ballplayers of his generation.

Resuming the ritual of sitting by my Grandfather’s side and listening to Harry Caray, later with Jack Buck, I figured I was home for good and became a big time fan of "The Captain" #14, Ken Boyer as all the other Cardinals. The 1964 World Championship season was a beauty to behold. What a comeback for the pennant. It will always be the definitive season for me in Cardinals lore.

1964 was the year my Dad and I developed the most treasured of baseball rituals - Saturday morning donuts for the family and then picking up some baseball cards on the trip home in South County St. Louis.

When we moved to a dismal apartment building in Philadelphia in 1965 (I again ran away from home again only to return when no one missed me at dinner time). I figured the Phightin Phils would be all the rage having come so close in the previous year. I’ve fond memories of quite a few trips to the old Connie Mack Stadium in North Philadelphia. I thought it so odd that my father would give dollar bills to the kids in the neighborhood to "watch" his car while we attended the game. Only 30 years later did I figure out that he refused to pay for that extravagant parking fee at what was also known as Shibe Park.

I still have a few baseball cards from the 1965 season which are the best ever design by Topps, (Pennants!). I remember clearly playing many many games in winter with my best friend while mimicking the announcing of Mr. Caray on play by play in our NJ basement. We laid out cards for positions to make a diamond, used two cards, one for glove and one for the ball to make the pitch and then determined the outcome by where the batter, with a card/bat in hand could hit the "ball". Outcomes depended on where card landed and how possible the play was. It was a surprisingly accurate and wildly unpredictable form of the game (which is what made it accurate) long before I’d heard of Strat-O-Matic baseball which began in 1961.

Memories of Philly and our new home in Cherry Hill N.J. were of disappointing pizza, ZERO toasted ravioli and lousy Phillies 6th, 7th and 5th place finishes in those years. Positives were later KY Senator Jim Bunning (I see now that he just passed) coming off of a season in which he pitched a perfect game on Father’s Day vs. the Mets and fun times to look forward to when slugger "Richie" Allen, later a Cardinal, came to the plate. The Cardinals could use a player with a triple slash like his of 1967 .307/.404/.566.

Perhaps my fondest baseball memory is of my father taking me to the July 6th 1966 Red Sox/Yankees doubleheader at THE STADIUM in New York. I was disappointed that #7 went hitless. yet all was redeemed when #9 walked during a lone pinch hit appearance that day. Yaz and crew were too much for the Mighty Whitey Ford and Jim Bouton (the first Bulldog) the author of Ball Four on that day. On the plus side many hot dogs and ice creams were consumed and we stayed for all 18 innings. I slept well that night. Concerning the Cardinals, my Aunt Eve did send me an "Inaugural Season Ball" 1966, from the new Busch which I still have.

One of my Dad’s favorite players as a boy (along with Stan) was Lou Gehrig and he modeled his own behavior and his life after Lou & Stan until the end of his days. Before my dad Ken died he told me that he NEVER had a fight with anyone in his family. He would occasionally complain, but I never heard him say a truly bad word about anyone. His favorite expression was a Stan The Man original - When I would ask him how he was doing, he would always reply: "Wunnerful, Wunnerful".

1967 was the Year of Viva El Birdos and my only real Cardinals recollections are newspaper accounts and occasional reports from home. I was only somewhat aware of the Cardinals from afar during the regular season in those years. I do recall being pleased with the famous SI cover that year and of course Cha Cha - Still a well spoken and regal man. I love my Viva El Birdos button that was mailed to me from that same Aunt.

I do recall Tony Conigliaro (another SI cover) almost getting killed that Summer as well as Gibson’s WS Home Run and his three victories including 2 over Lonborg in 1967. And this was after losing most of that year to a Clemente smash to the tibia while still going 13-7! Whaaat? I also remember a feeling of being a special fan just because Roger Maris was on the Cardinals team. I still have a letter from my Grandpa describing last long day of the season and the wait to see who would win among Boston, Detroit and Minnesota in the American League that year.

I was heartbroken in 1968 as were many St. Louisans. The Detroit Tigers had a year. You can check the Pitcher wins and well, just damn the peripherals. Today’s Cardinals could use some hitters like Jim Northrup, Bill Freehan and Willie Horton. The fact that Curt Flood misplayed a critical fly only adds to the misery that his #21 is still not retired by the Cardinals to this day.

I’ve slowly but definitively become aware of the true greatness of Curt Flood over the years. 5'9" 165 lbs. All Pro Athletes will forever owe the man a debt. Curt Flood also won 7 consecutive Gold Gloves as well, which is saying something in the days of Mays, Davis, and Clemente.

"I am a human being, I’m not a piece of property. I am not a consignment of goods." Curt Flood

Years later when I helped to raise our own kids we were lucky enough to witness Mark McGwire and later the MV3. I’ve even had to opportunity to re-live my childhood Bubblegum Card ritual with my own children. And who will ever forget that David Freese popping up on both knees with the muscle pose at 3rd base in game 6 of the World Series - just a bit before his epic game winning home run?

Before my Brother Stan’s life was cut short he hit some Wifffleballs for my young son over the Interstate Highway in Missoula from our first backyard. Cody said….. "STAN! YOU MADE MY DREAM COME TRUE!" I later had the privilege of coaching my Son’s team and tried to teach them how to run THROUGH 1rst base. After drills and a talk, I asked them this: "So what is the most important thing to do when you make contact with the ball?" Answer: in Unison; "Keep your EYE ON THE BALL!"

I may have embarrassed my daughter Montana when I gave out awards one year and she only received "Coaches Favorite Player", 20 young egos to think about and I fear erred. My Wife then took over for our youngest daughter Cassandra coaching her T-ball team. Also; Weird, if a hit gets through the infield in T-Ball EVERYONE CHASES IT, sometimes even the catcher, lol. Kay remains my heroine and my rock to this day.

So that is how I became a fan of several MLB teams, especially the St. Louis Cardinals and perhaps more importantly of life itself, family, and the game of baseball inextricably linked.

Thanks to the forward thinking of VEB and yes sometimes even the announcers - I’m still being schooled, taken to task and I’m happy to say I’m still learning.