Normally, the biggest day of the year for baseball fans in St. Louis is opening day at Busch Stadium.
That is no longer the case as baseball in October has a better ring to it as this year, the St. Louis Cardinals have become the talk of the baseball world. Even, the casual fans are happening to tune in.
By now, the Cardinals; performance in Washington against the Nationals last Friday will go down as the greatest comeback when elimination is staring you in the face. Being down by six runs, down to your last strike on two occasions against the best team in the league record wise in their ball park is a mouthful.
For the Redbirds, it was epic. It was epic in the manner in how they came back and how the well-known players and little-known players all contributed. It was one for the books for sure and one that makes you chuckle when you even hear it brought up. It was epic for the reason this team, although defending world champions had not shown enough during the regular season to make you think they could roll into the playoffs and vanquish teams in the manner they have.
Then, I realized something. They did the same thing last year in defeating the two best teams in the National League to get to the World Series. These two teams (Philadelphia and Milwaukee) last year had the best records in the league that also included home records. In case you forgot, the Cardinals won in Philadelphia and Milwaukee twice, include eliminating the home standers in both rounds.
Fast forward to this year. They have already defeated the best wild card team as well as the team with best record at home. They also need to do the same against the Giants if they want to advance. One question Cardinal Nation would ask here… Why Not? Remember, it’s the St. Louis Cardinals you are talking about here.
That brings me to the notion that no matter what your politics are or the zip code you live in or any other distinguishable trait that you may have, nothing beats the Cardinals in post season for St. Louisans. Yes, the Rams run was fun, and some will even pay attention to the Blues should they get beyond the second round but there is something about baseball and the Cardinals that stands out.
Even for me I can tell when people who you have little in common with or happens to be a distant friend of a friend will have the nerve of a member of the Taliban to ask for tickets to a post-season game. This does not include my friends and close associates who are more than welcome to make the request even though I have succumbed to that aspect of fulfilling said request years ago.
In essence, my real friends know better but even when they do I have no real problem in trying. After all what are friends for? Again, this only happens in baseball. The other sports just don’t seem to have as much weight. Obviously, winning has helped this cause as the Cardinals have recently won a championship hence the “what have you done for me lately” approach is now in play.
For those who are not of the hook up culture, surely you feel the vibe of the Cardinals at this time of the year. Yes, it’s the first thing discussed the next day at work, along with family or friends gatherings. When the Cardinals win all is good with the rest of the world no matter who is running for president. If they lose, the game is magnified by experts and amateurs alike where it can come one sentence short of blaming President Barack Obama.
Yep, everyone becomes fair game at this time of the year and yet it is a discussion item be it in person, and certainly on any social media web site an. With that said I started to wonder. I started to wonder if you are a St. Louisan at this time of the year, what is a common discussion item other than the Cardinals and their post season run? I came up with a few and then said naaa. For instance…
A majority of my readers and readers of this publication may talk about the presidential election but they have either already voted or know they are voting for the same guy they did four years ago. The question is can they convince someone else to do the same.
I stayed on politics and thought about my good friend Congressman Lacy Clay. He made his statement in August on who still has it going on in the First District. By the way, I am sure he would appreciate your vote anyway.
Then I thought about the next police chief. Yeah, that’s it. Surely that will create an interest until I realized that the mayor will somehow have his fingerprints on this one, you wonder have to wonder will they being hiring a policeman or politician. In all it will go by the wayside soon.
As I continue to think about items that create the universal discussion points for St. Louisans, it still comes back to the Cardinals. The next question the San Francisco Giants at hand trying to advance to World Series also, it looks as if everyone is on borrowed time so enjoy while you can.