Growing up in big cities out east, you think that NY has the best fans. Maybe Boston. Maybe Philadelphia. Those cities all do have great fans, but I'm partial to St. Louis ones myself!
Maybe it's because St. Louis is not by any stretch of the imagination a BigCity. For the most part, it's an abandoned industrial town. We've got some small museums and a zoo etc in the lovely Forest Park (which, by the way, are all free), a nice theater, an opera house, the arch, and some history. There's enough to do, but not an overwhelming amount. As a result, people rally around their sports teams. The St. Louis Blues games, the Rams games, and Cardinals games are all always really well attended. The heart of this city beats with baseball, though.
I knew while choosing grad schools that I would probably end up being a "for lifer" fan of wherever I chose. I hadn't really identified with the Yankees since middle school. So obviously I chose carefully. No Boston for me! Most vulgar fans in the league! :)
So here I am in the center of Cardinal Nation. The players love playing here, and we love watching here. While I'm definitely the superfan of the OT school (most other transplant girls don't really care about baseball), the general public is enthusiastic all the time. I don't want to make light of homelessness, but even our people who are homeless and peddling for money started wearing Cardinals shirts in September (really really old ones). So yeah.
In addition, this team embodies everything that I like about this town. They're classy, but not high maintenance. They're low key and down to earth. They're fun, hard working, and live with integrity. That was all what attracted me to this city as a student, as a self-described "not a city person." I guess it's no surprise that attracted to me to this team. I value character over success. I would happily root for this team if they were going 0 and 150, because of their character. They're humble, family guys, hard workers, and many are even very passionate Christians who very authentically and intentionally live out those beliefs.
So yes, St. Louis supports them and rallies around them in a big way. Here's are "the best fans of baseball" out of the players mouths. It's basically the place to be!
Early in the year...
From Allen Craig:
The fans. Everyone is really kind, knowledgeable about the game. You see them around town, and they always say hi. They're just good people.
3 - Who's the best player you ever saw?
When I was a kid watching the game, I'd say (Ken) Griffey (Jr.). Since I've been playing in the pros, I'd say Albert (Pujols). He's just that good.
LaRussa on Dave Letterman: "You don't like to disparage anybody else, David, but it's a unique place 'cause most places, they're with you win or tie, but with them, it's win or lose."
General Manager, Mo (John Mozeliak): "Thank you for being the best fans in baseball. It helps us attract the best players in baseball. They want to play there."
LaRussa (paraphrased. I don't remember where I got this): Cardinals fans are great. They're don't expect you to go out there and win every year, but they expect you to play hard and fight. And they're really knowledgeable about baseball.
Lance Berkman WHEN HE WAS STILL AN ASTRO: When I think of St. Louis I think of...
The Cardinals. I mean the great games that we've played against the Cardinals here. I've had more fun playing baseball in the big leagues here than anywhere else.Pujols: "This is a great city to play. Anywhere you go, you're going to have great fans, but not like you have here in St. Louis. I've only played in St. Louis, I haven't played anywhere else, but even when the other teams come here they tell us, 'Man I can't believe how nice the fans are here.'"
Pujols: “We’ve got the best fans in St. Louis. A lot of people want to come and play in St. Louis because of the way the fans treat us.”
Matt Holliday after being traded to the Cards:
"The fan reaction has been great. You never expect that kind of reception, but it doesn’t surprise me. The fans here are very knowledgeable about baseball and very into the game. It’s a great atmosphere here. Even when I was an opponent, the atmosphere here was great. It could be a regular-season midweek game against the Rockies, and there was still a great buzz around the field. So it’s been everything I thought it would be and more."
Pujols: "What matters is to raise that trophy and to be able to bring that smile to the city of St. Louis."
I also like that this team develops players. It searches for early talent, instead of plucking players up. Pujols was deemed to "not have a baseball body" by many teams, and wasn't even picked up until the 13th round of the 1999 draft (402nd pick). Then there's Craig, Jay, and Freese. And Chris Carpenter will tell you any old time how if it weren't for Dave Duncan (pitching coach), he would be an average pitcher. He wouldn't know what to do with his stuff.
This concludes part I about baseball and fans! Games to come soon. Some pictures for your enjoyment are below! As is a video of the moment we won. Unfortunately, the microphone is on the back of the camera, so you can't really get a feeling for the explosion of sound. It was loud!
No comments:
Post a Comment