Getting to Know: The St. Louis Cardinals

In an effort to diversify the coverage of the teams here at Major League Jerk, I am going to provide a regular series called “Getting to Know”. My intent is to interview a fan of a team and ask them what we need to know about that team. If you want to be the first one on your block to be interviewed by me, the Great RomanWarHelmet, please send an e-mail to majorleaguejerk@gmail.com and put Roman in the subject. In this addition we are going to take a look at a team that I hate for various reasons, The St. Louis Cardinals. Growing up in the 80’s, they played in the same division as the Mets and had memorable playoff races in 1984, 1985, 1986 and 1988. The Mets got Keith Hernandez from the Cardinals for the pu pu platter. The Cardinals won in 1982 and made the series in 1985 and 1987. The Mets won in 1986. Darryl Strawberry called St. Louis a “cow town”. Then with the division changes, the rivalry went away. But it did heat up again at certain times, like the Mets NLCS win over them in 2000 and the Cardinals NLCS win in Game 7 over the Mets in 2006. Fuck Yadier Molina. Anywho, I asked the only Cardinal fan I knew to help me, Arkbadger of TBL commenting fame. So with out any further ado, let’s get to know…The St. Louis Cardinals.

As always, I like to start by finding out how the person became a fan of the team, how they follow the team and how they interact with the fan base. In this case, I really don’t know Arkbadger so I am intrigued to see how someone in Arkansas becomes a Cardinals fan. So I start by asking him how he became one. (Arkbadger’s words are in bold)

To start off, I grew up in Wisconsin so at the beginning of my tenure on this earth I was a pretty big Twins fan. And what’s funny is that in the 1987 World Series I was rooting heavily for the Twins over the Cardinals. Kirby Puckett was and still is my favorite baseball player of all time, but with his retirement and the baseball strike back in ‘95 I was starting to lose interest in baseball. My older brother started working for the Cards out of college in 1996, and after one failed attempt at college I was living with my parents and needed something to do in a bad way that fall. The Cardinals made the playoffs and needed some extra help with all the playoff media so I got the opportunity to work the NLDS and NLCS that year and became hooked. I moved to Arkansas in the fall of ’97 and have been a fan ever since.

Wow, so you grew up in Wisconsin but became a Twins fan? Then your brother got a job in St. Louis so you went there to work and became a Cardinal fan and then moved to Arkansas? Shit, that is one of the more fucked up paths to fanhood I have ever heard. One that involves a lot of chesse and fried food. So how do you currently follow the team, by watching your heart monitor?

Mostly TV. Every Cardinal game is broadcast here so I have ample opportunity to follow the team. There is also a local radio affiliate that can pick them up so I can catch them on the road as well, although since the death of Jack Buck I don’t listen to as many games on the radio as I used to. That being said, Mike Shannon is pretty entertaining on the radio, especially when he has been drinking or during a rain delay when he can start telling stories. St. Louis is about a 5.5 hour drive so unfortunately I don’t get to as many games as I would like.

I am sure Josh Hancock can tell you how entertaining Mike Shannon is. What? Too soon? Anywho, tell me how you rednecks congregate when it comes to the Redbirds?

Arkansas has a lot of Cardinal fans and I have a lot of friends that are fellow backers of the redbirds, so we try to get together and catch at least a game a week on TV. As far as traditions go I am not all that familiar with too many of them. The old Busch stadium was kind of stuck in the middle of a dying downtown area with not a whole lot around it. With the new stadium they are planning a “baseball village” that is going to surround the ballpark with shops, bars, etc. that I think will really give fans an opportunity to spend more time around the stadium and get some good pre-game tailgating options within walking distance of the stadium.

That’s OK, I for one am interested in the interactions of a bunch of hillbillies drinking Busch beer and watching the Cardinals “Git ‘Er Done”. I have seen the Cardinal tradition. It involves a bunch of polite people tolerating cheating, steroid abuse, alcoholism and the occasional bad play. I remember the Mets were winning Game 4 of the NLCS and the Cards were down five or six runs and two ladies danced to some song over the PA. I equated that kind of attitude to an entire fan base. That’s right, I am all about generalizations and profiling. Well, tell me about this year’s team.

This year’s team is pretty puzzling. Going into the year, no one had real high expectations. So the thought that it was going to be a tough year was kind of ingrained in everyone’s head. Now that the season is more than halfway over, and the Cards are still in contention in the division, I think expectations have changed a bit. The offense has been pretty hit and miss, and the lack of protection around Pujols this year has definitely come to light. The starting pitching has been by far the biggest surprise with journeymen like Kyle Lohse and Todd Wellemeyer doing more than their part to fill in while our best pitchers try to come back from injuries. The bullpen has absolutely killed us continually through the season, and will continue to do so until the end of the season. With that being said, it is kind of hard to be real disappointed if we don’t make the playoffs, but still…

No, it is OK to be disappointed. It is called having a winning attitude. Your team has had success over the years, and they are in contention. You should expect them to win. Winners win! Unfortunately for you, you root for a bunch of losers. But I like your attitude. It is better than most. Are there any guys that are being over looked by the media in either a good or bad way?

Even though he was an all star this year, I think Ryan Ludwick has been pretty overlooked, which is pretty easy to do considering he plays on the same team as Sir Albert Pujols. With the Cards letting some big veteran bats that have been with them for the past 4 or 5 years (Scott Rolen, Jim Edmonds) they needed someone to step up production and Ludwick has answered the bell. To a point I think Yadier Molina gets overlooked a lot as well. When he came into the league he was known as a strong defender but had a pretty weak bat. While his defense hasn’t slipped a bit, his bat has come around to where he is batting at a .300 clip and is now known as one of the toughest batters in the league to strike out. Not only that, but his handling of the pitching staff this year has been phenomenal.

First off, Fuck Yadier Molina. Trust me, he is not overlooked in the media capital of the world. Cocksucker. Secondly, I totally agree about Ryan Ludwick. He has been HUGE on my fantasy team. The other guys seem to like him and he carried the offense for a month. Now, I have Tatis (a former Cardinal) and he is doing the heavy lifting. Anywho, what do you think of Tony Larussa’s and John Mozeliak’s job performance?

With Tony La Russa, I think you usually know what you are going to get (insert drunk joke here). Although I don’t always agree with all of his in-game moves, it seems like he generally has a good reason for doing what he does, and he has to be leading the league in double switches. I think that he will be around for a couple more years, but I could see his tenure in St. Louis coming to an end sooner rather than later. As far as Mozeliak goes, he was put in a pretty tough situation. The Cards were pretty depleted in the bullpen coming into the year and had several holes throughout the lineup to shore up before the season and as it has progressed. With the trade deadline just a few days away, I don’t see the Cardinals making any big moves to take care of the problems of the bullpen which sucks pretty bad, but I think it will payoff in the longrun. The philosophy when Walt Jocketty was the GM was taking care of the present and not worrying much about the future which was great when we were making big name acquisitions and making the playoffs more often than not, but this took a pretty big toll on the farm system, and when not all those transactions worked out as planned (I’m looking at you Mark Mulder) it kind of left some obvious holes in the minors that are just now getting worked out.

Hey, Tony is a genius. Batting the pitcher 8th. Brilliant. I mean having the pitcher up in more non-sacrifice situations and getting him more at-bats than a position player is the type of crazy like a fox thing only a super genius like two time Champion Tony does. So, with Mozeliak not making moves, are there any guys in the minors we need to know about? How does the Cardinal future look?

Three guys that come to mind are Colby Rasmus, Chris Perez and Jess Todd. Rasmus was a pick for the US Olympic team but just hurt a knee and is being held out. Perez has been called up a couple of times this year and showed some promise but he needs to get a secondary pitch besides his fastball. Former Arkansas Razorback Jess Todd is currently in AA but has moved up pretty fast through the ranks. He will be a good young starting arm once he is called up.

Well, that’s nice. Speaking of nice, something I touched on earlier, do you think it is perception or reality that the Cardinal fans are too polite and don’t get angry with the team?

I think it gets overblown a bit, but all in all Cardinal fans are overall pretty knowledgeable and polite. I was at the game where Jr. (Ken Griffey not Dale Earnhardt) hit his 500^th homerun a couple years ago and they gave him a couple minute standing ovation. I’ve heard some more boos than normal this year, but it has been mostly aimed at the bullpen. You can only push the nice guy so far until he freaks out and kicks you in the back of the knee.

Look out! Booing the bullpen guys. It is getting UGLY in St. Louis. Speaking of ugly, is it Dave Duncan’s mission to get all of his poor fielding home run behemoth sons into the big leagues?

I’m guessing that La Russa puts Chris in the outfield just out of pure comic relief, possibly to make people forget how bad the bullpen really is. As far as Shelly goes, well, who names their son Shelly anyways?

Gay Homosexuals and former catchers turned pitching coaches, that’s who. Am I still allowed to rub the 2000 NLCS in your face or did 2006 totally negate that? Really don’t answer that…I know the answer.

You know, after the 2006 LCS I had kind of put 2000 in the back of my memory. But after a little internet research I saw some write-ups on that series, and damn, the Mets really put it to us that year. I’m thinking that they were just looking out for all the New Yorkers so they could get their precious subway series. Although the Cards did have a certain Tatis that year, who one would think could have single-handedly won the series for the Cardinals.

We don’t discuss the World Series just the NLCS. 2000 National League Champions. Quite an achievement. And let us all acknowledge Tatis and give up glory to him and his .322 batting average. and 28 RBIs in 55 games. Speaking of awesome baseball players, please tell me about Albert Pujols. I know he is awesome but what is it like watching him everyday and what does he mean to the Cardinal fan?

Let’s see, great ball player, under-rated fielder, obvious team leader, and a great accent when he pronounces home rrrrun (with rolling R). In previous season’s Albert had the luxury of batting around guys like Scott Rolen and Jim Edmonds which probably helped them more than it did him, but it was still a nice option to have. This year with almost nothing to protect him, and a nagging injury he has still continued to produce like previous years. Not too mention he is one of the most feared and clutch bats in the majors (see Shea Stadium last Saturday, 2 run HR in the 14^th). What surprises me the most with him, especially this year is that pitchers continue to throw to him. It baffles me with the lineup around him how many pitches he gets in a normal game. I mean it’s not like the guy is sneaking up on anyone, he should be getting more walks than Bonds ever did, but for some reason he doesn’t, although this doesn’t bother me in the least. I think Pujols is one of the guys in baseball who any right thinking person would take on their team at any time.

Well Arkbadger, I thank you for your time and I thank you for reminding me of Saturday night. I would like to remind you of Friday and Sunday.

Sorry if this segment sucked, it was going pretty well and then I decided to hand it over to Jason Isringhausen and he lost it for me.

Don’t worry about it, everyone stopped reading after finding out you were from Wisconsin originally.