St. Louis Cardinals are the Packers of baseball

[max]

I'm an old time Yankee fan having grown up in NY, but I always respected the Cardinals and rooted for them many times. My dad, who lived Yankee baseball and caddied for Babe Ruth, told me stories of Dizzy Dean and Frankie Frisch from when he saw them play, and he had more respect for St. Louis than any other baseball team outside of the Yankees. What a great franchise and organization.

 

[rhinobean]

Amen to that! 2nd in World Series appearances to the Yankees! Keep looking for a Series with the Yankees! Mebbe next year!

 

[Mister Sin]

BIRDS!!!!!


I know the area seems 6 kinds of pissed off at deadspin yesterday for talking about the cards fans being the worst in baseball.

 

[rhinobean]

Cards fans are a bit spoiled! We like to think we know baseball! Respect other teams fans but still think we've got the best team. Homers for sure!

 

[Thordaddy]

There was a graphic on last nights game , of the people on their team 17 were home grown vs. LA's 4, like max sez just a model org. that PRODUCES winners instead of buying them.

 

[Ky Ram]

There was a graphic on last nights game , of the people on their team 17 were home grown vs. LA's 4, like max sez just a model org. that PRODUCES winners instead of buying them.

If only we can get that model to stick on the football side of things we will eventually see the same consistency and success.

 

[Ram Quixote]

There was a graphic on last nights game , of the people on their team 17 were home grown vs. LA's 4, like max sez just a model org. that PRODUCES winners instead of buying them.

I'm going to defend the Dodgers situation ...

Let's say you're a fan of a proud organization owned by a worthless and foolish owner. An owner who's only reason for owning the team was to make money and spend it on himself. Then he sells the team to new owners.

Now, those new owners are aware that the fan base is disillusioned and not coming to the stadium because the team is devoid of talent except for a couple of players. Baseball doesn't have a ceiling on how much can be spent on player contracts. So, when they begin trading away farm talent for established, high dollar players, do you, as a fan, embrace this short cut process? When they go shopping for a top pitcher in FA, knowing that pitching is the best way to win playoff games, are you grateful for those deep pockets? When they continue to add pieces during the season, do you bemoan that young players aren't getting chances? That is, young players that probably aren't going to make a difference for a team that as recently as last year wasn't spending money on player development.

Fortunately, baseball isn't football, and the established pieces in a starting lineup need less time to integrate. If the Dodgers are perceived as a team of hired guns, so be it. But the intention was to get the fans in the seats, and the team back to the World Series.

 

[mr.stlouis]

I love the Cards but I'm a casual fan by definition. Rams football is what I live and die by in terms of sports. Just wish the Rams were loved equally to the Cards. A long history of HOF players, STL heroes, and championship ship teams has formed a tremendous franchise. We can only dream the Rams can build a similiar situation through the years ahead. It all starts with winning. We are like the Packers in that sense.

 

[albefree69]

I've gone to Cardinal games in Pittsburgh, LA, Cincinnati, Boston, Chicago, TB and Houston. The our fans are head and shoulders above those from the cities I mentioned above. Cincinnati comes in second IMO.

GO CARDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[CGI_Ram]

Still a long way to go. These Dodgers left handed starters scare me.

We're going to have to match them pitch for pitch!

 

[max]

Here's an example of why I see the Cardinals as the Packers of baseball.

The first time I ever got up close to Busch Stadium was last year when I went to St. Louis to see the Rams Packers game. There were Packers fans all around the Stadium taking pictures with their kids next to the statues of all those great Cardinal players. These Packer fans were Cardinal fans. There was a connection like Green Bay is the mecca of football as St. Louis is the mecca of baseball. Just as there are Packers fans all over the midwest, there are Cardinals fans there too.

Maybe that is what my dad recognized and related to me back in the 50's and 60's. The only team that was important to him was the Yankees; the Dodgers and Giants were scoffed at, and the Red Sox were an afterthought. But there was one team in the other League that command respect, a mythical team with all those great players, and they had character and personality. I can still hear my dad say things like, "We're gonna win 50 games, me and my brother Paul", quoting the great Dizzy Dean. And my dad would draw out that Paul, like Pawwwllll. And it sounded so funny behind his heavy New York accent.

Seeing how all those Packers fans acted outside of Busch made me feel that they felt the same way about the Cardinals. The Rams may someday recapture the excitement of the GSOT days in St. Louis, but they will never have what the Cardinals have, just like they will never have what the Packers have.

 

[LesBaker]

I have a stadium story too.

I was in STL for one of the many Herdfests I have attended over the years. The old stadium was being torn down and the demolition had really not yet begun in earnest, they had parts fenced off and small parts were being broken up. I walked almost all the way around the stadium and from the ground to as high as you could reach were messages written by fans. In chalk, scratched into the brick, spray painted, markers and anything else fans had poured out their love for their team. Things like thank you for the memories, and things like my dad brought me here and I brought my kids here and endless memories........I scanned them as I walked around and I was smiling at the devotion because I understood it. They covered that place in love. There were even thank yous scratched into the plexiglass at the ticket windows! There were also a few people that had climbed over the fences to grab something for themselves as a memento.

I totally got it because I am from Cleveland and that fan base is the best in the NFL. I could appreciate the love and devotion for the Cardinals even though I don't give a rats patootie about baseball because of my experience with Browns fans.

It was quite a sight to see those zillions of messages and I regret that I didn't take pictures.

I know sometimes we like to laugh at the Factory of Sadness video that the Browns fan did.......but respect to the fans who love that much, it's a really rare thing and the Cardinals have them for sure.

It's unusually special and seeing that stadium marked up like that was pretty fucking cool.

 

[RamFan503]

There was a graphic on last nights game , of the people on their team 17 were home grown vs. LA's 4, like max sez just a model org. that PRODUCES winners instead of buying them.

I'm going to defend the Dodgers situation ...

Let's say you're a fan of a proud organization owned by a worthless and foolish owner. An owner who's only reason for owning the team was to make money and spend it on himself. Then he sells the team to new owners.

Now, those new owners are aware that the fan base is disillusioned and not coming to the stadium because the team is devoid of talent except for a couple of players. Baseball doesn't have a ceiling on how much can be spent on player contracts. So, when they begin trading away farm talent for established, high dollar players, do you, as a fan, embrace this short cut process? When they go shopping for a top pitcher in FA, knowing that pitching is the best way to win playoff games, are you grateful for those deep pockets? When they continue to add pieces during the season, do you bemoan that young players aren't getting chances? That is, young players that probably aren't going to make a difference for a team that as recently as last year wasn't spending money on player development.

Fortunately, baseball isn't football, and the established pieces in a starting lineup need less time to integrate. If the Dodgers are perceived as a team of hired guns, so be it. But the intention was to get the fans in the seats, and the team back to the World Series.

What hurts a bit is that the Dodgers used to be the team that brought their players through their farm system. I remember back in the days when the Dodgers not only were always in the playoff hunt but had the highest attendance in the league AND had the highest ratio of farm players to signees from other systems. Maybe I'm remembering wrong but I don't think so.

I have to hand it to the Cards for sticking to this method. They have to and should be respected.

As RQ lamented though, our Dodgers had a long stretch of bad ownership and management - much like our Rams. Unfortunately, in this day of instant gratification, once you lose that connect, it's doubly hard to get it back. I hope they do but until then, we will be looking up at the consistency that is the Cards and will be playing the same screwed up game that is the Yanks.

 

[Ram Quixote]

There was a graphic on last nights game , of the people on their team 17 were home grown vs. LA's 4, like max sez just a model org. that PRODUCES winners instead of buying them.

I'm going to defend the Dodgers situation ...

Let's say you're a fan of a proud organization owned by a worthless and foolish owner. An owner who's only reason for owning the team was to make money and spend it on himself. Then he sells the team to new owners.

Now, those new owners are aware that the fan base is disillusioned and not coming to the stadium because the team is devoid of talent except for a couple of players. Baseball doesn't have a ceiling on how much can be spent on player contracts. So, when they begin trading away farm talent for established, high dollar players, do you, as a fan, embrace this short cut process? When they go shopping for a top pitcher in FA, knowing that pitching is the best way to win playoff games, are you grateful for those deep pockets? When they continue to add pieces during the season, do you bemoan that young players aren't getting chances? That is, young players that probably aren't going to make a difference for a team that as recently as last year wasn't spending money on player development.

Fortunately, baseball isn't football, and the established pieces in a starting lineup need less time to integrate. If the Dodgers are perceived as a team of hired guns, so be it. But the intention was to get the fans in the seats, and the team back to the World Series.

What hurts a bit is that the Dodgers used to be the team that brought their players through their farm system. I remember back in the days when the Dodgers not only were always in the playoff hunt but had the highest attendance in the league AND had the highest ratio of farm players to signees from other systems. Maybe I'm remembering wrong but I don't think so.

I have to hand it to the Cards for sticking to this method. They have to and should be respected.

As RQ lamented though, our Dodgers had a long stretch of bad ownership and management - much like our Rams. Unfortunately, in this day of instant gratification, once you lose that connect, it's doubly hard to get it back. I hope they do but until then, we will be looking up at the consistency that is the Cards and will be playing the same screwed up game that is the Yanks.

From what I gather, this 200 million payroll tactic is a short term thing intended only to bring the Dodgers back to relevance. The plan is to restock the farm system so they aren't relying on FA. Though they probably will run a payroll around 150.