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I’ve been out of the country since the recent 4-game Cardinals-Royals I-70 series but, as someone who proudly wore the Cardinal red for seven years living in a town that, at one point, bled blue, I still had to comment.
I was able to go to the first game of the series where Yadi was the typical, quietly dynamic Yadi. Raking in relatively unbelievable numbers, including the two-run homer that started it all, Yadi was continually met by crowd acclaim and rightfully, a chant starting around the 7th in his honor. Waino wasn’t flawless but found his rhythm enough to get the W. The considerably underrated work of Matt Carpenter shouldn’t go unnoticed even though the previously lustrous Matt Adams failed to deliver. They were the cardiac Cardinals that we know and love and they delivered yet another loss to the already struggling Royals, followed by another the following night at the K. At Busch, we were only half as lucky but 3 for 4 isn’t anything to complain about, especially with all that was Wacha’s debut in the never ending fourth game.
The Royals record is one that admittedly is disappointing. I won’t slam KC because they do have good players, there’s just something that isn’t working that, apparently, no one can figure out yet. Alcides Escobar is quick and competent but, as the Royals are quickly learning, their 10-man lineup can’t ride on Escobar or the seasoned Billy Butler or a previous fan favorite Moustakas. Of course, in the midst of figuring that out, they had to face the team with the best record in baseball.
With this in mind, it shouldn’t be too much of a surprise that Kauffman filled with red on that Monday and Tuesday Freese and Yadi jerseys were everywhere but the depth and breadth of Cardinal Nation really flourished with everything from Gibson jerseys to one admirable Rosenthal shirt. I was on a full escalator at one point and, looking up and down, I saw nothing but Cardinals fans solidifying what many were calling Busch Stadium West. I will say the K is an incredible stadium with close to no bad seats so, if we have to infiltrate another stadium, I’m glad it’s that one.
I tracked the Cardinals and Royals hashtags through those first two games and saw the sheer sadness from Royals fans as a team with so much promise became what some are calling minor league status.
It made me remember a tweet I had seen from a few weeks back. @fyeahDfreese said, “my life would have so much less joy if I wasn’t an #stlcards fan.” Of course, we don’t remember that every time we hear about the latest improbable feat the Cards have reached no matter how astounding (i.e. rookie pitching record/ERA). But scroll through the Royals hashtag as they added to a ten-game home losing streak and it might hit home a little harder. We don’t have to deal with the overpowering takeover of Busch from a rival team and we don’t have to read about our hitting coach claiming that the home stadium isn’t conducive to home team homers so why should they try? We don’t have to worry about public outrage over a manager that may or may not care and a semi-boycott until said manager is fired. We don’t have to rely on one individual player to produce all the runs or rely on the opposing pitcher for walks.
Cardinal Nation is wide enough that we can fill that stadium ourselves. We hit homers. We don’t unconditionally trust Matheny (i.e. every time Boggs has stepped on the field this season), sure, but mention firing him and you will likely be faced with a flood of support for the skipper. We could rely on one player but why would we when you have the likes of Craig, Jay, Holliday, Beltran, and, of course, Yadi in the lineup? We could rely on getting walks but see previous point and ask the same question, ‘Why would we?’
I want the Royals to at least have a winning season because a city not known for its sports teams in recent history needs it. Of course, I’d rather that didn’t come at the Cards’ expense and, clearly they did almost everything they could to make sure that doesn’t happen, too. While I hope they figure out, for their own sake, what needs to happen, it acts as a pretty good reminder of how lucky we are to cheer for the those birds on the bat.
And, look, I said all of that without bringing up Denkinger/1985 once. It’s possible to discuss this rivalry without this trip down memory lane from either side. Just something to consider.
