In the midst of a flurry of Facebook posts about the Boston Marathon bombing suspects, a true gem caught my attention on my news feed; it was about the Cincinnati Reds, and it absolutely filled me with joy. Here’s the story – The Reds had an honorary bat boy at their Thursday night game against The Marlins at The Great American Ballpark. However, this was not just your typical honorary bat boy – he was 30 year old Teddy Kremer, and he happens to have Downs Syndrome. During the 6th inning of the game, Teddy had a request for Todd Frazier – to hit a home run. Frazier told him he would go out and do it – and he did it. Teddy waited for him to approach home plate, and he immediately greeted Frazier with a big hug. You will not understand the joy of the moment unless you watch it – so watch it, now, here. To read more about the joyful moment and see a post-game reaction from Frazier, check out this story at cincinnati.com’s Reds Blog.
At this turn, you may wonder why I just spent an entire paragraph talking about the Reds in a story titled about Cardinal Fans and their love for baseball; it’s because when I posted it with the “hashtag” #FeelGoodOfTheDay, the first response I received was from one of my die hard Atlanta Braves friends – “means even more coming from a Cardinals fan.” That caused me to pause and think. Here is a friend that I sometimes talk fun-filled trash with about the Braves and some of their “fake fans” (even though they are my favorite team in the NL East), and he was able to recognize a Cardinal fan giving a shout out to a team that is not on the top of my list to say the least. My love for this sort of story was not limited to me alone – many Cardinal fans recognize what a special moment and caring gesture all of this was on the Reds Organization’s part. I believe a lot of this setting aside rivalries during moments that transcend the game has a lot to do with Cardinal fans appreciation for baseball as a whole.
Consider this – if Cardinal fans were only interested in The Cardinals alone, not caring about other teams players with limited knowledge of the game, would they even be aware of such a feel good story? Living in SEC Football country, I can tell you that there are not many around me with a true understanding or appreciation of baseball as a whole. If the Braves happen to be awesome (as they have been lately), people start to pay attention to the game and take a trip to Atlanta or increase Fox Sports South’s ratings. However, most would be unaware of such stories at the one relayed above, because they are not daily indulging in “overall” baseball news and watching the MLB Network. It is not that fans of other teams would not appreciate the story – they’re just unaware, because baseball is not their “obsession.” I think it is a testament to the Cardinals and their fans that other teams fans can recognize how special our fans are for transcending a sometimes nasty rivalry. Even my Yankees-loving professor I’ll be working with as a research assistant told me, “Everyone respects the Cardinals. How could someone hate the Cardinals?” Maybe that is why we are called “Baseball Heaven.”
There are countless other proofs that Cardinal fans truly love baseball. Go sit in a stadium that daily attracts more than 40,000 attendees and start talking about players on the visiting team – you’ll find they have a wealth of information about many of those players. They might even remember a rival player’s great moments in other games not even involving the Cardinals. Or look at the first Friday night home stand of the season against the Milwaukee Brewers – as expected, the Cardinals applauded Kyle Lohse for all he did as a Cardinal as Yadier Molina backed away from the plate for him to receive a standing ovation. At Sunday’s game, I witnessed a long line of Cardinal fans on the third baseline as Lohse spent at least 30 minutes signing autographs for hoards of fans. Even when the Reds come to town, you can often witness Cardinal fans reaching to get Brandon Phillips’ autograph, despite the notorious 2010 brawl between Molina and Phillips’. We recognize talent when we see it – even if you aren’t on our team, and yes, even if you have annoyed us and ticked us off, too.
With such an appreciation for the game, it makes it even easier for our fans to appreciate those things that transcend the game – whether it is our own Matt Holliday working for the Pujols Family Foundation and David Freese visiting Cardinal Glennon, or when a team we love to hate reaches out to the disadvantaged in our society and works to make them feel special for an evening. The love of the game and appreciation for all the special things greater than the game combines to make Cardinal fans the best in baseball.
Watch the video here:
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