A Bittersweet Victory
I’m not the type to rub in a victory, and I didn’t want it to seem like it after the Cardinals beat the Mets. Daniels, Bisman and Hulse all told their tales of defeat. I didn’t want to come here and rub it in that the Cardinals beat the Mets, out of respect for them and their team. Instead, I’m here today; with my Cardinals the world champions.
It should be a time of joy, a time of celebrating; instead this post season has been tainted. It’s not the Kenny Rogers scandal that has tainted it, but rather my fellow fans. The fans in St. Louis, the so-called “best in baseball,” can be broken into 3 classes: the Diehards, the Fair Weather fans, and the constant complainers.
I consider myself a diehard. I have been with the Cardinals through thick and thin. I remember all the good times (Albert Pujols coming out of nowhere, the Cards/Astros series of ’04) and bad (Game 6 of the ’86 series, the death of Daryl Kile). I know the players stats, what they look like in person, and which players will sign autographs. I realize that the Cardinals are a small market team with a large following, so they are limited in revenue. I understand they have a weak minor league system, so they don’t have players to bring up or trade. I can tell you the starting position players of most of the teams of my lifetime.
The Fair Weather fans come out every time the Cardinals succeed. They are the people that don’t watch games during the regular season, couldn’t tell you a member of the bench, or didn’t know the team’s record at the All Star Break. Once the playoffs start, they all of the sudden are baseball experts.
The constant complainers come from the 2 previous groups. They are the people that can always find something wrong with the team. They don’t understand we don’t have the money to sign the best player in the free agent market. They don’t understand we don’t have the top prospects to land a top player in trade. They can find the smallest negative with the team and turn it into an issue.
This post-season the last 2 have been out in full force, killing my buzz of winning.
During the pennant race, I stood by the team; I continually said that the hottest teams in the playoffs are the ones that scrape into the post-season, mainly the wild card teams. Last year, the Astros made it to the series from the WC; before that the Red Sox and Marlins both won the championship as WC teams. I told people that the best thing for the Cardinals was to play until the end; if they limped into the post-season, they would have some momentum. Very few people took me seriously. None of them remember that now.
Once the Cards beat the Padres, the fair weather fan came out in droves. All during the series with the Mets, I heard people that hadn’t watched a game all season quote Tim McCarver like it was gospel. They didn’t know what they were saying, but they believed it. When the Cards took game 7, it got even worse. I had a co-worker that tried to convince me that Scott Rolen should have been the series MVP. “The Scott Rolen that didn’t have a RBI since the playoffs began? The Scott Rolen that threw a routine grounder into the stands?” Apparently, stupidity is contagious.
The complainers took over for the World Series. After game 2, Kenny Rogers was considered baseballs Bin Laden with these people. He “cheated” and nothing happened. “Let’s replay that game.” “Ban him for life.” “We should fire LaRussa for not doing anything about it.” Someone asked me my thoughts; it’s just a game and we got beat. “But he cheated.” There was a reason LaRussa didn’t take action with it. I explained that it was common for players to use foreign substances to get a better grip on the ball. Weaver could have had something and, if LaRussa would have done something, he could have been caught too.
Game 3 came with little controversy or complaining; the rain also came. When game 4 was rained out and it was announced that the tickets for game 5 would be used for the day that they were original schedule to be used (what would not be game 4), the next complaint came: “I bought tickets specifically for game 5 so I could see them clinch at home.” I can understand people being upset, but I’m sure that one of the hundreds of thousands of Cardinal fans who didn’t have tickets would change spots with them. MLB used the same policy that they used all season for rainouts: the tickets to the rained out game would be good for the day it was made up. I also said the only people that truly had the right to be upset were the people who bought scalped tickets to see a clincher: they probably paid twice face value to have the games swapped. The people that bought tickets for game 5 before the series started weren’t even guaranteed to see the game: one of the teams could have swept the series and there tickets would have been worthless. I never heard so many F-bombs dropped at one time when one of my coworkers didn’t like my explanation.
With what would be the final game, the complainers were ready one last time. Before the game, most people were complaining that the Tigers weren’t going to pitch Rogers. “That jerk is just scared to face the St. Louis crowd after game 2.” No, the manager doesn’t want him to face the crowd. I also looked at the stats: when Justin Verlander had given up at least 6 earned runs in a game, he had followed it up with giving up under 4 runs and going at least 7 innings in all but 1 start. To me, that’s a pretty good reason for Verlander to make his scheduled start (FYI, he pitched 6 innings and gave up 1 earned run). What was the reply to logic (from an actual conversation with my coworkers)? “For once in your life, f*** stats and get mad at the Tigers.” I was seriously told to get mad at the Tigers; to me that was the equivalent of being told to forget logic and join us. What would that accomplish? Nothing like getting mad at something I had no control over.
So, I stayed at home with my sick wife and watched game 5 with her. I had some of the most intelligent baseball conversation with her than I could have with any of my co-workers (she knows more about baseball than some diehard). We were both excited when the game was finished; but instead of being one of the greatest things I witnessed, there was something missing because of the games leading up to it. We stayed up until 1 in the morning watching local post game, highlights, and celebration.
Now, the next day, the victory is still sweet but I’m scared to get around people. The fair weather fans will be out in full force, and I don’t know if the complainers will find something from game 5 to complain about (further tainting the win). I’ll be attending the parade tomorrow, so that may help fill in some of the void. All I know is I’m going to try to ignore both groups of people so I can somewhat enjoy the next few months being the reigning champions before it all starts again.
