Saw an espn story about that last month, along with an interview with Cards president Bill DeWitt. STL related: I've always thought the Bluenote on the front of the Blues' jerseys was one of the best logos in sports, but I've never really loved their color schemes or uni patterns. Not sure what I'd do differently, but that's not my job. Anyway. PIT and Liriano looked good last night...really good. Bucs are 10-9 this year vs the Cards, 7-7 after the All-star break. But the Cards have won the last four, including the sweep at Busch a month ago. Wainwright vs AJ Burnett in Gm 1, Lynn in Gm 2. AJB has struggled vs. STL this year, and Waino is back strong after a tough August. Don't think PIT's Gm 2 starter has been named. Damn, Liriano looked good.
Am I the only one that was totally put off by the PIT fans? They acted like jerks, chanting people's names and crap. No STL fan would ever do such a thing. I guess 21 years of frustration has them wound a little tight. Fucking assholes need to learn to be fans of the game, not a team that finally makes it into the playoffs.
I thought the Cue-to chant was awesome. I hate that guy. It's hard to blame the bucs fans for being super pumped, since this is their first postseason appearance in 21 years. Did you see the interview with the old guy usher that's been working for the pirates forever. Quite the story there. Anyways, I hope they get over them selves when the cards roll in to Pittsburgh up two games.
Cards beat the Pirates in the first game of the NLDS. Dodgers are beating the Braves in their first game. Good first night of the NL playoffs!! CroMag looked wonderful this year, great weather and great people!!
Alas, the Pirates are up 5-1 in the sixth today. But the Cards are on their third ABs, which means they should score 5 or 6 quick runs before the ninth. Edit: Maybe not, as Cole retires Carp, Beltran, and Holliday in order.
Not in the least put off. I loved it. It's what playing in the opponent's arena is all about. It reminded me of when Philly fans booed Dodger Burt Hooten of the mound in a playoff game in 1977. Love that intensity. If a player can't handle it, good. It's all part of the deal.
Worst booing in Busch history that I know of was directed at one of our own, when Cardinals shortstop Garry Templeton struck out in the first inning and then failed to run out the play on a pitch in the dirt that got away from the catcher. Well, STL fans have never had much patience for slackers, and when the crowd booed, Temp flipped off the crowd, and then did so again leaving the field in the third when the fans continued to boo. Templeton was ejected, then turned to the crowd and grabbed his crotch as he left the field. Whitey Herzog, who was both GM and field manager at the time, jumped out of the dugout, yanked him down the steps, shoved him up against the wall and damn near kicked his ass--the two had to be separated. (Aside: Herzog later got into a fistfight/headlock waltz with SF manager Roger Craig during an on-field brawl right in front of my third-base line seats. That was hilarious.) Templeton was suspended for 3 weeks, left town that night, and was traded to San Diego at the end of the season for another shortstop who didn't have problems with turf, rain, drugs, hustling, or St. Louis. The new shortstop's name? Ozzie Smith.
I moved to St. Louis as Ozzie's career was winding up. Well, everyone else knew his career was winding up. Apparently it was news to Ozzie. When it fell to incoming manager Tony LaRussa to tell him and bench him, Ozzie threw a fit, then he threw a tantrum, then he had a hissy-fit and as far as I know he refused to have anything to do with the Cards as long as LaRussa was the manager. I lost a lot of respect for Ozzie Smith after that. Lots of players take it badly when their career ends, but Ozzie is the prince of them.
I felt the same way. Still a great player, just tarnished a bit on the way out. The Cardinals Organization is too great and valuable to the city, and to intentionally avoid it all because of some grudge over the way your twilight time was handled seems a bit immature.
I had forgotten the Smith/LaRussa thing. At the time, I was ears-deep in a new marriage and in grad school, having left the job for which I'd moved to Seattle, where the Ms were hogging all the attention anyway after their first-ever AL West title and Div. Series win over the Yankees in 1995. Looking back now, it seems that Ozzie had a legitimate gripe, given his performance in spring training, and he played well after coming back from injury, outperforming Royce Clayton at the plate while their defensive play was even. But at the time, from a distance, I don't remember having a sense of LaRussa, Smith, or Clayton being responsible for the tension, but I do remember wishing that LaRussa would give more starts to Smith. (I had plenty of chances to tell him that after moving back to the midwest in 1997--he was a frequent regular at my family's restaurant in St. Louis--but since he never told me I should take over for my folks and get back into the restaurant biz, I paid him the same courtesy!) So what happened? Tantrums, huh? Did Smith act badly? Did fans take sides with or against him or LaRussa? Was there a dust-up in the press? Was LaRussa obviously a dope (I don't think so)? Just wondering, coz I actually don't recall either way. In the end, it was a small bummer that there was any ill will, but I thought the organization treated Smith well, as did the league and the fans who saluted him around the league after he announced that he would retire after that season. But from this fan's POV, having rooted through the dry 1970s, attended the World Series in the 1980s, and now enjoying the new Busch when I can get to the 314, Smith would have to do a few drunk hit-and-runs on his way home from a day of serial murders to tarnish the image of #1. Hey, now! It's game time! One game at a time. Then the next one. Tonight is a tough one. Let's go, Cardinals!
Nope, closed in June after 41 years in business. 'Twas bittersweet, but my folks were ready, now they're happy and done with the stress. Great press, sellouts for the last few months. I went over to STL to work in the kitchen and at the door in the last couple weeks, including our last weekend, with lines outside the cafe, floods of wellwishers and former employees, lots of fellow restauranteurs, and many tearful customers I hadn't seen in many years, I was pretty misty myself a few times. It was a fitting and graceful exit and a celebration of what had happened, for all of which I'm thankful. I'm just carrying on like this because I don't want to talk about baseball right now
