Musings from an Optimistic Cardinal Fan: Issue 4-2012

Greene Gone – Tyler Greene is no longer a St. Louis Cardinal. He was traded to the Houston Astros for a player to be named later or cash considerations. Greene’s stats this year with the Cardinals were: hitting .218 with nine stolen bases and four homers. Greene was a first round draft pick of the Cardinals in 2005 when Jeff Luhnow was our player development director. Luhnow is currently the Astros general manager. The Cardinals haven’t added a player to the active roster yet but, it appears it will probably be Pete Kozma or Ryan Jackson.

Waino looking Bueno again – Adam Wainwright had one of his best outings and as a result, his era is below 4 for the first time this year, he went 7 innings and is now 10-10. As a result, the Cardinals gained a split against the San Francisco Giants; winning 3-1. He struck out 7 and was never really in trouble as he has now won three games in a row. Wainwright’s resurgence will go a long way in helping the Redbirds get to the post season.

Aches and Pains – Three of the Cardinals players have recently been dealing with some aches and pains that have kept them on the bench. Skip Schumaker was hit by a pitch recently and as a result has sat out the last couple of games with a sore wrist. Rafael Furcal has been bothered by back stiffness for the last two weeks. He played Thursday after getting an anti-inflammatory injection. Allen Craig has had a bone bruise in his chest that has caused periodic chest pain. He incurred the injury on Wednesday. The injury occurred when he was going for a foul ball against the Reds.

What kind of fan are you? – As a Cardinal fan living in Atlanta, I often look for fellow Cardinal fans in crowds, stores,other sporting events, etc. I have noticed that, just because a person is wearing a Cardinal hat or shirt, doesn’t necessarily mean he or she is a Cardinal Fan. So, how do you know? You don’t always but, here are some categories:

Pretender – this person wears a Cardinal hat or t-shirt, because they like the color or they’re trying to make a fashion statement. This seems to be particularly true of young men. Do you know how embarrassing and annoying it is to eagerly greet a person you think is a Cardinal fan. Only to have them say, “…I’m not, I just like the hat”. Really?? I’ve since learned that if the person is wearing their hat to the back or is wearing pants that need to be “pulled” up, they are most likely not a Cardinal fan at all; unless they live in the metro St. Louis area.

Casual – this is the fan who can usually tell you if the Cardinals are playing at home. Or what radio or TV station carries the Cardinal games. They may even know where the Cardinals are in the standings but, by and large, they are often Cardinal fans as a sense of obligation. Either they live in the metro St. Louis area; or a member of their family is a Cardinal fan and they feel the need to “try” and be one as well.

Serious – This is the fan who can tell you when the Cardinals are in town, where they are in the standings and usually have a favorite Cardinal Player. They can usually name some of the more famous Cardinal players such as Bob Gibson, Stan Musial, Lou Brock, etc. They know Mike Shannon, the Cardinal’s play by play announcer, is a former Cardinal 3^rd baseman. And they have a few Cardinal shirts and caps. You can ask them if the Cardinals won or lost that day and they can at least tell you if they won or lost; even if they aren’t sure of the actual score and what pitcher started.

Diehard – This fan has all of the qualities above and more. He can name the day’s starting lineup before the game; he or she is regularly on twitter or Facebook, posting on walls or tweeting about the Cardinals. He has the MLB At Bat on his/her smartphone and rarely if ever, misses a game. This fan can name the Cardinals starting rotation, who the manager is, where Busch Stadium is located and where the restaurants are located for some of the former Cardinal players. He most likely regularly blogs about the Cardinals or reads blogs and comments; he may have a podcast or regularly participates in chat forums regarding the Cardinals. This fan has decals on his vehicle, Cardinal mugs and members of his family are either casual or serious Cardinal fans as well. Diehard fan…that would be me!

Thanks for reading. Go Cards!