Haters Welcome!

Dodgers fans are not the only ones drinking the Haterade. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

The St. Louis Cardinals are the most hated team still in the 2013 playoffs because they win too much.  Like with the Yankees of previous decades, baseball fans want a fresh team to support.

Today’s problem is that although St. Louis has home field advantage and are aiming to finish off Hollywood tonight or tomorrow, they are not and were not the clearcut favorites to win the National League Championship Series.  In Vegas they were and are the substantial underdog.

What happened to cheering on David versus Goliath?

The Dodgers are the third oldest team in MLB this year averaging almost 30 years per player.  That is just behind the dusty Yankees and Red Sox who are both averaging a tad over 30.  Detroit is just behind Dodgerland with a mean of over 29 years per member.

St. Louis is tied with Seattle for the fourth youngest with an average age of 27.  The only teams with more youth are the Marlins, White Sox, and Astros.

Returning to the perplexing question of why fans are detesting the young ballers wearing red and supporting the veterans in blue, let’s consider three possible motives.

1.)  Perhaps people are sick of STL’s perennial presence in October.

2.)  Maybe LA’s hams are more fun to watch.

3.)  Or it is possible that people feel sorry for a team that spends $216 million and is battling a squad with $100 million less on their payroll.

Any way you chop it up, the Birdinals can embrace the hate, especially at home in a Cardinal red river at Busch. Nevertheless, baseball fans need to be prepared to continue loathing a team that is illustrating their ability to play with any team, regardless of their experience.

*The average age list can be found here: http://espn.go.com/mlb/stats/rosters/_/sort/average_age/order/true

Oct 12, 2013; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Cardinals fans cheer as starting pitcher Michael Wacha (52) walks back to the dugout for a pitching change against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the 7th inning in game two of the National League Championship Series baseball game at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports