St. Louis Cardinals: There’s No Place Like… the Road?

Aug 28, 2016; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina (4) walks back to the dugout during the eighth inning against the Oakland Athletics at Busch Stadium. The Athletics won 7-4. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports
Aug 28, 2016; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina (4) walks back to the dugout during the eighth inning against the Oakland Athletics at Busch Stadium. The Athletics won 7-4. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports

While Dorothy proclaimed her love and desire to return to Kansas, simply because “There’s no place like home”, it just might be that the St. Louis Cardinals of 2016 see less flying monkeys, talking trees, and witches while traveling these United States of America.

It’s confusing, to say the least. How can a team like the St. Louis Cardinals, with Cardinal Nation embarking on Busch Stadium to the tune of over 40,000 each night, even week days during the school season, carry a home winning percentage of just .447?  Moreover, this percentage comes at more than two-thirds the way through the home schedule and the end of August…

Perhaps home is not where the baseball heart is this year. Perhaps home is not just the building but the people with whom you spend your time. Or maybe even home is not the crowds, but instead, the competition.

When I’m at home, I take my shoes off; I walk around without a care in the world of who is watching. I eat my comfort foods and I watch my favorite television shows. I sleep in my bed, contoured to my liking.

But when I’m on the road, I stay a bit more rigid, glancing around at all the unusual sites that don’t make me feel nearly as comfortable. I eat my meals with a limited number of choices, causing me to be a bit more uneasy. I find myself compelled to compete for parking spaces, better seats in the restaurant and to prove to others my worth and value in a strange location.

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This may contribute to what this season’s St. Louis Cardinals, under manager Mike Matheny, are feeling as they put together a Major-League-Baseball-best road winning percentage of .612. Winning on the road is possibly more pleasing to this team of competitive athletes who, for many years, have found success within the friendly confines of Cardinal Nation. It’s a new challenge.

So the prognosticator in me tells me we will win the second National League Wildcard, fittingly travel to our one-game playoff destination, win, and advance into the playoffs as the 4-seed and continue our away-from-home dominance to the dismay of the baseball world.

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Why, even the World Series will hold a home-field advantage for the American League, thanks to a 4-2 win in San Diego back in early July. Once again, destiny is playing right into our hands.