Cardinals draw wacky but kinda fair comparison to infamous fictional baseball team

The St. Louis Cardinals are sitting firmly in the playoff race as the season approaches the All-Star break, and many people, including those within the St. Louis front office, have to be surprised at the level of success so far this year. This success that the team is having without many household names has drawn comparisons to one of the greatest baseball films of all time.

MLB writer Bob Nightengale compared the Cardinals 2025 season to the 1989 film "Major League"

In a recent piece, USA Today baseball writer Bob Nightengale mentioned the Cardinals in a few different ways, but one of the most interesting was how he compared the 2025 team to the Cleveland Indians team scraped together in the 1989 film "Major League". To avoid spoilers for the now 36-year-old movie, ownership hoped to put together a team of nobodies in an attempt to lose so badly that the team would move to a new profitable location.

Coming into this year, outgoing President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak announced the season would be a "reset" where many of the young players would receive opportunities after jettisoning off high-priced or well-performing veterans. After that failed to come to fruition, the season was then defined as a "transition" where youngsters would still get their chance, but the team would revisit trade talks as the season progressed. As so happens in the movie, the Indians' squad is motivated by ownership's lack of faith in the team, and the players and manager came together to shock the baseball world with a long playoff run and plenty of sellout crowds.

Well, so far, the Cardinals are overcoming management's lack of ability to add to a mediocre team and have worked to form an exciting, energetic team that has a never-say-die attitude. As we approach the All-Star break, the Cardinals are well within reach of a playoff spot and are fittingly playing the now Cleveland Guardians with a chance to earn a Wild Card position by the end of the series. While the "Major League" team had rookie fireballer Rick "Wild Thing" Vaughn, speedster Willie Mays Hays, and veteran catcher Jake Taylor, the Cardinals have Willson Contreras and Nolan Arenado filling the leadership role, with Victor Scott II looking like a potential Mays Hays in center. In the bullpen, the Cardinals have plenty of hard-throwers in closer Ryan Helsley, Riley O'Brien, Kyle Leahy, and others who ride the Memphis Shuttle to fill out the St. Louis bullpen.

In the movie, manager Lou Brown helped inspire the team with his hard-nosed, grinder mentality, not too different from the fiery Oli Marmol, who is running the ship in St. Louis. Despite the potential playoff bid, attendance remains an issue at Busch Stadium, but it appears to be moving in the right direction. The Cardinals are currently on pace to have their lowest full-season attendance since the 1995 season, the first year after the strike that ended the 1994 season early.

There is still plenty of time left for changes to happen with the roster, especially with many expiring contracts or cheap veterans performing at a level that could intrigue other contending teams to call the Cardinals looking for a deal. The 2025 Cardinals are currently over .500 on the season and are looking to bring the energy back to St. Louis after missing the playoffs in back-to-back seasons. If they can keep up the level of play from the past couple of months, it is very possible that the "Major League" comparison could become reality as the Cardinals push for the postseason.