5 of the past decade's most lovable Cardinals personalities

Joe Kelly

When someone tells the media that he's a distant relative of notorious gangster "Machine Gun" Kelly and then reveals it was a lie after it was published in all the media guides, he's going to be seen as a bit of an oddball. But that was just a taste of Joe Kelly, who would become one of baseball's most charming eccentrics.

In 2013, Kelly disguised himself as a grandfather as he interviewed famed rapper and St. Louis native Nelly.

Kelly burst onto the national scene in the 2013 NLCS, where he engaged in a standoff with Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Scott Van Slyke after the national anthem had finished playing and the teams were ready to take the field.

The best years of Kelly's career would come after he had departed St. Louis, and he would continue to bring a unique personality to the game. In 2020, while Kelly was with the Los Angeles Dodgers, his mockery of a complaining Carlos Correa spawned an internet meme — and, eventually, a mural.

After a game early in 2021, Kelly did business with a musician, trading his jersey for a mariachi jacket. Soon afterward, the Dodgers visited the White House to celebrate their 2020 World Series victory. There, Kelly decided to show off his fashion sense, dressing up in the jacket and eliciting concerns from Secret Service agents, as he described in his book, "A Damn Near Perfect Game: Reclaiming America's Pastime."

A New York Times article dug into Kelly's past and revealed some details about a rough childhood, including a father who grappled with alcoholism. Kelly's book also discusses his past along with his thoughts about the current state of baseball.

Whether it's been with the Cardinals, the Red Sox, the Dodgers or the White Sox, Kelly has provided a distinctive disposition that makes him a fan favorite.

Baseball teams need a multitude of personalities to keep their squads humming, and the players who make sure nobody gets too tightly wound are a key cog for any team that wants to go on a run. At the same time, they need players whom fans can gravitate toward. These five players have been among the best Cardinals over the past decade at capturing fans' and the Cardinals' hearts.