Cardinals' brutal home attendance sets a new franchise low at Busch Stadium III

Tuesday, August 20th, was the smallest official crowd at Busch Stadium III, (excluding COVID-restricted seasons) since it opened in 2006. 30,002. That's the "official" crowd. The actual turnstile, felt more like it was less than 20,000. Oh, and Wednesday was even smaller. 29,580. A division rival was in town in the Brewers. It was a beautiful night for baseball in St. Louis, Missouri. Heck, the Cardinals even won in thrilling fashion on a walk-off grand slam from Superstar Nolan Arenado.

So it only begs the question, what's going on? Why are fans not showing up to cheer on their beloved Redbirds? What's keeping them home? Well, besides the economy, It's the product on the field.

Take out last night and the heroics from Arenado and the Cardinals to squeak out that win, and you're left with inconsistent baseball. Sometimes flat, uninspired, unprepared baseball. St. Louis fans want to see a winning product, and this ain't it. The fans are not showing up because they feel like their voice is going unheard. Like Bill DeWitt Jr. coming out in an ESPN article in 2020 stating that baseball "Wasn't very profitable" or, Bill DeWitt III saying on the Kilcoyne show that fans should still show up because that's how they get money. They've "seen this show before".

Whether it be a continual cycle of outfielders from, Fowler to Bourjos to Grichuk, Piscotty, Bader, Carlson, O'Neill, to...fill in the blank. Maybe it's the seemingly perineal "They seem to get close to the finish line, but get scared to be the first ones to cross it" attitude they seem to have and carry around the league with themselves now. This has not only caused them to fall behind in hitting strategies but also the development of things, like a hitting lab, that uses modern resources for hitters to have the same competitive edge as their competitors.

Speaking of offense, it's terrible. Ranking middle of the pack to close-to-last in the NL in most offensive categories, is not a recipe for success. They've cycled through hitting coaches. They've swung the "big trade" to bring in the bat when needed, but it always fades. As it stands now manager Oli Marmol, has no answer. Walker is here, then Walker is not. 2022 Gorman looks incredible but now seems lost. Nootbaar is very far away from what was projected of him a year ago. Meatballs left down the middle by middle-of-the-order bats. Things are not good under the hood for hitting coach Turner Ward and his St. Louis Cardinals offense.

Tuesday, and Wednesday, were the lowest attendance for any Cardinals game in this ballpark's history, so far. If something doesn't change and change soon for this fanbase that, yes, has been very loyal, but is thirsty for more competitive baseball. They're frustrated, and understandably so. It's not clear if the drop in home attendance will continue, but it's not looking good. If something positive doesn't happen soon, big changes could be just around the corner.