World Baseball Classic makes up for lack of televised Cardinals Spring Training games

It is not a secret that fans are unhappy with the few and far between St. Louis Cardinals games we have actually been able to watch this year, but while Spring Training contests have been watched on MLB Gameday or listened to on KMOX, the World Baseball Classic has scratched the itch for many fans.

St. Louis has the third-highest viewership for the USA's World Baseball Classic run.

I admit to being one of the many frustrated Cardinals faithful who are cautiously optimistic for the roster during the first year of the rebuild. This positivity created a feeling of excitement as pitchers and catchers reported to Jupiter and checked out the newly renovated Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium before full squad workouts. That excitement quickly faded when we got a glimpse of the television schedule for this year's exhibition season, with just 16 games being shown on MLB.TV or over the air, and only eight of those actually hosted and broadcasted by the Cardinals.

This was a disappointing development, as it seemed the access to Spring Training games has improved dramatically since COVID and the league continues to tout their desire to "grow the game" by being more accessible. With the Cardinals hosting a talented crop of young players, it is a bummer that the only way we get to see how these guys are performing is in 2D graphics, or we get the vocal talents of Ricky Horton and John Rooney on KMOX, and while they are phenomenal at their jobs, it just is not the same.

Luckily, those of us who just crave baseball 12 months a year were blessed with the World Baseball Classic returning to screens this March. The Cardinals have a plethora of players who competed, or are still competing, in the tournament, although they are unlikely to be the household names we are seeing on the powerhouse rosters of the juggernaut teams. Regardless of who is playing for what country, or honestly what teams are even playing, baseball fans across the country tuned in to see some high-stakes games in big stadiums, rather than seeing practice competitions in minature versions of big league parks.

The tournament set viewership records on Fox Sports during the pool play round, and to no surprise, this was mostly in support of Team USA and the star-studded roster top to bottom. Looking at those numbers further, Fox Sports dove into where those viewers were coming from, and to no surprise, the Midwest was well represented, as the majority of us still sat inside staring at snow and sub-freezing temperatures for much of the month. Based on the ratings, St. Louis ranked third in viewership in each of the USA's pool play games, with Kansas City finishing second and first for the games against Great Britain and Brazil, respectively.

If there's ever any doubt that the Midwest is the true heart of baseball, here is further proof of that. The fact that we are trapped inside during the winter makes our love for the greatest game on Earth grow fonder every year. Cardinals, take note and get those TV crews to Jupiter as much as possible in 2027!