ST. LOUIS— K’s Unique Dogs sold out of hot dogs, brats and other items Wednesday afternoon outside Busch Stadium at 8th and Walnut. It’s a good problem to have, but the cause likely wasn’t the result of the paid crowd, announced as 23,462 having made its way inside to watch the Cardinals and the Cincinnati Reds.

Karen Boschert, who has been in the food vending business for 27 years outside the stadium, attributes the sellout to the fact that the downtown work week business crowd can patronize her stand during rare weekday afternoon games. 

Barring some late-season magic, St. Louis will likely miss the playoffs for the third straight season, meaning Karen’s season will end Sunday. The team expected a drop in attendance this year, with a reduced payroll and the widespread notion that this season would be about giving younger players a “runway” to figure themselves out as major leaguers. 

The result, heading into Friday’s game is a 74-79 record and the lowest number of tickets sold to a game at Busch Stadium III when there were 17,002 paid announced for a Sept. 2 game.

Earlier this month, the Cardinals set a record after selling only 17,002 tickets to their Sept. 2 home game against the Athletics. It marked the lowest announced attendance for a Cardinals game since the current Busch Stadium opened in 2006.

Through 78 games, roughly 612,000 fewer fans have entered the stadium than at the same time last year. Boschert, who has a staff of two, hasn’t taken a salary herself in years and gave up a second location in the stadium vicinity.

Boschert concedes that the team’s play is only part of the equation. She has faith that state control of the police department will have an impact on crime. But she’s seeing fewer repeat customers as fans send a message to the team.

“A lot of people aren’t buying their season tickets…they say they’re not spending money here until the DeWitts put a team on the field that’s worth watching because it’s a lot of money by the time you buy your tickets your parking, your food,” she said.

The franchise is in the midst of an off-field transition, as John Mozeliak prepares to step down as president of baseball operations to be succeeded by Chaim Bloom, the former Tampa Bay and Boston baseball executive. Bloom has been studying the club’s minor league systems and making hires and investments to bolster the team’s ability to develop more of its own talent.

Bloom spoke at the news conference announcing that transition last fall but has otherwise been kept under wraps. The expectation is that at some point early in the offseason, that silence will be broken in another news conference where he’ll be able to answer questions about his plans moving forward.

Boschert thinks a full-time addition of Yadier Molina to the coaching staff would bring fans back, along with some higher-priced talent, an idea that doesn’t figure to fly given the renewed focus on development instead of free agent acquisitions. Regardless, she’s optimistic for the future and plans to be back next season.

Mayor Cara Spencer, who as an alderwoman represented the area around Busch Stadium, a key area of development downtown, was asked Thursday what her message was to the team.

“They play an important role in our city’s culture, our history and certainly our economics and I look forward to continuing to support the Cardinals, their team and hopefully bringing home three more winners here this year,” she said.