This will likely be the first and hopefully last time that I’ll ever share content with you about myself as I would much prefer to talk about our beloved St. Louis Cardinals. However, I think I need to introduce myself so you’ll understand my backstory and how more than five decades living and dying with every St. Louis Cardinals experience has shaped my perspective on them today.
I’ll begin by thanking the Viva El Birdos family for allowing me to join their team. I’ve been a regular visitor to the site for years and jumped at the opportunity to be a part of their awesome content-creating team. You’ll be hearing from me on a daily basis and I can’t wait to engage with the community here in the comments as we prepare for the St. Louis Cardinals to ascend back to their rightful place at the top of the National League Central. More on that later.
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I was born and raised in Missouri which isn’t important other than the fact that my dad had me in a St. Louis Cardinals onesie (sorry for that visual image) as soon as I entered this world. I can’t remember the exact date of my first game at the Busch Stadium 2, but it was in the mid-1970’s when it still had that glorious green Astroturf. My first favorite player was Joe Torre with Lou Brock a close second. I eventually became a Garry Templeton fan since he was a shortstop like I was. That ended on August 26, 1981 when Garry gave the hand gesture that resulted in him being pulled off the field by Whitey Herzog and traded for Ozzie Smith not long after. Brian Jordan in the mid-90’s, Mark McGwire in the late 90’s, Albert Pujols (obviously) in the 2000’s plus Matt Holliday (no relation, sadly) have all been favorite Cardinals players I’ve enjoyed following.
My Cardinals devotion, of course, continued throughout the decades. I’ve never been at a Cardinals playoff or World Series game, but was at the game in 1998 two days before Mark McGwire tied Roger Maris home run record as I sat in the left field stands harassing the Cincinnati Reds bullpen with my glove on hoping to catch one of his moonshots. That sadly did not work out, but I’m betting Homer Bailey remembers me. OK, I have learned Homer Bailey was 12 in 1998, but it was a Cincinnati Reds starter who was warming up in the bullpen. I was also at the game on August 28, 1998 where McGwire was ejected in the first inning when many in the crowd littered the field with food (I maintain my innocence). I also had the misfortune of being at Nolan Arenado day at the new Busch Stadium which ended up being Arenado-less as he chose that as one of his days to serve his 2-game suspension. I could go on and on with St. Louis Cardinals experiences over the years, but you get the idea.
I am also more of an old-school baseball guy than I am Sabermetrics. I am interested in the new ways to break down and analyze baseball statistics, but I’m firmly in the camp of those who prefer all this new data in the hands of management and coaches who know how to combine that with the human side of baseball. Would Sabermetrics have told Tommy Lasorda to send Kirk Gibson to the plate in game 1 of the 1988 World Series? We have several on the Viva El Birdos team who are very savvy at peeling apart all this data and I’m fascinated by it. I just don’t personally enjoy baseball that is run purely by numbers.
I cannot think of a better time to join this amazing Viva El Birdos/St. Louis Cardinals community than right now. We have a new President of Baseball Operations Chaim Bloom who promises to make big changes to a roster badly in need of a restart. This offseason will likely be the most impactful since the Cardinals brought in Walt Jocketty in October of 1994. Will we end up with a manager like Tony La Russa in the next year or two? So many questions. We also have potential superstars in our farm system (looking at you, Wetherholt and Doyle) so there are lots of reason for optimism after a few years of going backwards.
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We have so much to talk about between now and spring training. You and I will have plenty of time to get to know each other and share thoughts as the St. Louis Cardinals rebuild the empire. Please know that I consider being a part of this community a privilege and I promise to use the more than five decades of living and dying with this team to bring you the best Cardinals content possible. Buckle up. It’s gonna be a great ride.