PLAY BALL!

 

It's opening weekend of the baseball season in the U.S. When I was young, I was interested in all kinds of sports, like most American boys. Over time, I have become bored with most of it, particularly our version of football, which I despise for its gratuitous violence and crass spectacle. There is still a soft spot, though, for baseball. I spent a bunch of my youth in the cheap seats in Yankee Stadium (two versions back). Thursday was opening day for our beloved Cardinals, who squeezed out a come-from-behind 9 - 7 victory over Tampa Bay.

We are going to try to get to the No Kings rally today with my rollator, camera and help from Mrs. C. 

           

THE RED ARMY

The crowd waits to enter the baseball stadium, gathered around the statue of Stan Musial. He has been deified as The Greatest Cardinal of Them All. The statue has been criticized for its misshapen proportions. The fans don't care. It's an object of veneration.         

PLAY BALL

Change of plan. Yesterday was the home opening game for our baseball team, the much-loved Cardinals. I needed some exercise and took a walk from my office to the stadium and back, trolling for images. I was not disappointed.

Although the team only sold tickets for one-quarter of the seats, there was a big crowd in the plaza and entertainment area opposite the stadium (with maybe one in ten  wearing masks). These two old fans were dressed for the occasion. Love the shoes. And by the way, the home town heroes won so all is well. For today.         

Trash Talk

In American parlance, trash talk refers to a member or supporter of a sports team bragging about their prowess and insulting the opponent. The Number 1 gesture above is a mild example. It's everywhere, it's accepted, even if it is a bit juvenile. Oh, and although it's not exactly about sports, Donald Trump is another example.

Ballpark Village is a restaurant-bar-entertainment venue across the street from the stadium. Nice for fans, although it drove some of  the older restaurants in the neighborhood out of business. I don't like this Cardinals Nation meme, though. You see it in a number of contexts but especially sports. I think the term originated with modern references to Native American societies. Navajo Nation. Cherokee Nation. Those are nations. Cardinals Nation is a marketing fiction.

And as I said yesterday, we welcome supporters of opposing teams, even the biggest Cubs fans.

True Believers

If Stan Musial is St. Louis' civic saint then the Cardinals are the state religion. Sure, there are professional football and hockey teams that have their followers but nothing compares to the venerated Redbirds. They have won the second-greatest number of baseball championships after the New York Yankees, who, after all, are rich as Croesus. 

No one is too proud or too cool to wear red, whether it's scarlet hair or just a tee shirt. On the other hand, we do have to put up with Fredbird (bottom picture), who is sort of the village idiot of team mascots. (Well, okay, the Phillie Phanatic is worse). The kids like the bird, though.        

Hooray! It's Opening Day!

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Baseball's defending champions, the St. Louis Cardinals had their home opener yesterday. They started the season on the road with a respectable 5-2 record. Unfortunately, Friday was a bit grim. It rained most of the morning and the first half of the afternoon, so the game started almost two hours late. It was quite chilly, despite all the recent summer-like weather, and gusts swirled through the stadium. Oh, and the Cardinals got the stuffing kicked out of them by the lowly and despised Chicago Cubs. We left early.

There was a pre-game party, rally or something in a parking lot next to the stadium. One of the sponsors was the Hardees hamburger chain, which has locations in the Midwest, Mid-Atlantic states and Southeast. Its headquarters is here and we're mighty proud to be home to a company that promotes a burger with 1,290 calories, 92 g of fat and 2,840 mg of sodium (would you like fries with that, sir?). Hardees' moving, inflatable stick figure and one of the fans at the Budweiser bar were clearly in sync.

Down to Ste. Genevieve, Missouri, today to celebrate 38 years of wedded bliss. We actually like each other.

Play Ball! (But Keep Your Hat On)

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Just a quick note - it's gotten pretty late. My daughter, son-in-law and I attended the opening game of the St. Louis Cardinals baseball season yesterday. There was lots of pre-game hoopla, including this magnificent specimen circling the field.

Sorry for no comments today. After the game, my wife and I attended the annual McDonnell science lecture at Washington University. The speaker was Rocky Kolb, distinguished professor at the University of Chicago, astrophysicist extraordinaire and talented stand up comedian. He spoke about the mysteries of dark matter and energy. Rocky's top ten questions about the universe are here.

Oh, the Cardinals lost.

A boy is pitching his heart out on Downtown St. Louis 365 today.

Baseball Opening Day

Today is opening day of the St. Louis Cardinals season. I do like baseball. It's the only sport I follow. It can seem both bewilderingly complex and slow to the uninitiated but we devotees love it for its chess-like intellectual strategies coupled with bursts of superb athleticism. On the other hand, the ever-growing role of money in every aspect of the sport can sour the experience. Nevertheless, ShadowyOne and I will be there, cameras in hand, to document the crowd and action.

The back of new Busch Stadium bumps up against an elevated highway and a railroad trestle coming off a bridge over the river. This picture can play a little figure-ground trick with your eye. The hopper cars are not supporting a display of the team's past achievements but are a few dozen meters in front of the stadium wall.

EARLY EVENING UPDATE: Well, the storms rolled in and they called the game with the Cardinals leading 5 - 1 in the bottom of the third. The Rockies and Cardinals will try it again tomorrow night. Plenty of good pix today, though.

TOMORROW: Monthly Theme Day - Water (and April Fool!)