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On Friday I opened the Tribune to its Perspective page and confronted the headline “The most insufferable fans in sports live in St. Louis.” The essay, by Jonathan Mahler by way of Bloomberg, asserted that “people are finally getting nauseated at the pious gloss that’s endlessly smeared across this ‘storied franchise,’” said franchise being the Cardinals, of course, now engaged in their third NLCS in three years. The Cardinals have gone from an upstart little franchise that presumed to challenge the Yankees in ’64 (and beat them, did I mention that?) to being the Yankees.
It was one thing for the Pittsburgh Pirates to be the sentimental favorites when they played the Cardinals in the first round of the playoffs. That was to be expected—the Pirates hadn’t won anything in forever. But for America to cheer for Los Angeles over Saint Louis in the second round in the name of favoring the little guy—that was astonishing.
Mahler’s beef with the Cardinals and their fans is actually with “Cardinals-loving broadcasters and writers.” He names them: Tim McCarver, a former Cardinal; Joe Buck, a Saint Louis product whose father, Jack Buck, was the beloved Voice of the Cardinals; Bob Costas, who still has a home there; and Buzz Bissinger, who in 2003 teamed up with former manager Tony LaRussa for the “love letter” (that’s Mahler) Three Nights in August.
