My parents grew up in Jacksonville, Illinois so we never had any other choice than to be Cardinals fans. I remember my dad sitting in our car out in the desert of LA county, fiddling with the AM radio dial to catch games, I guess it must have been when they played the Dodgers. We were sosososo sorry that my dad died before 2006 and 2011, he had been waiting since 1982, although he was pretty lucky to have lived to see them win 6 championships. Gosh, he hated Tony LaRussa! In 2011 the six of his children all came together from up and down the East Coast to watch the fourth game together (bummer) and kept up steady text streams through all the rest of the games. We talk about game 6 every time we're together....I still wear my Freese jersey to every game we attend. Thanks for triggering these happy memories! Go Cards! (and boy howdy, my brothers are just as aggravated with the team as you are now, but faithful forever).
Dude, I can’t believe you missed the birth of your child to watch the Cardinals in the World Series. What? That didn’t happen? My bad - I heard it from your son.
Sometimes the world around us feels like the story; sometimes, it’s just the setting.
This was a fun mashup to read. Several powerful stories colliding makes for a cool profile of a special moment. Thanks for sharing it, as well as for those notes about narrowed perspective. It often feels like any moment I’m not fretting about the world or actively trying to make it better is an act of cruel apathy. I like your sentiment: it is healthy to give ourselves permission to let the world be setting some of the time.
As a Mets fan, if they sign Soto and win a couple World Series in the next few years, I might remember the Trump era with more fondness than I should. Such is the mentality of a sports fan.
Watched the glorious Northwestern victory last night with my best friend and fellow alum. Feeling a different swing of emotions and gratitude for sports as an escape today, but always enjoy and appreciate your writing. Go Cats! 💜
Yeah, I can imagine the release of seeing the Cardinals finally validate your fandom by winning a World Series was pretty intense, given that it had been a whole five years since they last won one.
Signed,
A Guardians Fan
(I kid, I kid... I understand why that World Series would be special, both for how it played out and for what else was going on in your life... I imagine EVERY World Series victory is special, but as a Guardians fan, IMAGINING it is all I can do.)
My uncle died this week at the age of 75. He had done the math and was pretty sure he might have been conceived when Cleveland won the World Series in 1948. He was pretty sure that his life was going to bookended with Cleveland titles. We were at a wedding in 2007 and he was recovering from a cancer surgery. He “joked” with me he was ready that year. Cleveland wasn’t and he got better. After Rajai Davis hit a home run in 2016, I worried about my uncle, but a rain delay beat the Tribe and may have saved my uncle. This year, beyond expectations, the Guardians went pretty far and my uncle was getting sicker. I wondered if he would see a title. But it was not to be. Maybe the Guardians win in 2025 and he’ll have just missed out.
My condolences on losing your uncle. I'm sorry he never got to see them win a World Series, and I hope that was only a minor disappointment in his life, not something he lost sleep over. I have a hard time believing I'll ever see them win one, but it's tough to be a fan if you can't keep at least a little hope, and I've got that.
Ranger fan here, who not only lost his Dad that day but saw his never won a World Series Rangers twice one strike away. Dad was ready to go and it was not unexpected and as I told my crying her eyes out 20 year old Ranger fanatic daughter , it just wasn't meant to be, November 1,2023 was the day it was meant to be. Will, if that was your first Cardinal title cogratulations, I have always said the Cardinals are the Yankees of the National league without the arrogance I have always been a big fan of the Dizzy Dean Gashouse Gang Cards not that I ever saw them. No hard feelings I will probably order your book you mentioned in the story.
I love those fan reaction clips, and that was a great one bc there was like three epic moments in that game. Similar to Cavs-Warriors game 7 and the iron bowl kick six.
What’s funny about Will’s attempts to insult Northwestern is that 1) most Northwestern alums I know would agree with his description of our arena and student body and 2) we hate Iowa, not Illinois.
I love lore stories like that. I'm the storyteller in my friends group (and I have a substack myself) and I play up all those almost-coincidences all the time. as the famous line in Liberty Valance goes, "When the legend becomes fact, print the legend."
I lived in the St. Louis area and attended Cardinals games in the late ‘90s while McGwire played there, but I’ve still never been to the newest version of Busch Stadium. I’m hoping 2025 is the year.
My parents grew up in Jacksonville, Illinois so we never had any other choice than to be Cardinals fans. I remember my dad sitting in our car out in the desert of LA county, fiddling with the AM radio dial to catch games, I guess it must have been when they played the Dodgers. We were sosososo sorry that my dad died before 2006 and 2011, he had been waiting since 1982, although he was pretty lucky to have lived to see them win 6 championships. Gosh, he hated Tony LaRussa! In 2011 the six of his children all came together from up and down the East Coast to watch the fourth game together (bummer) and kept up steady text streams through all the rest of the games. We talk about game 6 every time we're together....I still wear my Freese jersey to every game we attend. Thanks for triggering these happy memories! Go Cards! (and boy howdy, my brothers are just as aggravated with the team as you are now, but faithful forever).
Dude, I can’t believe you missed the birth of your child to watch the Cardinals in the World Series. What? That didn’t happen? My bad - I heard it from your son.
Sometimes the world around us feels like the story; sometimes, it’s just the setting.
This was a fun mashup to read. Several powerful stories colliding makes for a cool profile of a special moment. Thanks for sharing it, as well as for those notes about narrowed perspective. It often feels like any moment I’m not fretting about the world or actively trying to make it better is an act of cruel apathy. I like your sentiment: it is healthy to give ourselves permission to let the world be setting some of the time.
As a Mets fan, if they sign Soto and win a couple World Series in the next few years, I might remember the Trump era with more fondness than I should. Such is the mentality of a sports fan.
This is essentially what I was trying to say in my piece, but you were much more succinct about it. Thank you.
Watched the glorious Northwestern victory last night with my best friend and fellow alum. Feeling a different swing of emotions and gratitude for sports as an escape today, but always enjoy and appreciate your writing. Go Cats! 💜
Very nice win for you guys. That was a very, very annoying loss. I wrote out of anger!
Yeah, I can imagine the release of seeing the Cardinals finally validate your fandom by winning a World Series was pretty intense, given that it had been a whole five years since they last won one.
Signed,
A Guardians Fan
(I kid, I kid... I understand why that World Series would be special, both for how it played out and for what else was going on in your life... I imagine EVERY World Series victory is special, but as a Guardians fan, IMAGINING it is all I can do.)
My uncle died this week at the age of 75. He had done the math and was pretty sure he might have been conceived when Cleveland won the World Series in 1948. He was pretty sure that his life was going to bookended with Cleveland titles. We were at a wedding in 2007 and he was recovering from a cancer surgery. He “joked” with me he was ready that year. Cleveland wasn’t and he got better. After Rajai Davis hit a home run in 2016, I worried about my uncle, but a rain delay beat the Tribe and may have saved my uncle. This year, beyond expectations, the Guardians went pretty far and my uncle was getting sicker. I wondered if he would see a title. But it was not to be. Maybe the Guardians win in 2025 and he’ll have just missed out.
My condolences on losing your uncle. I'm sorry he never got to see them win a World Series, and I hope that was only a minor disappointment in his life, not something he lost sleep over. I have a hard time believing I'll ever see them win one, but it's tough to be a fan if you can't keep at least a little hope, and I've got that.
Ranger fan here, who not only lost his Dad that day but saw his never won a World Series Rangers twice one strike away. Dad was ready to go and it was not unexpected and as I told my crying her eyes out 20 year old Ranger fanatic daughter , it just wasn't meant to be, November 1,2023 was the day it was meant to be. Will, if that was your first Cardinal title cogratulations, I have always said the Cardinals are the Yankees of the National league without the arrogance I have always been a big fan of the Dizzy Dean Gashouse Gang Cards not that I ever saw them. No hard feelings I will probably order your book you mentioned in the story.
I love those fan reaction clips, and that was a great one bc there was like three epic moments in that game. Similar to Cavs-Warriors game 7 and the iron bowl kick six.
I find fan reaction videos irresistible, every time.
What’s funny about Will’s attempts to insult Northwestern is that 1) most Northwestern alums I know would agree with his description of our arena and student body and 2) we hate Iowa, not Illinois.
(I was writing this from a very damaged place this morning.)
I don't know Will, I've seen rumors around the internet saying that "toasted" ravioli is actually fried.....
The 2011 World Series. Ugh, don't remind me of that horrible time.....
We can only hope The Good Traitor is not a precursor to what is coming this January.
I love lore stories like that. I'm the storyteller in my friends group (and I have a substack myself) and I play up all those almost-coincidences all the time. as the famous line in Liberty Valance goes, "When the legend becomes fact, print the legend."
I lived in the St. Louis area and attended Cardinals games in the late ‘90s while McGwire played there, but I’ve still never been to the newest version of Busch Stadium. I’m hoping 2025 is the year.
WOW Now those are priorities and I love them