Makin' a List: The People are the Heroes Now
Top 10 Sound Offs
There is a wonderful scene in the final (flawed) season of The Wire. Gus Haynes sits at a bar and with Roger Twigg (the recently laid off police reporter) and they reminisce over the power of the printed paper. Gus tells of seeing his father pour over every word before leaving for work, “What the hell is so important about that damn paper,” Gus recalled thinking. “I want to be part of that.”
The power and importance is undeniable and I’m willing to wager that anyone who has once upon a time picked up a paper had the desire to see their name in a byline. Very few are allowed that opportunity of course, and for those whose name will never see a masthead, the next best thing is a Letter to the Editor.
The Sports page of the Post Dispatch called the section “Sound Off” and each week it would print letters from fans celebrating stories or reminiscing on past glories, but more often than not the letters attempted to hold players, managers, teams ,a nd even columnists accountable. I admit that I too was enticed by seeing my name in print and would on occasion send in a letter. But my opinions were good and unassailable.1
Below are the Top 10 Sound Offs.
(10) Pining for Old Managers?
“You know why St. Louis should never get another NBA team,” my uncle Frank once asked me. “Because all the old Hawks players and coaches are long gone and the fans aren’t able to beg for them to be brought back.”
Writing into the Post Dispatch yearning for old managers is a time honored tradition of Cardinal fans. During the early portion of the La Russa Era, it seemed that every other week someone would suggest that if the Cardinals just got rid of “La Genius” and brought back Whitey Herzog, the team would finally win another World Series. While pining for the return of Whitey-Ball may have been the height, such letters to the editor date back to almost the beginning of the franchise. In 1927, Cardinal fans were sending letters to the editor questioning whether Bob O’Farrell had what it took to manage the home town team and wishing Rogers Hornsby was back at the helm.
(9) Everyone knows Albert Pujols is better than David Eckstein, but…
More than other sports, baseball prides itself on its past. So steeped is baseball in its history that it developed its own set of unwritten rules to govern its culture. These unwritten rules are meant to preserve baseball’s tradition, so that each generation knows the “right way” to play baseball. The idea of the rules is harmless enough and in theory meant to convey sportsmanship and fair play: Don’t steal a base when leading by seven runs; Don’t bunt to break up a no-hitter; Don’t show-up the opposing team. But in practice, the rules come off as stifling, reticent to any type of true emotion and seemingly more appropriate for a Highlights magazine than a professional sports league. Goofus stares admiringly at his home run before slowly rounding the bases. Gallant humbly sprints around the bases with his head down after hitting a homerun.
Opposing fans and teams have excoriated both the Cardinals and their fan base for zealously policing these unwritten rules. I’ve always felt the criticism was misplaced and more a consequence of the team’s success than anything else.
What the below Sound Off presupposes is, maybe those other teams and fans are right?
(8) Play Long Enough to See Yourself Become the Hero
We remember Yadier Molina now as one of the most beloved Cardinals of all-time. So loved is he that a not insignificant portion of the fan base believe manager Yadi is the key to reverse the fortunes of the franchise. But the summer of 2006 was different. Yadier had not yet hit his famous ninth inning Game 7 home run, had not yet gone toe to toe with Brandon Phillips, had not yet revealed that any would be base stealer was out of their mind for even considering running on him. Instead, at least one Cardinal fan took to the Post to state that the team would have been ten (10!!!) games ahead in the NL Central if the team had started Gary Bennett instead of Molina.
(7) Live Long Enough to See Yourself Become the Villain
The below was published in February 2007:
Unlike other sports, the role of the baseball manager is more difficult to parse. At its core, the job of a baseball manager is to fill out the lineup card, make the pitching changes and keep the peace of the clubhouse. To put it another way, you could say the most important role of a baseball manager is to put his players in the best position to succeed.
The ultimate downfall of the 2012-2017 Cardinals was Mike Matheny’s failure to do that. Every year he managed the team, there was a move or series of moves that were not only baffling, but put players and the team in a worse position to succeed.
To wit, Matheny never truly figured out how to effectuate a double switch - culminating in a 2016 game against the Reds where a series of double switches resulted in Seungwan Oh coming to the plate for his first career at bat with the bases loaded in a tied game in the ninth inning. You’ll be shocked to learn, it did not go well and the Cardinals lost.
There was the decision to include Shelby Miller and Edward Mujica on the World Series roster in 2013 when Miller had thrown one post-season inning and Mujica had thrown two.2 Neither one was used in any of the six games, essentially reducing the Cardinals to a 23 man roster for the series.
It is tough to pick just one moment in 2014, starting with the fact that John Mozeliak had to trade Allen Craig to finally get Matheny to write Oscar Tavares name in the lineup card, to taking John Lackey out of Game 4 of the NLCS in a tie game when he had thrown only 79 pitches, to leaving Randy Choate in to face three batters in that same game, to the most egregious, bringing in Michael Wacha to pitch to Travis Ishikawa in Game 5, when Wacha hadn’t pitched in 20 days.
“Put him in a tough place, without getting much work here lately,” Matheny confessed after the game. “That’s on me.”
(6) This is St. Louis, we wear Cardinal red here.
Everything else is a lie but this: For a 23 year period, Delino Deshields was unquestionably the best second basemen to play for the Cardinals. Look at the names of the Cardinal two baggers from 1990 until 2013 when Matt Carpenter took over the position: Geronimo Pena, Luis Alicea, Mark Gallego, Manny Lee, Adam Kennedy, Placido Polanco, Fernando Vina, Bo Hart, Tony Womack, Mark Grudzielanek, Ronnie Belliard, Adam Kennedy again, Skip Schumaker, Nick Punto, Aaron Miles. Delino Deshields was better than everybody on that list.
Like many of the late 1990s Cardinals his time and contribution to the team were overshadowed as Big Mac swatted ball after ball into the upper echelons of Busch Stadium. But as the homers quickly flew, ushering in a new age of Cardinal baseball, Delino Deshields quietly brought a symbolic end to the old one – the era based on speed and steals. Deshields swiped 55 bases for the 1997 squad becoming the last Cardinal player to steal over 50 bases in a season.
As great and as fleet footed as Deshields may have been, at least one Cardinal fan was bothered by a significant aspect of his game. Specifically, why doesn’t he wear red, white and blue socks!
Interestingly enough, this wouldn’t be the only time Cardinal fans groused over uniform choices. Even the great Albert Pujols was not immune - with his loyalty to the team questioned in 2004 based on his decision to wear a black undershirt.
And we all know, one could fill a book with the number of Sound Offs written about Carlos Martinez’s hair color.
(5) Now let’s talk about the Civil War and the Iraq War. I’m dying to talk to you about the Civil War and the Iraq War all day.
I’m willing to venture a guess that this is the only time in United States history someone has expressed a pro-Confederacy/anti-Iraq point of view in the Sports Page. And to so seamlessly transition into dumping on Matt Morris. Truly a masterclass in Sound Off writing.
(4) Hey, hey, hey, I don’t go make burgers where you work and tell you how to make burgers
Walt Jocketty served as general manager for the Cardinals from 1996 until he was fired following the 2007 season. During his tenure, he was the architect for some of the most favorable trades in franchise history. The offseason prior to the 2000 campaign may have been his masterpiece. During that offseason, Jocketty was able to acquire 56.1 future WAR for the Cardinals. The teams with which he traded only received 25.5 future WAR.3 As if he were consulting with an oracle, Jocketty seemingly knew the right time to both trade for and away a certain player. Or maybe, he just subscribed to the Post Dispatch and was able to read suggestions from readers.
Cardinal fans have never been shy about writing in to the Post with their ideas to improve the team, but there may be no better example than below which begins with the suggestion to move Jason Isringhausen and Ryan Franklin to the rotation and ends with suggesting the Cardinals trade Kip Wells, Preston Wilson, and Brad Thompson for a power bat. If Jocketty had just heeded this advice, maybe he would have survived the 2007 season.
To be fair, the author was right about replacing Adam Kennedy.
(3) Look what you did Bernie!
On September 2, 2003, the Cardinals split a day/night doubleheader in Wrigley –taking the night game 2-0 thanks to seven innings of shutout ball by Matt Morris. The win combined with an Astros lost, meant the Cardinals possessed sole control of first place, a half game ahead of Houston and a game and a half ahead of the hated Cubs.
The two teams met the next afternoon for their fourth game in three days. That game will be remembered for two things: (1) Cubs Matt Clement and Cards Danny Haren beaning each other leading to Dusty Baker and La Russa gesticulating and yapping at each other from their respective dugouts. The argument culminating in Dusty Baker screaming expletives at Tony and La Russa replying by calling Baker an asshole; (2) The Cardinals blowing a 6-0 lead, losing 8-7, then dropping the next day’s game, and leaving Chicago with four losses during their five game stay and in sole possession of third place.
Many would point to that series as the turning point in the only season that did not result in a playoff berth from 2000-2006. Others though knew the real reason why the team faltered - Bernie Miklasz never apologized to the team for suggesting that Dontrelle Willis was a good guy.
(2) I have a question. How dare you?
One of the greatest moments in St. Louis Cardinals history was Fernando Tatis’ two grand slams in one inning. A moment so special and eternal that it likely will never be replicated or surpassed. Some Cardinal fans were not as nostalgic, believing that the fanfare Tatis received for the feat took away admiration from McGwire.
The “sick” cartoon in question:
(1) Cardinals fans, they’ll hammer ya
I nearly chopped my finger off while absent-mindedly watching Game 7 of the 2003 NLCS at the same time I was cooking dinner for myself and my college roommate, David. I felt no pain as the knife blade sliced through my left pointer finger, but as I saw the blood rushing forth, I called out to Dave, "I think I need to go to the Emergency Room!" Dave jumped off the couch, ripped off his shirt so that I could use it as a tourniquet and dropped me off at the curb in front of the hospital - fearing that a shirtless man and a bloody finger would lead to irrelevant questions.
When the doctor heard I had injured myself while watching the game, he told me we could watch as he stitched up my finger. I replied that wasn't necessary, but still spent the next few minutes bleeding out while he flipped through every channel trying to locate Fox. He finally found the game and sat back down to get to work. "I bet you want the Cubs to win," he assumed after we spent a few minutes talking baseball. "I'm from St. Louis," I explained. "So, I actually hope they lose." It was a stupid thing to say before anesthesia was applied.
I don't recall a singular moment where I knew - to the best of my recollection, my father never sat me down and explained the way things worked. It was just an indelible mark - an inherent understanding. No matter how much you want David to beat Goliath - we never root for the Cubs.
And I lived that edict. Even as I sat in a hospital with a Cubs fan doctor preparing to sew my finger back together. Even as he grumbled the name Steve Bartman and asked me, "How can you not root for the Cubs after the other night?" Even as I gritted my teeth in searing pain when the anesthetic "wore off early" - I did not root for the Cubs.
Throughout the rest of my ER stay, a cavalcade of doctors and nurses came into my room to ostensibly check on me, but in reality to watch the game. I called Dave after the fifth inning, when it appeared the Marlins had it in hand and I was the only non-Cubs fan in the hospital. A pilgrim in an unholy land. Dave picked me up - wearing a shirt - and we headed back home. The Marlins would hold on to win the game and another World Series would be held without the Cubs. I’ve had worse days.
That was a long time ago and in my dotage I must admit my heart has softened towards the team that plays on the wrong end of I-55. Two parades down Market Street have a way of doing that, I suppose. But even when it felt like it mattered more, I like to think I would never have taken the step of actually trash talking a baby.
Do you have a favorite Sound Off or was your letter ever published? Provide it below!
The Bulger is better than Warner take may not have aged great, admittedly.
The inclusion of Mujica was quizzical even taking out his limited use during the first two rounds. Through the month of September, he made 10 appearances, surrendering 9 runs on 18 hits, resulting in an ERA of 11.05. Opponents were hitting .514 against him that month. He had given up as many home runs as he had strikeouts over the final month.
Adam Kennedy was actually really good as an Angel