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"We are the Champions, We are the Champions, We are the Champions…
of the World!" Wow! Does that have a great ring to it?! What's that
you say? What do I mean… we? What did I have to do with winning the
world title? You sound bitter, but I'll bite… In a word… how 'bout a
little bit of everything? Since you asked, let me explain. It all
started with my preseason prognostications here on the LDN and over
on the "Fandamonium" show. There's a lot of responsibility being a
sportswriter and a TV host. You expect me to have some keen insights
and commentary worthy of your time and consideration. So, after
careful meditation, this is what I said. I said that the Cardinals
would struggle in 2006. I had no idea that they'd make struggling an
art form. But what I did for them they could never repay me for… I
took all the expectations off them and just let them relax. Did you
notice how much more relaxed Tony LaRussa was this season? Without
the media and fan expectations at an all-time high, everyone could
have fun and enjoy the summer. It's hard to enjoy it when most of
the team was taking turns on the DL.
I was also critical of the team's offseason activity. Or should I
say the lack thereof. They don't sign Grudzelanek, they don't add a
quality starter, they don't sign quality corner outfielders or a big
bat to protect Albert Pujols, and they refuse to shore up the
bullpen. It didn't look to me like a recipe for success. My vast
experience through the decades, including zero years as an owner and
zero more years as a general manager, taught me to be skeptical when
a team does so little over the winter. I mean, the team was moving
into a new stadium. I'm sure they guessed that the Cardinal fans
would come out in force no matter whether they put just a
competitive team on the field or one that had all the ingredients to
win a championship. I am quite sure if you asked Cardinal management
if they thought in their heart of hearts that this team was good
enough to win it all, they would have had to say, it's got a shot,
but the odds would be long.
That's why I said what I said.
I thought other teams had gotten better. Teams like Houston and
Cincinnati appeared to upgrade their teams, and I always fear the
Cubs. And, to be fair, the Cards finally did make some moves (they
must be regular LDN readers, as we'd been clamoring for deals for
weeks and months). They did bring in Preston Wilson, Ronnie Belliard
and Jeff Weaver… not household names that were going to inspire and
excite Redbird rooters, but acquisitions that at least showed that
superstar GM Walt Jocketty had heard our pleas and was trying to do
something, anything to make us better. Though those three did not
post All-Star-like numbers, they would come up big when needed most.
But making predictions wasn't all I did.
I stayed away from the new ballpark altogether. Don't be alarmed.
The Redbirds usually win when I'm in the house (though I don't have
the awesome won-loss record of a Rob Orr)… I just had way too much
on my plate this summer. With moving and all the transitions going
on, Cardinal baseball couldn't find a place on my plate anywhere. I
know that is hard for many to understand, but sometimes life is like
that. Thanks to Fox Sports Midwest and Channel 11/23 or Warner
Brothers (whoever it was), I did get to see a few Card games before
summer and transitions devoured me.
Making the move across the cheese curtain was like moving to
another planet when it comes to Cardinal baseball. While there a few
great Cardinal fans in the greater Rockford metro area, apparently
none of them have ever figured out how to become a Cardinal flagship
TV station. These jokers actually watch Milwaukee Brewer baseball
and a couple of teams farther south on Lake Michigan. I had to rely
on the Cardinal websites. Nice sites to be sure, but in no way do
they replicate quality TV coverage or take the place of actually
attending the games.
I also called upon the baseball gods. I know that is heretical
and sacrilegious for many of you, but I'm sorry, I did it anyway.
And why shouldn't I have? The baseball gods owed us. In fact, I'd
like back pay on all the karma, omens, luck, superstition, bad
breaks and everything else that is owed to us. This was just a small
back payment… I will expect a lot more in the future. I mean, the
baseball gods robbed us in 1968 when leading these same Detroit
Tigers 3-1 they helped us implode. I might have understood in 2006
at my age now, but as a 12-year-old that was a bitter pill to
swallow. I vowed to hound the baseball gods until they rectified the
situation… I will finally ease off them a little now.
But they should never forget that I will never forget what they
did to us throughout the '70s… The closest we got to smelling the
playoffs was the amazing '79 club. I had just graduated from college
and gave that team my total allegiance. I attended more games during
that season than all other seasons combined. I literally was willing
them to victory after victory. Late in the year they had finally
come on and were trailing only the "We Are Family" Pirates by four
games and had them in old Busch to thrust in the final dagger.
Instead, the baseball gods thought it would be funny if the fossil
Darrell Knowles would try to pick off a Buco wandering too far off
the first base bag with the bases loaded and two outs.
Unfortunately, Cardinal first baseman Keith Hernandez, like me,
didn't know what Knowles was doing or what the gods were trying to
pull. The ball rolled aimlessly into the right field corner along
with St. Louis' playoff hopes. I hope they realize that I will never
forget that one either.
And they still owe us for all the pain and suffering inflicted on
us in '85 and '87. Great years no doubt, but had the gods
cooperated, the history could've been so much sweeter. I mean, could
a tarp really roll over perhaps the speediest player who ever
played, one Vince Coleman? Could the game's most feared hitter, one
Jack Clark, really tweak his leg late in the year on a first base
bag in Montreal? Could one of baseball's best umpires, one Don
Denkinger, miss one of the most costly calls in the history of
sports? On and on I could go with everything that went wrong those
two seasons, but I think you get the point. The gods were up to
something. Leading the Kansas City Royals 3-1, the Cards
uncharacteristically used up all their magic prematurely. Leading
the Minnesota Twins 3-2, the Redbirds had to return to the Twinkie
Dome, and the noise tank for some reason missed a great chance to
crown the once again deserving Cardinals. I mean, was it really
necessary to reward the Royals and the Twins with championships? I
think not.
From 1996 right up until now, I could note further evidences of
other startling plagues that were foisted upon our lovable
Cardinals, not the least of which would be the 2004 debacle with the
Boston Red Sox.
I could say that all is now forgiven. That though the gods must
have been crazy for a few decades, that they finally got it right
and their apology is enough. But it's not enough. It will never be
enough. I just wanted to set the record straight on all of that.
Meanwhile back at the ranch… there is so much more that I tried
to do for our beloved Cardinals. When they were in a free fall at
the end of the season and losing games right and left, I had to do
something. I had started my new ministry up here beyond the cheese
curtain and we were working long hours, which is the rule here, not
the exception. In a Bob Dylan-like simple twist of fate, my new
supervisor just happens to be a bird of the feather. He comes into
my office and agrees with me that something has to be done. We
grabbed his son-in-law (another backer of the Birds) and head for
Milwaukee's Miller Park, where the Redbirds and Brewers were locked
into a three-game series. It was the week of Sept. 17, and would you
believe we saw the ONLY game the Cardinals won that week?! (Do you
believe me now?) We actually helped Cardinal third base coach Jose
Oquendo wave runners home because his arms were getting tired, and
the final result was a 12-2 thrashing of the beer bottlers. We even
made national TV with our attempt to snag Ronnie Belliard's
rocketing home run blast. But here's the kicker. Where would the
Cardinals have been had they lost that game? They may have never
recovered. And you wonder what I did to help? Come on!
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It was a struggle the rest of the way. However, once the Redbirds
made the postseason, in my mind everything else would just be
frosting on the cake. There was no way to expect that this team
would have a deep playoff run, but that in no way should have been a
note to the gods to go any easier. And you couldn't discount the
fact that Los Birdos were finally regaining their health, their
strength and their timing. Don't forget… this was a team that was
playing pretty decent baseball before the season started to unravel.
I would pinpoint that to the day Albert Pujols went on the DL. I
don't think the ballclub was ever the same until the postseason. And
if you are going to get right, what a beautiful time to do so! On
top of all that, through the playoff demolition of the San Diego
Padres, the pond scum otherwise known as the New York Mets and the
Tigers of Detrois, I continued to do my part. I wore my lucky shirt,
underwear and socks. While that borders on giving you way too much
information, desperate times call for desperate measures! I
continued to wear the proper hats and wear them in the proper rally
cap positions. I ate the same lucky meals and went about my business
in an orderly, methodical fashion. I then took the most desperate
measure of all. If you're going to ask your favorite players to step
up in the crunch time of the postseason, you better be willing to do
so yourself.
For some reason (I think it was work-related… don't you hate it
when something like work, school or family interrupts life at the
worst possible time for you?), I didn't get to watch a single pitch
of WS Game 4 (part of it is that as a family we haven't had a TV for
two to three months, but I can almost always find a way to watch a
game when all odds are against me). That was bad for me, but the
results were outstanding! It forced me into a situation that was not
optimal for me. Since we did so well in Game 4 with me not at the
controls, I knew what I had to do for Game 5. You're right. I
couldn't, I wouldn't and I didn't allow myself to watch a single
pitch. I didn't know we had won until my supervisor called me at
home sometime between 10:30 and 10:45 that night. But can I tell you
how sweet the euphoria was? The skies opened up and the stars shone
like never before. I didn't get much sleep that night but strangely
felt amazingly refreshed the next morning. It was much like the
feeling you have on your birthday or you had heading off on your
honeymoon or when you unexpectedly won a great door or raffle prize.
Your feet don't touch the ground because all is right in the world.
So, as you can easily see, I did do my part. In fact, I did every
little thing I could think of to bring back the first world title
since 1982. I think you'll agree it was well worth the effort!
Epilogue
And you don't think I celebrated? You bet your sweet petunia I
did. I partied and reveled like only an old man of my age can. For a
change, I was pleasant to be around. I was high on life. It had been
so long since that title in '82, I had forgotten what the feeling
was like. In '82 I wasn't even married yet. I had just started a new
ministry in Taylorville and the Cards were on a roll. Heck, it just
dawned on me that the last two times I have moved or taken on new
roles the Cardinals have won world titles… If I'd have figured that
out sooner, I would have moved a bunch more times (please do not let
Melinda read this)!
No matter what type of celebrating I did, it wasn't enough… I had
to do more. If you know me, I always try to integrate into the
family at hand. Since I moved to the Midwest in 1971 there are
several families that I have been a part of. Already being a
Cardinal fan, it was easy to become a card-carrying member of
Cardinal Nation. I got in early and went back often. But once again,
it was a long time before I could celebrate.
In '82, I tried to get playoff and World Series tickets… I was
too new on the scene and my name was way down the list for most
people who had tickets… if my name even made their lists at all. I
was forced to watch the games on the tube. And when it came time for
the parade and celebration… you guessed it… work/ministry
responsibilities superseded my celebration tour and trip to St.
Louis for the parade. To say I was bitter would be an overstatement
and a gross exaggeration. But to say I was disappointed and totally
bummed out would be understating it just a bit.
Plus now, in 2006, there was a new variable in the equation. My
son had discovered sports during the '05-'06 season. He was
beginning to understand what Cardinal baseball was all about and
just getting the hint that he himself was a part of Cardinal Nation.
None of that was lost on him. So, when he heard there was going to
be a rally celebration AND a parade, he was beside himself. Have you
ever tried to convince a 5-year-old that the parade is too far away,
there'll be weather concerns, they don't throw candy at this type of
parade, etc. etc.? He wasn't buying any of it!
I couldn't disappoint him, so I got him tickets. Along with a
couple of other Logan County baseball fans we made our way to the
Gateway City. It was a glorious day. A perfect day for baseball. An
even more perfect day for a world championship parade.
Card fan Payne Mayfield and Cub fan Dylan Maris,
former Lincoln residents, prepare for the 2006 world champion St.
Louis Cardinal parade and rally celebration.
We got there early and found a perfect place on the parade route.
One by one the players, coaches and front office managers all made
their way by our perch. We hollered, screamed and waved to all of
our favorites and to some who are not high on our list. My son and
his buddy scrambled for souvenirs. There were a couple dozen or so
T-shirts shot into the announced crowd of over 500,000 Redbird
backers, and incredibly our party walked away with two of them.
We barely had time to get from our parade spot over to the
stadium for the rally celebration. Our tickets gave us a great
vantage point, as we were in row 2 of some mezzanine box seats. We
soaked up the rays of the 72-degree day, and we soaked up the love
between the fans and the players. My son was on his feet clapping
for each and every player.
It was then that it dawned on me how happy my own dad would've
been to share in that moment with us. As a kid he lived in both
Hutchinson, Kan., and in Denver, Colo. At that time the Cardinals
were baseball's westernmost team, geographically speaking. He made a
crystal radio and listened to Cardinal games broadcast by Harry
Carey and a young Jack Buck. Of course, his all-time favorite player
was Stan "The Man" Musial, and he took me to see him play during the
last years of his career. He also liked Wally Moon. He let me stay
home from school to see games in '64 and '67, once again resulting
in Cardinal victories, celebrations and world titles. And then
during my teenage years, he taught me how to play cribbage as we
listened to games during the summer. I will always think that
cribbage was one of the greatest games ever invented!
I don't know if the departed can look down on joyous days like
Sunday, but even if he couldn't, he would've loved it.
I know we did. I celebrated and yelled and screamed because what
these guys accomplished was nothing short of a miracle. It was
bigger than that. I also rooted for the '82 team while I was there
since I couldn't be there back in '82. I also rooted for every other
team since then, because they are/were all a part of the Cardinal
family. I know it means more to me than it should… so, sue me. All I
know is that the euphoria I felt on Sunday defies description. It is
something that runs deep into your soul. The parade, the sea of red,
the rally celebration are all memories for a lifetime. And I will
NEVER, EVER forget my/our first visit to new Busch Stadium. It came
the day we hoisted and paraded the championship trophy through the
city, signifying the 10th world title in our history.
And yes… I did my part.
[Jeff Mayfield]
Respond to the writer at
jeffmayfield@centralwired.com. |
