The St. Louis Cardinals, Thomas And Me
Listening to the St Louis Cardinals Night Games circa 1948 On KMOX Radio As Remembered by a Child Fan.
The following piece was published at “Old Ones Dream” June 3, 2013, and in expanded form as a piece of “Magnolia Elegy: Place In the Edisto Fork” April 14, 2022.
I discovered the Redbirds while sitting at Thomas’s feet in the evening as he listened to Harry Caray announce the games on KMOX while reading (Christian Science Monitor, Harpers, The Interpreter’s Bible, to name a few). I don’t multitask so I devoted myself to the ballgame. That was in the late 1940s so I have been a Redbird fan for over 65 years. The St. Louis ballgames have been broadcast since 1926 which has resulted in a large embedded following in the Mid-west and Mid-south. They were the “southern team” until the (Boston 1876-1952) Braves left Milwaukee (1953-1965) for Atlanta.
I am reminded of all that by the recent success of the Team. They won their division last year and the World Series in 2011, and watch out - they now have the best record in the Bigs going into June. As of last night they are 9 games over .500, have not lost 2 games in a row in over a month, and have been number 1 in the power rankings for several weeks. Although they have suffered several devastating injuries to both the starting rotation and the bull pen since opening day, they are now considered by most to have the strongest starting rotation in baseball; and the bullpen keeps getting their job done. When necessary the front office just rings-up Memphis and brings another young hopeful up to the “show”. At last count they have debuted 12 rookies this season. Consequently most consider them to have the strongest farm system in baseball. All of this is great fun for an “old one” fan.
Once upon a time if our TV was getting some age on it, then T and the children would ask what kind of season the Redbirds were having because we sometimes got a new TV if the Cards were in the hunt in September.