Growing up, I remember the snug, all-is-well feeling of riding with my family in the car, listening to a Cardinals game played "under the
lights." My grandmother, who was 70 years old when I was born, listened to greats like Jack Buck call every Cardinals baseball game every summer for countless years. She never owned a television set, but her trusty AM/FM radio was her constant companion, and she always liked to discuss the Cardinals at length when we came for visits.
I don't remember the 1982 Word Series, but I remember well the 1985 Word Series, and understanding how special it was that both teams (Royals, Cardinals) were from Missouri. My dad gave me a commemorative poster from the series that I hung proudly in the place of honor over my desk, and somewhere I also obtained two souvenir rabbit's feet, one dyed red for the Cards, and one dyed blue for the Royals! I don't know where any of that memorabilia wound up, no doubt lost in the countless moves my family made in my growing up years.
Of course the player I remember best is Ozzie Smith. Like everyone else, I couldn't get enough of those backflips before each game. I loved his fantastic plays at shortstop and the rare but celebrated home runs. I didn't follow the Cardinals closely during high school, while my brother and I went through a big Duke basketball phase, but then I met Jason in college and he rekindled my love for America's pastime. It didn't hurt that the Mark McGwire years were in full swing (ha, ha) during that time!
While we were in college, I also got to experience Cardinals games at Busch Stadium for the first time. Jason and I went to opening weekend games several times while we were at Truman, and we also went to several games the summer I lived in St. Louis. This year, I got to see my first playoff game at the NLCS Game Five at Busch. Now that we live in Missouri again, we're able to take our kids to games, then next generation to continue the family tradition as part of Cardinals nation.
Go Cards!
