That was extremely disappointing and embarrassing.
Phillies win 2-0 and win the series 2-0 as our bats remain ice cold in our short October run.
Phillies win 2-0 and win the series 2-0 as our bats remain ice cold in our short October run.
- 1,794
It appears that the Cardinals’ organizational failures of the last 5-10 years have finally caught up to them. People ought to settle in. The Cardinals are likely in the midst of their worst run of ball since the 70s.
Hope they turn it around but I’m not holding my breath and certainly not spending my $$ at the ballpark.
Hope they turn it around but I’m not holding my breath and certainly not spending my $$ at the ballpark.
- 1,290
JFC 2023 absolutely sent the fandom off the rails. The team will be fine, both this season and in the medium-term, provided they stop handing out extensions to every player over 30 like candy. Once the offense gets back to even remotely close to where it should be, the team will be right in there with it. They have a much more stable rotation than last year and possibly the most elite bullpen in MLB backed by much more solid defense. Hell, with the way starting pitchers around the league right now, they might be one of the few teams with a functional starting rotation by the end of the year. Remember folks, it's not even May and less than 5 games separates every single team in the NLC.
- 1,794
In defense of the portion of the fanbase that “went off the rails” last season, the team was an absolute laughing stock in 2023 from the play on the field, to the Willson Contreras mistreatment, to the Oli-O’neill tiff, to the well reported revelations that the Cardinals pitching development is about 10 years behind the rest of the league, all the while an increasingly smug and arrogant front office and ownership pontificated to the fans.Trololzilla wrote: ↑Apr 28, 2024JFC 2023 absolutely sent the fandom off the rails. The team will be fine, both this season and in the medium-term, provided they stop handing out extensions to every player over 30 like candy. Once the offense gets back to even remotely close to where it should be, the team will be right in there with it. They have a much more stable rotation than last year and possibly the most elite bullpen in MLB backed by much more solid defense. Hell, with the way starting pitchers around the league right now, they might be one of the few teams with a functional starting rotation by the end of the year. Remember folks, it's not even May and less than 5 games separates every single team in the NLC.
And as you point out, even if our old, overpaid pitching staff holds it together and our anemic offense reverts to expectations (neither of which is even close to a certainty), the best we can hope for is the team being “right there in it”. Meaning what? Winning 85 games in maybe the worst division in MLB only to sneak into the back of the playoff picture to be spanked in the first round again?
These are troubling times for the Cardinals and no one is a chicken little for pointing it out.
- 1,290
^ 2023 was a single year of mediocrity, one of two this entire millennium. Other than the Dodgers, no other team has had this much of an unprecedented run of success the past few decades, so I don't particularly care if the FO seems smug about it, particularly when the Cardinals have had entire decades where they've sucked - they sucked in the 50s, the 70s, half of the 80s, and half of the 90s. Mo doesn't even really come off as that smug, just incredibly matter-of-fact. He also holds things pretty close to his chest. It only comes off as smug because all of the local sports media people other than one or two exceptions are, quite frankly, overly-emotional trash and he really rubs them the wrong way since they don't get juicy gossip out of him. Hell, it's dumb stuff like that that ran Jeff Albert out of town, after which the team's hitters immediately and predictably got much worse. Besides, Mo will almost surely retire at the end of his current contract anyway so he rightly probably doesn't give a damn about what people think of him and it seems like he's more focused on the succession plan at this point (likely part of why they brought in Bloom). The only thing I'll agree on is that player development and analytics departments need a major refresh and injection of new talent, something the team absolutely has the resources to do but simply hasn't, at least not fast enough. I'll go further and put much more of the blame of most of the team's ills on ownership at this point since the FO has to work within the constraints set by ownership - there's only so much money they've been willing to spend because of the Bally's debacle despite this being the one year to go all-in to, if nothing else, at least keep up appearances with the fans.
The starting rotation is older than most would like but it's honestly not really that overpaid - it's mostly in line with what starting pitchers cost these days unless you get lucky and actually draft a pitching prospect that can actually survive long enough to even make it to MLB - as always, TINSTAAPP is in effect. Besides, if there's anything to spend money on regarding pitching it's definitely starters, as spending much money on bullpen pitchers is always foolish. Fortunately the team seems to have mostly learned their lesson towards expensive bullpen pieces and has done the much more pragmatic approach sneaky good trades and sneaky good signings mixed in with some home-grown help and shifted towards the Dodger's philosophy of "quantity is a quality all its own" and again, the bullpen is quite possibly the best in baseball when right.
I can also think of probably at least 2 other divisions worse than the NLC. I don't even think the NLC is the worst division in the NL. There's also nothing inherently wrong with "just sneaking in" to the playoffs - while it's better to not have to worry about early round stuff, it's been proven that statistically, the most effective way for a team to have postseason success is simply to make the playoffs in the first place since the playoffs are, for all intents and purposes, completely random. Being an elite team only makes a few % points of difference, if that. While I do believe the team should aim for a yearly goal of 95 wins +/- 1 SD instead of the current 90 wins +/- 1 SD, it's still a fairly well positioned team to make a run.
The starting rotation is older than most would like but it's honestly not really that overpaid - it's mostly in line with what starting pitchers cost these days unless you get lucky and actually draft a pitching prospect that can actually survive long enough to even make it to MLB - as always, TINSTAAPP is in effect. Besides, if there's anything to spend money on regarding pitching it's definitely starters, as spending much money on bullpen pitchers is always foolish. Fortunately the team seems to have mostly learned their lesson towards expensive bullpen pieces and has done the much more pragmatic approach sneaky good trades and sneaky good signings mixed in with some home-grown help and shifted towards the Dodger's philosophy of "quantity is a quality all its own" and again, the bullpen is quite possibly the best in baseball when right.
I can also think of probably at least 2 other divisions worse than the NLC. I don't even think the NLC is the worst division in the NL. There's also nothing inherently wrong with "just sneaking in" to the playoffs - while it's better to not have to worry about early round stuff, it's been proven that statistically, the most effective way for a team to have postseason success is simply to make the playoffs in the first place since the playoffs are, for all intents and purposes, completely random. Being an elite team only makes a few % points of difference, if that. While I do believe the team should aim for a yearly goal of 95 wins +/- 1 SD instead of the current 90 wins +/- 1 SD, it's still a fairly well positioned team to make a run.
- 1,794
We just lost a home series to the worst team in baseball.
- 977
That doesn’t do it justice. We lost to a team that’s shaping up to be historically bad. Like the worst record in the modern era.
- 1,794
Best player broke his arm tonight. Likely out for at least 8 weeks and ineffective the rest of the season.
- 977
Apparently the coaching staff told him to move closer to the plate to catch more low strikes. Sure enough he gets hit by the bat tonight. I went to the game, never seen a more empty Busch in my life.JaneJacobsGhost wrote:Best player broke his arm tonight. Likely out for at least 8 weeks and ineffective the rest of the season.
- 1,794
Yeah, this is key imo. It’s more evidence that the Cardinals are bad at adopting and implementing modern techniques.Debaliviere91 wrote: ↑May 08, 2024Apparently the coaching staff told him to move closer to the plate to catch more low strikes. Sure enough he gets hit by the bat tonight.JaneJacobsGhost wrote:Best player broke his arm tonight. Likely out for at least 8 weeks and ineffective the rest of the season.
The whole organization appears very incompetent.
.
Bill DeWitt III (the guy actually running the show these days) went on Scoops and laughed at frustrated fans and said if people stop coming, ownership will simply spend less.Trololzilla wrote: ↑Apr 30, 2024so I don't particularly care if the FO seems smug
This guy gives off August Busch III vibes.
https://www.scoopswithdannymac.com/bill ... versation/
If the Cards lose again to the Brewers today, they will be 10 games under .500 and 10 games out in the division with a run differential ranked 27th in the league.
Personnel change has to be on the horizon if this keeps up
Well this is fun, anyway:
Buck-Caray combo returns to Cardinals broadcast booth
Caray and Buck will be broadcasting the Cardinals, just like in the team's glory decade of the 1960s. But this time, it will be the family lineage on display, as Harry Caray's grandson Chip will welcome Jack Buck's son Joe into the Bally Sports Midwest booth.
https://www.stltoday.com/sports/column/ ... b824a.html
Buck-Caray combo returns to Cardinals broadcast booth
Caray and Buck will be broadcasting the Cardinals, just like in the team's glory decade of the 1960s. But this time, it will be the family lineage on display, as Harry Caray's grandson Chip will welcome Jack Buck's son Joe into the Bally Sports Midwest booth.
- The plan is for them to take turns doing play-by-play, but the timing and other mechanics have not yet been determined.
https://www.stltoday.com/sports/column/ ... b824a.html
So have the Cardinals said exactly what they want to fix/upgrade at Busch Stadium with the public money they feel they deserve?
chatter regarding a re-do of the 20yr old stadium They want money, a tax break? They did not open up that deprecation account and add to it every year for the last 20 to pay for the 'improvements' ?
Looks like the Rays in Tampa Bay (St. Pete) and the old dome is breaking out! I remember the dome being built and the populace complained that its being built and they want more tax money and there is not even a team to play in the dome!
Ck out the new dome https://archive.ph/eynjh
Looks like the Rays in Tampa Bay (St. Pete) and the old dome is breaking out! I remember the dome being built and the populace complained that its being built and they want more tax money and there is not even a team to play in the dome!
Ck out the new dome https://archive.ph/eynjh
MLB cries foul on name change to FanDuel from Bally Sports https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/bus ... 2f654.html
This has got to be the last dystopian evolution of sports right? 15 years from now we’ll talk about the thousands of lives ended and millions of lives ruined by sports betting. You can’t enjoy the game anymore without gambling. It’s predatory.
This has got to be the last dystopian evolution of sports right? 15 years from now we’ll talk about the thousands of lives ended and millions of lives ruined by sports betting. You can’t enjoy the game anymore without gambling. It’s predatory.
- 1,607
Didn't Orwell warn us?
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“So long as they (the Proles) continued to work and breed, their other activities were without importance. Left to themselves, like cattle turned loose upon the plains of Argentina, they had reverted to a style of life that appeared to be natural to them, a sort of ancestral pattern...Heavy physical work, the care of home and children, petty quarrels with neighbors, films, football, beer and above all, gambling filled up the horizon of their minds. To keep them in control was not difficult.”
― George Orwell, 1984Crumbl Cookies and Mayo Ketchup are going to be food options inside the stadium this season.
STARR parking lot of becoming the "All-Star" lot and will get banners featuring Cardinals players on the lights and improved signage to improve traffic flow.
Also heard that there's plans to totally replace the bowl seating, along with re-pouring the concrete to improve drainage within the next 2 years or so.
STARR parking lot of becoming the "All-Star" lot and will get banners featuring Cardinals players on the lights and improved signage to improve traffic flow.
Also heard that there's plans to totally replace the bowl seating, along with re-pouring the concrete to improve drainage within the next 2 years or so.
By Nathan Rubbelke – Reporter, St. Louis Business Journal
Mar 25, 2025
Cheaper beer, additional food items and an in-house disc jockey are among new features coming to Busch Stadium for the 2025 season.
The St. Louis Cardinals, ahead of Thursday’s home opener, on Monday showed off Busch Stadium’s new additions, with new food items taking center stage. The concession stand behind the batter’s eye in centerfield has a new lineup that includes Intentional Wok, Outfield Grill and Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers. Freddy’s at the concession stand will serve only ice cream, offering shakes, concretes and sundaes. Flavors available include Oreo double trouble, turtle, cookie dough and strawberry. Shakes will cost $8.49, with concretes and sundaes priced at $7.99 and $7.49, respectively. Freddy’s has a concession stand that also serves its steakburgers and other items at Busch Stadium’s Budweiser Terrace in right field.
“It’s been a very successful partnership so far,” said Erick Von Mervedlt, vice president of innovation and training at Freddy’s. “We really think that expanding our custard line, especially on a hot day, is a no-brainer.”
Intentional Wok replaces an Asian-themed concession stand that was located elsewhere in Busch Stadium. It will serve wok bowls that can be customized with fans having their choice of rice or noodles, type of meat and toppings for the bowl. The concession stand also offers steamed pork pot stickers and chicken egg rolls, as well as Japanese beers.
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Dilip Vishwanat | SLBJ
Outfield Grill will offer several new concession items, including a brisket dog, bacon cheddar bratwurst and red hot sausage link. The meat for the sausage link, which includes spicy sausage with red peppers, and bratwurst is from G&W Meats and Sausage and will be served on bread from Fazio’s Bakery. The bacon cheddar bratwurst and red hot sausage link both cost $10.99. The bratwurst is topped with sauerkraut, toasted onions and spicy aioli.
Utah-based dessert company Crumbl Cookie will have a concession stand at section 136, located along the first base line. Franchisee Melissa Bohlmann said it will offer chocolate chip, peanut butter, chocolate cake batter and a new Cardinals-themed cookie to be unveiled on opening day.
Another new vendor is Mayo Ketchup, which serves Latin American fare and has a brick-and-mortar restaurant at 1315 Olive St. in Midtown. Its items for sale at Busch Stadium include a Cubano sandwich for $15.99; two chicken or beef empanadas for $13.99; fried plantains for $6.99; and grilled arepa for $6.99. Mayo Ketchup owner Mandy Estrella said she contacted the Cardinals about opening at Busch Stadium after having previously catered for visiting teams and having Cardinals players visit her restaurant. Mayo Ketchup also has a concession stand at St. Louis City SC’s Energizer Park. The Busch concession stand is located near section 168.
New game day features
The Cardinals said Monday they’ve instituted several new features designed at updating the game day experience for fans. That comes as attendance at Busch Stadium has slid in recent years to 2.87 million in 2024, off from 3.24 million in 2023.
Busch Stadium’s Budweiser Terrace will have several new features in 2025, including new furniture and $5 draft beers offered throughout games. Fans could previously buy $5 beers in the stadium’s Budweiser Bowtie Bar, which was replaced in 2024 with a new all-inclusive section.
There will also be an in-stadium disc jockey, DJ Deks, who will be at the ballpark on Fridays and Saturdays. The DJ will play music pregame until roughly the start of the game.
“He’s going to provide that pregame experience that we think will get the party started on Fridays and Saturdays,” said Katie Brandenberg, director of fan entertainment.
Other changes are coming to Busch Stadium’s video boards after improvements to the venue’s speakers and audio systems, said Brandenberg. Fans will be able to use QR code to take a selfie of themselves, with AI technology being able to alter the photos to align with different themes. The stadium will also tinker with using video streams from fans within the ballpark and projecting them onto the video boards, providing something “goofy and fun.” A video board in right field that has previously included scores from other MLB games will now be used to provide statistics from Cardinals games, allowing fans a “deeper five into the plays on the field,” said Brandenberg.
The Cardinals, as usual, will provide fans with an array of promotional giveaway items and theme nights. Some new giveaways include a neck fan, kid’s basketball and several items featuring the design elements of the “City Connect” Cardinals jersey that debuted in 2024. The Cardinals this season will debut a Barbie theme night. The team’s 80s night includes a sweatshirt that celebrates the franchise’s 1985 National League pennant.
The Cardinals will begin the season Thursday at Busch Stadium in a game against the Minnesota Twins. First pitch is scheduled for 3:15 p.m.
Mar 25, 2025
Cheaper beer, additional food items and an in-house disc jockey are among new features coming to Busch Stadium for the 2025 season.
The St. Louis Cardinals, ahead of Thursday’s home opener, on Monday showed off Busch Stadium’s new additions, with new food items taking center stage. The concession stand behind the batter’s eye in centerfield has a new lineup that includes Intentional Wok, Outfield Grill and Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers. Freddy’s at the concession stand will serve only ice cream, offering shakes, concretes and sundaes. Flavors available include Oreo double trouble, turtle, cookie dough and strawberry. Shakes will cost $8.49, with concretes and sundaes priced at $7.99 and $7.49, respectively. Freddy’s has a concession stand that also serves its steakburgers and other items at Busch Stadium’s Budweiser Terrace in right field.
“It’s been a very successful partnership so far,” said Erick Von Mervedlt, vice president of innovation and training at Freddy’s. “We really think that expanding our custard line, especially on a hot day, is a no-brainer.”
Intentional Wok replaces an Asian-themed concession stand that was located elsewhere in Busch Stadium. It will serve wok bowls that can be customized with fans having their choice of rice or noodles, type of meat and toppings for the bowl. The concession stand also offers steamed pork pot stickers and chicken egg rolls, as well as Japanese beers.
Dilip Vishwanat | SLBJ
Outfield Grill will offer several new concession items, including a brisket dog, bacon cheddar bratwurst and red hot sausage link. The meat for the sausage link, which includes spicy sausage with red peppers, and bratwurst is from G&W Meats and Sausage and will be served on bread from Fazio’s Bakery. The bacon cheddar bratwurst and red hot sausage link both cost $10.99. The bratwurst is topped with sauerkraut, toasted onions and spicy aioli.
Utah-based dessert company Crumbl Cookie will have a concession stand at section 136, located along the first base line. Franchisee Melissa Bohlmann said it will offer chocolate chip, peanut butter, chocolate cake batter and a new Cardinals-themed cookie to be unveiled on opening day.
Another new vendor is Mayo Ketchup, which serves Latin American fare and has a brick-and-mortar restaurant at 1315 Olive St. in Midtown. Its items for sale at Busch Stadium include a Cubano sandwich for $15.99; two chicken or beef empanadas for $13.99; fried plantains for $6.99; and grilled arepa for $6.99. Mayo Ketchup owner Mandy Estrella said she contacted the Cardinals about opening at Busch Stadium after having previously catered for visiting teams and having Cardinals players visit her restaurant. Mayo Ketchup also has a concession stand at St. Louis City SC’s Energizer Park. The Busch concession stand is located near section 168.
New game day features
The Cardinals said Monday they’ve instituted several new features designed at updating the game day experience for fans. That comes as attendance at Busch Stadium has slid in recent years to 2.87 million in 2024, off from 3.24 million in 2023.
Busch Stadium’s Budweiser Terrace will have several new features in 2025, including new furniture and $5 draft beers offered throughout games. Fans could previously buy $5 beers in the stadium’s Budweiser Bowtie Bar, which was replaced in 2024 with a new all-inclusive section.
There will also be an in-stadium disc jockey, DJ Deks, who will be at the ballpark on Fridays and Saturdays. The DJ will play music pregame until roughly the start of the game.
“He’s going to provide that pregame experience that we think will get the party started on Fridays and Saturdays,” said Katie Brandenberg, director of fan entertainment.
Other changes are coming to Busch Stadium’s video boards after improvements to the venue’s speakers and audio systems, said Brandenberg. Fans will be able to use QR code to take a selfie of themselves, with AI technology being able to alter the photos to align with different themes. The stadium will also tinker with using video streams from fans within the ballpark and projecting them onto the video boards, providing something “goofy and fun.” A video board in right field that has previously included scores from other MLB games will now be used to provide statistics from Cardinals games, allowing fans a “deeper five into the plays on the field,” said Brandenberg.
The Cardinals, as usual, will provide fans with an array of promotional giveaway items and theme nights. Some new giveaways include a neck fan, kid’s basketball and several items featuring the design elements of the “City Connect” Cardinals jersey that debuted in 2024. The Cardinals this season will debut a Barbie theme night. The team’s 80s night includes a sweatshirt that celebrates the franchise’s 1985 National League pennant.
The Cardinals will begin the season Thursday at Busch Stadium in a game against the Minnesota Twins. First pitch is scheduled for 3:15 p.m.
- 919
Good to see the addition of a local restaurant.
Not exactly how one would work out the details, but I’d like to see the Cardinals try something like offering some limited number of discounted or no fee leases in the stadium for one year for a restaurant that opens a new brick and mortar within a defined downtown boundary. City already has all the local restaurants in its stadium but maybe as their stake downtown increases, could be something to explore there too.
Not exactly how one would work out the details, but I’d like to see the Cardinals try something like offering some limited number of discounted or no fee leases in the stadium for one year for a restaurant that opens a new brick and mortar within a defined downtown boundary. City already has all the local restaurants in its stadium but maybe as their stake downtown increases, could be something to explore there too.
The $5 beers* throughout the game is a telling sign of the current state of the team.Busch Stadium’s Budweiser Terrace will have several new features in 2025, including new furniture and $5 draft beers offered throughout games. Fans could previously buy $5 beers in the stadium’s Budweiser Bowtie Bar, which was replaced in 2024 with a new all-inclusive section.
*(Yes, I know they're the small 12oz Bud and Busch Light)
That's a difference in management. Enterprise Center and Energizer Park are both run by Levy while Busch concessions are run by Delaware North. As it's been told to me Levy will cooperate decently with locals which is why those two venues are majority that type. But supposedly Delaware North is a lot less accommodating and has a very narrow path of rules to work within. Does anyone remember the drama when Gioia's went into Busch Stadium and didn't even make it through the first home stand?delmar2debaliviere2downtown wrote: ↑Mar 26, 2025Good to see the addition of a local restaurant.
Not exactly how one would work out the details, but I’d like to see the Cardinals try something like offering some limited number of discounted or no fee leases in the stadium for one year for a restaurant that opens a new brick and mortar within a defined downtown boundary. City already has all the local restaurants in its stadium but maybe as their stake downtown increases, could be something to explore there too.