MINOR LEAGUE BASEBALL...THE LAMEST SHOW ON EARTH

I watched a Cardinals game live in person last night. The Palm Beach Cardinals vs. the Charlotte Stone Crabs. Who is that you ask? That, my friends, is Minor League Baseball. High Class A ball to be exact. Living in South Florida has its advantages all right: sunshine, warm weather year round, pools and the beach. As long as you don't mind the crabby old people (aka snowbirds) that flock down and take over in the winter months, it's really not that bad. Most of them have no depth perception and shouldn't be driving, but they are usually back up North by late April anyway.

I am 100% spoiled for 2 months out of the year, and I bet you can guess which months those are. That's right: February and March: St Louis Cardinals Spring Training in Jupiter, FL. Roger Dean Stadium and the Spring Training complex is 10 minutes from my house, and I promise you that I did not plan it that way. I decided to go to college in Florida because I figured if I had to finish my degree, Florida was the place to do it. The Cardinals were an unexpected but awesome bonus for me.The thing is, Spring Training only lasts a month and a half. When the trucks leave and the major leaguers fly back to St. Louis to start the regular season, what am I left with? Besides a handful of autographed baseballs and some great memories, the answer is that I am left with the Palm Beach Cardinals.

As of June 12 they are 25-37. There's still a lot of baseball left to be played, which means they could straighten things out, or it could be a really long season. Now to me, baseball is baseball. I enjoy watching almost any game. Minor League games are usually high-scoring affairs, which means that there is usually always some sort of action happening on the field. Even though most of the guys on the roster are people you and I have never heard of, they play their hearts out. Everyone runs out infield grounders and hustles back to the dugout when the inning is over, because everyone is trying to make it to The Show, and you never know who is watching. It's refreshing to see this.The Palm Beach Cardinals play in the Florida State League. Their opponents range from the Jupiter Hammerheads (Florida Marlins) to the Fort Myers Miracle (Minnesota Twins). One of the cool things about this is that we have the opportunity to check out some of the prospects in other organizations. Both of the Cardinals 1'st round draft picks in 2009 and 2010, Shelby Miller and Zach Cox, began the season in Palm Beach. Both tore it up down here and were promoted to AA Springfield in less than 2 months. Good for them, unfortunate for me. We are left with the guys who are probably going to be at this level for quite some time...

Understandably, it is hard to get people to come to Minor League baseball games. The interns at Roger Dean are forced to be creative in order to get butts in the seats. In between almost every inning there is some sort of activity on the field: racing the mascot around the bases, riding big wheels, dizzy bat spins. You name it, they're probably done it at one time or another.

Every weekend there is a promotion of some sort. The place will be full of little leaguers one night and cub scouts the next. With those kids come their parents. The kids want hot dogs and nachos, and the parents want beer. The lines are ridiculously long. This must be how the stadium stays afloat and makes any money: overpriced food sales, just like the Majors!

Last night was "Pooches in the Park". You can bring your dog to the ballgame. Most Major League stadiums do this once a year: Roger Dean does it once a month. Tickets for a Palm Beach Cardinal game are $8 a piece for adults, and $2 if you have your student ID. You can't beat that.

Minor League Baseball games aren't for everyone. The games seem to drag on. It makes the Majors look like a track meet, because the Minor Leaguers don't seem to be in any rush to get the night over with. The Cardinals pitcher hit one of the Stone Crabs last night. When our catcher came up to bat in the bottom half of the inning, the Stone Crabs pitcher threw behind him. The batter obviously took offense to this and charged the mound, chucking his bat at the pitcher. Both benches and bullpens cleared, and a lot of people got ejected. At least they try and make it interesting for us...

Just in case you were wondering, Palm Beach lost to the Stone Crabs with a final score of 8-2.

CARDINALS VS. CUBS: THE BEST "REAL" RIVALRY IN BASEBALL

Cardinals vs. Cubs. This is one of the biggest and best rivalries in the game of baseball today. Fans from Chicago (just a meer 4-6 hour drive away from downtown St Louis, depending on how hard you press on the gas pedal) pour into Busch Stadium in their Cubbie blue every year to take in a weekend series. Later in the season, St Louisans clad in Cardinal red will fill the friendly confines of Wrigley Field to cheer for the Birds on the Bat.
As a big baseball fan, and an even bigger Cardinals fan (in case you hadn't already noticed) I must say that Cardinals-Cubs games are some of the best I have ever witnessed. The atmosphere is intense, and every pitch or play gets loud cheers from the home fans, and sometimes even louder boos and heckles from those rooting for the other side.
Personally, I have never seen this rivalry turn ugly. Sure, you might give the Cubs fans sitting in front of you a little bit of friendly grief for an error or strikeout, but I have yet to see a fistfight break out in the stands. The key word here is friendly. I would have to bet that the rivalry is more from the fans perspective than the players. Sure, the atmosphere gets the Cubs and Cardinals players pumped up, and each would like to win the game, but I'm not quite sure of they have as deep a fire in their hearts about who they are up against as those sitting in the stands do.
The Cubs aren't much to look at this year. (Are they ever? :) Gone are the Cubbies of old, with Ryne Sandberg, Andre Dawson, and Shawon Dunston up against Ozzie Smith and Willie McGee. Now it's Pujols and company taking on a bunch of guys who should really still be in the minors, if not for the unfortunate injuries to Mike Quade's starting squad.

I would consider the Cardinals vs. the Cubs a rivalry, and a fun one at that. As for the Cardinals vs. the Reds? That is nothing but pure hatred in my opinion. Do the Cardinals hate the Cubs? Probably not. Do the Cardinals hate the Reds, with "Big Mouth" Brandon Phillips and the infamous Johnny "Kung-Fu" Cueto"? Most definitely. I wouldn't call Cardinals Reds games fun for either side. I could see a fight breaking out at the hot dog stand between fans.
Bob Costas interviewed Tony La Russa the other day, and told him that some say the Cardinals are the most hated team in baseball. La Russa's response was that he didn't believe it, and said that the source was unreliable and you shoudl discredit where the words were coming from. The person who said it was none other than Reds Hall of Fame broadcaster Marty Brennaman, if that tells you anything. The teams rip each other in the media, and can't wait to have the last word on the field. At the end of their last meeting, closer Francisco Cordero beaned Albert Pujols with a pitch. After the game, Cordero was yelling at the Cardinals bench, and pitching coach Dave Duncan was hollering right back. Luckily neither team charged the field again, but the games between these two clubs are intense to say the least.
When does a rivalry go too far? It's long been said that anyone wearing a visiting a team's jersey should watch their back at Dodger Stadium. On Opening Day this year, this unfortunately came true as Giants fan Brian Stow was brutally beaten and left unconscious in the parking garage after the game. Do the Giants and Dodgers players hate each other? Once again, probably not, but some Dodger fans obviously had a problem with Mr. Stow's clothing choice that fateful day. This is disgraceful and I wish Mr. Stow to have a full recovery, and the assailants to be arrested and to have to pay for their actions.

Everyone goes to a ball game for different reasons. Some go for the beer, some go for the brats, some go simply because all of their friends are going. People like me go because they love the game of baseball. I hope that the true rivalry never dies out, and everyone that is at Busch today, no matter what team colors you are wearing, know that I am 1,200 miles away and extremely jealous watching on TV. Just please don't wear this jersey...