A True St. Louis Cardinals Story

The full-page ad above appeared in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Thanks, Charles!) last weekend, after the Red Sox had beaten the Cardinals in Major League Baseball's 2013 World Series.  I loved this ad for its obvious good sportsmanship, and also because it reminded me of two other life experiences.

The first was in 1961, as we on the New Trier Swim Team were about to swim against Evanston, our arch-rivals.  Our coach, Dave Robertson, in his characteristic soft-spoken way, told us, "It is easy to be a good winner, but it's hard to be a good loser.  So, today, let's do the easy thing."  (We won the meet.)

The second was in 2005.  I was riding Rocinante west to California, to my brother Bob's house.  (Shirl would later fly to Burbank, then we'd ride together on a two-week motorcycle tour of California and western Nevada.)  As I headed across Missouri on I-70, I was following a maroon station wagon with a St. Louis Cardinals sticker on the rear window.  Both the car and I pulled off at a service area, and parked.  As I was following the woman and her two children into the restaurant, I called to her.

"Excuse me, Ma'am,  May I ask you a question about the Cardinals sticker on your car?"

"Sure," she said, "what do you want to know?"

"Well, I grew up in Chicago, and I was a Cubs fan, but I have always been curious," I asked, "how far across Missouri one must drive before he stops meeting Cardinals fans, and starts to meet Kansas City Royals fans?"

"Denver," she replied.