I could very well write about what the heck is going on with Soldier Field, however, but I feel that situation is getting too much attention by other writers and websites.
I am, however, going to write about the St. Louis Cardinals, considering I traveled to St. Louis for the Cardinals-Cubs game the first week of August.
Admittedly, the main reason I attended this certain game was because Busch Stadium is hosting “Illini Night” that particular evening. Does that necessarily mean I am not excited about seeing the St. Louis Cardinals take on the Chicago Cubs? Heck no, I want to see Albert Pujols hit home run 687 (as of writing this column, Pujols now has 693 on his quest to 700).
Would it also be great to see the Cardinals demolish the Cubbies? Yes, because the Cardinals should beat the Cubs, although the all-time record is in the Chicago Cubs favor, 1,257 to 1,200.
The game unfortunately was postponed. The tickets were still good for the makeup game the day after. The Cardinals unsurprisingly won off of Lars Nootbaar’s walk-off single that drove Nolan Arenado home.
There were quite a bit of rumors being thrown around in St. Louis at that time, and the one big one was Juan Soto. Soto is one of the league’s top hitters as he home runs among his 81 hits.
If the Cardinals had acquired “Childish Bambino,” of course inspired by Babe Ruth’s “The Great Bambino,” then that would have the already win-now Cardinals contenders.
As it turns out, the deal didn’t happen. Soto ended up in San Diego.
I know that you all are waiting for me to react to Soto not being dealt to St. Louis, my reaction is this — St. Louis still made great moves by beefing up the bullpen and keeping the farm system intact. For example, St. Louis has five of the top 100 prospects in the farm systems of the MLB.
The St. Louis Cardinals have a bright future and are contenders at this moment.
The game I witnessed was fantastic as I saw three home runs: one by Willson Contreras of the Cubs in the first inning, one by Dylan Carlson of the St. Louis Cardinals directly followed by one from Paul Goldschmidt of the good guys. It was a good game, experience, and environment for a casual baseball fan with the Ballpark Village, which includes restaurants, bars, a concert stage, the team store and museum.
I am happy I got to go watch the Cardinals beat up on the Cubs, like they should.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading about “the 2022 World Series Champion St. Louis Cardinals,” yeah, I know that made some people angry. However, I will leave you with these wise words: Root, root, root for the CARDINALS!
- Ben Donner lives in Streator and is a big sports fan. He can be reached at dbarichello@shawmedia.com.