Most of you who know me also know I am a die hard St Louis Cardinals fan. That is putting it mildly. Today's moment in sports history has to do with my Cardinals. It was on this date back in 1998 that Mark McGwire of the Cards smashed a 527 foot home run in Busch Stadium, longest recorded shot in the ball parks history. Now, you might ask why is this the moment of the day Steve? Because it leads into an interesting observation from someone in the heart of Cardinals nation. Here is the bottom line, I would say that among at least 95% of Cardinals baseball fans nobody gives a damn, whatsoever.The fact is Mark McGwire and his tenure with the Cardinals has practically been deleted from our minds. I have countless friends who are also huge Cards fans and the general feeling is, screw him. This guy went from absolute here status to nothing. There was a period in time when he could have been elected governor of the state, now he could not get elected dog catcher. To me this is the reality of the juice era in it's fullest. While many debate whether or not these guys should ever enter the hallowed doorways to the hall of fame the average fans frankly can tell the real story. They know and don't forget. The fact that McGwire, Bonds and Sosa hit all those dingers does not mean jack to the average fan now. THAT, should bother these retired juicers as much as anything. Sure, they made their dough and had their moments. But when Bob Gibson returns to Busch Stadium is is worshiped. When McGwire returns he is greeted with a yawn. That has to hurt. There was a price to pay for what they did. Personally I accept a guy who openly admits what he did and tries to move forward. But when I guy either lies outright or stonewalls, well, that tells me all I need to know. I like baseball now much more than I did in that era. Those games were like slow pitch softball games with the balls flying out of the yard. It wasn't baseball, I knew it then. I could smell something rotten, I am glad we got our game back.
Okay, a free winner. Tonight I am suggesting a small wager on the Cardinals as they open an interleague series with the Indians. Better team obviously and better pitcher on the bump. And one interesting trend I uncovered. The fact is the Tribe are a pathetic 5-17 in the last 22 opening games of a series. Hmm! I will side with Lance Lynn and the Birds here.
On the business side I have no featured release in play tonight. Frankly nothing made the grade. I cannot tell you what that does to sales, it is not pretty. But it is important to me that my clients know when I post something it is for all the right reasons. I had one last night on the Grizzlies and we all saw how that played out. I had been on a nice NBA run but Memphis got schooled last night. Sloppy passing, poor shot selections, a strange unwillingness to draw a charge down in the paint allowing easy driving scores. They let the Warriors dictate tempo and pace. Just a miserable night and somewhat surprising for a veteran team that had a prime opportunity to put a choke hold on the series. Now this thing is all squared up and could go either way.
That is it for now guys. Best of luck with your action today and enjoy the games.