On Friday night, Johan Santana pitched the first no-hitter
in the long history of the New York Mets.
In the top of the sixth inning, Cardinals outfielder and former Met
Carlos Beltran drove a ball along the left field line which was called a foul
ball. It appeared to be a fair ball,
which would have meant that Santana would not have thrown a no-hitter.
Was Carlos Beltran’s hit actually a fair ball? Yes.
Should, in turn, Johan Santana have pitched a no-hitter? No. Hence,
the St. Louis Post-Dispatch ran the headline “No-Hitter*” on Saturday’s
edition. But the more important
questions should be: Had Beltran’s hit been properly called fair, would the
Cardinals have scored a run? Maybe. Would it have made the difference between the
eventual 8-0 Cardinals loss and a potential win? Absolutely not. So why the bitterness?
It would require insane delusion to believe that this blown
call (and, again, I’m not disputing that the call was incorrect) meant the
Cardinals would have somehow been spurred on to victory. I mean, they didn’t score any more runs, much
less get another hit, and the offense didn’t put up any runs the next day
either (Note: The June 3, 2012 game has yet to be played, and thus if the
Cardinals get no-hit again tonight, this is why I haven’t made mention of
it. I mean, it seems plausible). So what exactly is the problem? This isn’t the Premier League—run differential
or hit differential doesn’t matter in any substantive way. Say the Cardinals score 3 runs (this is a
gigantic stretch, but just to be generous) as a result of Beltran being ruled
fair—this means they lost 8-3. It’s
still a loss, the Cardinals are still at risk of getting swept tonight, so who
cares?
Is it really bitterness towards the Mets? The Cardinals and Mets formerly had a bit of
a divisional rivalry, but the last year in which the Cardinals and Mets
finished 1-2 in the same division (in either order) was 1987. You really couldn’t
have gotten too engulfed in the whole pondscum Mets antagonism unless you were
at least 12 at the time. Which means
that today, you’re 37 years old. A
majority of the Cardinals fans I know are younger than this, yet there is still
anger about the no-hitter being called.
The reason that Cardinals fans are so turned off isn’t
substantial; it’s pride-based. It’s the
notion that getting no-hit isn’t supposed to happen to the Cardinals. The notion that we’re better than this. Truthfully, while a poor hitting team is
obviously more likely to get no-hit than a good hitting team, it doesn’t
inhibit a team long-term any more than a seven run output would have. The 2003 Yankees were the victims of arguably
the most embarrassing no-hitter of all-time, one in which six pitchers
(including such luminaries as Pete Munro and Kirk Saarloos), yet this didn’t
stop them from going to the World Series.
Under the assumption that being no-hit is pure luck, the odds that a
no-hit team would go on to play in the World Series is one in fifteen. The 2003 Yankees, the most recent team to be
no-hit and eventually go on to a World Series appearance, is the 19th
most recent no-no. So, whatever.
More important that the shame of being no-hit is what a
no-hitter represents—general inferiority.
As much as people don’t want to admit it, St. Louis has an inferiority
complex. Now, don’t get me wrong—there are
wonderful things about St. Louis. But in
terms of cultural or economical power, it can’t be compared to Chicago. Hell, even though almost every other city in
the country has a huge edge over Chicago when it comes to not being a
crime-addled slum, St. Louis can’t even boast that. Hence the Cardinals-Cubs rivalry. Contrary to all logic, the dominant team’s
fans seem to revile the inferior team more than the latter’s fans. It’s because if you’re from the north side of
Chicago, you’re from one of the most culturally dynamic epicenters of the
world. If you’re from Lakeview, your
life is pretty stereotypically idyllic.
Even if you’re a hardcore Cubs fan, you don’t really NEED your team to
do well. You’ll move on. Cardinals fans NEED the Cardinals to do
well. Luckily, they generally do. If you’re reading this and aren’t from St.
Louis, especially if you’re a Cardinals fan, you would be amazed the
differences in downtown St. Louis between when there’s a game going on and when
there isn’t. Day and night in terms of
cultural vibrancy.
St. Louis isn’t alone in this respect. There’s a reason the best fans in football
are Green Bay Packers fans. Because, to
a much greater extent than St. Louis, Green Bay ONLY has its successful sports
team going for it. In the NBA playoffs
right now, Oklahoma City is having the sort of energy at its games than the
Sacramento Kings had about a decade ago.
It’s a mid-sized town without much else to do getting excited. The same thing happens in St. Louis. St. Louis isn’t a major city. It’s neither a minor city nor a small town
nor completely irrelevant, but there are probably about 10-15 cities in the
United States which could be considered “major.” St. Louis isn’t one of them.
Cardinals fans shouldn’t be too upset about this. At least our city’s one beacon is
successful. At least we aren’t Cleveland.
And even after being no-hit, the
Cardinals are still a top-tier Major League Baseball franchise. It’s fine.
Relax. Congrats to Johan Santana
on the no-hitter. You’ve tied Bud Smith
for career no-hitters. May your legacy
not be this one game—your two Cy Youngs should help. For if the Mets or Cardinals go on to win the
World Series this year, its respective fan bases will not and should not care
whatsoever about one measly game in June.
Please, Cardinal nation—eschew the asterisk. Please move on.
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