The Cardinal Way: Dexter Fowler Edition

[A Boy Named Seo]

You guys hear about this one? Apparently Dexter Fowler's wife is Iranian, and he made an innocuous comment about his wife not getting to see her sister due to the travel ban.

“It’s huge,” Fowler told ESPN’s Mark Saxon. “Especially any time you’re not able to see family, it’s unfortunate.”

A "True Cards Fan" FB page posted a link to an article with the headline "Cardinals Outfielder Expresses Discontent With President Trump" and since it's Facebook, all hell broke loose and the comments instantly devolved into a shit-storm containing, among other things, lots of barely literate and racist comments, many of which have since found their way to his personal FB and Twitter pages.

This Jeff Passan piece for Yahoo Sports breaks it all down using some of the actual FB comments from that post.

Cardinals fans like to call themselves the Best Fans in Baseball, a sobriquet onto which they hold dearly. They pride themselves on being educated baseball fans – clapping at the proper time, cheering when the opponent makes a great play. It’s all very self-congratulatory and not entirely warranted, and it seems harmless until it’s the ideal against which they hold and judge players. This happens regularly, and it hews to a particular set of standards. A Cardinal is scrappy. A Cardinal is a fighter. A Cardinal plays the game the right way, which they especially appreciate when his hustle makes up for a comparative lack of physical gifts. A Cardinal is David Eckstein and Stubby Clapp and Bo Hart. A Cardinal is also white.

[Edgy MD]

What a nightmare.

Here's hoping if he can't find a home with the Cardinals, the Mets or any number of teams make a space.

[Frayed Knot]

There was a Cardinal board I used to peak in on every once in a while; they were vicious over there, towards opponents AND at their own players.
That whole 'Best Fans in Baseball' moniker is self-flattery.

[Edgy MD]

It would be self-flattery even if it were true. It's more than that. It's self-delusion.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Hell, the "Cardinal Way"-as-cudgel thing they do is about the least-noxious, most innocuous BS that they spew here. Ye Gods.

[Ceetar]

If Cardinals still refer to themselves as the best fans in baseball they must not realize that literally everyone else uses it as a joke.

[Fman99]

It's racism from the heartland. Yuck.

[Lefty Specialist]

Ceetar wrote: If Cardinals still refer to themselves as the best fans in baseball they must not realize that literally everyone else uses it as a joke.

Jeez, I remember the 'pond scum' days. Cardinal fans haven't been the best fans in baseball for a while.

[bmfc1]

I don't know if the Dexter Fowler mischegas has been posted elsewhere but it's summarized here and it's glorious.
https://deadspin.com/i-can-t-get-enough-of-the-shitass-cardinals-feuding-wit-1827443647?utm_medium=socialflow&utm_campaign=socialflow_deadspin_twitter&utm_source=deadspin_twitter&__twitter_impression=true
Links in the column provide further information.

[batmagadanleadoff]

bmfc1 wrote: I don't know if the Dexter Fowler mischegas has been posted elsewhere but it's summarized here and it's glorious. https://deadspin.com/i-can-t-get-enough-of-the-shitass-cardinals-feuding-wit-1827443647?utm_medium=socialflow&utm_campaign=socialflow_deadspin_twitter&utm_source=deadspin_twitter&__twitter_impression=true Links in the column provide further information.

Best line: "and now, the Cardinals, whose uniforms are the same color as a MAGA hat...."

[MFS62]

Many years ago, I read a story in one of the now defunct NY papers (Journal American? by IIRC Leonard Schecter). It was about why the St. Louis Hawks basketball team moved. They had been very successful on the field, in their final years there reaching far into the NBA playoffs. (OK, they had traded Bill Russell to Boston for two white guys, but one was a local favorite, having played at St. Louis U. But that was many years prior to them leaving.)
His reason? I don't remember the exact numbers, but I'm approximating, and they are sufficient to demonstrate his hypothesis.
Three years prior to leaving, the Hawks made the playoffs, and had one non-white starter. Average attendance was 15,000/ game.
Two years prior, the Hawks made the playoffs, had two non-white starters, and averaged 13,00/ game.
One year prior, the Hawks made the playoffs, had three non-white starters (and several non-white key reserves) and averaged 11,000/game.

I also recall that one of his books, Jim Brosnan commented how, in its heart, St. Louis was really a Southern city.
This type of behavior does not surprise me.

Later

[batmagadanleadoff]

MFS62 wrote: Many years ago, I read a story in one of the now defunct NY papers (Journal American? by IIRC Leonard Schecter). It was about why the St. Louis Hawks basketball team moved. They had been very successful on the field, in their final years there reaching far into the NBA playoffs. (OK, they had traded Bill Russell to Boston for two white guys, but one was a local favorite, having played at St. Louis U. But that was many years prior to them leaving.) His reason? I don't remember the exact numbers, but I'm approximating, and they are sufficient to demonstrate his hypothesis. Three years prior to leaving, the Hawks made the playoffs, and had one non-white starter. Average attendance was 15,000/ game. Two years prior, the Hawks made the playoffs, had two non-white starters, and averaged 13,00/ game. One year prior, the Hawks made the playoffs, had three non-white starters (and several non-white key reserves) and averaged 11,000/game. I also recall that one of his books, Jim Brosnan commented how, in its heart, St. Louis was really a Southern city. This type of behavior does not surprise me. Later

The other best line is about the Cards GM listening to St. Looey's racist troglodyte fans. Like a Southern city? Ferguson is St. Looey's suburb.