I think a lot of that was until 1957 the Cardinals were the furthest team west in the U.S. Then add in KMOX radio in St.Louis. KMOX's night time coverage goes all over the US, plus radio stations from all of those places carried those games. It doesn't hurt that the Cardinals have had a lot of really good teams.
KC vs St. Louis
- Thread starter deadeyededric
- Start date
Im no Cardinals fan but you could make the case that they have the most storied history in the sport outside of the Yankees. Titles, Hall of Famers, etc..
KMOX was huge, just like WGN and TBS was for the Cubs and Braves in the 80s and 90s to build up their fan bases. Before cable TV, the only way to find out what was happening with your team was on the radio, and 50,000 watt KMOX was huge at drawing in a fan base and getting them interested in the Cardinals. Before that they were the furthest western team until the Dodgers and Giants moved from NY.
Regular season baseball other than big rivalries with playoff implications are usually more laid back for most people. For sure. There are passionate fans and fan bases, but going to a game in June is a pretty chill experience most places.
Playoff baseball has an atmosphere that’s similar to a good regular season NFL game. Which makes sense when consider sheer number of games and importance of each.
Baseball expanding their playoffs with one off games is a great idea I think they should sprinkle in a mid-season tournament as well. Do it cross-league regionally. So like NE, Midwest, South, and West regions. All one-off games. Bring the Final Four together at an iconic stadium or the Field of Dreams.
My grandpa grew up in Saskatchewan and was a die hard Cardinal fan because they were the only MLB broadcast west of the Mississippi.
Baseball has actually started doing some things to market their sport, so they might actually do this. I thought I saw year over year ratings the last couple years are up around 20%. World baseball classic was great last year too.
People today will never know the trill of listening to stations as far away as KDKA in Cleveland, or WLS out of Chicago or KOA out of Denver. When few games were on TV, sitting down and listening to Jack Buck and Mike Shannon was a way to pass the evening in rural Iowa.
KDKA is actually in Pittsburgh.
700 WLW in Cincinnati is another station with a big nighttime signal that carries the Reds.
Surprised to see some comparing KC to Omaha, I actually think Omaha seems more like STL than KC. While KC obviously has a major river running through it, it doesn't seem/feel like a river town (like Des Moines. STL is 100% a river town, I think Omaha is too. Omaha and STL are laid out similar, everything grew from east to west from the river, the towns have similar history and development.
I think KC and DM are more alike than KC and Omaha. DM and KC both feel like a bunch of suburbs surrounded by interstates that eventually got too big and grew together. That's not a knock on either, it helps with things like traffic. Everything is more spread out unlike STL/Omaha that are mostly centered around the river/downtown area.
I think KC and DM are more alike than KC and Omaha. DM and KC both feel like a bunch of suburbs surrounded by interstates that eventually got too big and grew together. That's not a knock on either, it helps with things like traffic. Everything is more spread out unlike STL/Omaha that are mostly centered around the river/downtown area.
Not sure...I think the Cubs, Braves, and Giants would be close to having as many, if not more fans.
Disagree, Stl is a hard core Cardinals town, they also have the second most title in the history of baseball.
Its possible. If the Cubs or Giants do it's only because of the populations of those areas. Even though the Braves have a lot of fans I cant imagine they have as many as the Cards. There are Cards fans in 50 states. And I mean quite a few too.
The Cubs and Braves got their fan bases built up in the 80's when cable TV was coming into homes for the first time. TBS made Braves fans all over the country, and WGN moved out from just around Chicago to nation at the same time.
It's difficult to say which one has more fans, without a doubt for a smaller city, St. Louis has a huge fan base.
No idea how much weight this holds, but it seems to line up with a few places I've looked.
Pretty good for a small market team
