I don’t know about all of you but the last storm/tornado/whatever, really hit our neighborhood hard. Our house was hit hard. There was damage to most of the other houses in the subdivision. Hence, arrangements have been made for the repairs. Many repair companies(especially roofers) are seeking work. Once we’ve lined up our own repairman, many of us put up their signs in front of our house to indicate that we already have a repair man scheduled (so don’t ring our doorbell looking for work. This same situation could ex extrapolated into the sports world…here goes our walk down the block and following the clues of the signs of each house.

…We took off down the block….the 1^st sign that we saw after a short walk seems tattered, ignored—like it’s been there a long time. But, one could sense that at one time the sign and the house had glitter to it. The house has the address:  gm6-2011. It sounded to us like a long time ago..and it was– game 6 of the 2011 World Series!  In that World Series our Cards faced the Texas Rangers. A local boy from Lafayette HS (David Freese)not only had a career-day in game 6, it’s a highlight in perusing through World Series highlights by ALL fans.  He hit a game-tying triple in the 9th inning. Then, he capped his career day with a walk-off home run in the 11th to force a Game 7.

…It wasn’t only his unbelievable game 6 performance that led the Cards to a World Series title, he was tremendous throughout the entire post-season. As a result, he won the 2011 World Series MVP award. His batting numbers for the Series were really fantastic….but that wasn’t all.  He drove in 21 runs during the 2011 postseason, setting an MLB record. In the World Series, he batted .348 with 7 RBIs, 3 doubles and an epic Game 6 home run.

… Unfortunately, fans generally have short memories …so… that performance has been forgotten or ignored for a long time. The sign had been ignored for decades so we left it alone and moved on.  . Btw..Freese had an 11 year MLB career with a career .277  average. He played for the Cards from 2009 through 2013. In 2014 & 2015, he was an LA Angel. Through 2016-and part 2018, Freese wore the Pirate uniform. In 2018 & 2019, he concluded his career as a LA Dodger. I had no idea that he’d been “around” that long. The jog through memory lane was over…so, we left the sign and moved on.

…next to the Freese house was a brand new shiny sign but it was cheap material. It wasn’t going to last long!!  It was the House of the Final Four.  Florida, Duke, Houston and Auburn were all there. A real familiar name in the Final 4—Duke;  a team  rated #1 for most of the season (Auburn); a team that has shown the ability to “come back” to win games (Florida) and  the biggest surprise to many of this foursome is Houston. But…prognosticators had it right…This foursome- is the 1^st time at all of the #1 seeds of each of the 4 regions have advanced to the Final Four! That brought lots of sparkle to the sign but we knew in a week, the sign would be just another sign on the block.

….We moved along debating about which team would win when we approached a Red sign indicated that the house was under construction. We could tell easily that the house had been a fancy mansion but seemed to have crumbled in the last 2 years We stopped looked around….yea…there were all kinds of things being built or repaired. It seemed to be “going up” in a hurry….maybe too quickly! Then we realized that the sign and mansion belonged to the St Louis Cardinals  who had lived comfortably in the mansion in the MLB for decades. But, In the last 2 years they had been forced out of the mansion while the rebuild was occurring. It was a complete “do-over, a total rebuild deal! The ’25 roster seems loaded with new names. Most are young, some were obtained (usually a very modest price) to help work the Cards through the transition. Other acquisitions are veterans who have specific roles in trying to make the Cards “respectable” during the transition and until the new, young, talented corp reaches it’s “prime” in 3 to 5 years.  As with all rebuilds, it takes time. Often more time than anticipated.  

…Suddenly as we were starting to “move on”, but after a couple steps,our MLB expert, Madison, who was a huge Cardinal fan  yells out. “HEY…stop right here…I mean RIGHT NOW..STOP”. We were all startled!  His loud, demanding, bellowing  voice made us stop & look right at him. “Listen, you fly by night Cardinal fans’. Some teams have turned it around quickly. Here’s a couple—In 2003, the Red Sox were a last place team then in 2004 they won the division!! How about that!! Madison was starting to “feel his oats” and went on “ in 2005, the Mets were dead last! But…in 2006, they won the division title!! Hey Man…how about that stuff.  Our Cards can do the same thing!! He stopped talking then looked around at each of us. No one wanted to deal with Madison in this mood. So…no one talked!! Madison held up the rebuild sign and finished the discussion by saying, “In 2 years, you won’t even remember these days!” No one believed him but… no one wanted to say it out-loud…sooo, we moved on delicately.

….After regaining our footing,  I had to put on my shades as I approached the next house on the block, the sign was shining bright, very bright! Then I noticed that the entire house was painted Blue!  It was the home of the Blues! As I write this early on April 3 the Blues have won 11 straight games! The are 17-3 in the last 20 games -dating back to Feb 8^th!  WOW!! Clearly the hiring of Jim Montgomery as their new head coach on November 24, 2024 has really made this sign & house as shiny as its been since 2019. Will it keep shining? Who know…but as we moved along….it’s really lit a fire under the fan-base. Btw…how did we get him?   Montgomery held a 120-41-23 with the Bruins but got off to an 8-9-3 start this season. Sounds like a team w/o much patience.He was fired by Boston on Nov. 19. The Bruins went 65-12-5 under his leadership, the best single season record in NHL history. They had 135 points and an .823 points percentage in Montgomery’s first season (2022-23). I didn’t know how much longer the house would remain shining so brightly like it is currently.  Most of us were still gazing at the bright sign!  It seemed to be getting brighter with each game. We stated there & looked around. I don’t know if everyone was a bit tired, still mulling over the Blues, or still blinded by the Bright sign. We needed a short break.

….Finally, we had to walk awhile before barely seeing the sign of the next house, it had been ignored for a long time. The sign was barely legible. It had been ignored for decades. In fact, it was difficult to even recognize a house of any sort behind the sign! After digging around, we found an ol’ weather beaten sign.  We looked closer but it almost fell apart, it was very brittle. There were a couple gold-like beams supporting the house, but just barely. They had eroded badly over decades. It had been a long, long time since anyone had been here.  Our curiosity got the best of us.  Sooo we started digging around.  Just about when we ready to leave  (about 30 minutes later- we don’t have much patience), we found a basketball. This had been the home of the St Louis Hawks. It reminded me of 1958 when the St. Louis Hawks won the only NBA World Championship our city has ever won, and likely ever will win! What makes it so special is the fact it was against Bill Russell’s Celtics. Led by the least athletic super-star ever, Bob Pettit, who went crazy in the championship game and scored 50 points! It probably was the greatest performance in a championship-deciding game ever.  While it brought back many memories for some of us of taking a bus downtown as a young teenager with a friend or 2 to watch the Hawks, things had changed. The nostalgia made a couple of us happy for a short moment…but most of group had long forgotten about the Hawks…much less Bob Pettit. Sooo we  moved on….just like the Hawks did… to Atlanta.

…..Moving down the block leisurely , a house had just been built. The sign in front of the house was still looking good—shiny & bright. It was the house of StL City Soccer Club. That word, “Club”, seems to be a European term to me.  We stopped and walked around the house to get more familiar with it. Probably being the only StL boy not to play soccer in my life, I hadn’t followed soccer much at all until City was formed. Despite that background, all my sons played soccer. How can you grow up in the Lou and not play soccer? I have seen a City game LIVE—it’s really a beautiful stadium built just the right size (22,423) that you could see the entire field easily. I even watched the game on TV last weekend.  While I love sports, I had a tough time—it seemed like a lot of “building up” action but little action around the posts for my taste. Further, the 6-3 fan in front of us stood up the entire game. Often, I couldn’t see squat..ugh! There wasn’t any game today, so the sign stayed bright and helped us find our way out.

…. The next sign was blank but it was painted in yellow. The “slow down” sign for drivers. It appears that the Cards are following the “yellow” speed with their top prospects. The Cardinals have three players in their mid-20’s…the decisions have to be made NOW w/o delay on their season & career.   Nolan Gorman (already 25 years old & still waiting for his 1st real shot!) He has power (or so we’re told) and as many power hitters, he strikes out a lot. It usually comes with the territory. Alec Burleson(26 years old) & 3rd) Luken Baker(28) both are at (or maybe already past) their prime time for entering the MLB. Is this “slow down” approach designed to keep players for 6 years (before they are eligible for free agency) and take them into their 30’s years of age? Does that make it easier for the Cardinals to sign them to the 1^st (and probably, LAST) big contract?

…The next house had a hexagonal sign painted in RED. It looked like a STOP SIGN!  That’s exactly what it was. Thanks to all of you for following me around the block and reading the signs!!  Your thoughts, reactions, ideas are always welcome. Post on Facebook, send to me in an email-rjryansr@charter.net, or send back to me through Messenger. I post each one on my Facebook page with your name. I’ve done it for 10 years now. Many others like sharing their thoughts.  Have a Super week!!! Bob