Photograph by Scott Rovak
Cardinals manager Mike Matheny shakes hands with Giants manager Bruce Bochy before Game 3.
How do you explain St. Louis’ baseball dominance?
The Cardinal Way is one often-repeated answer, but the Cardinals’ prowess is so undeniable that Wall Street Journal reporter Matthew Futterman offers a more scientific explanation on the eve of the Cardinals’ first 2015 playoffs game: the psychological phenomenon known as “social facilitation.”
Psychologists define social facilitation as an improvement in performance created by the presence of an audience. It’s the reason you do better when someone’s watching. WSJ gives an example: “In one of the landmark studies in the field from 1983, 36 college-age runners were timed while running two, 45-yard segments of a path. Only runners who were observed by someone ran the second segment faster.”
Even if we didn’t know the exact psychological term, St. Louisans already know this about ourselves. Gateway City’s unwavering support for its baseball team is the reason why locals call themselves the Best Fans in Baseball, why baseball players want to come—and then stay—here, why Busch Stadium draws average crowds at 99 percent capacity, why the city goes red on game days. It’s also what drew a reporter from an international, legacy publication to a city that recently seems to get coverage only when something’s going wrong.
“Here, even the yoga instructors wear Cardinals jerseys,” Futterman writes for WSJ, barely masking his incredulity. “The players work in a love bubble.”
The WSJ report goes further than explaining why “baseball-crazed St. Louis” has “the most dedicated and supportive fans in the game.” What really drew Futterman here is how much players enjoy working here. Like any proper baseball fan, Futterman points to the statistics to show that players perform better in St. Louis than they do for previous or future teams. And dozens of Cardinals alumni who aren’t St. Louis natives, including Hall of Fame shortstop Ozzie Smith, made their post-baseball lives here.
“Playing well is all about your surroundings,” outfielder Jason Heyward tells WSJ. “It’s all very positive here,” on the field and off, Futterman writes.
Cardinals fans don’t watch baseball passively. This is a town where fans notice and appreciate what happens on the field like pros.
“Even opponents get treated with respect,” Futterman writes. “Last month, Michael Reed, a 22-year-old rookie outfielder for the Milwaukee Brewers got his first major league hit against the Cardinals at Busch Stadium. Fans gave him a rousing round of applause. Skip Schumaker, an unspectacular former Cardinal second baseman and outfielder, got a standing ovation when he returned with the Cincinnati Reds earlier this year.”
Former Cardinals manager Tony La Russa, talking to WSJ, says it best: “St. Louis is the only place where—if you try—the fans are with you whether you win or lose.”
Contact Lindsay Toler by an email at LToler@stlmag.com or on Twitter @StLouisLindsay. For more from St. Louis Magazine, subscribe or follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
