ST. LOUIS -- After making headlines with their shirtless celebrations during the Cardinals’ walk-off win on Friday night, the boys from the Stephen F. Austin club baseball team returned to Busch Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
But despite the generous offer from the Cardinals manager to buy out a block of tickets in the right field sections and give them away to fans for free on Saturday and Sunday, the SFA boys were nowhere to be found as of Saturday’s first pitch.
That’s because, true to the form, they first had to orchestrate a walk-off win of their own as they played a game in nearby Alton, Ill.
As far as we can glean, there’s simply no truth to the rumor that Saturday’s pregame weather delay at Busch Stadium -- pushing back first pitch by 46 minutes -- was enacted to give the Lumberjacks time to get back to Busch following their own competition.
But by the fourth inning, the shirtless sons had made their pilgrimage back to one of the right field sections, just in time to spark another Cardinals rally.
After the Royals produced the tying run in the top of the fifth, the Cardinals answered for two runs in the bottom of the frame, backing Kyle Leahy in his first successful six-inning endeavor of the season -- and of his career -- as the Cardinals beat the Royals, 4-2.
The Busch Stadium atmosphere that Marmol and other Cardinals praised on Friday night was back in full effect.
“We got it. Welcome back to Busch,” Marmol grinned. “That was a heckuva lot of fun. The atmosphere was insane last night. It was really good today. The boys showed up. And I said it last night, we feed off of that.”
The Cardinals announced they “sold” over 1,000 tickets across Saturday and Sunday as part of Marmol’s giveaway. The seats were gone in under an hour.
After another exciting win, could Marmol fund this new cheering section indefinitely?
“I’ll go broke,” Marmol laughed. “I’ll ask Chaim [Bloom] for more.”
Rather than pledge himself as the ticket sales department’s newest hero, Marmol took things in another direction postgame -- he personally escorted the entire SFA club baseball team into the Cardinals clubhouse.
A group of college club ball players -- “not even D1,” as a member of the team noted of their affiliation to a local TV reporter in an on-camera interview -- was suddenly yucking it up with a Major League team.
There was pandemonium in the room as the boys got autographs, pictures, and yes, took off their shirts yet again to keep the celebration going.
“I love that they’re getting the recognition that they deserve, man,” Cardinals shortstop Masyn Winn said. “I’ve only been here for a few years, but that’s something that I’ve never seen, in this stadium or really, any stadium.
“For them to kind of start a trend here, I love it. I hope we get to see a lot more of it.”
Multiple “roll calls” took place throughout the game as the rowdy right-field bandits went around the horn, chanting the names of the Cardinals fielders until receiving some sort of acknowledgement from the player.
The reaction from Victor Scott II, to pantomime a crossover dribble before knocking down a step-back three-pointer in the direction of the cheering section, was probably the most compelling on-field reaction.
"I mean, with the step-back three's, I think I got like nine points right now,” Scott said. “I've never seen three roll calls, but hey, the more step-backs, the merrier."
When the fans pivoted to the dugout by chanting Marmol’s name, the Cardinals manager reacted like a professional wrestler, urging them with a wave of his hand to keep bringing the energy.
Sure, there was occasionally more enthusiasm than common sense from Busch Stadium’s newest celebrity fan section -- for example, it sounded like they hauled out an ill-fated Kyle Leahy chant as the Cardinals right-hander was about to navigate his first successful trip through the sixth inning.
Not the vibe, fellas -- though in the sake of fairness, I was told one SFA player that the Leahy roll-call attempt originated from outside their group.
Regardless, there was no doubting the energy provided by these new-found Cardinals fans for the second day in a row.
“To be honest, I don’t really know,” Leahy said regarding being roll-called as a pitcher. “You don’t want to do anything on the mound, obviously. But like I said, the support is greatly appreciated and we definitely feel it.”
With six innings of one-run baseball, Leahy set a new career-high for innings in a single game. His ERA in May is a sterling 1.10, as the converted reliever provides continued evidence of his growth into his new role with each subsequent outing.