ST. LOUIS -- For most of his life, injured Cardinals starter Andre Pallante didn’t have much interest in football or the fantasy version of it.
That is no longer the case.
“Yes, yes, that is my passion,” Pallante said Friday when asked by a reporter about his role as the commissioner of the fantasy football league that was the talk of the Cardinals’ clubhouse.
No half measures for Commissioner Dre.
“Just super passionate about stuff I do,” Pallante said, adding that he’s been gearing up for the draft for three months.
During this period, other hobbies of the devoted commissioner have taken a distant back seat.
“I haven’t cooked at all,” Pallante said. “Because all I do is mock draft.”
For a guy who said he had basically never played fantasy football prior to his Cardinals tenure, it is amusing to see that Pallante has now made it his entire personality.
How did this happen?
A few years ago, with Adam Wainwright running the clubhouse fantasy league, former Cardinals starter Steven Matz needed a proxy in a poker game that would determine the league’s draft order. Pallante volunteered to play on Matz’s behalf.
After buying into the poker game with his own cash, Pallante finished in last place -- but found a new hobby.
“I asked Matz if that could be my portion of the [fantasy] team,” Pallante explained. “So I was a one-third, whatever, one-five-billionth owner of the team, and Matz ended up winning the league that year.
“I was following along, I was rooting for him the whole time. I was like, this is awesome. I love it. Since then, I’ve dove headfirst and been all about it. Now, I’m in charge of these guys, setting it up for them.”
While Pallante’s passion is unmistakable, that doesn’t keep his constituents from second-guessing his decisions.
The commish’s approval rating is hotly debated.
“I make the rules,” Pallante asserted. “I put it up for a vote but I realized that’s a bad idea, because they can’t make up their minds, and everyone gets in a big argument -- not going to name any Kyles.”
Pallante’s glance toward the nearby locker belonging to Kyle Leahy wasn’t subtle.
The draft is planned for Sunday night in Los Angeles. The Cardinals fly out for a three-city road trip following Sunday afternoon’s 5-4 loss to the Pirates at Busch Stadium.
This year’s draft order was determined by the players’ performance in a tabletop miniature golf game that has been sitting in the Cardinals’ clubhouse for most of the year.
“Everyone did pretty good, everyone was right around the same, except for Gordon,” Pallante teased regarding reliever Gordon Graceffo, who was very much in earshot of this conversation. “Gordon had a horrible showing, like, the worst round I’ve ever seen.”
Pallante, who refused a request to list his fantasy sleepers aloud in a clubhouse full of prying ears, picks 10th. Frankly, he sounds nervous about his competition near the turn.
“The problem is, the two people that are really good in our league -- both Riley [O’Brien] and [bench coach Daniel] Descalso, they’re right behind me,” Pallante said. “They’re 11th and 12th.
“I should’ve picked closer to [Ryne] Stanek and [Michael] McGreevy if I wanted my best chance of winning.”
The 12-team league includes several pitchers, but there’s at least one position player involved -- rookie catcher Jimmy Crooks shares a team with his batterymate, rookie lefty Quinn Mathews. After Mathews’ first MLB win Friday night, both agreed that Crooks will have the final call on how the duo will use its prized top pick -- the draft’s first overall selection.
I was curious about the league’s format, but Crooks couldn’t confirm it, pinning the lack of clarity on the commissioner.
“That’s Mr. Dre for you,” he joked. “Unpredictable.”
My inquiry had a point -- just, as it turns out, not a very good one.
Friday, the ping pong table inside the Cardinals’ clubhouse was piled with brand new football jerseys representing the names most likely to be selected in the first round. When you draft the player, you keep the corresponding jersey.
I’d heard a rumor that the league included a Superflex spot, which would dramatically increase the number of quarterbacks selected in the first round. But I didn’t notice many, if any, quarterbacks represented in the pile of jerseys.
McGreevy was in charge of jersey procurement -- and no mistakes were made. The rumor of a Superflex league was unfounded.
“Don’t worry,” McGreevy assured me. “Thank you for looking out for us, though.”
I deserved his snark, as it was clear my light prodding into the fantasy league had not produced any earth-shattering scoops.