When October arrives and the Cardinals are watching from home, the question turns from who can win the World Series to who St. Louis fans can tolerate pulling for. In 2026, that answer is not exactly sitting there in plain sight.
The Dodgers are off the board right away. Shohei Ohtani and his generational shadow of teammates have already won the last two World Series and are trying to become the first team to three-peat since the New York Yankees from 1998-2000. That is exactly the kind of repeat act no one outside Chavez Ravine wants to sign up for, and Cardinals fans have even less reason after the Dodgers stole fan favorites Tommy Edman and Katie Woo, both made similar impacts on the team.
Milwaukee is even less appealing. The Brewers have owned the NL Central for four straight years, first under Craig Counsell and now with Pat Murphy guiding a club that keeps finding the right moment at the wrong time for St.
Louis. Respect is one thing.
Rooting interest is another, and the Cardinals have seen enough of the Brewers for one season.
Atlanta brings a different kind of resistance. The Braves are not a direct rival, but they do drag Cardinals fans back to better memories, especially postseason ones.
There is still the image of Yadier Molina’s bloop single that tipped off Freddie Freeman’s outstretched glove, and there is also the sight of the chop, which can summon memories of Mike Foltynewicz and the chaos he caused at a packed Truist Park. That’s nostalgia, sure, but not the kind that makes a fanbase eager to adopt a team.
San Diego is even harder to stomach. The Cardinals still carry the sting from the 2020 NL Wild Card Game, when Fernando Tatis Jr. came up with two outs, a runner on first, and a one-run lead over St.
Louis. After getting to a 3-2 count against Daniel Ponce De Leon, Tatis Jr. turned on an outer-half fastball and launched it into the right field stands.
He started walking as soon as he connected, and by the time his bat hit the ground, the game was effectively over. Cardinals fans have not forgotten.
The Yankees are a no as well, with the Cardinals trailing only them in all-time World Series wins. Cleveland does not offer much relief either, since the Guardians are tied to the kind of payroll logic the Cardinals know too well. Hard to root for the rich, but hard to get excited about playing poor, too.
That leaves the Rays and the White Sox.
Tampa Bay has a case. The Rays do a lot well: they develop from within, make sharp trades, and find value in free agency. For Cardinals fans, that kind of operation might feel familiar.
Then there is Chicago’s South Side, and the simplest argument of all: the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Earlier this season, Cubs second baseman Nico Hoerner said he believed the White Sox were a tougher rival to the Cubs than the Cardinals were, and the Sox have done plenty to back that up. A brawl broke out between the two teams at Wrigley Field this year, and Pete Crow-Armstrong had an altercation with a fan in center field on the South Side that had media gaffing the projected MVPete.
The White Sox are also carrying a strange sort of momentum, the kind that brings to mind the Cardinals team that snuck in and ran through 2006. Munetaka Murakami is delivering all of baseball with timeless interviews.
Chase Meidroth is pimping baseballs as a contact-oriented hitter. Injured reliever Mike Vasil is projecting wizardry onto his teammates with a wand, a Mickey Mouse magic hat, and enough energy to play Pat McAfee on SNL.
And then there is the Pope, who is a famous White Sox fan himself.
If that is enough for him, it may be enough for retired Redbirds too.
In Other News...
Cardinals Linked To A Familiar Arm Who Could Steady This Rotation
The Cardinals are headed into free agency with a rotation that still leans young, which makes the idea of adding a proven starter easy to understand. One familiar name has already surfaced as a potential fit: Jack Flaherty, the former St. Louis right-hander who is now on the market again and carries both history with the club and the kind of experience a staff like this could use.
Flahertys appeal goes beyond nostalgia. He has already shown he can handle the expectations that come with pitching in St. Louis, and his recent work suggests he could still bring value as a stabilizing veteran in a group that needs one. For the Cardinals, the question is whether this is the right moment to bring back a pitcher they know well and whether the reunion would make as much sense for the rotation as it might for the player himself. [Read more 🡒]
Cardinals Found A Busch Stadium Edge Fans Havent Seen In Years
A summer crowd at Busch Stadium found a new spark in 2026, and it started with a few shirtless members of the Stephen F. Austin club baseball team trying to light up the park. Their impulsive show of support came at just the right moment, right as Yohel Pozo delivered a walk-off single in extra innings, and suddenly a game-day quirk had turned into something bigger for a fan base that had been waiting for a jolt.
From there, the idea took on a life of its own. Manager Oliver Marmol helped push it along by distributing free tickets to encourage participation, and the Cardinals even carved out an official Tarps Off section at the stadium. What began as a one-night burst of energy has become one of the more visible signs that Busch Stadium has rediscovered a little edge, though how far the movement can carry remains part of the appeal. [Read more 🡒]
Cardinals Face A Tough Ivan Herrera Decision This Winter
The Cardinals youth movement brought some signs of progress in 2026, but it still stopped short of a playoff berth, leaving the front office with a familiar winter question: how to balance the next wave of talent with the players already established in St. Louis. Ivan Herrera sits right in the middle of that conversation. The 26-year-old catcher and designated hitter earned his first All-Star nod this season, and he remains under team control through 2029, which gives the Cardinals plenty of options as they sort through a roster that is still taking shape.
Herreras value also makes him one of the more interesting names on the board because the Cardinals have positional uncertainty to untangle and enough catching depth to at least entertain different paths. Nothing has been decided yet about his long-term role or whether he could be available in trade talks, but the fact that those questions are even in the mix tells you how complicated this offseason could be. For a team trying to keep its rebuild moving without losing ground, Herrera is the kind of player who can shape more than one version of the future. [Read more 🡒]