Jordan Walker’s Home Run Derby win was already the kind of result that gets people talking, but it also opened the door for a fresh round of criticism aimed at the St. Louis Cardinals.
Most baseball fans were happy to see Walker come out on top, especially with his family’s reaction and the winding path he’s taken to get here. Even with Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber competing in their home stadium, Walker’s victory landed well with a lot of people.
Not everyone was celebrating, though. Some of the pushback centered on cheating talk, while others simply argued that Walker didn’t deserve to win. Brandon Walker of Barstool took a different route entirely, turning his attention toward the Cardinals and their fans.
“You know why I hate the Cardinals?” said Walker on his Mostly Sports with Mark Titus and Brandon Walker show, “Because Cardinals fans are full of s***.
“They want you to know they're the best fans in baseball,” continued Walker. “If you have to tell people you're the best fans in the sport, you're not the best fans in the sport.”
That rant didn’t sit well with Cardinals fans, who responded on social media. Walker, who mostly covers college football for Barstool, also took aim at the team itself, calling the Cardinals “boring” and saying the stadium, uniforms, and organization are boring too.
That’s where the take starts to fall apart. The Cardinals’ fan base didn’t give itself the BFIB label; it came from other baseball fans.
And while the organization has been stale lately, “boring” doesn’t really fit a team that has stayed consistently good for so long. The same goes for the uniforms.
Just Baseball, Bleacher Report, and the players themselves voted the Cardinals’ look as a top-five set in baseball.
Walker’s shot at Busch Stadium drew its own pushback as well. The ballpark is regularly ranked among the top 15 in the sport, and it’s known as a classic stadium with modern amenities built to last.
Walker did eventually acknowledge that the Cardinals have been one of the most consistent organizations in his lifetime and called them a top-five organization. He also said he’s a self-reported Atlanta Braves fan, which at least explains part of the edge in his comments. He pushed for Walker to land with the Braves or the Milwaukee Brewers, too.
Still, the bigger picture here is simple: the Cardinals are drawing national heat again, and that usually means they matter. Jordan Walker put it best when he said people don’t boo nobodies. The Cardinals and their players are getting booed around baseball, and for a rebuilding team, that’s not exactly a bad sign.
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