For St. Louis Cardinal fans, Tuesday felt like something out of Nathanael West's most famous novel, "The Day of the Locust."
I have neither read the book nor seen the 1975 movie -- West, only 37, died in 1940, the day after the passing of F. Scott Fitzgerald -- helmed by the late Englishman John Schlesinger, whose best pictures, Oscar-winning "Midnight Cowboy" and "Marathon Man," both starring Dustin Hoffman, reveal an anti-American outlook. "The Day of the Locust," with B-list stars William Atherton and Karen Black, depicts Hollywood in an apocalyptic inferno, turning people off faster than the '75 audience could snap up tickets for "Jaws."
Cardinal baseball fans proudly speak of the franchise's National League-record 11 World Series titles, the last coming in 2011 (Cards in seven over Rangers). After a fire sale this week stripped the team of some marketable players, one would not look for El Birdos back in postseason play for some time, and that only if they dealt wisely.
St. Louis is last of five teams in the woeful NL Central, the team's worst starting position in August since 1995. The last time its fortunes looked so bleak, the team hired Tony La Russa as manager, two World Series titles following. Hiring La Russa, now 78, again is no longer an option. The Cardinals fired both of La Russa's successors, Mike Matheny, despite a World Series appearance in 2013, and Mike Shildt. Oliver Marmol, the current skipper, produced a division title last year before the bats went cold in October.
That team, if anything, stayed too long with the aging corps group of Albert Pujols and Yadier Molina, both retiring after a playoff loss to Philadelphia, with Adam Wainwright, no doubt a third future Hall of Famer, joining their ranks after this forgettable campaign. The Cardinals got an NL-MVP season from Paul Goldschmit, who along with Nolan Arenado hit 30 home runs (Pujols adding 24, finished with 703, fourth all time) for a franchise that usually does not live by the long ball.
As the present club sank in the standings, one need only look at some other teams to see which evaluated talent better. Cardinal fans watched in horror recently as two former St. Louis players squared off in the MLB All-Star Game. Ex-Cardinals Tommy Pham, Marcell Ozuna, Randal Grichuk, Kolten Wong and Harrison Bader also play in other cities.
Cardinal management pulled the plug during a home stand that the home team lost three out of four games to the rival Chicago Cubs, dropping 14 games below .500 (47-61) and 11 games out of the running for the second NL wild card.
The NL Central is so pudgy that the Cubs, 54-53 and four games out of first, saw themselves not as sellers but dutiful stewards in holding onto prospects at the trade deadline. Who says it's not working after a team with Marcus Stroman, Cody Bellinger and Dansby Swanson walloped the division-leading Cincinnati Reds 20-9 Monday at Wrigley Field; meanwhile, the Cardinals lost 3-2 to the Minnesota Twins at Busch Stadium.
Trading with the Cardinals sent Jordan Montgomery and Jordan Hicks to the AL West-leading Texas Rangers and Toronto Blue Jays, respectively, Jack Flaherty to the surprise AL East-leading Baltimore Orioles and Paul DeJong to Toronto, which along with the rest of the AL East is over .500 entering the dog days of August.
With Donald Trump, he with more indictments pending, jumping off the front page, the Daily News led its back (sports lead) page Wednesday with a tale of two sellers -- columnist Mike Lupica wondering which local team was smarter, the Mets for unloading megabuck pitchers Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander to contending Texas teams (Rangers and Astros, respectively) or the Yankees for doing nothing.
New York will not support a losing team, especially not one that throws money around like these two. It is not too long until four-time NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers tries his hand with the Jets, who haven't won a world title since Joe Namath played but gives the city's sports fans fresh hope this fall. Lupica boldly asks which Yankee player other than 2022 home run king Aaron Judge could start for the NL East-leading Braves, whose best players are young and with friendly contracts.
Scherzer lands in Arlington, hard by JerryWorld in Cowboys Nation, while Verlander hopes to be part of a third World Series champion in seven years in Houston. Both are cinches for the MLB Hall of Fame but neither will see his 40th birthday again. Their plight this year adds truth to the old saying, "When the locusts come, they don't leave anything green."