CARDINAL NATION is a mind set rather than a physical location or an area on a map. It is a concept that spreads all over the globe as a result of it's subjects being exposed to baseball at an early age.
It could be the family in Arkansas sitting on the front porch tuning in KMOX to listen to the game. It was the family coming back from a reunion over the blue highways of Missouri, Iowa or Illinois while listening to the game. In the 50"s it was in front of the black and white TV at home or the corner bar that offered the visual effect that the radio could not provide. And today the venues to provide baseball are beyond what anyone could have envisioned when that first pitch on opening day was thrown decades ago.
Names like Mantle, Ruth, Gehrig, Robinson, and Williams were the names that would give Cardinal Nation chills and such anxiety would be settled with names like Musial, Marion, Gibson, Smith and today it's Pujols, Wainwright, Carpenter and Holliday. .
It's the Cardinal Nation tradition that still allows young kids to dream of the big leagues. It is the understanding that stars are made on the field while heroes perform off the field. It is the pure idea that still harbors the reward for good play and respect of good sportsmanship.
