Being from the Hudson Valley (Yankee/Met country) I am constantly amazed at how many Cardinal fans will come up to me if I am wearing my Cardinal hat. Cooperstown for the Ozzie induction was ablaze with Cardinal red, and I spoke with people from all over the country who came to see another Cardinal become a Hall of Famer. Even at Shea an awful lot of Cardinal red shows up, in spite of being in physical danger if you do :>)

When any discussion of the huge fan base the Cardinals have developed over the last century arises, much credit is deservedly given to KMOX. However, another factor in the Cardinals massive fan base throughout the South and West is their pioneering farm system developed by Branch Rickey. Houston was a triple A outpost for many years and Little Rock was a Cardinal affiliate for at least a half a century. Other cities and towns that were home at one time or another to Cards minor league teams: Atlanta, Tulsa, Louisville, Union City TN, Columbus OH (where a minor league talent named Jack Buck was discovered) Memphis (before the current AAA team- Mike Shannon played there) Savannah GA, Johnston City TN, New Orleans, and if I recall correctly, Denver.
Of course, this is a partial list. But seeing future Cardinal stars play when fewer people in these areas had a chance to travel to major league games helped develop the fan base we have today.

I live in Sioux Falls SD and believe it or not, there is plenty of Cards fans here. I wear my gear everywhere and I always get a comment here and there from other Redbird fans up here….This is Twins territory, but I’d put the Birds in the top five up here.
Prior to their switch to KTRS, i could pick up KMOX at night. Now i have XM and the Ticket to catch games.

OOOPPS!! Now I have my copy of last years press guide. And I made two mistakes. Denver has never hosted a Cardinals farm team. And Little Rock was a Cards outpost for 35 years, not 50. Sorry. But perhaps pepper34 will be less surprised about the plentiful amount of Cardinal fans in the Hudson Valley when he/she is armed with the information that the Cards had a farm team in Rochester for 34 years. Albeit, not since 1960 but I am convinced of some generational passing of the torch from not only transplanted midwest Cardinals loving natives but also from fans who fell for the Birds because of long standing minor league affiliations.
Paul Turner

i used to be on the road most of the time in the seventies and had my am radio dial set to kmox. when conditions were right and only at night, you would be amazed the places the station came in loud and clear. and it’s a good thing, otherwise i would have stuck closer to home. northern california has a good card fan base, centered mainly around sacramento. home of fernando vina!

I live in Round Rock, Texas, home of the Astros AAA team, the Express. Recently, when the Redbirds were here I went to a game. There were a lot of Cards fans in attendance and they were boisterous.

I have listened to Cards games regularly on KMOX in Birnamwood, Wisconsin; Colorado Springs, Colorado; Lubbock and Round Rock, Texas dating back to 1964. I wish that were still possible, but…

As for Izzy, He has earned some respect and we should give him the chance to work out his problems. The Cards are doing well and the Cards fans need to remember what a class organization is all about. We don’t want to be lumped in with the knee jerk crowd some organizations are identified with.

I’m from South Florida and have been a Cardinals’ fan from my first breath.

Nothing’s more fun than being at a Cardinals away game decked out in Birds-on-Bat, and getting the last word among the hostile crowd. Years ago I took my son John out of middle school in Poway, California, playing hooky, so we could watch an entire Cards series vs. the Padres in San Diego. We were trailing badly during an afternoon contest, but scrapped to come back, and finally the deal was sealed by a Jack Clark HR described in next morning’s paper as “a laser beam”. We had been surrounded by heckling Pads fans while behind in the game, but they dwindled and disappeared along with their lead, and finally we were alone, cheering our victorious Cardinals! Years later, John and I were driving from Oklahoma to St. Louis to take in a Mets series (which we swept, capped off by Tommy Herr’s walkoff grand slam); as we drove, we tuned in the radio for the game that day, and were astonished to hear Jack Buck send on-air greetings to us by name (I had sent a postcard to him, congratulating him on his Hall of Fame induction). Last weekend I trekked to St. Louis for my first experience at Busch III, taking 2 of 3 from the Northside Ne’er-do-wells. Ah, the memories! We ARE Cardinals Nation!!!

I’m in northwest PA and grew up listening to kmox (it didn’t always come in) and wanting to be like The Wizard. Cardinal Nation will probably dwindle now with TV and MLB.com broadcasting every team to any part of the country. But hopefully the old days won’t be forgotten. My young kids already wear the Birds on the Bat.

I live in Nebraska, and I’d say that generally speaking, eastern Nebraska belongs to the Royals and western Nebraska to the Rockies. I’ve lived in the central and eastern parts of the state, and I don’t think I know a single Cards fan. Sorry.