The St. Louis Cardinals’ attendance continues to drop, reaching a season low on Tuesday night.
The St. Louis Cardinals lost again to the San Diego Padres on Tuesday night, much to the pleasure of former manager Mike Shildt, who now heads the Padres, who are favored for the NL Wild Card. Shildt made it clear before the series began that he had no regrets about leaving St. Louis, a franchise that appears to be on the decline.
“We don’t get many mulligans in life,” Shildt explained. “I haven’t lost any sleep over how I handled things here over the past 18 years. I can rest easy knowing that I done my utmost to take care of the organization. As Tony would say, “I tried to do my part, put my small piece in.”
Oli Marmol and John Mozeliak are on the hot seat
Whether Shildt is to be believed or not is up to the reader, but the Cards are on the verge of missing the playoffs for the second consecutive season. If this is the case, there may be a fall guy — or two — as part of a much-needed regime shift. My money’s on manager Oli Marmol, whose in-game decisions have baffled Cardinals supporters since he was hired. Say what you want about Shildt — he had issues, too — but Marmol hasn’t looked any better.
Front office executive John Mozeliak has years of experience with the St. Louis franchise and is more likely to be reassigned rather than dismissed. Chaim Bloom, his potential replacement, was recently hired as an advisor of sorts. It makes too much sense.
Cardinals fans let wallets do the talking about John Mozeliak and Oli Marmol
However, Cardinals supporters are forced to see what remains of a once-heralded bunch of players. St. Louis opened the 2024 season with NL Central championship ambitions. That is well out of reach thanks to the Milwaukee Brewers, who lead the second-place Cubs by nine games.
The Cardinals are two games under.500 and seven games behind the Atlanta Braves for the third National League Wild Card slot. Their postseason hopes are evaporating quickly, and fans have lost faith in the club. Don’t you believe me? Simply look at the attendance data. The Cardinals have only cracked 40,000 fans in 16 home games this season. They had over 4,000 fewer supporters per game in 2024 than in 2023. On Tuesday, they hosted a season-low 27,224 fans.
There hasn’t been a stronger indictment of this club and front management than that. Cardinals fans are among the most devoted in the sport, but even they have a limit.
