NEWSLETTER
I’m sure at least part of it is because we’re Cubs fans, and so we’re watching the Cardinals with an extra salty side-eye, but it’s not ALL because of that. Some of it is that the Cardinals just seem to whine and cry about a lot of stuff.
They do it when they’re playing the Cubs, they did it when Ronald Acuña, Jr. had some fun (and seemed to make into a swear-filled national emergency in their post-NLDS celebration), and they are at risk of doing it with another young superstar.
To be sure, what Juan Soto does (often) when taking a ball is impossible not to notice, which I’m sure is part of the reason he does it. I remember when the Cubs first faced him last year thinking it was a whole lot of something for taking a single pitch, but whatever. He’s allowed to do it, and if it bothers his opponents, he’s gonna keep doing it.
Enter the Cardinals:
The Cardinals seemed to take some issues with the Soto Shuffle when they played here a few weeks ago, and based on Mikolas' reaction after recording that last out, it appears they still have some issues with it.
— Mark Zuckerman (@MarkZuckerman) October 12, 2019
Here’s what happened last night. Recently, Soto has added something new to his shuffle, a robust junk adjustment:
Soto shuffle, best thing in sports at the moment and it’s not close pic.twitter.com/uLUnz9lvEs
— Derek Willems (@derekantula) October 4, 2019
Yep. They’re still there.
So anyway, Soto was doing that last night, and the Cardinals were getting ticked. Then Soto does an EXTREMELY demonstrative shuffle and crotch grab:
This is the cockiest ball ever taken pic.twitter.com/getB58gMEJ
— Jomboy (@Jomboy_) October 12, 2019
And, after he’s retired, Miles Mikolas returns the favor:
Mikolas grabbing his junk right back in Sotos face pic.twitter.com/HJrqwtj4eB
— Jomboy (@Jomboy_) October 12, 2019
Obviously you don’t want kids quite knowing what was going on there (they don’t quite grasp all the context yet), but outside of that, I actually don’t have a problem with Mikolas doing a little something after getting Soto out in a huge moment like that. A little back and forth? It’s fine.
And I respect Mikolas and Soto even more, because after the fact, neither expressed any beef at all.
“He has a routine where he shuffles around the box, and adjusts his cup and whatnot, but I was just having fun out there,” Mikolas said of the exchange, per Cardinals.com. “Kind of giving it back to him in a good-natured, ribbing kind of way. No intent to be mean or trying to start anything, just having fun out of there.”
“For me, that’s good,” Soto, who saw the gesture, said after the game. “If he reacts, I don’t mind. He got me out. He can do whatever he wants. I’m going to laugh at it. We’re going to keep going and face him again.”
See, baseball? It can be like this! Even when a stodgy respect-the-game franchise like the Cardinals is facing an exuberant young superstar. It can go well! Here’s hoping the rest of the Cardinals take Mikolas’s lead.
Oh, also the Cardinals nearly got no-hit by Anibal Sanchez and lost the game 2-0. So that’s also just fine. Game Two is this afternoon at 3pm CT.
