The main redeeming thing about former big league outfielder Jim Edmonds is that, for one half of a season, he was an outstanding player on the Chicago Cubs. Otherwise, I never much cared for him, even as I think he should’ve gotten more Hall of Fame consideration than he did.
That’s mostly because, of course, he spent years torturing us as a star player for the St. Louis Cardinals. We aren’t supposed to like those guys. Not only do they crush the Cubs, but the whole air about the Cardinals – they are so much better than any other org, their fans are the best in baseball, they do everything The Right Way – is so freaking annoying.
Which is all to say that, for today, Jim Edmonds is my hero.
In a recent radio interview with 101 ESPN’s “The Morning After,” Edmonds lit into the Cardinals organization, for whom he will no longer be part of TV broadcasts (via Fox2Now):
“I haven’t gone really down in spring training the last couple years,” said Edmonds. “It’s not fun anymore. They don’t make you feel like you’re wanted to be around the stadium. You know, I love Oli [Marmol], the DeWitts [Cardinals ownership], and have so much respect for Mo [lead executive John Mozeliak]. Everybody’s great. But somehow, indoors, in the inner circle, it’s just not the same. It’s not the same organization. It’s not fun to be around.
“They make it pretty obvious, even the security guards like, ‘Hey, you know, it might not be a good time.’ I’m like, ‘Fine with me.’ I don’t need to be in there. You know, I don’t, if you don’t want me to tell your pitchers that they’re tipping their pitches or this guy’s pulling off, and I don’t really give two [five-letter expletive] about it.”
The St. Louis Cardinals: Not fun to be around.
Pfft. I could’ve told you that decades ago.
It’s no secret that the Cardinals are in the middle of trying to transform the organization, given some roster turnover necessities and a financial situation that is very different from what it was even five years ago. That’s true for a number of organizations, though, and I don’t see too many of their legendary former players out there ripping the places with which they are most associated.
To which I say … keep it coming, Jim.