Denizens From Ladue Will Cheer Mightily for Cardinals Tonight

Very best of luck to our beloved Cardinals.

Half of Ladue will be in the stands. These are the folks who own the best seats in the house.

You will not find any community in the world that has a stronger connection to the St. Louis Cardinals than the Village (City) of Ladue.

Case in point. Andrew “Drew” Baur, Alumnus of the Year at Country Day School in 1997 was a lifelong resident of Ladue. The banker, turned team owner, alongside his lifetime pals Bill DeWitt, Jr. and Fred Hanser will be looking from above at his position at first base on the diamond located behind the Pearly Gates tonight. Cigar firmly ensconced between his lips, he will be cheering madly for his beloved Birds.

Baur was so crazed about El Birdos, he once marched into the Post-Dispatch newsroom, delivering a surprise lecture to Bob Broeg’s sports staff about not being passionate enough of his beloved home town team.

Club president Bill DeWitt, III, a great first baseman in his own right at Codasco and his lovely wife Ira call Ladue home. He plays a mean game of golf over at St. Louis Country Club.

Ted Koplar, prized graduate of Ladue High, class of 1962 will be in his familiar front row box seats behind home plate tonight with his son Sam, businessman and MICDS graduate. Koplar spent millions of the family’s precious dollars to purchase the television rights to Cardinal baseball on the family-owned station KPLR, showing the games into homes and businesses for many years. Koplar still lives with his wife Nancy, a celebrity in her own right in his boyhood home found on Warson Road.

Ozzie Smith, former gold glove shortstop, the teams most famous entertainer once lived in the Ben Fixman estate off Litzsinger Road in Ladue. The home featured the first privacy fence to keep curiosity seekers at bay and a swimming pool shaped in the form of his hall of fame glove.

The greatest Cardinal of them all, Cooperstown Hall of Famer Stan “The Man” Musial and his wife of many years Lilian still live on Trent Drive in Ladue. Stan used to drop into Baskin Robbins for treats for years and so does another Laduite, Al Hraboski, Cardinals’  former pitcher turned broadcaster.

Fox broadcaster Joe Buck still lives in Ladue with his two daughters and wife Ann. Mom Carol Buck, widow of Cardinals’ HOF broadcaster Jack Buck had a home right across the street from Ladue Middle School until the house burned almost entirely to the ground, claiming a lifetime of prized memorabilia from the voice of KMOX Radio and the Cardinals.

The late great shortstop Marty Marion lived in Ladue and his daughters all graduated from Ladue High in the 60s. “Slats” managed the old Busch Stadium club after his playing days.

Cardinals former general manager, now with Cincinnati, Walt Jocketty and his wife Sue raised their family in Ladue. Son Joey was a star for the Ladue High baseball team.

Former Cards broadcaster Jennings “Jay” Randolph and wife Sue raised their family on White Rose Lane in Olivette. Same went for Cards HOF member Lou Brock who started his family in Olivette and raised Lou Brock, Jr. who became a hotshot football star at Ladue High and USC.

Former mayor, the late Edith Spink was a lifetime Cards fan. Her late husband Johnson Spink was the publisher of the famed Sporting News Newspaper.

Busch’s Grove was the unofficial Cardinal headquarter for hearty Cardinal fans down through the years. Many great Cardinals players and fans broke bread in this turn-of-the century location and dined pre-airconditioning in the summer houses out back.

Tonight, Ladue die hearts, sans tickets will cheer mightily at Sportsman’s Park Restaurant, Lester’s in Ladue and from the private dining rooms at Old Warson and St. Louis Country Clubs.

They will hoist a Budweiser or two, the official beer of the St. Louis Cardinals down though most of those previous 10 World Series championships.

Ladue residents from the kids at Conway, Community, Reed, Burroughs and MICDS to adults at the clubs and bars and restaurants are pulling for just one more win.