St. Louis Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol embraced a burst of shirtless fan energy that helped lift his club to an extra-inning victory, and he said he would reward fans who bring that atmosphere by buying tickets for seats in the right-field Loge, the report says.
The shirtless celebration began when members of the Stephen F. Austin club baseball team, the Lumberjacks, attended the game after the Cardinals offered tickets to the squad, which was in nearby Alton, Illinois, for the National Club Baseball Division II World Series. Seventeen players were in the right-field section and began chanting and waving their shirts, per the report.
By the time Yohel Pozo delivered the game-winning run with a walk-off single in the 11th inning, the Lumberjacks had drawn additional fans into the raucous scene and even involved the Cardinals mascot, Fredbird, in the shirtless celebration, the report says.
Marmol praised the spontaneous atmosphere and said he wanted to make sure the group — and the energy they created — returned to games, adding that the crowd made Busch Stadium a more difficult place for opponents. The stadium organist, Dwayne Hilton, played along and helped ramp up chants and songs, the report says. The “tarps off” style of celebration is common elsewhere in sports but was new to Busch Stadium; the report suggests Friday night may have started a local tradition.
Action resumed the next day when the start of Game 2 of the three-game series against the Kansas City Royals was delayed by about 45 minutes due to rain, per the report.
