ST. LOUIS - The standing ovation Larry Walker got from the St. Louis fans before his first at-bat as a Cardinal wasn't unusual.
It was the next one, the one he got after he struck out, that was a little different.
Walker, acquired in an August trade from Colorado, didn't know what to make of the stunning reaction. The veteran Cardinals on the bench weren't surprised a bit.
"That's just St. Louis," catcher Mike Matheny said. "That's the way they are, the way they've always been. They're very special fans."
One reason they are special is that they have been Cardinals fans for a long time, many introduced by their parents or grandparents who grew up listening throughout the midwest and south on KMOX radio.
Another is that they are extremely knowledgeable about the game, appreciating effort and understanding nuances as well as fans anywhere.
Yet another is their passion, the unbridled enthusiasm and energy they bring to Busch Stadium, and the college football-like antics they do, such as dressing all in red.
But what may set them apart more than anything - and far apart from fans in Boston, or New York, or, say, Philadelphia - is how polite and positive they are.
Call it the true spirit of St. Louis.
"There is no better town from a support standpoint than St. Louis, and this is a long-standing thing," said Joe Magrane, the former Cardinals pitcher and current Devil Rays TV broadcaster. "It's a midwest mentality. ... It's a throwback in a lot of ways. I know this is a horrible cliche, but to the Red Sox fans the glass is half empty and with the Cardinal fans it's always half full."
As Walker, as Scott Rolen, as Jim Edmonds, as Mark McGwire, and other recent-vintage stars have found out and decided to sign long-term deals after being acquired in trades, even in these days of cynicism and negativity, St. Louis fans still cheer almost blindly for the home team.
"We've had more curtain calls than most entertainers," reliever Ray King said.
Because they want so badly for the Cardinals to win, the St. Louis fans will occasionally get on the visiting team. But it's just as likely they will cheer - or at least politely applaud - a good play or performance by their opponents.
"You can get booed here as a visiting player some," manager Tony La Russa said. "But you're not going to be embarrassed by the booing. And I think we've been in situations where the fans for the other people are real enthusiastic, very supportive, and they can get real nasty with the visiting club.
"That's irritating and sometimes dangerous. Here you virtually never see nastiness from our fans. If you like people that are really enthusiastic and fair to both sides, (St. Louis) has got a chance to be the best."
The fans don't just know the game, they know the players. King, a middle reliever, said he walked into a convenience store on his first day as a Cardinal, and the clerk knew who he was. Reliever Danny Haren, a self-described "relative nobody" who has yet to spend a full season in the majors, is routinely recognized in suburban restaurants.
"It doesn't matter who you are around here," Haren said. "If you are a Cardinal, you are one of them."
The simplest explanation?
"Baseball is a religion in St. Louis," Cardinals great Stan Musial wrote in the forward to the book Cardinal Nation. "It has always been that way, and I see no reason why that will ever change."
