The Cardinals are back in the NLCS for a third straight year, and the red shirts can be seen all over campus. Once again the St. Louis natives are excited about the playoffs. This time around however, the red birds are playing the role of underdog and this year it’s not just the Cards fans donning their team’s gear.

All over campus New Yorkers are sporting Mets hats, t-shirts and jerseys. The large northeastern population at Wash. U. is flexing its collective Mets muscle, as fans of the metropolitans prepare for an exciting series and a chance to finally see their team in the playoffs.

“I definitely like the fact that the Cardinals made it this far, because now I get to see the Mets play live,” said junior Jim Wexler. “I have been waiting for this since 2000 and for the next three weeks, my life revolves around the Mets.”

Regardless of the Mets’ presence on campus, St. Louisans are certainly not prepared to cede their territory. Cardinal Nation is still confident in its team and hope stars Albert Pujols and Chris Carpenter can carry them back to the World Series.

“We have an underachieving class of baseball stars that if they live up to their potential can take us to the promised land,” said sophomore Martin Gregory. “Mets fans have been on a high all year, but with their depleted rotation I think the Cards have a chance of shutting all the Mets fans on campus up for good.”

With Game One postponed due to rain, the Mets and Cardinals began their run of five straight games last night with a 2-0 Mets win.

The ALCS has hit home for many Wash. U. students as well. Although Detroit and Oakland don’t quite have the same on-campus followings of the Mets and Cardinals, the smaller numbers haven’t stopped the A’s and Tigers faithful from rooting for their teams.

Accounting Professor Mark Soczek is a native of Goetzville, a small town in Michigan’s upper peninsula. Without much reason to cheer on the Tigers in recent seasons, Soczek had grown to root for the team in his adopted city of St. Louis, where he has lived for 10 years. The recent Tiger success, though, has brought back his love of the blue and orange.

“I am first and foremost a Tigers fan,” explained Soczek. “I’ll root for the Cardinals, and I wouldn’t be completely heartbroken if they won. It’s hard to follow an AL team extensively because they don’t come through as much. The Tigers haven’t been a contender lately so there’s no animosity. But now we’re back and it’s a good feeling.”

Professor Soczek finds himself in the minority as a Tigers fan in Cardinal country.

“I don’t know too many Tigers fans in St. Louis. What is interesting though is what you see in Detroit as well as other cities such as Kansas City and Chicago. There are a large number of Tigers fans following them this year.”

Professor Soczek is not the only fan feeling a bit out of place, though. Alex Tint, a sophomore at Washington University, is a die-hard Oakland A’s fan.from New Jersey.

“I only knew one other A’s fan growing up: my gym teacher,” said Tint. “The first baseball game I went to was Yankees vs. A’s, and Jose Canseco hit a home run that my dad caught.

“I’ve met a couple of A’s fans here, though most of them are from California. I get pretty lonely at home, but I like being an A’s fan. No one hates them since they haven’t really done anything, but everyone respects [General Manager and baseball savant] Billy Beane.”

Tint has enjoyed every moment of this season, but with the A’s down in an early 2-0 hole heading back to Detroit, he’s just happy to have experienced the league championship series.

“This has been a great run,” confirmed Alex. “Getting past the division series was great since it’s the first time it’s happened since I was about three.”

The A’s and Tigers continue their series Friday night in Detroit, where the A’s will try steal home field advantage back from the Tigers with a couple of wins. The World Series begins Saturday, Oct. 21 in the city of the AL champion.

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