Never carried a wallet in my life.
As a dedicated gambler, I keep money in my right-side pants pocket, positioned like a gun, ready to fire at a moment's notice.
The unconventional practice, which results in a lighter load to carry physically and a greater sense of freedom mentally, finally cost me last week at Busch Stadium.
After a profitable afternoon at Fairmount Park, a 95-year-old racetrack rebranded as FanDuel Sports Betting and Horse Racing, in Collinsville, Illinois, I cheerfully crossed the Mississippi River into St. Louis for a Cardinals game against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Only one problem: I had a pocketful of cash but not a single debit card or credit card.
It seemed everyone but yours truly knew the COVID-19 rules and restrictions at the ballpark: Busch Stadium is cashless.
As loyal fans dressed in Cardinal garb approached the entrances, they could be spotted showing their phones to gate attendants who were scanning barcodes off smartphone screens.
No physical tickets, no ticket offices accepting cash, no ticket scalpers and thus no game for me.
It was back across the river to watch the entire MLB schedule at FanDuel instead of just one game.
So be it.
I've visited Busch Stadium many times and even enjoyed a ballpark tour there a few years ago, which included a walk on the field and a view from the dugout.
The unusual circumstances caused me to flip on the car radio to KMOX (1120 AM) and listen to the start of the Pirates-Cardinals game.
Mike Shannon is in his 50th and final year of broadcasting Cardinals games.
He's not as legendary as the late Jack Buck, but he is admired by Cardinal Nation for his longevity.
So much so, a street near the stadium was recently renamed "Shannon's Way" to honor the beloved broadcaster.
Shannon played nine seasons (1962-1970) for the Cards as a third baseman and right fielder and was a member of two World Series teams (1964, 1967) before embarking on a career in radio and television.
I was hoping to hear Shannon's signature home run call -- There's a long one to left, get up baby, get up, get up...OH YEAH! -- but instead I heard something completely different.
A diminished 81-year-old broadcaster struggled to describe the action while mumbling batting average, home run and RBI totals for every player who came to the plate.
Never have Triple Crown stats been less relevant than today, but that's not the major criticism of Shannon.
His call was unbearable.
He constantly made mistakes, garbled many of his words and stayed well behind the live action, according to the crowd noise which outed him.
I lasted only one inning.
Someone in the Cards organization knew enough to keep the professional, clear-speaking John Rooney in the radio booth with Shannon to offer adult care to the aging broadcaster.
It's always a tough call for sports organizations to deal with veteran announcers who have outlived their professional usefulness.
But here's the general rule of thumb every team should follow: An announcer's age is irrelevant but his job performance is not.
A STAR IN THE MAKING.....Jon "Boog" Sciambi is the new Cubs television announcer on the fledgling Marquee Network.
In a word, he's awful.
Sciambi once said his goal as a baseball announcer is "to be fun, smart, accurate and interesting."
He's 0-for-4 in my book.
The announcer who checks all of Sciambi's boxes resides on the south side of Chicago.
Jason Benetti joined the White Sox broadcasting team in 2016 and took over as the team's primary announcer three years later when Ken Harrelson retired permanently.
Benetti teams with former Cy Young Award winner Steve Stone to form one of the best local broadcasting teams in the game.
The modest Benetti spotlights everyone except himself and brings out the best in "Stoney," one of the brightest minds in the game who combines old-school pedigree with a healthy respect of new-school analytics.
Stone is at his best when explaining the game's ultimate duel between pitcher and batter.
Stone reminds viewers to watch how many pitches a pitcher has at his disposal on any given night and to check the location of his pitches compared to where the catcher is setting up the target.
If Stone makes predictions in the early innings about a pitcher's sharpness, or lack thereof, gamblers would do well to have their betting apps open to "live wagering."
A SWING AND A MISS.....Baseball is an individual sport disguised as a team game and this year's numbers are favoring the pitchers in a big way.
Major League Baseball teams are on a historic pace for strikeouts per game (9.02) and there's an interesting race taking place for the season's all-time lowest MLB batting average going back to 1871.
Batters this season are hitting a paltry .237, the same average as the hitters of 1968, a season remembered as "The Year of the Pitcher."
Trivia buffs recall Denny McLain won the AL Cy Young Award in 1968 with a record of 31-6 and 28 complete games.
And Bob Gibson won the NL Cy Young Award with a 22-9 record and a miniscule 1.12 ERA.
Like McClain, Gibson also recorded 28 complete games.
MONDAY'S BEST BET.....Play 522 MILWAUKEE BUCKS -4.5 over the Miami Heat.
I rarely bet against the Miami Heat and head coach Erik Spoelstra.
I like the class of the organization and I love the toughness of Jimmy Butler.
But tonight I'll make an exception to the rule.
Credit the pesky Heat for taking the Bucks to overtime last Saturday afternoon before losing by only two points in the end, 109-107.
The game was played in a tight 15-point window (Largest leads: Milwaukee 8, Miami 7) with no pace whatsoever (over/under fell 11 points of the closing total despite the overtime session).
Some would claim Miami was competitive despite Butler's poor shooting performance (4-for-22) and Bam Adebayo's poor offensive output (only nine points in 41 minutes).
I'll admit Butler and Adebayo will bounce back with better individual performances.
However, take a look at the three-point shooting stats by Goran Dragic and Duncan Robinson.
The two players combined to shoot 12-for-23 from beyond the arc and it's hard to see a repeat of those performances.
The key stat in Game 1 which could repeat itself in Game 2 is POINTS IN THE PAINT.
Miami surrendered 56 points in the lane to Milwaukee, a team that finished a miserable 5-for-31 from beyond the arc.
Miami won the pace battle in Game 1, yet Milwaukee still won the war.
Let's bet the Bucks to win by five or more points in a game that figures to provide more of a Milwaukee pace than a Miami one.
As a dedicated gambler, I keep money in my right-side pants pocket, positioned like a gun, ready to fire at a moment's notice.
The unconventional practice, which results in a lighter load to carry physically and a greater sense of freedom mentally, finally cost me last week at Busch Stadium.
After a profitable afternoon at Fairmount Park, a 95-year-old racetrack rebranded as FanDuel Sports Betting and Horse Racing, in Collinsville, Illinois, I cheerfully crossed the Mississippi River into St. Louis for a Cardinals game against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Only one problem: I had a pocketful of cash but not a single debit card or credit card.
It seemed everyone but yours truly knew the COVID-19 rules and restrictions at the ballpark: Busch Stadium is cashless.
As loyal fans dressed in Cardinal garb approached the entrances, they could be spotted showing their phones to gate attendants who were scanning barcodes off smartphone screens.
No physical tickets, no ticket offices accepting cash, no ticket scalpers and thus no game for me.
It was back across the river to watch the entire MLB schedule at FanDuel instead of just one game.
So be it.
I've visited Busch Stadium many times and even enjoyed a ballpark tour there a few years ago, which included a walk on the field and a view from the dugout.
The unusual circumstances caused me to flip on the car radio to KMOX (1120 AM) and listen to the start of the Pirates-Cardinals game.
Mike Shannon is in his 50th and final year of broadcasting Cardinals games.
He's not as legendary as the late Jack Buck, but he is admired by Cardinal Nation for his longevity.
So much so, a street near the stadium was recently renamed "Shannon's Way" to honor the beloved broadcaster.
Shannon played nine seasons (1962-1970) for the Cards as a third baseman and right fielder and was a member of two World Series teams (1964, 1967) before embarking on a career in radio and television.
I was hoping to hear Shannon's signature home run call -- There's a long one to left, get up baby, get up, get up...OH YEAH! -- but instead I heard something completely different.
A diminished 81-year-old broadcaster struggled to describe the action while mumbling batting average, home run and RBI totals for every player who came to the plate.
Never have Triple Crown stats been less relevant than today, but that's not the major criticism of Shannon.
His call was unbearable.
He constantly made mistakes, garbled many of his words and stayed well behind the live action, according to the crowd noise which outed him.
I lasted only one inning.
Someone in the Cards organization knew enough to keep the professional, clear-speaking John Rooney in the radio booth with Shannon to offer adult care to the aging broadcaster.
It's always a tough call for sports organizations to deal with veteran announcers who have outlived their professional usefulness.
But here's the general rule of thumb every team should follow: An announcer's age is irrelevant but his job performance is not.
A STAR IN THE MAKING.....Jon "Boog" Sciambi is the new Cubs television announcer on the fledgling Marquee Network.
In a word, he's awful.
Sciambi once said his goal as a baseball announcer is "to be fun, smart, accurate and interesting."
He's 0-for-4 in my book.
The announcer who checks all of Sciambi's boxes resides on the south side of Chicago.
Jason Benetti joined the White Sox broadcasting team in 2016 and took over as the team's primary announcer three years later when Ken Harrelson retired permanently.
Benetti teams with former Cy Young Award winner Steve Stone to form one of the best local broadcasting teams in the game.
The modest Benetti spotlights everyone except himself and brings out the best in "Stoney," one of the brightest minds in the game who combines old-school pedigree with a healthy respect of new-school analytics.
Stone is at his best when explaining the game's ultimate duel between pitcher and batter.
Stone reminds viewers to watch how many pitches a pitcher has at his disposal on any given night and to check the location of his pitches compared to where the catcher is setting up the target.
If Stone makes predictions in the early innings about a pitcher's sharpness, or lack thereof, gamblers would do well to have their betting apps open to "live wagering."
A SWING AND A MISS.....Baseball is an individual sport disguised as a team game and this year's numbers are favoring the pitchers in a big way.
Major League Baseball teams are on a historic pace for strikeouts per game (9.02) and there's an interesting race taking place for the season's all-time lowest MLB batting average going back to 1871.
Batters this season are hitting a paltry .237, the same average as the hitters of 1968, a season remembered as "The Year of the Pitcher."
Trivia buffs recall Denny McLain won the AL Cy Young Award in 1968 with a record of 31-6 and 28 complete games.
And Bob Gibson won the NL Cy Young Award with a 22-9 record and a miniscule 1.12 ERA.
Like McClain, Gibson also recorded 28 complete games.
MONDAY'S BEST BET.....Play 522 MILWAUKEE BUCKS -4.5 over the Miami Heat.
I rarely bet against the Miami Heat and head coach Erik Spoelstra.
I like the class of the organization and I love the toughness of Jimmy Butler.
But tonight I'll make an exception to the rule.
Credit the pesky Heat for taking the Bucks to overtime last Saturday afternoon before losing by only two points in the end, 109-107.
The game was played in a tight 15-point window (Largest leads: Milwaukee 8, Miami 7) with no pace whatsoever (over/under fell 11 points of the closing total despite the overtime session).
Some would claim Miami was competitive despite Butler's poor shooting performance (4-for-22) and Bam Adebayo's poor offensive output (only nine points in 41 minutes).
I'll admit Butler and Adebayo will bounce back with better individual performances.
However, take a look at the three-point shooting stats by Goran Dragic and Duncan Robinson.
The two players combined to shoot 12-for-23 from beyond the arc and it's hard to see a repeat of those performances.
The key stat in Game 1 which could repeat itself in Game 2 is POINTS IN THE PAINT.
Miami surrendered 56 points in the lane to Milwaukee, a team that finished a miserable 5-for-31 from beyond the arc.
Miami won the pace battle in Game 1, yet Milwaukee still won the war.
Let's bet the Bucks to win by five or more points in a game that figures to provide more of a Milwaukee pace than a Miami one.
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