Story Time: Sakura And St. Louis

I have an interesting story to tell. I have told this story to plenty of people, and if you know me, you’ve probably heard this story as well. But this story explains why I have been all about Miyawaki Sakura and the St. Louis Cardinals. I really love telling this story, so if you’d like to read on…

Back in February of this year, I was still somewhat trying to find myself as a fan of Major League Baseball. I gave a trial run with the Oakland Athletics, but if anybody is familiar with the Oakland Athletics in the 2014 season, you would know that the season was the closest thing to a Greek tragedy. Simply put, I was kind of wondering whether or not I picked the right team to support. Keep in mind that I was someone who owned several MLB team’s hats just to try to find the right team (i.e. Dodgers, Giants, Yankees, Twins, Royals, Cubs, Mets, Pirates, etc.), and picked the A’s because they seemed like the safest option. Meaning that no one really hated them. I was in Las Vegas at the time, and I found a nice looking cap for like, $12. It was a St. Louis Cardinals cap with the 2013 World Series patch on it (which interestingly was a World Series they lost). I actually enjoyed wearing this cap while walking around the Las Vegas Strip.

At the same time, I was catching up with Majisuka Gakuen 4, which had Miyawaki Sakura as the lead character that season. That was the most Sakura I had seen at the time. Keep in mind that I used to be real indifferent about Sakura, and honestly not care that much about her. But little did I know that both Miyawaki Sakura and the St. Louis Cardinals would define my entire 2015.

From February until May, I was working as a dietary aide in a nursing home. Some of the responsibilities I had included preparing food on a tray line, washing dishes in pretty unsanitary conditions, and delivering carts of coffee and food for patients. Never in my life had I felt so alone and disrespected…the outfits we had to wear looked rather silly, no one followed the “English only” policy as 90% of the staff spoke Spanish, and I felt disrespected by everyone: nurses, patients, fellow dietary aides, etc. I worked long, painful hours, I got paid minimum wage despite owning a Bachelors degree, and I was motivated to get the hell out of there and work somewhere else. I felt not only physically drained, but also emotionally and mentally exhausted. What does this have to do with Sakura? Just listen.

Because I was alone during my lunch break, I would pretend that there was a girl who always stopped by to visit her grandmother at the nursing home. This girl would usually visit at the time I had lunch. She noticed that I had an AKB48 member as my phone wallpaper when she was walking past (at the time it was a photo of Watanabe Mayu), and then told me how she was a fan of Mayuyu for a while now. We became good friends at the time. I told her all about the crap I had to go through working as a dietary aide on a regular basis, I told her about some of the friends I have who also like AKB48, and I told her about how I am trying to find a Major League Baseball team to really root for next season. What was this pretend girl’s name?

---

Her name was Miyawaki Sakura. And she said she was a diehard Cardinals fan from Maplewood, MO.

By June, not only did I pay attention to two the games and current rosters of two teams (Oakland/St. Louis), but I also paid a whole lot more attention to Miyawaki Sakura. I followed a Sakura fan page on Facebook, I had one of her mobame photos as a phone wallpaper, and every time I saw her perform in a concert or on AKBingo!, I would get hyped up. I did this because I pretended Sakura was my closest friend when I needed one the most.

I paid a lot more attention to the St. Louis Cardinals at the time, more so than the Oakland Athletics. The A’s season was crumbling fast while the Cardinals were doing well. I still would pay attention to the A’s, but when I saw them live at Angel Stadium (Anaheim) and O.Co Coliseum (Oakland), they lost both games in blowout fashion. With the Cardinals, I only saw them live once this year, at Dodger Stadium (Los Angeles). However, I was kind of timid to wear that Cardinals cap I bought in Las Vegas given that there was a lot of bad blood between the Cardinals and the Dodgers (the Cardinals eliminated the Dodgers in the playoffs two years in a row). Given the incidents of violence that occurred in Dodger Stadium, I did not want to put myself in what could have been a painful situation. Thus, I wore a Dodgers cap to the game even though I wanted to root for the Cardinals. That was a loss on my end, as 35-40% of that stadium was filled with Cardinals fans. The Cardinals won that game, and I was frustrated for not representing the team not only I truly wanted to root for, but the team Sakura was rooting for. I was mad for being scared.

Because of this, I took the time and effort to really dig into the St. Louis Cardinals history. I researched the Cardinals teams of old, including the Gashouse Gang of the 30s and Whitey Ball of the 80s. I learned to embrace the hate rather than grow timid to the masses. I watched highlights on YouTube and I purchased Cardinals jerseys. I did all of this because I kept thinking about Sakura. Yes, I was pretending that an idol from Kagoshima was my closest friend, but I was happy doing this. I’m still doing this to this day, and I’m still happy! Every time I see the St. Louis Cardinals, I always think of Miyawaki Sakura, and vice-versa.

The funny thing is, in August I went to visit Las Vegas once again. While walking around the Strip, I was rocking my good old St. Louis Cardinals cap I bought there in February, and some guy walks up to me trying to sell tickets for a show. This is how the conversation went:

Guy: Hey, what’s up man? Cardinal Nation up in here!
Me: That’s right bro!
Guy: You from St. Louis?
Me: Nah, but my girlfriend is.
Guy: That’s what’s up. You have a photo?
Me: Sure! This is what she looks like:

---

Since then, I have gone with this story every time someone asks about how I rock a Cardinals cap. Even though I’ve done plenty of research on the team and all of the famous St. Louis Cardinals I would need to know to call myself a Cardinals fan (i.e. Stan Musial, Bob Gibson, Dizzy Dean, etc.), I always seem to say “because my girl is from St. Louis” and then bring up a photo of Sakura. I want to have fun with this, since the Cardinals are not exactly well received where I am from.

Thus, I think I may follow the St. Louis Cardinals for the rest of my life. I am already trying to plan a trip in June to St. Louis just to see them hit home runs and strike batters out in Busch Stadium. Don’t get me wrong: I still will root for the A’s as well, whether or not they win or lose 100 games. But I am much more hyped with the Cardinals, and don’t mind rooting for a team several other fan bases hate. I am willing to embrace the role of being hated, because who cares what those people think anyway?

 Look at me now. I quit my dietary aide job for an overall better one as a behavior interventionist. I am looking forward every day to St. Louis Cardinals baseball and whatever the hell the real life Miyawaki Sakura is up to.

---

At this point I may as well call her St. Louis Sakura.

-Nathan (L4Verra)