Not sure where it started, but it might have been at the National Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremony in 1987. Ford C. Frick Award winner Jack Buck got up and waxed eloquently about his town:
“I don't want to be belligerent about it,” Buck said. “But I kind of think, Mr. (George) Steinbrenner and others, that St. Louis is not only the heartland of America, but the best baseball city in the United States.”
It was a beautiful sentiment from a beautiful man, and we all embraced it. This town has taken its share of hits in recent years.