Over the years, Cardinal fans have gained the reputation as being the best and most knowledgeable in the game, according to
Peter Gammons and other experts, and St. Louis has been deemed "Baseball City, USA". Players have been known to tell other players that they have not played baseball until they have played baseball in St. Louis.
The atmosphere is so addictive that several players have accepted a "home team discount" (lower salary) to remain on the Cardinals (which play in a relatively small market compared to other franchises), most notably
Scott Rolen,
Mark McGwire,
Jim Edmonds, and
Albert Pujols.