Shirtless club baseball team starts wave of 'tarps off' at Cardinals game, gets invited to postgame clubhouse originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The St. Louis Cardinals are exceeding some expectations with their hot start this season. Part of their recent success, however, has been fueled by a peculiar fan ritual at Busch Stadium.
Members of a club baseball team from Stephen F. Austin recently sparked a series of shirtless celebrations at the Cardinals' home stadium — so much so, that entire sections in right field were full of fans without shirts.
On Saturday, the shirtless club baseball squad even got an invite down to the Cardinals' clubhouse to meet with the players, with St. Louis now on a three-game winning streak and contending in the NL Central.
Here's a look at the bizarre "tarps off" trend following the Cardinals' success over recent days.
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Club baseball team starts shirtless trend at Cardinals game
On Friday, members of the Stephen F. Austin club baseball team, called the Lumberjacks, were near the St. Louis area for the National Club Baseball Division II World Series. They received ticket offers from the Cardinals to attend Friday night's game against the Royals — and after 17 players from the club squad attended, per ESPN, it wound up leading to plenty of energy being brought to Busch Stadium.
In the right-field seats on Friday night, the group of college players took off their shirts, waved them around, chanted and convinced fans around them to also go shirtless, leading to a unique spectacle at the Cardinals' home stadium.
St. Louis got a walk-off single in the 11th inning from Yohel Pozo, and by that point, the fans in right field were going wild. The shirtless frenzy caught the attention of the broadcast, players and Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol.
"Whoever started that in right field, I'll do whatever I need to do to make sure they come every game," Marmol said Friday, per ESPN. "Because that was awesome. Not only them, but everybody that showed up today. That was a fun environment."
Marmol also shared a social media post asking fans to keep that momentum going into the weekend — and he worked with the Cardinals to create a link to sign up for a free "Tarps Off Ticket Offer" for fans who would go shirtless in the same section for Saturday and Sunday.
"I'll buy tickets for fans who want to sit in the right field Loge and bring the energy," Marmol wrote.
On Saturday, the Stephen F. Austin players also returned to Busch Stadium after winning a game of their own, per ESPN, and soon after, of course, their shirts were off. They shared a message to Cardinals fans on social media when they were on the way to the ballpark:
Plenty of times, the Cardinals' broadcast showed dozens of shirtless fans celebrating, waving their shirts in the air as St. Louis claimed a 4-2 win.
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What is 'tarps off?'
"Tarps off" refers to fans at a sports event taking their shirts off to bring energy and cheer, often waving the shirt around while chanting and singing.
While it's a far more common sight in soccer, or even football, the practice has rarely caught on at an MLB stadium the way it has for the Cardinals recently.
Why did Stephen F. Austin club team get invited to Cardinals locker room?
After the Cardinals' second-straight win with loud, shirtless fans in right field, the team was clearly appreciating the added energy at home.
Not only did Marmol help execute the free ticket sale for the rest of the weekend, but after Saturday's win over the Royals, the Stephen F. Austin players who kickstarted the shirtless trend were invited into the Cardinals' clubhouse to meet players.
Initially, their shirts were on.
But that quickly changed.
