First Card Out - Bird Chatter Post Is 1st To Broadcast '26 Opening Day Lineup Card. We had seats—but ....

Mike Allen
Apr 14
2 min read

Updated: Apr 15

April 14, 1926

First Card Out

We had seats—but the work wasn’t going to stay in them.

Opening Day filled fast at Sportsman’s Park, the St. Louis Cardinals drawing a full crowd in against the Pittsburgh Pirates. The stands carried that early-season belief, the kind that shows up before a game has proved anything.

The aisles moved just as steady.

Vendors worked through without pause. Sausage links came hot for a nickel, passed hand to hand before the smoke cleared. Bottled drinks ran a dime, kept moving down the rows. Peanuts went quick. And the local cut held its place—gooey butter cake, thick slices wrapped and sold as fast as they could be carried.

You could sit and follow the game without ever leaving your seat.

We didn’t stay there long.

The lineup card was coming.

We made for the press box and got in with the rest, just as the first cards were being handed out. Fresh print, Opening Day—first look at the 1926 order. We took it.

That made the work.

From up top, we put it out—broadcasting the lineup as it stood, sending it out ahead of the rest. First to carry the 1926 card from the park.

We had it.

For a stretch.

We’re still waiting on the license—press pass coming in the mail, not yet in hand. That matters once the question is asked. So we moved out before it came twice.

Back through the park, back past the seats, and out toward the edge.

We finished the work from there.

The game carried through the crowd—early strike, the fifth-inning swing, the late push. You didn’t need the box to follow it when the whole place moves with it.

We were wrapping when they came up.

Two mounted officers, steady, coming in behind us and stopping just off the shoulder. Asked for credentials.

We didn’t have them to show.