Missouri woman attends 62nd straight St. Louis Cardinals home opener
Like she has every year since 1958, a Missouri woman was in attendance when the St. Louis Cardinals opened their home baseball season. Jan Daniels saw the Cardinals lose 5-3 to the San Diego Padres on Friday at Busch Stadium, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.
Daniels has been at every Cardinals' home opener since she attended the April 15, 1958, game at the original Busch Stadium with her late husband, Dan Daniels. The result was the same that day, as the Cardinals were shut out 4-0 by the Chicago Cubs.
Daniels owns an Opening Day record of 30-32. It does not matter what the weather is like. She will be at the stadium when the home plate umpire yells “Play Ball!”
"It's a holy day of obligation," Daniels, 81, of Florissant, told the Post-Dispatch. "We didn't set to make it a thing or set any streak. In fact, we didn't even really think about it until 1994, when (Dan) got laid off and we thought we weren't going to make it."
Florissant woman attends her 62nd straight Cardinals home opener and other tales from fans at Busch today https://t.co/zU2zI2077I #STLCards pic.twitter.com/AND27NVTyv
— St. Louis Post-Dispatch (@stltoday) April 5, 2019
The streak remained intact when Daniels' son, Thomas Daniels, scored tickets for Opening Day, the Post-Dispatch reported.
The couple met in 1956 at International Shoe Co., where they both worked, the newspaper reported. They were married the following year and attended their first Cardinals home opener in 1958.
The streak almost ended early, as Jan Daniels was “very pregnant” in 1960 and believed she would give birth right around Opening Day
However, Jan Daniels was able to attend the April 19, 1960, game, seeing her first Opening Day win as the Cardinals beat the Cubs 5-2. Janice Daniels, who attended Friday's game with her mother, waited a week to be born, the Post-Dispatch reported.
“The most memorable (game) was in 2004, when President (George W.) Bush threw out the first pitch,” Jan Daniels told the newspaper. “It was kind of scary. There were Secret Service men with sniper rifles and huge binoculars rimming the stadium.”
Dan Daniels died two years ago, and Jan Daniels admits that even with a large crowd at Busch Stadium, she feels alone.
"When the Clydesdales came around last year and everyone was standing and cheering, I cried a little," Jan Daniels told the Post-Dispatch. "I realize that Dan's not here with me, not right beside me."
