Cardinal fans in Jupiter ready for spring training

JUPITER, 10/29/11, "The place sits an Albert Pujols foul tip from where it all began. It's 1,139 miles from where it all ended.

Friday night, it was the second-best place Ellen McGaughey could be.

Since McGaughey couldn't be in Busch Stadium for Game 7 of the World Series, she slipped on her lucky shirt and headed over to J.J. Muggs Stadium Grill, across the street from

• Roger Dean Stadium, where her beloved St. Louis Cardinals spend spring training.

Cardinals fans went home happy after St. Louis - which qualified for the playoffs on the final day of the regular season - defeated Texas 6-2 to cap one of the most improbably championship runs ever.

They don't allow squirrels inside the place, but they welcome Cardinals rally squirrel T-shirts, which McGaughey managed to acquire thanks to her sister Barbara Tipton, who still lives in St. Louis, where they grew up.

A few weeks ago, McGaughey's sister waited in a "mile long" line to buy the shirt -- her sister sent a picture to prove it. Ellen took one look at the crowd and told her to forget it. The next day, it was in her hands....

While most in the bar were rooting for the Cardinals, everybody was rooting for Game 7 to be comparable to the classic Game 6.

That includes Stadium Grill General Manager Ryan Witkowski, who was prepared to keep the doors open, minus alcohol sales, if Game 6 didn't end before 2 a.m. closing time.

Witkowski, wearing a Pujols jersey Friday, called Game 6 the best baseball game he'd ever seen, not only for personal reasons but professional.

We've had the World Series champion two of the past 10 years we've been open here," Witkowski said, referring to the '03 Marlins and '06 Cardinals, organizations that share Roger Dean.

• "We had our best spring training ever in '07, so we're definitely rooting for another championship."...

10/29/11, "Fans gather to watch World Series Game 7 and cheer for St. Louis Cardinals, who train in Jupiter," Palm Beach Post, H. Habib

• Spring Training Magazine, Grapefruit League

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