Update: See photos from soccer at Busch Stadium.

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Courtesy of Gansner

George Gansner.

St. Louis resident George Gansner was able to snag a ticket to the highly anticipated Manchester City v. Chelsea F.C. soccer match tonight at Busch Stadium -- but he won't be needing it. That's because he'll be on the now transformed field refereeing the game.

"To get to do a game in my backyard is really a great honor," Gansner, a linesman, tells Daily RFT. "I get to do games all over North America, Central America and the Caribbean...but I never get to do one here in St. Louis."

But tonight, he'll finally get a chance to step on to the field at Busch for the first professional non-baseball event at the new stadium.

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via Facebook / SI

Calling all of the Best Fans In Baseball! Take a break from your intense soccer bashing, avert your eyes from the permanent destruction at Busch Stadium for some stupid exhibition game and looky here!

Cardinal Nation has got some intense loving on the cover of Sports Illustrated this week.

"Injuries? Superstar Free-Agent Losses? Nothing slows baseball's model organization... Past, Present and Future."

It's THE CARDINAL WAY.

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Photo by Steve Smith.

Stan Musial's dining room, NBD.

What's it like to be one of the most beloved baseball players of all time? If you have $1.8 million, you can sort of find out!

That's right, folks. You can sleep where the late, great Stan Musial once slept in his Ladue home that is officially on sale, as of yesterday.

Live like the greatest Cardinal that ever lived lived! Agents with Laura McCarthy Real Estate tell Daily RFT they will begin showing the house as early as next week.

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Update: See photos from soccer at Busch Stadium.

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via

Soccer at Busch? Blasphemy!

Think soccer at Busch Stadium will be a hit? Not so fast, sissy boys!

This is the message of a handful of vocal, outraged haters, a.k.a., the Best Fans In Baseball, who are making their disdain for soccer at Busch very clear on the Facebook page of the Cardinals, which is prepping for the Manchester City v. Chelsea F.C. match tomorrow. To some, it's quite prestigious for St. Louis to host the Premier League's exhibition game, but to others, it's a tragedy of epic proportions. Like a destructive, un-American, sacrilegious, evil force that is going to permanently poison the holy grounds of Busch.

So as the stadium continues its soccer transformation, we present to you the Best Fans in Baseball who are also the Worst Fans in Soccer.

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Update: See photos from soccer at Busch Stadium.

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via

Busch Stadium's transformation.

It may have been totally friggin' impossible to get tickets to the Premier League's much-discussed exhibition soccer game at Busch Stadium this week, but that doesn't mean you can't get excited and watch from the sidelines!

To pointlessly whet your appetite, dear readers who will not be attending the Manchester City v. Chelsea F.C. match this Thursday, we've collected some photos below of Busch Stadium undergoing its transformation into a soccer field, which began after the Cardinals game on Sunday.

It's an unprecedented conversion: This is the first professional non-baseball sporting event ever hosted at Busch Stadium III.

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via

Even the Cardinals had time to say happy Mother's Day to their moms.

With tweets and a video!

Check out the footage below of Daniel Descalso, Jon Jay, David Freese and Lance Lynn expressing their gratitude to their hard-working, nurturing moms who helped them become baseball stars.

Driving them to after-school practice, letting them throw tennis balls inside the house, teaching them life lessons...and more!

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@FernandoTatis17

Fernando Tatis. Mention those two words to any St. Louis Cardinals fan worth his/her salt, and you'll transport them back fourteen years to an April ballgame in Los Angeles. Tatis, the Cardinals third baseman, had already hit one grand slam off Dodgers pitcher Chan Ho Park in the third inning when he came up to bat again in the same inning with the bases loaded.

Oh, yes, he did! Ker-boom! Tatis tattooed a pitch over the outfield wall to become the only player in the MLB to ever get two grand slams -- and eight RBIs -- in one inning. So, how does Tatis follow up his on-field heroics now that he's out of baseball? By engaging in an activity as unusual as his record-setting home runs. He (or someone claiming to be him!) creates drawings in Microsoft Paint and posts the artwork on Twitter.

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Hammtown boy.

He knows his St. Louis Blues hockey and has lent his name to University of Missouri. And just in case anyone questions his hometown allegiances, this week Jon Hamm went to bat for the St. Louis Cardinals.

The star of Mad Men was on Daily Show Monday night when -- among other things -- he discussed baseball with host Jon Stewart. Actually, Hamm mostly poked fun at Stewart for being a Mets fan in the following dialogue:

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Photo: Jennifer Silverberg

Ballpark scraps find a second life as lawn food. Who knew?

Don't feel too guilty about not finishing your nachos at Busch Stadium. Chances are the leftover chips (and other half-eaten scraps) will make their way to St. Louis Composting for use as lawn and garden food.

A similar second chance exists for unsold food at the ballpark. It is donated to Operation Food Search to provide meals for the poor and hungry. In fact, since joining the EPA's Food Recovery Challenge in 2010, the Cardinals have donated more that 27 tons of unused food to Operation Food Search.

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Jon Gitchoff / RFT Slideshow

They walk among us.

Are these the worst "best fans in baseball?"

With baseball season in full swing, we've expressed our joy here at Daily RFT with a roundup of really friggin' excited St. Louisans on Opening Day and some photos of the most die-hard Cardinals fans at Busch Stadium.

But we're all about balance, which brings us to the topic of this post: @BestFansStLouis, the Twitter account that retweets the most vile, awful, horrible comments of frustrated Cardinals fans. A public shaming, if you will.

Racism and homophobia below!

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