Cardinals manager Mike Matheny pokes the Cubs with sarcastic T-shirt comment

T-shirts and catchy slogans don’t win championships, but they probably don’t hurt. The Cubs and manager Joe Maddon have become famous for them in the past couple of seasons, and that hasn’t escaped the notice of their biggest rivals.

After the Cardinals won Wednesday to improve to 6-0 as the home team at their spring training complex in Jupiter, Fla., manager Mike Matheny was asked about their success at Roger Dean Stadium. And he delivered a clever quip:

"I think we have T-shirts somewhere that say something about winning at home," Matheny told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

 Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Jokes aside, St. Louis needs its home dominance to carry over from the exhibition season to the regular season. Its 38-43 record at Busch Stadium last season was a big reason why it missed the postseason for the first time in six years (the Cardinals finished one game back in the NL wild-card race). And the Post-Dispatch notes it was the first time in Matheny’s five seasons as manager that the Cardinals failed to win at least 50 games at home.

But better pitching and timelier hitting likely will be more effective than a T-shirt when it comes to reversing that trend in 2017.