Dansby Swanson refuses Cardinals hat autograph request, prioritizes Cubs gear

Dansby Swanson has nothing to do with other clubs if its name isn’t the Chicago Cubs.

The Cubs and the St. Louis Cardinals share a famous rivalry, known by names like the Route 66 rivalry and The I-55 rivalry. Both play in the NL Central division and are known to be bitter rivals.

Recently, during a fan interaction moment, Swanson was signing different Cubs gear for fans. While at it, he encountered the Cardinals hat, which led him to ask, “Do you want me to sign on it?”

The fan affirmed, but Swanson was quick to jab back:

“Hell no, I don’t want to sign that.”

Surely, Swanson placed his loyalty with the Cubs and wasn’t the one to please the Cardinals fan. He continued to sign Cubs gear with interest, though.

Dansby Swanson struggling on defense

Dansby Swanson is off to a slow start to the season, and his shortcomings haven’t just been limited to hitting. The two-time Gold Glove winner has registered four errors on the season, with his latest costing his team the game against the New York Mets.

In the sixth inning, with one out on board, JD Martinez grounded to Swanson, who was positioned at shortstop. Swanson miscued the throw in what should have been a routine play to first base, resulting in an error.

Jeff McNeil flew out for the second out, but if not for the error, it could have been the third. With two out, the error came to bite back as DJ Stewart barreled a 0-1 pitch into the right-field stands to give New York a 4-1 lead.

“I just made a bad throw,” he said. “It’s not a good throw. Obvious, it came back to bite us.”

“It’s a play that Dansby makes. It’s a play he’s got to make and he just didn’t make it,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “We didn’t play good enough defense tonight. We gave them a run in the first. The [Swanson] error contributed to the sixth inning as well. We got burned by not capitalizing on some outs tonight.”

It was a close game that ended in 4-2 in favor of the Mets. Even at the plate, Dansby Swanson is only hitting .218.