To find the last time the Cardinals had a smaller home crowd than the announced gathering of 17,675 fans at Busch Stadium on Monday vs. Pittsburgh, you have to go back exactly 28 years.

Monday's crowd was the smallest non-pandemic gathering in the history of the current stadium.

On Monday, Aug. 25, 1997, vs. Montreal, 16,965 fans gathered to watch Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez and the Expos win 2-1 in a game that was rescheduled after it was snowed out in April.

The Cardinals finished 73-89 that season with an average attendance of 32,772. This season, they're averaging under 29,000.

Below is the game story from that game that ran in the following day's Post-Dispatch, Aug. 26, 1997.

By Mike Eisenbath

Of the Post Staff

Manny Aybar has a fine right arm and a marvelous future with th

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