Do you smell that?

That’s the smell of baseball in the air! Pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training camps today, marking the official start of the 2012 season. Personally, there wasn’t an off-season around here. I’ve been on a post World Series high for months… Football? Basketball? I have forgotten those seasons even exist!

The start of this season is even more exciting than those past. First, it marks off another item on my Cardinals Bucket List with my first ever Spring Training visit. Drooooolll….. I’ll be attending the opening day against the Marlins in their (ahem…) new uniforms, as well as an away game against the Nationals. I’m excited to watch some baseball so early in the season and really hoping for some connections to enable my desired career change. 

Perhaps more exiting is the return of Adam Wainwright. While exploring five years’ worth of pictures for my recent video, my husband made a stunning observation. We’ve never seen Adam pitch! Sure, we’ve seen him on TV, but we haven't physically attended a game where he has pitched. That’s astonishing and sad! We’ve seen so many others (seems like it always used to be Kyle Lohse!), and even seen events such as Carp’s complete game in Baltimore, but haven’t seen Adam throw anything other than the opening pitch at the World Series. It’s amazing to think that we won without the other half of the dynamic duo! 

We’ve always been big fans of Adam. He’s a truly remarkable pitcher. He has a great personality and sense of humor. He has teamed up with our all-time favorite BBQ joint, Pappy’s Smokehouse, to promote his charity (the Catch a Dream Foundation). He’s the kind of guy you love to see on the field and would love to hang out with on a Friday night. 

Welcome back, Adam! Looking forward to a great season!

Winter Warm-up

I have to apologize for this being late. I intended to have this posted during this year’s event, but alas, some things are unpredictable and hinder the best of plans. 

That said, the Cardinals Care Winter Warm-Up should be on every Cardinals fan’s bucket list. This is a full three days of non-stop Cardinals action – fans, players, memorabilia, shopping, and more. There are activities for all ages, opportunities to see rare items, and the chance to soak in all that is good about the club. My favorite part though is getting player autographs.

Let’s face it. Only so many people can crown around the first base line sticking balls and pens out praying for a player to walk by and take you up on your offer. Some players won’t even give you the time of day. Others are gracious enough, but only have so much time. We can’t all win at this game.

The Winter Warm-up provides a guaranteed signature, provided you are willing to pay for it and stand in line. But those are small costs to swallow when you consider the payoff. We attended the Winter Warm-up in 2010 and where lucky enough to get almost all signatures. This includes Yadier Molina, who is typically too busy in the bullpen to sign during games and who hasn’t appeared at the even since. This also includes Sir Albert Pujols, who wouldn’t dare sign during a game and has since taken all future opportunities away from us. (Ok, he can still sign his name, but he’s not doing it as a Cardinal, so it doesn’t officially count!)

At times you feel like cattle herding through the ropes to reach the end, but that end is worth it.

During our trip, we experienced two of my most favorite Cardinal moments:

Chris Carpenter – “Carp” is a legend. While some call him “Darth Carp”, I prefer to go with “The Hulk” because you wouldn’t like him when he’s angry! Anyway, we get to Carp and hand him a photo to sign. I was standing to the side taking pictures of my husband getting these autographs and the players doing so. But Carp was taking a good deal of time, just staring at the photo. Eventually, he asked my husband where it came from, to which he pointed to me. So I was able to go up and talk to Carp about the photo and he went on about not seeing anything like it before and how good it was. Of course, I offered to send him a copy. That was my proudest moment as a photographer – having a photo of one of the greats that he himself found worthy. And now I’m the proud owner of an autographed copy of that same photo…   

Brendan Ryan – We love the “B-Ry” (as we call him in our house). He is a great player. He played outstanding defense, gave great effort, and was an all-around nice guy. We’re still bitter that the Cardinals gave him up, but that’s another story. Brendan was such a class act at this event. Not only was he signing autographs, but he was taking his time with each person. He’d talk to them, ask questions, and engage with them. His line was running way behind as a result, but again, that’s a small price to pay to get one-on-one attention from your favorite players. He did the same with us, engaging in conversation and being human for a minute. And that made him an even more beloved person in our eyes. 

 

The bottom line is that you can meet your hero and receive a collectible that is priceless to you, and might be worth a lot to someone else in the future. And every dollar you spend to do so is going to charity. Why not support a good cause and meet some legends at the same time? Bucket List: CHECK!