St. Louis Cardinals

Leadership

It was the moment that no baseball fan wants to see. Watching on live TV, as a favorite rookie gets hurt. Not just hurt in a “Oh great, another one might have to go on the DL, and we’re going to have to seriously think about playing Oquendo, and Kozma may actually have to catch,” way, but in a “That man is not moving, I hope this isn’t a life-threatening situation” way.

But, that was the Cardinals game last night, after Stephen Piscotty and Peter Bourjos collided in the outfield, with Bourjos’ knee making contact with Piscotty’s head. It looked awful, especially as you watched Piscotty crumple to the ground and lie motionless, while Bourjos waved frantically for help.

The players were stunned. Many of them dropped to their knees, and I imagine more than a few were offering a quick prayer. The crowd was stunned. Bourjos looked stricken. Can you imagine what must have been going through his head?

But there was an unsung hero as the drama on the field unfolded, someone who, after only playing with us for a single season, already clearly exemplifies everything the Cardinals organization holds dear. Someone I hope gets a nice, long contract in the off-season that will have him staying with us for a good, long time.

Jason Heyward.

We all know him for his amazing defensive plays. He’s not the current Golden Glove winner for nothing. And we know he can come through at clutch moments with the bat, as well.

But what I saw on the field last night was the type of leadership you always hope to see from professional athletes, but in reality, you don’t get to witness often.

You might have missed it. The focus was totally on Piscotty, as was right. But, if you were paying attention, off to the side, came Heyward. Bourjos was clearly agitated, and Heyward began talking to him, and casually led him away from the frightening scene. I don’t know what was said. I don’t even know if Heyward was really thinking about what he was doing, or if it was just an instinct to help out his teammate, and try to get his mind off of what happened. But, it was a much-needed action…one look at Bourjos’ face made it clear that he was upset, and probably feeling some guilt, and possibly also in physical pain himself. So Heyward stepped up. He couldn’t do anything for Piscotty…that was left to the trainers and doctors. But he could do something to help the man still standing, and he did.

At the major league level, you expect to see highly skilled players. But true leadership is rarer. The guys that smooth out a bad situation, or light a fire under their teammates’ tails when necessary. The guys that can lighten up the mood in the clubhouse, or tell their teammates that it’s time to get serious. Heyward himself is still a young player, and still new to the Cardinals organization, yet he’s already showing the ability to take on that kind of leadership role.

We acquired Heyward for his known skill in the outfield. We need to keep him because he’s the kind of leader our team needs. Get that man a contract, and sign Heyward!

American Girl Night at the Ballpark

Tonight was American Girl Night at Busch Stadium, so of course I had to take the girls. It was very fun!

We had good seats:

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The highlight of the evening was seeing Kolten Wong hit a grand slam…very exciting! Ladybug has been wanting to see a grand slam for a long time, so it was a dream come true for her, and I enjoyed watching her excitement. We had a very fun girls’ night out!

Back at Busch

Today was our first trip of the season to Busch Stadium! I don’t think anyone was more excited than Chickadee:

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Then again, everyone was pretty excited to be back in Baseball Heaven!

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Our seats were in the right field loge. Not too bad, except for the foul pole:

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Chickadee was so excited that fell asleep before the game could even start. (Don’t worry…she woke up in time for the National Anthem!)

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Somebunny spotted a Cardinals bunny at the Build-a-Fredbird store…since she had some allowance money saved, we stopped in. Her siblings even bought her new stuffed friend a Cardinals shirt…I love seeing their generosity in action!

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The children really loved being back in one of their favorite St. Louis locations!

Of course we had to see Fredbird…it took a couple attempts to get everybody to look at the camera, and never all of them at the same time. Thus is life with five children!

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This was one of the most fun Cardinals games I’ve ever been to…and that’s saying a lot. It was pretty humid, but not too hot, and the sun stayed behind the clouds for most of the game. Yadier Molina and Jason Heyward received their Gold Glove awards before the game. The St. Louis Blues playoff game started during the Cardinals game, and there was a great energy of support for both teams…they kept showing Blues recaps on the scoreboard, and the organist even got involved…Let’s go Blues! Both teams won, so it was a spectacular day to be at Busch Stadium, and an even better one to be in St. Louis!

Busch Stadium Tour II

So, um, seven months ago (!!!), Ryan and I took the children on a Busch Stadium tour. I briefly mentioned it here, but never got around to sharing pictures. Since I posted about the tour the first time we went, shared a fantastic dugout picture from last summer, and because so much time has passed, I won’t recap everything…I’ll just hit the highlights. I will say, we had the two best possible tour guides  I could have imagined (Fred and Jay)…they not only both had an incredible amount of baseball knowledge, but they had awesome personal stories as well!

I did get a better peak at the Cardinals Club this time, the exclusive restaurant at which green seat ticket holders get to eat:

You tend to notice new or different things (or just see them from a different perspective), each time you take the tour (or visit the ballpark at all, really):

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I never tire of the view from the field!

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It may be a bit colder now than the day we visited Busch Stadium, but tours are offered all year long, and it might be just the right thing to help you get ready for Spring Training, and feel a little Cardinals spirit, even in the bleak midwinter that is February!

Waiting for Opening Day

The two big girls both received Cardinals jerseys for Christmas. With the year winding down, and the 12 Days of Christmas almost half over, what else is there to do but look out the window, and wait for spring (and Opening Day!)?

Baseball Accessories

The Cardinals 2014 post-season run begins today!

Lately, I’ve been sharing a lot of my favorite fashion accessories, and I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention some of my favorite ways to accessorize my various jerseys (three of them!) and t-shirts while supporting my favorite team. There are so many fun options, from the obvious plethora of hats, to handbags, jewelry and pins, socks, and even nail polish in team colors:

Now all I need is a pair of red Chucks, and I’ll be all set…

Overheard at the Ballpark

When we were in line waiting to get in the gates at Busch Stadium at the last Cardinals game we went to, I had to chuckle at the couple in line behind us. Ryan was wearing his custom Cardinals jersey, with our last name on the back. The woman behind us was insisting to her husband that “Markel” (mispronounced, of course!) played with the Cardinals at some point…and she was trying very hard to remember what position he played. I think she settled on pitcher, and it really didn’t matter what her husband said to her, she was convinced she was right. It was a funny conversation to listen to for sure!

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Baseball Summer 2014

This was another fun “baseball summer” for the Markel family! It was also a little different for us this year, because we had quite a few free tickets to Cardinals games…18 of them, to be exact. Since a lot of these tickets had to be used in pairs, I took each child to his or her own game at Busch Stadium…well, his or her own, plus Chickadee, who everyone requested come along! We did make it to a few family games, as well, plus a few other fun baseball outings!

Our first game of the season was part of the Opening Series on April 9. It was also part of a field trip that we even took Moose out of school for …the Weather Bash at Busch. A morning of science followed by an afternoon of baseball…it doesn’t get much more fun than that!

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Busch Stadium, Infield Pavilion–Section 356, Row 9

On April 25 “Facebook Friday” finally came to our area. This is something the Cardinals have been doing for a few years now. Every Friday afternoon, Fredbird makes an appearance at a different location, and gives out tickets and beakings. I’d been wanting to get to a Facebook Friday for a while, but it seemed like they never came to the Metro East, until that Friday, when Fredbird showed up in Fairview Heights!

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On May 14, Moose and I had tickets for his special game (courtesy of Facebook Friday), and they were even tickets to a Cardinals-Cubs game. Unfortunately, this was as close as we got that day…the game was cancelled due to rain literally as we walked up to the gate. Moose was very disappointed.

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On May 18, Ryan and I took everyone to Busch Stadium to celebrate our 13th anniversary. It was a beautiful day, and we were lucky enough to get the same seats as we had at the game in April!

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Busch Stadium, Infield Pavilion–Section 356, Row 9

On June 19 I took the children to a Gateway Grizzlies game to celebrate Honor Roll night for Moose’s school. This is always a fun outing, and the Grizzlies had a great season this year, and also hosted the Frontier League All-Star game, so it was a fun time to visit their ballpark.

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GCS Ballpark–Section 121, Row H

Turkey had another season in parks & rec baseball, and this year, he got to play on four different fields over the course of the season, which was a new record for his team. It’s hard to believe he’s played for so many summers, and we’re not sure what next year will look like for him, but we enjoyed watching him play as a Pirate again!

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On June 27 we visited Fredbird at our second Facebook Friday of the year…and this time, he was even in our town! The children also finally each got a “Flat Freddy,” which we had tried to find at AT&T Stores earlier in the summer, but they were always out.

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On July 8 I used the tickets we got at the second Facebook Friday to take Moose back to Busch Stadium…and this time, we got to see a game!

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Busch Stadium, Left Field Porch–Section LP1, Row 10

On July 14, we took the children on a Busch Stadium Tour as part of summer school. They were very excited to see the parts of the stadium they don’t usually get to visit, especially the press box and the Cardinals dugout.

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That same day, we also went to the new Cardinals Museum, which is a beautiful, well-done tribute to Cardinals history.

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And we visited the new Cardinals Hall of Fame while we were there, which is located just outside the museum.

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On July 26, the children and I drove to Waterloo to see the Belleville Stags, a vintage baseball team, play a game. It was more fun that we could have imagined, and we are now huge fans of vintage baseball!

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On August 3 we went back to Busch Stadium to celebrate Fredbird’s Birthday as a family. This was Build-a-Bear day at the ballpark, which is the one game we try to get to every year. This was also the first time Chickadee had her own ticket to the game…she doesn’t need one to get in, yet, but to get her stuffed Clydesdale she required a ticket, and there was no way she was going to leave with her pony!

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Busch Stadium, Left Field Pavilion–Section 369, Row 14

On August 12 we took our baseball road trip of the summer…to the Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory. It was a fascinating place to visit, and we all learned a lot!

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While we were in Louisville, we also visited the Louisville Slugger Walk of Fame. Of course, everyone’s favorite bat was the one belonging to Stan the Man!

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On August 15, we visited Qdoba for Facebook Friday #3 of the summer. It was at this point that I realized that we must be Fredbird groupies, but I don’t mind. Chickadee gets so excited every time she sees him that it’s totally worth it!

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On August 19, it was Ladybug’s turn to go to the game with me (and Chickadee). Once again, we used our Facebook Friday tickets, and had a view we don’t usually get since we’re usually in the upper deck!

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Busch Stadium, Lower Left Field Box–Section 179, Row 12

On August 20, I took just Chickadee to a game. It was a lot of fun to just sit with her and talk to her about the game…she is truly the most enthusiastic fan in our family! Unfortunately, we had to leave early, because a storm was rolling in, and I didn’t want to get stuck downtown with a toddler in bad weather.

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Busch Stadium, Infield Terrace–Section 448, Row 11

On August 30, the game that we had tried to attend earlier in the season was made up. This time, Turkey went with me, since Moose went to a different game in July. We had a great time watching the Cards play the Cubs, even if the Cubs did win that one.

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Busch Stadium, Right Field Box–Section 130, Row 25

September 2 was Bunny’s night at the ballpark. I swear I could see our house from our seats in the very last row of the very top deck of the stadium, but even though heights make me nervous (to put it mildly), the view was amazing. The workout I got from the walk down every single flight of stairs to the exit while carrying a sleepy toddler was just a bonus…

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Busch Stadium, Infield Terrace–Section 454, Row 11

On September 13 we went to the Cardinals Kids Club party for the first time. It was kind of a disappointment, and if people buy the Kids Club memberships just for that party, I’d think they wasted their money. But we still got to walk around the stadium, which is always fun.

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Even though the party was a disappointment, because we had Kids Club memberships, we were able to get 1/2 price tickets to the Cards-Rockies game that night, and it was a lot of fun! While we were at the ballpark, the children got to try out the pitching speed machine, which they really enjoyed. We also got to see a group of service members from Fort Leonard Wood present a giant American flag in center field, which is quite a sight to see. It was a nice way to end our season at Busch!

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Busch Stadium, Infield Terrace–Section 448, Row 11

For the rest of the season, we’ll be watching on TV, and looking forward to going back to Busch next year, whenever that game might be!