I was also struck by the respect that he has, and the respect that KMOX has, in general, from all of the Cardinal’s brass as well as the players.  Obviously we were surrounded by many media types in Jupiter.  There were personnel from television, newspaper, magazine, multiple websites including MLB.com, and several other radio stations all trying to cover the team and get an angle or inside scoop.  When KMOX wants an interview, they have no problem getting it.  There is a certain “circle of trust” that they have with players, management, and ownership that you just don’t see with some of the other media.  I saw first-hand that this relationship was special.  Players often walk past television cameras and newspaper reporters to speak with KMOX personnel.   The interaction is truly unique, and I was blessed to witness it and be a part of it for a short time.  The Cardinals have the right radio outlet as their "Flagship Station."  Like many of you, I grew up listening to the Cardinals on my little AM transistor radio.

 

While my only formal “official” interview on-the-air with KMOX Radio at Jupiter was with Adam Wainwright, I still had the opportunity to chit-chat and have casual conversation with many players, as well as Manager Mike Matheny, General Manager John Mozeliak, and team owner Bill DeWitt, Jr.   Everyone I encountered was very friendly, easy to talk to and a pleasure to be around.  I discovered much more about their personalities by observing them in a relaxed setting without a microphone in front of them or a TV camera shining on them.  Some of these encounters occurred during workouts or the batting cage, others took place in casual settings just outside the clubhouse, or around the breakfast or lunch area where a hired chef would whip up custom meals for the players each day from a large stainless steel trailer.

 

One of the main things that impressed me is the sheer size of these baseball athletes.  When you see them up close in shorts and a tank top or cropped t-shirt, you get to see a physique that you just can’t see at a game or realize on television when they are in full uniform.  Even a guy such as Carlos Martinez is huge.  Seeing him in that setting made it easy to understand how he throws the ball 97 mph. 

 

While standing outside the weight room, I could see Matt Holliday putting on a show for his Cardinal teammates.  He is a freak of nature who easily out lifts everyone on the team.  But I was also impressed with the strength shown in the weight room by Brandon Moss and Randall Grichuk.  They are studs.

 

It was also interesting to see how the players pair up and who they seem to hang with, particularly when they are off the field.  Piscotty and Grichuck have a great relationship and so do Moss and Gyorko.  The pitchers all seem to hang with other pitchers, which is understandable, and the younger guys tend to hang out with other young guns.  Hazelbaker and Diaz already knew each other from the minors, so it was interesting to see them spend time together as they both tried to make the team.  Fortunately for them (and the Cardinals), injuries to other players enabled both of them to break camp with the team.  It has been exciting to see that both Diaz and Hazelbaker have done well in the early part of the season, especially when it was unlikely that they would be in the majors at this time.  I’m not as surprised as some people with their hitting success.  I saw the potential they had in Jupiter.  They just needed a chance to play, and now they are getting it.   Defensively, they were fortunate to spend time in Spring Training getting instruction assistance from Jim Edmonds and Ozzie Smith.   All of the veterans like Waino and Yadi are good about being available to the younger players, offering advice about anything they might need.

 

During the time I spent with Mike Matheny, we did the usual baseball talk, but we also chatted about his passion for the game of chess and how the strategy of that game parallels the game of baseball in that you move the pieces around to give yourself a chance to win.  Matheny is often seen at events inside the World Chess Hall of Fame and Museum in St Louis.  His daily press conferences with the media at Spring Training were quite informative and he didn’t dodge the tough questions from anyone.

 

During my interview on the radio with Adam Wainwright, we talked about his passion for charity work with children in Haiti, as well as his love for fishing.  Sure, he enjoys talking about baseball stuff, but he is a normal guy like many of us with a wife, kids, and other concerns and interests outside of the game.  That is something I found from many of the players.  Wainwright also stated that he still plans to remain the best hitting pitcher on the team, despite the acquisition of Mike Leake.  He is a very competitive person.

 

I was in Jupiter when some of the baseball bat manufacturers were making their sales pitch to players around the cage and on the practice field, including Dinger Bats from Ridgway, Illinois.  It was neat to see them come to an agreement and sign up a new customer in Matt Adams, who fell in love with their bats.   Each player is free to choose any bat manufacturer they desire and the Cardinals equipment manager will then order in a large quantity of bats in the size, weight, design, and type of wood that the player desires.  Adams said he went with Dinger because he was breaking so many bats from other manufacturers.  Dinger is still a very small southern Illinois company when compared to the sales of Louisville Slugger, Rawlings, or Mizuno.  But, with guys like “Big City” now using their bat design, along with other MLB players like Kyle Schwarber of the Cubs, the company should continue to grow.

 

Another highlight was the time I spent in the booth meeting with Mike Shannon and John Rooney. Shannon is certainly a rapid fire personality with colorful language.  Like him or not, his loose cannon style is certainly different from any other major media person I have encountered, and that style has been his trademark for many years.  Rooney is much more under control, professional, respectful, and highly knowledgeable of the game.  I talked with him about his 10 years as the White Sox announcer before coming to the Cardinals about a decade ago.  It was interesting to hear him contrast the differences between the two baseball organizations.

 

The amount of information that Shannon and Rooney (as well as the Fox Midwest broadcasters) have in front of them before a game is astounding.  Each MLB team has very thick media guides, and there is also an overall Spring Training Media Guide booklet that covers each team.  In addition, the producers have placed a large amount of highlights, interviews, quotes, and related material in front of the crew that they have at their disposal during a broadcast.   The challenge is how, when, and where to use all of that information during a baseball broadcast.   There were several times that I noticed Shannon talking privately to Matheny behind the scenes about the team.

 

Timing is everything, and I happen to be at Spring Training when the Rueben Tejada deal went through.  In fact, KMOX and a handful of other media were the only ones at the complex when it went down so I was able to be there with Tom Ackerman and “break the story” to the national audience.  I was standing outside the clubhouse waiting for Wainwright to emerge for our scheduled interview.  Suddenly I noticed a black SUV with dark windows pull up in the gated player’s parking lot and out stepped Rueben Tejada and his interpreter.  He walked down the sidewalk towards me, turned and went into the clubhouse for what I would later find out was his team physical and a chance to meet the team.  His appearance meant that I would have to make my interview with Wainwright short, and it also meant I would lose the interview time I had hoped to have with Holliday, Carpenter, and Leake because we were about to be thrust into an impromptu press conference with General Manager, John Mozeliak, regarding the acquisition of Tejada. 

 

Even though I lost the other potential interviews, it was a neat thing to see and be a part of breaking the story.  Essentially it became a very secluded press conference with the GM involving Ackerman and myself, along with Jennifer Langosch from MLB.com and Rick Hummel of the Post-Dispatch.  All the other media was missing in action.  Again, timing is everything.  We got the scoop from Mozeliak, fired several questions at him and ran with the story on-the-air.  Ackerman actually called the producers back in St Louis and was able to break into the 11:00am news with a sports bulletin to announce it.  Several posts on Twitter and other social media coincided with the announcement on the radio and that's how the national media found out about the move, after the fact.

 

In addition to Tejada, another multi-cultural member of the Cardinals that I met was Seung Hwan Oh, the dynamic relief pitcher from Korea.  His interpreter, “Eugene,” was really fun to be around.  Oh could not speak hardly any English at all, but I marveled at how he was able to understand universal hand symbols such as “thumbs up” meaning good.   I watched pitching coach Derek Lilliquist spend a lot of time with Oh and Eugene in Jupiter, and we have all witnessed what a valuable relief pitcher he has been for the Cardinals thus far this season.

 

I also crossed paths with Willie McGee at Spring Training.  He was in Jupiter as a coach/consultant who worked with the Minor League players that were in camp.  Each day, while the major leaguers worked out on the big field, McGee would walk down to the auxiliary fields to work on defense, hitting, and the mental aspect of the game with the minor league guys, many of which were Double-A players.  On one particular day, a rain storm was brewing in the distance and I witnessed 57-year old McGee sprint back from one the fields along with a much younger coach to drag equipment indoors so it wouldn’t get wet.  Then to my surprise, as the players arrived back to the complex, Willie stood and held the door open for each of the 60-70 players that were trying to get out of the path of the rain.  There was no media around, no cameras, just me standing nearby under an overhang watching as he “served” those aspiring players in a humble way.  He certainly didn’t have to do that.  They are all capable of opening a door, but Willie showed why he is such a class act.

 

One of the emotional moments of my trip to Jupiter was the oportunity to meet a very special boy.  Josiah Viera is a 12-year old with a rare, fatal condition called Progeria, that causes him to age about 10 years for every 1 year. I had the privilege of meeting him and his grandfather and watching the Cardinal players interact with him.  He has been coming to Spring Training for the last few years and even made one trip to St Louis.  He doesn't have much time left on this earth, but you wouldn't know it from his attitude and actions. Josiah loves the Cardinals and loves life. He is energetic, witty, and just puts a smile on your face. I watched Cardinal pitcher, Mitch Harris, toss balls to him and Josiah smacked them around with joy on his face. The players all love Josiah and he is an amazing inspiration to the team. Despite his frail body and limitations, he doesn't complain. Meeting Josiah helps you keep proper perspective about life. He is a very special boy.

 

On my final day in Jupiter, I was privileged to meet Bill DeWitt, Jr, the Cardinals owner.         We talked about the new Busch Stadium, the amazing Ballpark Village, and the rich history of the Cardinals.  My comment to him was simple.  I thanked him for raising the bar through his ownership over the past 20 years and for always putting a competitive team on the field that would give us a chance to win.  As a Cardinal fan, that’s all you can really ask for.  He was very gracious and it was obvious to me that is truly a Cardinal fan, not just a businessman who happens to own the team.  Sure, he wants to turn a profit, but he is also concerned about winning and he wants to do the things necessary to maintain quality players through scouting and modern facilities, all while connecting with the fans through unique promotions and giveaways.

 

I entered this Spring Training Correspondent’s contest not only because I thought it would be great to spend some time with the team and learn from the KMOX personnel, but I also entered as a way of diverting my attention away from the Melanoma Cancer I was faced with.  The entire experience was enjoyable, informative and very therapeutic.  Most importantly, God answered my prayer by guiding the surgeons and doctors through a series of procedures that resulted in me recently receiving a clean bill of health.  I will continue to do physical therapy to fully recover from the surgery.   I will repeat the scans as well as the dermatology visits in the future to maintain my health, but I am thankful and blessed to be able to write about this experience.  More information can be found in the two blogs I wrote for KMOX on their website in addition to my recorded interview with Adam Wainwright, during which he predicted the Cubs might start off hot, like they indeed have done.  But, fear not Cardinal fans, it’s a long season, it’s a grind.  Yes, the Cubs do have a very nice team this season, but they haven’t won anything yet.  The Cardinals have been there, they know what it takes to win, and I think they will be there in the playoff mix at the end. 

 

If you have never been to the Spring Training Complex in Jupiter, Florida, I encourage you to put that on your bucket list.  While you won't have all the access that I enjoyed with KMOX, you will still be very close to the players and close to the action in a great atmosphere.  There are a lot of hotels and restaurants within walking distance or a short drive from Roger Dean Stadium and there are actually games played there nearly everyday of the week.  If not the Cardinals, it's the Marlins, Mets, or other MLB teams utilizing the stadium. These are just some of the highlights of my week in Jupiter. There are many other stories I could share, but I'll stop here.  If you see me out and about at a ballgame or a restaurant, I would be happy to share more with fellow Cardinal fans. 

Enjoy the season, Go Cardinals!