Yadier Molina Field Dedication, a set on Flickr.
Believe it or not, this day began for me at 4:04 a.m. Why? Well, the world's greatest kid decided she wanted to be early for school and came to get me up. I was groggy and trying my hardest not to completely wake up. So, I told her to climb into bed with my wife and me and go to sleep. She decided to go back to her room where it's much more comfortable. Fine with me. Boom! Crash! Great, now the thunderstorms have started. It's 5:00 a.m. and there's no chance I'm going back to sleep. I started to plan the workday in my head while watching severe thunderstorm warnings dance across the TV screen.I thought to myself, "The Cardinals are supposed to dedicate a new baseball field in Wellston today...guess that won't happen." Midwest weather changes quicker than a hiccup and the storms were passing before the station could get to commercial break. By the time I really had to drop the kid off at school, severe weather had become a harmless drizzle. Thirty minutes later I arrived at work to a peek of sunlight. Maybe the field dedication would happen after all.
Thankfully, it did. I took the 15-minute drive from downtown St. Louis to the small community of Wellston, Mo. For anyone reading this who's not from the St. Louis area, you have to also realize how special this is. Wellston is a suburb of St. Louis, but it is anything but suburban. Think of Gary, Ind. or Compton, Ca. I'm not putting Wellston down. Everyone who lives here knows about the struggles and wishes someone would do something.
Someone has done something. In a community where "those people" live and "you don't want to be after dark," a person could shake hands with an All-Star catcher, an MLB general manager, and its team president. The St. Louis Cardinals are committed to reviving baseball in the inner-city and places where kids may not be able to afford the necessities of the game. Redbird Rookies is a program developed by the team that provides bats, balls, gloves, helmets, uniforms, and even pitching machines to youth baseball clubs. The Cardinals also build and refurbish baseball fields for the kids to play on.
One man you'll see quite often in this photostream is Tim Bright. He's wearing Cardinal red to commemorate the occasion. Bright coaches eight teams in the Wellston Redbird Rookies league by himself. That's right. He coaches 120 kids alone. Bright is not a glutton for punishment. He's just had a hard time finding coaches who want to commit to the kids for an entire season. You see, most youth league coaches in any sport come from amongst the dads. In communities like Wellston, fewer fathers are in the home. Hence, fewer fathers are available to coach. Bright takes it in stride, though. He said he has two or three good prospects this year and no matter what, the kids will have a great time on the new field.
As for the field's namesake, he was polite and humble as usual. Yadier Molina looked comfortable while holding his young son with his left hand and signing autographs with his right. The young people of Wellston will certainly benefit from Yadier Molina Field for years to come. Enjoy the pictures and even if the Cardinals aren't your favorite team, cheer for them anyway. They really hit one out of the park for the community today. Until next time...
Be a Good Sport!
-Sol
0 comments:
Post a Comment