(KMOX) - There are a lot of additions to St. Louis Cardinals Spring Training caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, like tents to create more space for workouts, medical intake processes for players and coaches, and Zoom meetings. But there's also something major that's been lost due to the pandemic.
Cardinals Hall of Famers and legends around the players.
It's something that really got manager Mike Shildt talking on Wednesday when he was asked about former players and coaches like Ozzie Smith, Chris Carpenter, Jim Edmonds, Whitey Herzog and Mike Shannon not being allowed in camp this year. All teams were limited on who could be at the facility, per MLB protocols.
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“This is the first time in my 18 years in the organization that you haven’t seen the rightful protection of our institutional knowledge in our hall of famers being present and being involved in camp," Shildt says. "There’s something missing."
He described those Cardinals legends not only as "caretakers" of the organization, but also teachers and members of the staff who are there to work.
“These guys work. They come in and have got such a wonderful eye and know what it looks like," Shildt says. "There’s a lot of people that care about this organization, and that this organization cares about, that we want to get in front of our players and our staff to make sure we continue to uphold what they built."
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One specific interaction he mentioned was a meeting that would probably have happened on "The Land of Oz" infield, between Smith and Cardinals' new Gold Glove third baseman.
“For a guy like Nolan Arenado to come into the organization, it’s important for guys like Ozzie to be around and talk about some defensive things, take a few ground balls and have some fun with it," Shildt says. "Clearly, that can’t happen at the moment, but my hope is that maybe some point this year at Busch Stadium we can make that happen.”
Let's hope that does happen soon.
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