CHICAGO (AP) — St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Dexter Fowler tried to do something nice for rookie teammate Max Schrock, and it turned into quite an adventure.
And Fowler knows all about adventures at Wrigley Field.
Fowler’s trouble started when Schrock connected for his first career homer during the fourth inning of the second game in Monday’s doubleheader against the Chicago Cubs.
“Ended up getting out there, and then Bader comes down and he’s like he messed up something. The trainer’s coming out and I’m like ‘You’ve got to be kidding me.’”
Bench coach Oliver Marmol motioned to Fowler that he might need to come into the game, but Fowler didn’t have the right shoes on. He then sprinted all the way back to the dugout and was putting on his cleats when Marmol told him he didn’t need him anymore.
Fowler then went back to get Schrock’s ball and ran into an authenticator from Major League Baseball.
“We wanted to take the game in from those seats and then (Major League Baseball) calls like ‘Hey, you guys can’t be over there. You’ve got to go down there,‘” Fowler said. “I’m like ‘We were just trying to have fun, take in the game from a different perspective,’ and they weren’t having it. I was kind of disappointed about that.”
Asked if MLB explained its reasoning, Fowler said: “No, but I’m sure it had to do something with money.”
Fowler and the Cardinals are ramping up again after their season was derailed by a coronavirus outbreak, leading to 18 confirmed cases in the organization. The team is in the midst of playing 53 games over 44 days, including 10 doubleheaders.
St. Louis swept a doubleheader Saturday against the White Sox in their first action since a 3-0 loss at Minnesota on July 29.
“It’s just about making adjustments,” said Fowler, who considered opting out of the season while the team was sidelined. “You go through life, and you make adjustments through life, and this is just part of it. You knew there were going to be some challenges. It’s just about working through them.”
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