The following information was provided to i70baseball by the St. Louis Cardinals organization.

Busch Stadium Tour Tickets Now Available Online
Fans Can Purchase Tour Tickets at cardinals.com/tours

ST. LOUIS (July 26, 2011) — The St. Louis Cardinals announced that starting today fans are able to purchase stadium tour tickets at cardinals.com/tours. The new online process is designed to make the practice of booking a stadium tour easier and more efficient.

“Our tour staff does an exceptional job of giving fans an intimate perspective of Busch Stadium while sharing with them the history of the Cardinals,” said Vicki Bryant, Vice President of Event Services & Merchandising for the Cardinals. “The online ticket option gives fans a more convenient way to purchase the tickets for individual use or as a special gift.”

Tours are normally offered daily at 9:30 a.m., 11:00 a.m., 12:30 p.m and 2:00 p.m. throughout the baseball season (April through September) with exceptions for public holidays and events. Tour tickets are $10 for adults, $8 for military personnel and seniors and $6 for children 15-years-old and under. In addition to being able to purchase tickets on line at cardinals.com/tours, fans may still purchase tickets at windows 19 and 20 on Clark Street at Gate 5 thirty minutes prior to the first tour or by calling 314.345.9000.

Busch Stadium tours last approximately one hour and include stops in the Redbird Club, broadcast booths, Cardinals Club and Cardinals Dugout, as well as other unique areas of the stadium.

Groups with more than 25 guests qualify for special rates. Call the Tour Information Line at 314-345-9565 for details.

Over 30,000 fans each year have taken stadium tours in the new ballpark since it opened in 2006.

The following is a press release from the St. Louis Cardinals organization

Cardinals And Garcia Strike A Deal
Pitcher agrees to four year contract with two club options

ST. LOUIS, MO July 13, 2011 – St. Louis Cardinals Sr. Vice President & General Manager John Mozeliak announced today that the Cardinals have agreed to terms with pitcher Jaime Garcia on a four year contract with two club options. The Cardinals made the announcement this afternoon at a press conference at Busch Stadium.

“Jaime is one the best young arms in baseball today,” said Mozeliak. “We are excited to have him as part of the core of our pitching staff for years to come.”

Garcia, 25, is 9-3 with a 3.23 ERA during the first half of this season, which comes on the heels of one of the best rookie campaigns in 2010 where he was 13 – 8 with a 2.70 ERA (4^th N.L.), ranking not only among top rookie pitchers, but also the top Major League pitchers in several categories.

Garcia’s career mark is 23 – 12, with a 3.06 ERA in 57 games, with 240 career strike outs. In 2010, Garcia’s 2.70 ERA was the lowest by a Cardinals’ left handed starter since John Tudor recorded a 2.40 ERA in 22 starts (25 games) during 1990.

Garcia was named both Rookie of the Year and Comeback Player of the Year for 2010 by the St. Louis Chapter of the Baseball Writers of America Association.

Garcia was selected by Baltimore in the 20^th round (899^th overall) of the 2004 draft, but did not sign. The 6-2, 215-pounder was born in Reynosa, Mexico and currently makes his home in Mission, Texas, where he attended Sharyland High School.

To download a copy of this press release in a pdf format, click here.

Eric Hosmer has received the call to come to the big leagues. The following is the press release from the Northwest Arkansas Naturals.

Photo Courtesy of Minda Haas

Former Natural Hosmer Called Up To KC
Top prospect’s big-league debut imminent

SPRINGDALE, AR – The Kansas City Royals have selected the contract of first baseman Eric Hosmer from Triple-A Omaha, meaning that the former Natural and highly-rated prospect could make his Major League debut as early as Friday.

The 21-year-old Hosmer was rated by Baseball America as the top prospect in the Royals’ system and the No. 8 overall prospect entering the 2011 season. Hosmer clearly accelerated his timetable by hitting .439 with a .525 on-base percentage, five doubles and three home runs in 28 games with the Storm Chasers, walking (16) as often than he struck out (16).

Drafted 3^rd overall by the Royals in the June 2008 First-Year Player Draft, Hosmer joined the Naturals in July, 2010 after beginning the season with Advanced Class-A Wilmington. In 50 regular-season Texas League games, Hosmer hit .313 with 13 home runs and 35 runs batted in. Hosmer then led the Naturals with six home runs during the team’s postseason championship run.

The Royals also announced that to make room on their 25-man roster for Hosmer, former Natural Kila Ka’aihue has been optioned to Omaha. Ka’aihue has been with the Royals all season and batted .195 with two homers and six RBI’s in 23 games.

The Northwest Arkansas Naturals are the Double-A Texas League affiliate of the Kansas City Royals and play at state-of-the-art Arvest Ballpark, located in Springdale. Visit our website, nwanaturals.com, for information on season tickets and ticket plans.

The St. Louis Cardinals have provided I-70 with two press releases concerning a few upcoming events.

First is the annual “Pooches In The Park” promotion slated for Saturday, June 25. Tickets for that event go on sale on April 22nd and sold out very quickly previously. If you are interested, all the information is in the attached PDF file and features a pet parade on the field, the Purina Incredible Dog Team performance and tickets to that night’s game. Click on the Pooches In The Park logo to read the full press release.

In other news, the Cardinals have teamed up with the Missouri Lottery to honor a local school teacher in their “Heroes In The Classroom” campaign. Once a month a teacher will be honored and awarded VIP Tickets for them and their family, a pre-game ceremony and be allowed the opportunity to throw out the first pitch. The Missouri Lottery will receive various advertising rights for their efforts. Click on the Missouri Lottery Logo above for the full release.

Bill Ivie is the editor here at I-70 Baseball as well as the Assignment Editor for BaseballDigest.com.
He is the host of I-70 Radio, hosted every week on BlogTalkRadio.com.
Follow him on Twitter here.

When I started writing on a regular basis and beginning the arduous task of attempting to make a career of it, I was hired for a brief time to put together a staff for a large website that was trying to get a solid start. While putting together the staff for that site, I asked for the writing sample that I prefer to ask for from all my writers, “Why I Love Baseball”.

Building a staff that size, I was not prepared for the answer that started coming up more and more frequently.

“I don’t enjoy baseball anymore, I have been covering it for too long.”

It was the worst thing I could hear. I have grown up on the game, been raised with the game, and love this game above just about anything else. The thought that I would, at any point in my life, find myself not able to enjoy the game terrified me. I asked questions. I wanted to know why. I wanted to know what they would do different, if they could. No one could really answer.

I challenged writers across the country with a plan to overcome this. I challenged writers to put down their computers, pens, voice-recorders, and media guides. I asked them to forget everything they were doing and just go watch a game. Little league, high school, minor league, or major league, I did not care. Just buy a ticket and go watch a game. Clap along with the organ player. Talk with the fans around you. Catch a foul ball and give it to a kid. In the midst of it all, remember why you started writing about this game. Remember what made you fall in love with it.

Earlier this week, I stopped by the ticket office of the Springfield Cardinals and purchased tickets to take my 7 month old son to his first baseball game on Saturday. On Friday night, I received the press release that the Cardinals and the Frisco Roughriders had been rained out and they would play a traditional double header on Saturday, with the first game starting at 2 pm.

So, this past Saturday, that is exactly what I did. I took my son to his first game. We sat four rows from the field and watched two, seven inning games. The home team dropped the first game, though they found themselves with a dramatic come back in the final inning. The second game would see a huge home run from the home team’s first baseman and a good effort by both teams that ultimately resulted in a win for the home team.

In the midst of it, I met a photographer for a major trading card company. I yelled at the poor umpiring and inconsistent strike zone of the home plate umpire. My son had his picture taken with the mascot. I met people from around the area and talked baseball. I cheered and yelled. I joked with the players and even heckled a few of them. I kicked back and had some fun. Through it all, I realized something…

…I love this game.

Do you ever have a dream that is so fantastic and real, that when you wake up you are very disappointed? That’s how it is for many of us lately when we think of the possibility of the Royals making a push to sign potential free agent Albert Pujols after the 2011 season.

There are several ways to look at it and I cannot think of a single negative for making the offer. Even if the offer is rejected the Royals should shout it from the rooftops and issue a press release. The buzz that just the offer would make would be a nice topic of conversation in offices, homes and ballparks all over the Midwest. The Glass family would be given credit for putting their money on the table for the best player in the game. For once you would not have the “what players are you going to surround him with?” negative responses. The Royals will have the players to build a team around him, for 2012 and beyond.

#5 then and #5 now

As long as I can remember, it hasn’t made any sense for his team to go after a top free agent. Most would not even consider talking to Kansas City since they have put such a horrible product on the field. The Royals could not even make offers without being laughed at. There are those that would laugh at this dream as well, but once you lay out your case, and they actually seriously think about it, they seem to not be as firm in their ridicule.

30 million dollars a year, for 10 years. During interviews from Florida on Thursday, Albert was saying that what is being reported is not even close to reality. What actually is reality when you are talking about numbers like that? It’s amazing what baseball has become isn’t it? Dream with me for a little bit. To make the payroll easier to make, and with the Royals youth being fairly low dollar the next 2-3 years, you could heavily front load the contract. Maybe like this, 3yrs@40, 4yrs@30 and 3yrs@20. This way, while the young players are at their lower salaries, you would pay the most to Pujols. Then when service times start hitting the salaries for players like Mike Moustakas and Eric Hosmer, Albert’s pay would be less. And if after 3-4 years, the grand experiment is not successful, the front loaded contract makes it easier to find a trade partner that would take on his contract.

I am sure you may have heard this topic or similar proposals. I even heard the ESPN Baseball Today podcast from 2/15 where Eric Karabell said that it’s looking like Pujols “…doesn’t want to come back to the Cardinals, it’s starting to look like he wants to be a Cub or a Royal or whatever else he wants to be.” It is nice to hear a Royals reference on ESPN, without negativity being the driving factor. Still the thought that amazes me is that the Royals are even in this position. They could actually consider making a run at the best player in the game. Also amazing is the fact that even for the skeptical observers it is hard to shoot down. Sure it can be done, who would have thought just 1 or 2 years ago that the Royals would even be close to being mentioned as a possible factor in the biggest sports story this spring.

Perhaps the smarter solution would be to go after some other top tier free agents next off season and maybe some top starting pitching. Among those who would be free agents after the 2011 season include Rich Harden, Roy Oswalt, or Scott Kazmir. Talk of pursuing one of the players from that list would also generate excitement, especially if the Royals’ highly touted prospects perform well for the organization during 2011. If the Royals, one year from now have not made a splash of some kind via free agency, I will be surprised. The fans are very hungry while some of them are still asleep to be honest. In this dream, they would wake up and begin to see that light at the end of the long dark tunnel which is October baseball in Kansas City.

For almost 20 years, the Royals DID have one of the best players in the game at the time in #5 George Brett. The town buzzed about the Royals. It bled Royal blue because Kansas City had a winner. The Royals were among the BEST. That number 5 made history here in Kansas City, who would have thought that Kansas City would perhaps have a chance at another “one of the best” in the game, another number 5?

What’s that you say? Oh yeah… I need to let the dog out. I hate mornings!

Photo by Minda Haas

Four years ago, Gil Meche took a mildly successful six year career for the Seattle Mariners and turned it into a five year, $55 million contract with the Kansas City Royals. Some people wondered what the team was thinking. Others thought they made the steal of the off-season. Meche just settled in and pitched.

Over the course of the four years with the Royals, Meche would start three opening days and settle in to his role as the leader of this pitching group, despite being overshadowed at times by his rotation mate Zack Grienke.

It was immediately apparent as to why the Roylas brought Meche in. He would lead the American League in games started for the first two years in Royals blue. It was a testament to his work ethic and determination. Over the first three years with the team, Meche would compile a 29-34 record, a 4.12 earned run average, seven strikeouts per nine innings and an impressive 555 innings pitched.

The end of 2009 would show the wear and tear on an arm of a pitcher that had been so reliable. He would hit the disabled list and never quite fully recover. In the process, when he did return to the field in 2010, it was a in a limited role as a reliever for the club. Doing everything he could to contribute and live up to his end of the contract, Meche attempted to pitch through the pain and struggled, to say the least.

On January 18, 2011, Meche did something few ballplayers would ever consider. He announced, with one year and $12 million left on his contract, that he was retiring from baseball. It had come down to surgery in order to continue to play and he did not feel that his life was at a point for that to be a plausible option. The official press release stated:

After a lot of thinking and prioritizing of issues in my life I have decided to retire from baseball. As a competitor my entire life this is the hardest decision that I’ve ever faced, but it’s not fair to me, my family or the Kansas City Royals that I attempt to pitch anymore. I came into this game as a starting pitcher and unfortunately my health, more accurately, my shoulder, has deteriorated to the point where surgery would be the only option and at this stage of my life I would prefer to call it a career rather than to attempt to pitch in relief for the final year of my contract. I can’t thank the Kansas City Royals and their fans enough for my four seasons there and if I have any regret, it’s that we weren’t able to accomplish on the field what the goal was when I signed there.

Not many professional athletes would walk away from the game and competition they love, holding their head high, and leaving money “on the table”. Meche has shown a competitive spirit, a passion for the game, and a respect for the integrity of the game that is unparalleled.

Photo by Minda Haas

Friend of I-70 Baseball and Royals podcaster Nick Scott has asked via Twitter that a movement be started to see Gil Meche throw out the first pitch for Opening Day in 2011.

I say let Gil Meche throw out the ceremonial first pitch on opening day. #gilforOD

January 18, 2011 12:27 pm via webReplyRetweetFavorite

@brokenbatsingle

Nick Scott

Meche is a respectable player in the midst of a greedy person’s game. The money that is now available to the Royals could go a long way in solidifying other positions on the field. His number 55 will not be retired, he won’t be considered for even the Royals Hall Of Fame, but he has shown that he is one of the few ball players that deserves the title of “role model”.

Cover photo courtesy of Minda Haas.

Bill Ivie is the editor here at I-70 Baseball as well as the Assignment Editor for BaseballDigest.com.
He is the host of I-70 Radio, hosted every week on BlogTalkRadio.com.
Follow him on Twitter here.