The Story Behind The Cover Story

By gkiley123

BY Stan McNeal, Cardinals Magazine

Asking one baseball player to give up 30 minutes of their time is a risky proposition.

Face it, some players would just as soon be plunked by a 95 mph fastball as to grant a two-minute interview.

But half an hour? In that time, some guys can take batting practice, hit the weight room, shower and be halfway home. Talking to the media ranks below any and all of that.

You can imagine how difficult I figured it would be to line up an in-depth interview/photo session with not one but three players. Not just any three players, either, but with the Cardinals’ three most accomplished, veteran stars: Yadier Molina, Adam Wainwright and Matt Holliday.

I might have a better chance of hitting Trevor Rosenthal’s fastball than corralling that trio for a sit down.

So just how tough was it to get the big three together during spring training?

It went like this:

Hey Matt, I have this idea to sit down with you, Yadi and Adam and talk about the Cardinals and your time together. What do you think?

Holliday: “Sure, no problem.”

Molina: “I’ll do that.”

Wainwright: “When? What do you want to talk about? How long? What did they say?”

(He sometimes likes to plays hard for the media to get. Or may he just wants to know what he’s being asked to do. Either way, he is such a great interview, who cares?).

Me: “Whenever works with your guys’ schedules. About the run of success you’ve had in St. Louis. Probably up to an hour. And yes, they’re both on board.”

Wainwright: “OK.”

It really was about that easy, too, though nailing down a specific time took a little longer than was expected. Then on the morning when we were set to go — between their early-morning workouts and the daily team meeting — ESPN rolled into Roger Dean Stadium for its one day with the team. Now there would be unexpected demands for their time.

But these guys stayed true. As someone from ESPN sidled up to Wainwright, he looked at me and I was shaking my head no. “We’ve gotta go.” Wainwright shrugged his shoulders at the ESPN honcho and followed along.

And guess what? None of the three might want to admit it but I believe they actually enjoyed the little gathering.

They certainly should have. When you have shared as many unbelievable moments as this trio, you have collected some incredible memories. It’s gotta be kind of cool to reflect on them now and then. It’s not like they’re done making memories, either.

Check out the photos above from our cover story of the three goofing around like middle-schoolers and you’ll have to agree that they were having a good time. Read what they have to say about their time together with the Cardinals and you’ll see what a special run this has been.

But not only for them.

Thanks to them, for Cardinals fans, too.

I hope they considered it time well spent. And maybe will even do it again sometime.

Stan McNeal is senior staff writer for Cardinals Magazine. Follow the magazine on Twitter @CardsMagazine; start a subscription at cardinals.com/magazine.