After a two-year pause due to the pandemic in 2021, and a labor strike last year, the Cardinals Caravan is making numerous stops in Missouri. Including one in Joplin on Saturday. KRPS's Fred Fletcher-Fierro has more.
We're about a month away from the start of spring training in Jupiter, Florida, for the St. Louis Cardinals. On Saturday morning, a couple of hundred Cardinal faithful from the Four States flocked to Missouri Southern State University in Joplin to see some of their current favorite Cardinal players, in addition to former Cards players.
Lars Nootbaar started 82 games for St. Louis last season, playing all three outfield positions and hitting 14 home runs. Lars is excited to get the new season underway.
"I don't know if it ever shuts off in the off-season, to be honest with you. I just think baseball, if we're being real, baseball is so much of our lives, and it's tough to really to flip that off and so. Really, once the new year turns, that kind of when your like, here it comes, you can kind of it feel it."
Lars, whose mother is Japanese, will be representing Team Japan at the World Baseball Classic. In the first round of play,Japan will be hosting China at the Tokyo Dome on Thursday, March 9th. The first pitch for that game is at 4 am Central. For 89 9 KRPS News, I'm Fred Fletcher-Fierro
