Cardinals Caravan comes to Centralia
CENTRALIA, IL (WSIL) -- The Baseball offseason is a time for players to relax.
The Cardinals are taking it easy for the rest of this month meeting with fans across the Midwest.
On Sunday they spent time in Marion. On Monday night they were in Centralia.
The Caravan once again proved to major success for both the Cardinals faithful and the players.
The defending NL Central champs are now in offseason mode, which means its time to connect with fans across the region on the Cardinals Caravan.
"Its really cool to see the excitement from all the fans around the area and see all the pride that they have for their Cardinals. So its really awesome scene and its that little extra motivation before the last few weeks of Spring Training to you know get to work and just adds excitement to what we are about to do, Cardinals Pitcher JoJo Romero said."
"I know Cardinals Nation you know is everywhere but you know I didn't know it was going to be like this and I've really enjoyed being on the bus with the guys and leaning from the older guys on the bus." Cardinals First Baseman/Outfielder Alec Burleson said."
In a nutshell, The Caravan is a giant meet and greet as fans get to interact with the players off the field by asking them questions and receiving autographs. While the fans get a ton out of this the players do as well.
"We want to take time to connect with them, answer any questions, kind of build a relationship because what they do for us is what makes our job so special, Cardinals Pitcher Jake Walsh said."
"You want the fans to realize that we're just guys, the players are just guys we're here we just happen to play a sport in front of a lot of people and were personable and we like to have a good time, Cardinals Catcher Andrew Knizner said."
The cardinals open up spring training down in Florida on February 25th. Opening Day, which again is at Busch Stadium this year is March 30th as St. Louis hosts Toronto.
