Even before a single pitch was thrown, thousands of Cardinals fans lined up on CarShield Field in O’Fallon Saturday afternoon to meet their favorite Cardinals legend.
“My dad told me about Fernando Tatis and I just really wanted to see them,” said Gavin Rich, a 9-year-old Cardinals fan who drove with his family nearly five hours from Indiana. “It’s worth standing in the heat, that’s one thing I’ll tell ya [sic].”
However, many fans arrived extra early to ensure their meeting with one red bird in particular.
Julie and Jerry Bayless arrived almost three hours before the gates opened to see "Jimmy Edmonds!,” exclaimed Julie. “Not only is he handsome, but he’s a great ballplayer,” she said.
Many fans waited in line about an hour to get Edmonds’ autograph. But other former Cardinals were there to sign as well, including Kerry Robinson, Skip Schumaker, Rick Ankiel, Fernando Tatis, John Tudor, Brad Thompson, and Jason Isringhausen.
“I think the goal for today for everyone is not to get hurt,” joked Edmonds, who was also very appreciative of the large amount of fans who showed up to the inaugural event hosted by the River City Rascals.
“It’s crazy. It’s nice to still be appreciated and still have people around that remember the old days when I played,” he said.
Ankiel was also very excited to see some of his former teammates.
“It’s so fun to come out and see all the guys again,” he said. “See if we can all still do it. There’s been a lot of hype in the clubhouse about who’s still got it so we’re gonna find out here in a few minutes.”
