ST. LOUIS — The Cardinals made a move to ship a staple of the team's outfield for the past six seasons off to New York at the trade deadline. And now, Harrison Bader is thanking his adopted home of St. Louis as he heads back to his hometown.
Bader penned a heartfelt thank you to Cardinals fans in the Players' Tribune, along with a video looking back on his time in St. Louis.
The Cardinals traded the gold-glove center fielder to the New York Yankees at the deadline for lefty starter Jordan Montgomery.
Bader is a New York native who was born in Bronxville and attended high school at Horace Mann School in Riverdale.
But St. Louis left quite a mark on this New York kid in his six season with the Cardinals.
"I’ll never forget how awesome it felt to walk around this city, knowing that I was a part of something truly unique. Being a Cardinal in St. Louis is just special. And I just want to make sure all the fans understand how much I enjoyed playing in front of you guys every single second," Bader wrote in the Players' Tribune.
Bader touched on some of the more poignant moments from his time as a Cardinal, and what he wants St. Louis to remember about him: his smile.
"The origin of this smile for me in St. Louis, it wasn’t the diving catches or the home runs or winning runs, whatever it was. The smile was the reaction to the fans cheering that that just happened on the field," Bader wrote.
"And no matter where my career takes me, the smile I’ll have about this place is forever," Bader wrote to end his thank you.
Bader also shared a video update where fans can see his new haircut. Gone are the long, flowing locks, replaced with a short cut to comply with the Yankees' rules about hair.
In parts of six seasons in St. Louis, Bader hit .246 with a .729 OPS, 52 home runs and 168 RBIs in 523 games. He also won his first Rawlings Gold Glove Award in center field in 2021 with the Cardinals.