AutoZone Park set to host St. Louis Cardinals Caravan

AutoZone Park set to host St. Louis Cardinals Caravan

Clapp, Motte, Hicks, O’Neill, Gomber, and Garcia scheduled to visit Memphis

Michael Schroeder

niemphisredbirds.com MEMPHIS, Tennessee The 2019 St. Louis Cardinals Caravan, presented by Missouri Farm Bureau Insurance, will visit Memphis and AutoZone Park on Friday, Jan. 18, with the questionand- answer and autograph program beginning at 6:30 p.m. in the Home Plate Club on the second level of the ballpark.

Admission is free to attend, and seating is available on a first-come, firstserved basis. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. As in previous years, the Cardinals will implement an Autograph Ticket system for the Caravan program. The first 400 children ages 15 and under will receive a free ticket which guarantees one autograph from each current and former player.

Due to high demand, autographs will only be available for children ages 15 and under during the event. Former Redbirds manager and player Stubby Clapp, the two-time Pacific Coast League Manager of the Year and newly-appointed Cardinals first base coach, is scheduled to attend, along with fellow Cardinals and Redbirds alumni Jason Motte.

Current players Jordan Hicks, Tyler O’Neill, Austin Gomber, and Adolis Garcia are also slated to visit AutoZone Park, and the program is scheduled to be emceed by Cardinals broadcaster Ricky Horton.

Hicks, O’Neill, Gomber, and Garcia all made their Major League debuts for St. Louis in 2018, and O’Neill, Gomber, and Garcia all contributed heavily to the Redbirds’ 2018 PCL- and Triple-A National Championshipwinning season. O’Neill and Garcia each tied the franchise record with a three-home run game, which came just three games apart in late-July, and O’Neill was named to the All-PCL Team and honored as the Cardinals Minor League Player of the Year after the season.

Gomber tied the franchise record with 16 strikeouts in a 3-0 win at Iowa on April 23, which was just his fourth-career Triple-A start.

While he did not pitch for the Redbirds in 2018, Hicks exploded on the MLB scene with the Cardinals in a big way. He led the Majors in fastest average fastball at 100.5 miles per hour, and he was responsible for 39 of the 50 fastest individual pitches in the big leagues including two that reached 105 mph. Hicks threw 659 pitches that reached tripledigits, more than three times as many as anyone else. He is expected to play a major role in the Cardinals bullpen in 2019.

In addition to a questionand- answer session and autographs for kids, there is also scheduled to be a raffle Friday night, and local Cardinals Radio Network affiliate ESPN Radio 92.9 FM will be onsite.

For more information on the Cardinals Caravan, visit www.memphisredbirds. com/cardinalscaravan or www.stlcardinals.com/caravan.

For more information on the Redbirds’ upcoming 2019 season, which begins on March 25 with a “Battle of the Birds” exhibition game against the St. Louis Cardinals at AutoZone Park, visit www.memphisredbirds. com.

Additional information about ticket on-sales, promotions, theme nights, and giveaways will be available in the coming weeks and months.

A group of youngsters get memorabilia signed by St and coaches.

their bats, balls and other . Louis Cardinals players

Photo courtesy of MLB.com