Parent club loaded with ex-Memphis talent
To celebrate their 20th year as an affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals, the Triple-A Memphis Redbirds will welcome their parent club to a “party” at AutoZone Park.
The Redbirds announced Tuesday they will play the Cardinals in an exhibition game March 30, 2017, marking the second time in three years the Cardinals have played the Redbirds in Memphis. The Cards and Redbirds met last in 2015.
“We expressed some interest to host the Cardinals (in 2017) and they had go through some things, like their spring training schedule and regular-season schedule, and see if they could fit it in,” said Redbirds general manager Craig Unger. “We were fortunate that it is going to work.”
The game may be as much a reunion as it will be an exhibition. Of the Cardinals’ current 40-man roster, 33 have played for the Redbirds. During this season, 15 Redbirds were promoted to the big league club.
“When you look back at the past 20 years — and look at the players (who spent time with the Redbirds) — it’s really hard now to find some of the big-name players that aren’t still playing in the big leagues at some place,” Unger said. “From the early days, you look at Albert Pujols and some of the others from the early 2000s. There’s a lot of guys that are still playing.”
Unger said he wouldn’t be surprised when the teams play their Thursday night exhibition in March to see “75 percent or better” of the Cards’ 25-man roster being former Redbirds.
“It’ll be an opportunity for the fans to see them again,” Unger said. “A lot of the players develop relationships with the season ticket holders and the people who are here. It’s always neat to see that interaction (rekindled). I know last year during the Cardinals Caravan (the offseason promotional tour), (St. Louis outfielder) Stephen Piscotty requested to be on Memphis caravan so he could come back by here. He wanted to come back and see a lot of the people he hadn’t seen and visit the ballpark again. He said this place had a special place in his heart.”
Unger said fans purchasing one of two Gildan Triple-A National Championship Game packages ($55 and $75) will have the first opportunity to get tickets to the March exhibition, billed as the “Battle of the Birds.” The packages include tickets to the Triple-A title game, the Cards-Redbirds exhibition, an opening week Redbirds game and other perks. The Triple-A National Championship game will be played Sept. 20 at AutoZone Park.