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ST. LOUIS —
On any given day during any given year, the I-70 Series between the Cardinals and Royals typically provides fans an opportunity to quibble with each other about their favorite team.
On May 22, though, everything changed.
Shortly after both clubs wrapped up a weekend series on a steamy afternoon at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Mo., tragedy struck the city of Joplin when a devastating tornado ripped through the heart of the city.
Nearly a month later, the clubs met again Friday to start a weekend series — this time on the other side of the state at Busch Stadium.
Sure, the natural cross-state rivalry still exists, but the Royals and Cardinals have united io help Joplin recover from the May 22 tornado.
The Royals and Cardinals, before the start of this weekend’s finale of the annual I-70 Series, announced details about “Teams Unite for Joplin” events, a collaborative effort with the Cardinals, Major League Baseball and the Major League Players Association.
Cardinals players David Freese, Kyle McClellan and Adam Wainwright took a trip to Joplin on June 8 to announce the relief efforts for this weekend's series.
"It was an incredible experience to see what happened down there," Freese told MLB.com. "On the plus side, everybody is coming together to rebuild that city, it's impressive. The perseverance that city has is amazing."
This weekend’s series featured a number of fundraisers and awareness efforts dedicated to Joplin relief, ending with Sunday's series finale.
Beginning with Friday’s opener, the Royals and Cardinals wore a special commemorative “Teams Unite for Joplin” jersey patch. Fans have an opportunity to help support the Joplin relief effort by purchasing the commemorative patch for $10 online at www.royals.com/joplin or at Kauffman Stadium beginning Tuesday, June 21. All proceeds will benefit Joplin relief efforts. The patch is also be available at Busch Stadium this weekend.
In addition, Royals Charities is hosting a special online auction featuring commemorative "Teams Unite for Joplin" game-used items from the Royals-Cardinals series. The auction, which includes items such as game-used bases, home plate, player jerseys and lineup cards with the commemorative logo signed by select Royals and Cardinals players, is now live at www.royals.com/joplin.
The auction also includes the opportunity to secure a spot in the Joplin Jersey Hand-Off fundraiser scheduled for Saturday, June 25, following the Cubs-Royals game. In addition, the club is selling a limited number of commemorative "Teams Unite for Joplin" logo baseballs signed by select Royals. The auction will close at 8 p.m. Sunday, June 26, with all proceeds benefiting Royals Charities disaster relief efforts.
On any given day during any given year, the I-70 Series between the Cardinals and Royals typically provides fans an opportunity to quibble with each other about their favorite team.
On May 22, though, everything changed.
Shortly after both clubs wrapped up a weekend series on a steamy afternoon at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Mo., tragedy struck the city of Joplin when a devastating tornado ripped through the heart of the city.
Nearly a month later, the clubs met again Friday to start a weekend series — this time on the other side of the state at Busch Stadium.
Sure, the natural cross-state rivalry still exists, but the Royals and Cardinals have united io help Joplin recover from the May 22 tornado.
The Royals and Cardinals, before the start of this weekend’s finale of the annual I-70 Series, announced details about “Teams Unite for Joplin” events, a collaborative effort with the Cardinals, Major League Baseball and the Major League Players Association.
Cardinals players David Freese, Kyle McClellan and Adam Wainwright took a trip to Joplin on June 8 to announce the relief efforts for this weekend's series.
"It was an incredible experience to see what happened down there," Freese told MLB.com. "On the plus side, everybody is coming together to rebuild that city, it's impressive. The perseverance that city has is amazing."
This weekend’s series featured a number of fundraisers and awareness efforts dedicated to Joplin relief, ending with Sunday's series finale.
Beginning with Friday’s opener, the Royals and Cardinals wore a special commemorative “Teams Unite for Joplin” jersey patch. Fans have an opportunity to help support the Joplin relief effort by purchasing the commemorative patch for $10 online at www.royals.com/joplin or at Kauffman Stadium beginning Tuesday, June 21. All proceeds will benefit Joplin relief efforts. The patch is also be available at Busch Stadium this weekend.
In addition, Royals Charities is hosting a special online auction featuring commemorative "Teams Unite for Joplin" game-used items from the Royals-Cardinals series. The auction, which includes items such as game-used bases, home plate, player jerseys and lineup cards with the commemorative logo signed by select Royals and Cardinals players, is now live at www.royals.com/joplin.
The auction also includes the opportunity to secure a spot in the Joplin Jersey Hand-Off fundraiser scheduled for Saturday, June 25, following the Cubs-Royals game. In addition, the club is selling a limited number of commemorative "Teams Unite for Joplin" logo baseballs signed by select Royals. The auction will close at 8 p.m. Sunday, June 26, with all proceeds benefiting Royals Charities disaster relief efforts.
During the first inning of Saturday night's game, 18 teammates of the Eagles baseball team joined Royals and Cardinals players in a special tribute to Joplin High School, which was also destroyed by the tornado. Kansas City and St. Louis wore the Joplin Eagles caps during pregame activities and when each team took the field for the game. Members of the Joplin baseball team participated in an on-field hat exchange with the big leaguers and received an autographed baseball. The special Joplin Eagles hats worn by the Royals and Cardinals will be included in a future auction to benefit Joplin relief efforts. Auction details will be announced at a later date.
The Royals and Cardinals saluted members of the Joplin High School softball team during pregame ceremonies Friday. Danielle Campbell and Mikaila Craig, outfielders on the 2011 Eagles softball team who both lost their homes in the tornado, both threw out a ceremonial first pitch with a Royals player and Cardinals player serving as catchers.
Fans can continue to support the Joplin relief effort by texting "REDCROSS" to 90999 to donate $10 to American Red Cross Disaster Relief. The Cardinals, meanwhile, will have volunteers outside all stadium gates this weekend to collect cash donations as fans enter the ballpark.
The Cardinals hosted a live on-air auction of special Cardinals experiences on KMOX and Fox Sports Net Friday. The club had Cardinals Care Jersey Day, giving fans chances to win game-used jerseys from the Cardinals after Sunday's game.
To reach Cody Dyer, send e-mail to cdyer@carthagepress.com or call 417-358-2191.
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