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PattonvilleTODAY

The Student News Site of Pattonville High School

PattonvilleTODAY

The Student News Site of Pattonville High School

PattonvilleTODAY

Word From the Dugout

The quest for a 12th World Series title is underway for the St. Louis Cardinals. Throughout the year loyal fans from across the city have followed the team’s journey from spring training, the 162-game regular season, and now finally the playoffs. However one fan specifically can say he has a view of the baseball club like no other: Greg Ginos, better known as the St. Louis Cardinals batboy.

Ginos, a senior at Clayton High School, began working for the Cardinals during Memorial Day weekend in May, about 50 games into the regular season. He works every other home game for the Redbirds, alternating with fellow batboy Trey Search, and does everything from doing the team’s laundry, cleaning each players’ shoes, and packing the players’ bags for away games. While all of this sounds like a lot of dirty work, he claims it is “just a small price to pay” in order to be a part of the historically great Cardinals organization and the latest of many postseason surges with the team.

The Cardinals have seemingly picked up where they left off last year, managing to scrape by during the regular season but coming alive once the playoffs roll around. The team appears to have found a comfortable niche as the league-underdog, come October, exhibiting few signs of faltering under this label in the last two seasons. “[The team’s attitude] hasn’t changed very much,” Ginos said about the team’s postseason demeanor, “aside from the fact that they’re a little more focused and confident.”

And what team wouldn’t feel a little more confident after stepping back into the same shoes that won the club a coveted World Series title just 12 months ago? Nevertheless, the team can’t count only on a postseason hot streak in order to earn their second World Series title in two years; new players must step up for the Cardinals if repeating is their intention. Much like David Freese’s legendary rise to stardom last year, many players have begun stepping into larger roles for the Cardinals as of late. Ginos acknowledges the recent success of previously unknown 24-year-old Pete Kozma, saying that the second baseman “has kept working hard given the circumstances and showing what he can contribute [to the team].” He also gave great praise to free agent acquisition Carlos Beltran, who has “played consistently well this entire postseason,” hitting a team-high .414 (min. 25 at-bats) with three homeruns and 6 RBIs, also team-highs. Yet Ginos claims that the most valuable Cardinal thus far into the postseason is undoubtedly Daniel Descalso. “He has been hitting clutch and making great plays,” Ginos says. “He’s [also] been working on his hitting and he’s just turning on at the right time.”

Whether or not the Cardinals do reclaim the World Series title has yet to be discovered. San Francisco poses a great threat to the Cardinals currently in the National League Championship Series and both the Detroit Tigers and New York Yankees would be challenging opponents in the World Series. Regardless of what happens, many St. Louisians will stand in support of the Redbirds for the remainder of October, clinging to the hope that “12 in 12” can become more than just a saying.

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Word From the Dugout