ST. LOUIS —
When you envision Opening Day at Busch Stadium, you may think of Budweiser Clydesdales, red jackets, and a sea of St. Louis Cardinals fans flooding the streets.
The Cardinals would’ve played in their home opener at Busch on Thursday had the season not been postponed due to COVID-19.
Instead, the streets were empty, yet the sun still shined.
The Cardinals announced a 2020 “Stay Home Opener,” which includes a number of social media activations and the launch of the team’s resource page to keep the community updated on health and safety information.
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On this day last year, Cardinals starting pitcher Jack Flaherty was on the mound in front of a sea of red.
This year, he was relaxing in his backyard imagining what would’ve been.
“It’s definitely a weird feeling,” Flaherty said. “Just being home and knowing that at this time last year I was pitching at Opening Day at St. Louis, at Busch. So, just been weird ya know. Did a little workout, but not quite the same not being there.”
Spring Training was cut short, and there’s no date in sight for when baseball may be back at Busch Stadium.
“I think it’s a lot of the uncertainty is what is hard for us,” Flaherty said. “I think it’s hard for everyone just having that little bit of uncertainty and not really knowing, kind of, what the next steps are.”
Flaherty added that another tough pill to swallow was knowing how close the team was to a new season.
“We were so close to starting,” Flaherty said. “We got through almost all of Spring Training, had about a week left. And then we were gonna leave and start playing, and then I think you know that everything just happened really quick. And everybody kind of went their separate ways.”
Flaherty said one of the larger adjustments has been finding ways to properly stay in shape and maintain focus with the chance of baseball returning on short notice.
He said the absence of his team at Busch Stadium was the most eye-opening moment yet, but that it gave him the opportunity to look at a bigger picture.
“Baseball, and sports, and everything, everything everyone has going on, work,” Flaherty said. “It’s all-important, it all means something. But at the end of the day, there’s things that are more important. People’s health, and not just your own. You never know who you could be affecting. You never know who might get affected if you’re going out and come into contact with people, and then they’re going home to their loved ones. So, it’s just important, and it just means a lot to kind of just stay at home.”
On Thursday afternoon, Busch Stadium’s lights were turned on, and a message was shared on the scoreboard as a sign of solidarity and unity during this pandemic.
Watch the full interview below.