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Matt Adams Reflects On His Cardinals Career! · Kenny Wallace Media

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  And right now, we're talking baseball with Matt Adams, the
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  former Cardinal. Why am I saying Matt Adams?
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  It's big city. That's how folks know him.
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  And he's going to be retiring officially this week.
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  A ceremony at Busch Stadium, sort of fitting where it all
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  began. Drafted by the Cardinals,
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  debuted in 2012. Matt, great to have you on the
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  program. How's your world these days?
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  Pretty busy these last couple of days with with the announcement
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  of the retirement, what not, but super excited and super stoked
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  that and grateful that the Cardinals were were able to pull
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  this off and that they're welcoming, you know, me and my
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  family to come down and and celebrate my career.
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  Yeah, I think we've seen this in football where players will come
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  back and do like a one day contract and officially retire
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  with the team they played the bulk of their career for.
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  I haven't seen it as much in baseball.
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  How does that come about? Is it you, your agent, you reach
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  out? How?
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  How do you get this done? Yeah, we, you know, I kind of
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  after the season in Mexico was over, kind of, you know, got
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  home and took a deep breath and just, you know, kind of chatted
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  with my wife about what was next.
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  And we just we kind of got talking about how cool it would
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  be, you know, this is home now for us and just how cool it
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  would be whenever I was ready to now it's my retirement to to
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  reach out to the Cardinals and see if they'd be willing to, you
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  know, do the honorary one day contract for for me to be able
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  to retire Cardinal. And I just, I, I reached out to,
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  to MO have a have a pretty good relationship with him for my
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  playing days with the Cardinals. And I just reached out to him
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  and, and took a shot. Didn't know what the answer was
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  going to be, but I figured the worst case scenario, he would
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  say no, but at least I tried. But he, you know, he got back to
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  me and, and said that they would, they would be able to,
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  you know, do their best to make it work.
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  And just super, like I said, super, super grateful that it
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  came to be and just looking forward to tomorrow night at the
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  ballpark. Very cool for a 23rd round pick
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  coming out of Slippery Rock. What did you think when they
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  drafted you? You know 23rd round is your goal
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  just to get a big league at bat? Is your?
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  I mean, are you thinking big back then?
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  No, but I, I mean, I, I always, you know, my dream was always
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  to, to play and, and have a career at the big league level.
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  And as soon as, you know, I heard my name called at the
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  draft, I, I knew that, that, that, that was day one.
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  That was, that was when the real work started and showed up and
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  hit the ground running, had, you know, Shilpi as my, my first pro
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  ball manager. So I've got to got to learn from
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  one of the best and just really, really had fun with it.
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  And just, I think, I think at that point, you know, 23rd
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  round, there's guys in the big leagues that, you know, that
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  went later than the 23rd round. But I, I think, you know, the
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  odds tell us that we're not supposed to make it.
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  And where I came from, you know, where I grew up, where I went to
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  school like those, those guys don't really make it.
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  But I, I wanted, I wanted to be different and just showed up and
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  really put my head down and, and got to work and, and busted my
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  butt and just wanted to give myself the best chance and, and
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  it all worked out the the way that God had it planned.
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  Am I crazy or did 1 spring training?
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  I feel like Bill Parcells really liked you or would talk to you a
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  bunch or would mention or didn't Parcells take a liking to you?
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  Yeah, he did. I, I, I think it was like two or
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  three years in a row. He showed up at spring training
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  and we, we got the just chat behind the, you know, the BP
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  turtle. And I don't know if he was
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  trying to recruit me to, to switch sports and try to come
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  over and play in the NFL because back then I was, I was big, big
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  city. So I don't, I don't know what
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  how that came about, but that was that was really cool being a
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  sports fan and being being able to talk to to one of the the
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  great NFL coaches. It was.
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  It was great. And when when did that name
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  stick? Was it spring training?
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  I think freeze like overheard it but do we?
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  Does anybody taken claim for the nickname?
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  Yeah, You know, it was Freeze was definitely the one that kept
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  it rolling, but Berkman was actually the latest.
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  Berkman was the one that actually threw it out there and
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  started it because he, he came up to me and knew where I was
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  from. Small, Like small out in the
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  country town and big, big dude. And he came up, put his arm
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  around me and was like, I'm tired of these big guys being
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  nicknamed big country. So we're going to call you big
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  city and just kind of kind of stuck and really, really cool
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  nickname. I love it.
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  You know, my teammates love it. It's it's been a lot of fun
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  being able to ride with that nickname throughout my career.
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  But it's crazy because I texted somebody the other day and I
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  said I thought I had Matt Adams phone number, but I guess I
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  don't. They sent it back and then when
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  I start messaging it, it pops up in my phone.
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  But I had it under big city. Didn't even have your name on
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  it. How about how about for friends
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  and family outside of baseball? Did it stick with them?
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  Yeah, I mean my, you know, obviously close family.
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  They, they call me mad or Matthew if I'm in trouble.
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  But you know, friends though, you know, friends, teammates
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  close to acquaintances, though, though, you know, go, go drop
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  the city in there. And they, they, they keep it
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  going for Stern. I, I love it.
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  I loved it. You know, it's not just a
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  nickname on the field, but it's, you know, kind of off the field
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  as well. So we'll do our best to keep it
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  rolling. Was any of it it, you know, the,
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  the background smaller town guy, but bigger guy.
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  So kind of a joke a little bit about your weight.
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  Was that part of it? Yeah, I I I mean, I Winston say
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  that to my face, but I definitely kind of read the the
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  writing on the wall. So I'm going to I'm going to
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  think that that all was in play with with that decision to come
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  up with that nickname, but love it.
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  You know, it just did it stuck and you know that that's what
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  you know, the game. Like the guys in baseball and
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  and everybody, that's what they remind like Remember Me as and I
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  I think going to have a nickname that that stays with you.
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  And then you lost a bunch of weight, got real fit and I think
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  we joked, oh, now he's just a community or a municipality.
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  And we had we had a ton of fun with that.
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  When tell me and I know you're is your wife from Saint Louis.
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  She's from Highland Park, suburb of Chicago, but you know, she's
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  been, she's been living here in Saint Louis.
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  You know, at the time she was working, she's worked with
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  professional athletes for, you know, 20 plus years, training
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  them, helping them, you know, get the most out of their
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  bodies. And, you know, the Cardinals
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  brought her down to spring training in in 16 and kind of
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  talked with a group of guys, put us through a pilot session.
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  And after that one session, my body felt great.
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  And I was still a bigger guy at the time, but kind of up to that
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  point had had some crazy injuries that that kept me off
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  the field for some time. And I knew if I wanted to, you
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  know, keep playing this game at a high level and I wanted to get
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  the most out of my career, do that I needed to make a change.
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  And so I sat down with her towards the end of spring
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  training and asked if she would be willing to, you know, listen
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  to my like story and, and, and be willing to help me out lose
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  some weight, get get my body in a, in a better position to
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  withstand a, a long season. And throughout the season came
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  up with a, a plan and a program in place.
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  And 16, you know, after that season, you know, it was the
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  first season, like offseason, where I, I stayed in Saint Louis
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  full time and lost 30. I think it was close to 40
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  pounds, 3738 lbs and over 10% body fat and just came back
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  spring training 17 super healthy, felt great and felt
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  like my body was in a finally in a position to where, you know, I
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  could, I could withstand, you know, 162 game plus season.
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  That's at the highest level. See, now Parcells would say, all
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  right, I was going to have you on my old line.
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  Now you're a linebacker shift to you.
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  Well, and I wonder for somebody who has, but part of your size
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  is your strength, too. Did you worry at all?
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  Hey, man, I might lose a little bit of, you know, my power.
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  At, at first that was, that was definitely a thought that was in
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  the back of my mind because I, I never trained like this before.
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  But, you know, getting into the batting cages every week and,
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  you know, hitting with the, the data and seeing the numbers, you
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  know, the numbers were higher than they ever were for me.
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  So I knew that, that I was doing things right.
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  But whenever I showed up the spring training, I definitely
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  like losing all that weight so fast.
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  I think I lost in three months or, or what not, I definitely
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  lost some muscle with it. So like it took me, you know,
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  the first month of spring training, it was still kind of
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  feeling like I felt a little weak, not super weak, but just
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  not like myself. So it, it, it there was
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  definitely a transition phase to where took my body a little bit
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  to to feel great back out on the ball field doing, you know,
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  operating at a in a high level. But no, I settled right in and
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  and and I didn't worry about that from from then on.
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  Matt Adams, our guest, the former Cardinal Big city
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  official retirement from Major League Baseball Wednesday before
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  the Cards. Pirates games played 2012
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  through 2017 in Saint Louis. Played for the Cardinals twice,
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  the Nationals twice, the Braves twice.
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  That's when you know you're a good guy when they want you back
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  multiple places. But let's talk about that era
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  when you got here because Berkman you mentioned was still
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  around, Carlos Beltran was coming through here, Holiday was
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  here. I mean there.
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  There were just some great veteran players for you.
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  A young guy would think to sort of just learn from even if they
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  weren't hands on just observing. Yeah, no, I mean, that's exactly
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  what I did. You know, I was, I was very,
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  very fortunate and, and super grateful that that I was part of
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  those teams of, you know, like you said, baseball greats,
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  learning, learning from the game's best.
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  And you know, some of them were hands on, some of them just kind
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  of led by example and, and, and who I am as a person.
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  I showed up early, got my work in and then I was, I was able to
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  watch those guys go about their business and, and learn from
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  them. What it, what it takes, you
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  know, how to come up with a routine, a daily routine to
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  where you're ready to go when those lights come on at 7:00
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  every night, to go out there and perform at your best.
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  And you know, that's just, that's what helped shape me to
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  be, you know, the player that I, I was throughout the course of
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  my career and, and, and even more so the, the person that I
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  am off the, off the baseball field.
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  What a great time in terms of winning a lot of October
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  moments, 2012, 1314, even making the playoffs in 15.
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  You of course famous for the swing of Kershaw by that play
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  has been I mean, the Cardinals have a ton of incredible October
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  moments. But man, that swing against
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  Kershaw, decisive swing sending the Cardinals to the NLCS.
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  It's it's part of the Cardinal legend.
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  How cool for you and how much fun is it for you that that will
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  live on forever? Yeah, it's awesome.
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  I, you know, you just talking about it right now, just, you
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  know, I got the chills over here thinking about that moment and,
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  you know, probably seen it a few times up on the Jumbotron
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  tomorrow night at the ballpark. And it's, it's, it's great.
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  It's it's it's going to be great for me to be able to share that
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  moment, you know, with my family and my friends, my wife, just,
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  you know, in the fans, the the fans of Bush and in the carnival
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  organization is like, it's it's amazing.
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  And I've had, you know, guys that I've played separate
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  dugouts come up to me during the game and was like, dude, I
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  remember where I was when you hit that home or off curse it
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  like it's just cold. It like that's a defining moment
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  of my career. And nowadays I look back and
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  like, if, if that would have been, you know, 2021-2022,
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  2023-2024, I don't think I would have got that opportunity
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  because nowadays not, not many left-handed hitters get to face
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  some of the games best left-handed hitters.
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  It's, it's a lot of platoon situations and, and the game is
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  just different. So I'm, I'm super grateful that
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  I, I had that moment under my belt and, and I was able to, you
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  know, help our team move along deeper into October and, and,
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  you know, play for a championship for sure.
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  I think the celebration added to it.
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  It wasn't quite Carlton Fisk waving the ball fair at Fenway
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  Park, but just the kind of double barrelled, you know, I
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  would call it like a forearm pump or whatever.
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  That just added to it. And the Cardinals beat Kershaw
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  in 2013. Twice that year, Marco Gonzalez
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  was 2 and O in the NLCS, and Kershaw was owing to.
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  He's got great regular season numbers against the Cardinals,
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  but isn't it crazy how back-to-back Octobers you guys
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  were able to beat him? Yeah, it's, it's, it's wild.
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  And everybody thought that, you know, we that he was tipping
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  pitches and and whatnot that we had him.
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  But like I it's just we for whatever reason, we just, we
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  hunkered down. We we, you know, stuck our nose
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  into the game and we just, we competed our butts off and we
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  were able to get to him. And, you know, he's he's gonna
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  go to he's one of the best pitchers that ever pitching this
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  game. And it's just kind of crazy to
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  think about the, you know, 13 and 14, the the amount of times
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  that we were able to, you know, crack them and and get to him.
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  It's it was pretty special for us.
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  I remember seeing you in Washington then in, you know,
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  2019, the, the Nationals blast the Cardinals in that NLCS
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  wasn't as exciting as some of the other Octobers right here.
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  You win a World Series there, and that was the team.
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  I mean, I don't think Dave Martinez was getting fired, but
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  that team started really slow and people were saying, man,
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  there's too much talent. They got Soto and you got
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  Rendon. How come they're not better in
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  Strasbourg? What do you remember about that
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  team putting it together? Yeah.
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  I mean, we started, we were 19 and 32 through our first 51
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  games and we were, it was, it was we were at a rough part in
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  the year. And we, we made a couple key,
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  key additions with we got Gerardo Parra and Annabel
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  Sanchez over there. And the two of them just kind of
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  like cracked everybody's shell and got us, got us moving in
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  the, in the everyone in the in the same direction where, you
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  know, we showed up and we wanted to we knew that we had the
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  caliber to win. So we, they just a few changes
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  in the clubhouse got everybody, you know, moving in the right
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  direction. It was the, it, it became more
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  like a family after that point, Like everybody was pulling from
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  one another. We, we wanted to go out there
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  and nobody was worried about their numbers.
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  You know what this guy was hitting, how many home runs this
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  guy has? What you know what, the ERA, how
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  many strikeouts I have. We, we showed up each and every
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  night expecting to win. And that's early on with the
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  Cardinals, that that's what we did like with, with so many
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  great teams that I was a part of in the carnal organization.
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  We, we showed up to the ballpark every every day expecting to
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  win. And that's what that Nationals
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  team in 19 did after that rough start.
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  And we just, we, we, we got that confidence and, and that swagger
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  and we just, we kept rolling with him.
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  We we didn't look back and. You guys won every Rd. game
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  right? The World Series, every win was
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  on the road. Yeah, it was, that was that was
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  a while worse World Series. You know, we we open up in
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  Houston, take the 1st 2:00 and then we we lose the, the next
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  three in DC and then we go back to Houston and, and win the next
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  year. It was just a wild World Series,
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  but like very, very unique games and, you know, moments that I'll
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  cherish forever. Matt Adams, our guest, Big City,
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  retiring from Major League Baseball officially as a
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  Cardinal. The team he played for from
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  2012, the 2017, the shift was a deal.
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  Back then. You're a lefty you, but you were
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  pretty good at not having to deal with it.
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  Would you prefer playing now where it's banned or do you
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  think guys should have been able to adapt like we saw you do?
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  I mean, I definitely would have, you know, my average probably
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  would have been a little higher, would have had a few more hits
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  under my belt if you know, if the shift was regulated like it
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  is now. But I, you know, I, I always
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  thought that it was, it was part of the game, but, you know,
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  there's always going to be teams that kind of take it too far.
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  We have 4 guys on one side of second base or moving two guys
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  at the outfield and playing with five output.
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  Like teams just got super creative.
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  And I think, you know, think the league did a good job of, you
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  know, bringing baseball back to closer to where, you know, just
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  baseball being baseball and, you know, keeping two guys on each
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  side of second base. I think it's smarter for the
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  game. I think I think there's more
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  strategy that goes into into the game now.
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  So I it is what it is. But I definitely think I would
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  have had a few more hits and a few more knocks under my belt If
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  if, if it would have been a little bit regulated back back
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  in the day. All right, we'll end it with
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  this. You guys always have incredible
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  memories. How about first big league at
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  bat, last big league at bat? Do you remember it pitch by
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  pitch? Dang, first, first big league
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  about it. Yeah, I only saw one pitch and I
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  got a got a knock up the middle in Dodger Stadium Sunday night
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  baseball against Chad Billingsley.
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  That was first and will be a bat.
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  Last and will be a bat. It's funny because guys never
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  remember the last because they say I didn't know it was going
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  to be my last, That's what. They say exactly I, you know, 21
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  was was not a not a great year dealt with, you know, went to
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  the outside with the Rockies, you know, put up some good
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  numbers, worked hard to to get the call up in 21 out of the
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  outside, but thought a ball off my shin and kind of cracked the
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  casing of my shin and was just battling that was my front leg
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  hitting right. So I really couldn't get into
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  hitting off that front side and and whatnot.
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  So that was a kind of a rough year.
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  So I really don't. I would.
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  I would like to just forget. The what a what a terrible I I I
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  retract. No, no, no.
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  You're good. You're good.
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  I retract the question. What a great first big league at
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  bat at Dodger Stadium. He famously went deep against
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  Clayton Kershaw. Now he's set to retire and he
• 18:56
  lives in Saint Louis year round. Let's end on that, too.
• 18:59
  Just the fact you guys, you love it here, right?
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  Saint Louis's home. Yeah, yeah.
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  You know, we, we live in, we live in Clayton and, and we
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  just, you know, being able to, you know, make a life and, and
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  create a life with my wife who I met in this game and never knew
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  that, you know, just starting friends and and whatnot.
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  And then just naturally becoming together and developing a
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  relationship like this is home now.
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  Got 2 step kids, just got an amazing family.
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  We we love it here. There's there's a lot to do the
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  the people are are amazing. And, you know, this is just our
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  speed and, you know, we look forward to, you know, living
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  here years to come and being able to just be around the
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  community and then get back to the community and just, you
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  know, keep pulling this place home.
• 19:51
  Matt, thanks so much for your time.
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  Great to walk down memory lane. Sorry about that last that bad
• 19:56
  question. We'll, we'll delete that for the
• 19:58
  record. But hey, Congrats on the
• 19:59
  retirement and enjoy the ceremony all.
• 20:02
  Right. Thank you guys so much.
• 20:03
  Appreciate it.