St. Louis Cardinals Caravan to Visit AutoZone Park on Friday, Jan. 18

MEMPHIS, Tennessee -- The 2019 St. Louis Cardinals Caravan, presented by Missouri Farm Bureau Insurance, will visit Memphis and AutoZone Park on Friday, Jan. 18, with the question-and-answer and autograph program beginning at 6:30 p.m. in the Home Plate Club on the second level of the ballpark.
Admission is free to attend, and seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. As in previous years, the Cardinals will implement an Autograph Ticket system for the Caravan program. The first 400 children ages 15 and under will receive a free ticket which guarantees one autograph from each current and former player. Due to high demand, autographs will only be available for children ages 15 and under during the event.
Former Redbirds manager and player Stubby Clapp, the two-time Pacific Coast League Manager of the Year and newly-appointed Cardinals first base coach, is scheduled to attend, along with fellow Cardinals and Redbirds alumni Jason Motte. Current players Jordan Hicks, Tyler O'Neill, Austin Gomber, and Adolis García are also slated to visit AutoZone Park, and the program is scheduled to be emceed by Cardinals broadcaster Ricky Horton.
Hicks, O'Neill, Gomber, and Garcia all made their Major League debuts for St. Louis in 2018, and O'Neill, Gomber, and Garcia all contributed heavily to the Redbirds' 2018 PCL- and Triple-A National Championship-winning season. O'Neill and Garcia each tied the franchise record with a three-home run game, which came just three games apart in late-July, and O'Neill was named to the All-PCL Team and honored as the Cardinals Minor League Player of the Year after the season. Gomber tied the franchise record with 16 strikeouts in a 3-0 win at Iowa on April 23, which was just his fourth-career Triple-A start.
While he didn't pitch for the Redbirds in 2018, Hicks exploded on the MLB scene with the Cardinals in a big way. He led the Majors in fastest average fastball at 100.5 miles per hour, and he was responsible for 39 of the 50 fastest individual pitches in the big leagues including two that reached 105 mph. Hicks threw 659 pitches that reached triple-digits, more than three times as many as anyone else. He is expected to play a major role in the Cardinals bullpen in 2019.
In addition to a question-and-answer session and autographs for kids, there is also scheduled to be a raffle Friday night, and local Cardinals Radio Network affiliate ESPN Radio 92.9 FM will be on-site.

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