BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Adam Kloffenstein could tell something was up when he saw Triple-A Memphis manager Ben Johnson coming on Wednesday afternoon.
The Cardinals prospect acquired just last summer as part of the trade that sent Jordan Hicks to the Toronto Blue Jays, Kloffenstein joined the Cardinals’ 40-man roster this offseason. However, he’d spent all season in the minors.
“It was four or five pitches into my mid-week bullpen, and I saw him coming out there on the phone with a little bit of pep in his step, and I kind of had a feeling,†Kloffenstein said while talking to reporters prior to Thursday’s game. “Obviously, we had to change the bullpen up a little bit.â€
Johnson gave Kloffenstein, a 23-year-old right-hander and Texas native, the news that he’d be going to the big leagues for the first time in his professional career. In a departure from to the usual call-up scenarios, he’d join the team for the first MLB game in Alabama at the oldest professional ballpark in the United States, Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama.
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Kloffenstein went from having a 3 p.m. bullpen session to having to make a 5:30 flight to Alabama. And no, he didn’t immediately stop his bullpen.
Kloffenstein said he threw a couple more in the bullpen because “I was pretty jittery and nervous. I was like, ‘I might as well practice this because this is how I’m going to feel tomorrow.’â€
Prior to Thursday’s game, the Cardinals recalled Kloffenstein from Triple-A Memphis and optioned right-handed pitcher Chris Roycroft back to Memphis.
Kloffenstein had compiled a 4-4 record with a 3.97 ERA and a 1.13 WHIP in 77 innings. He gave the recently run-ragged Cardinals pitching staff a viable option to provide innings behind starter Andre Pallante. The Cardinals entered the day having used their bullpen extensively in recent days, including four consecutive one-run tilts and two extra-inning games.
“I didn’t really have time to go through all that,†Kloffenstein said of the swirl of emotions surrounding the news. “I, obviously, called my parents and called my friends. It was 30-second, 60-second phone calls because I had to be at the airport in an hour.
“A lot of emotions. I think the main emotion was just kind of shock and kind of, ‘Oh, it’s happening.’ Then finding out I was coming here. I’d been imagining it for 20 years, and I never imaged it being like this.â€
Kloffenstein said his parents were in Tampa, Florida, when he got the news. They started driving on Wednesday night and arrived in Birmingham a few hours before the game.
Kloffenstein’s mother grew up about 60 miles from Rickwood in Gadsden, Alabama, and his family circled this game before the season started.
“There’s a short list of friends that said, ‘No matter where it is, I’ll always be there.’ So I called them and said, ‘It’s what you always said.’ And they’re here.â€
The atypical circumstances surrounding the game meant that Kloffenstein still hadn’t quite sorted out the task of getting tickets for all the friends and family who’d made the trek, but he considered that a good problem to have.
Kloffenstein also figured the pomp and circumstance of the game and the unusual setting also took some pressure off him.
“I’ve driven by this field before,†Kloffenstein said. “I was actually a little bit naive to the history that was here until I started looking into it the last couple weeks. Knowing that I’ll probably be one of very few that make a debut here, I think that’s pretty neat. It takes a little bit of the spotlight off of me.â€
He then pointed to a television reporter’s light and quipped, “Except for this one.â€
Crawford faces old friends, reflects on Mays
Cardinals infielder Brandon Crawford started at third base for the first time in his major league career, and it came in a contest against the organization with which he’d spent his entire career prior to this spring.
Crawford entered the day having started 1,541 games in the majors, all as a shortstop. All but 13 of those starts had come as a member of the San Francisco Giants. Both of those things changed on Thursday.
With Nolan Arenado nursing an elbow injury after he got hit by a pitch in Wednesday’s game, Crawford started at third base against his former club.
A Bay Area native who played high school baseball in Pleasanton, California, Crawford also played with a heavy heart following the death of Willie Mays. Crawford grew up hearing stories from his father about Mays and then got to know Mays while playing for the Giants.
Crawford said his father would recount in vivid detail specific games and specific instances that demonstrated how great Willie Mays was and how “unbelievable†he could be on a baseball field.
“It was awesome, being able to develop a relationship with one of the best players ever — if not the best player ever,†Crawford said. “You hear about him growing up, then you develop a relationship with him. It doesn’t seem real at first.â€
Crawford said it was really cool for him to find out for himself that all the stories about Mays being a tremendous person were true.
Mays’ death on Tuesday meant the event in his home state at the ballpark where he played his first professional games changed the tenor of the festivities.
“I think it was already a pretty cool tribute for him,†Crawford said. “Obviously, I wish he could have been here. With him passing away, it kind of turns into more of a memorial — and, in ways, maybe even more special.â€