JUPITER, Fla. • As he eulogized Stan Musial, the greatest Cardinal of them all, this past January, club chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. recited a handful of statistics, called Musial a friend to both presidents and popes, and described how Musial would host charity golf tournaments but stack his team to win. DeWitt concluded with a phrase that echoed in so many memorials to Musial.
He personified the Cardinals.
He is the person the Cardinals want to be.
“Stan set the tone and we try to live up to it,†DeWitt said the day after Musial died at 92. “Did he set an example that you try to emulate with the players you bring in here? I say, absolutely.â€
While presented as a tribute, DeWitt’s comments were also reflective of programs and policies that have grown increasingly prominent within the Cardinals’ organization. Musial is the name that serves as an ideal for a model the club has refined and expanded in recent years. From amateur scouting to the minor leagues and into the majors, from drafting to free-agent signings, the Cardinals have tried to develop and identify the person as well as the player.
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Manager Mike Matheny refers often to several qualities they seek that begin with the letter “C,†such as chemistry and competitiveness and the one mentioned most often in connection to Musial … Character.
“When we think about the type of player we want to attract here and the type of player we want to develop here, we want high character,†general manager John Mozeliak said. “We want civic-minded. We want players who will embrace what this organization stands for. … The game has changed but we still look at the qualities of (past Cardinals) teams. We look for players who embody that personality.â€
Fitting the Cardinal culture
In each phase of the player acquisition and development process, the Cardinals are installing or refining this character-driven approach. There is a program called “Cardinal Core†for minor-league players that helped, in several ways, Shelby Miller reset last season. There is a personality study that scouts are asked to utilize that only strengthened the team’s interest in first-round pick Michael Wacha and Florida State senior James Ramsey last summer. And there are things on the major-league side that Mozeliak and his staff are exploring when it comes to determining if a player is a fit for the clubhouse culture. Recent additions are examples.
Dan Kantrovitz, the Cardinals’ director of amateur scouting, said one of the questions his scouts are asked to consider is, “Can you imagine this kid playing in Busch Stadium, wearing a Cardinals uniform? Is he a Cardinals-type player?â€
As they set the draft board, scouts will use those answers to advocate a pick. This past draft Kantrovitz said it guided several picks of “players we knew would fit into our culture.â€
The motivation behind this approach is as much historic as it is recent. As the Cardinals invested in the farm system and amateur acquisitions, they had some missteps. Prospects falter all the time, but the Cardinals also had incidents of deeper issues with players and personalities that didn’t mix. In 2009, three players at High-A Palm Beach were suspended by baseball for testing positive for drugs of abuse. At least one other player was removed from the active roster for off-field issues that were never publicly disclosed.
The Palm Beach suspensions “got our attention, no question about it,†DeWitt said.
Scouting more than just skills
As part of the scouting for recent drafts, the Cardinals have had potential picks take personality evaluations. Those are included in the scouting reports on their on-field talents. The Cardinals have conducted many interviews with players and their parents to get a better sense of their background, their motivation.
DeWitt said whenever there is a talk around the table about a “big bonus†player, officials ask the scout to describe the player and what he knows about the family, not just the tools. Those questions also led the Cardinals to select players who are helped by the answers, like 23rd-round pick Matt Adams.
Once in the system, as the Cardinals start to introduce the players to “The Cardinal Way†and begin developing those tools, the club also has added programs to develop the person.
The Cardinals have expanded their English language classes to all levels, not just the lowest levels. Last year, a Class AAA pitcher wanted to work on his English so the club outfitted him with the Rosetta Stone language learning program. In the second week of this minor-league spring training, longtime baseball general manager Roland Hemond visited the camp to tell players about the importance of continuing college.
On the minor-league side of the Cardinals’ complex at Roger Dean Stadium, there is a multi-purpose room used for meals, and there was always a temporary wall in place to separate coaches from the players. That wall has been pushed back, removed so that players and coaches can mingle.
And then there is the “Cardinal Core.â€
“The thing that this program does is it allows players to understand that we’re trying to build strengths in them – character building – that allows them to walk through that door to the major-league clubhouse and understand what’s expected of them,†said Gary LaRocque, the club’s senior adviser for player development. “We use our history. We talk to the players about our winning culture. We talk constantly about that. If we’re going to develop those championships it starts down here, what we do every day.â€
Prospering through character
This is the second year of “Cardinal Core,†which was offered to a handful of players last year at Class AA Springfield.
John Hartwig, a ºüÀêÊÓƵ businessman and friend of Matheny’s, established Pro/Spur, a company that aims, on its web site, to show pro athletes how to “prosper through character.†Prospects like Trevor Rosenthal and Kolten Wong went through the program last season just as it earned the name “Cardinal Core.†Hartwig provided suggested reading, held informal classes, and even had the players practice their postgame interviews, complete with some controversial questions. The players would then watch their interviews for improvements.
Wong said Hartwig had the players write their goals and then went over with each player the importance of stepping-stone goals to reach the larger ones. Wong still has the paper he wrote all of his down on folded up in a bag that travels with him.
Hartwig reached out to Miller as the prospect struggled in his first Class AAA year.
One of the suggestions Hartwig gave Miller, under the umbrella of the “Cardinal Core†program was to view his jersey as armor, protection against criticism, and his uniform as other traits, such as wisdom and winning spirit.
“When I was struggling I would get worked up about small things and my mind would be going 90 to nothing in the game,†Miller said. “He talked about slowing down and thinking about it. You wear the Cardinals jersey and you should be proud of that. I was taking stuff for granted. I was working hard, but I wasn’t putting forth the effort to get better that I could have been.â€
Hartwig visited spring training this year to speak to the Cardinals’ early camp for minor-league prospects, and the club expects to expand the “Cardinal Core†curriculum to other levels. Matheny and Mozeliak both spoke to the early group as part the “core†talks, with Matheny stressing that the club is “investing in you guys and want you to grow as people.â€
“I want it to be very clear that we care about character around here because character influences chemistry, and we say a lot about chemistry,†Matheny said. “Don’t get that confused with us being a bunch of nice guys. Being a competitor is another word that comes with those other ‘Cs.’ We want guys who will do anything out there to win.â€
Measuring up to Musial
Clubhouse chemistry became more of a focus for the Cardinals headed into the 2011 season after officials and players felt the room soured in 2010. One veteran said that the talented team “got too stuffy and didn’t work out.†It had cliques. It had personality clashes. It had young players unnerved. It had a mood that Mozeliak sought to mend by acquiring Lance Berkman and Ryan Theriot, two personalities manager Tony La Russa and Mozeliak identified as catalysts for improved chemistry.
Mozeliak said the approach to help find fits like Berkman through free agency and trades is “evolving.†Matt Holliday was identified early as a target to be a long-term Cardinal because of what Cardinals officials gathered from playing against him and from mutual acquaintances. One player said he has heard of other clubs contacting visiting clubhouse managers for info on a player’s personality. Cardinals scouts are encouraged to note body language on the field.
Does it fit in a Cardinals uniform?
With his playing career, reputation and place as a cherished civic icon, Musial offers a personality for the Cardinals to point to and steer toward. He’s the ideal, not necessarily the mold. Hall of Famer Bob Gibson once said that it seemed like Musial “invented†what it means to be a Cardinal. He didn’t mean the numbers or the titles.
He meant the man.
“You can talk about living up to what Stan is but I’m a relief pitcher,†said Cardinals righty Mitchell Boggs. “I’m not going to have 3,000 hits. I’m not going to make multitudes of All-Star games. I’m not going to be a Hall of Famer. But, the standard of how you approach each day – do you come here and work your tail off? Do you care about putting that jersey on and having some pride in it? That’s the message. He was an incredible player. His career is one of the best ever. Not many guys are going to measure up to that.
“But what he meant to the teams he played on and what it meant to them when he walked into the clubhouse, that’s what we can all strive for.â€
