Cardinal Caravan makes annual stop at Dyer County High School

 Cardinal Caravan makes annual stop at Dyer County High School

Jason Peevyhouse

Editor, JP Productions Sports

With spring training for the 2025 Major League Baseball season beginning less than a month from now, local St. Louis Cardinal fans and baseball enthusiasts alike descended on Dyer County High School this past Saturday evening for the annual St. Louis Cardinal Caravan in Newbern.

Local baseball fans were treating to a meal as well as were able to meet and hear from St. Louis Cardinal players Jordan Walker, Michael McGreevy and Zack Thompson as well as former Cardinal players Bernard Gilkey and Brad Thompson. The event was hosted by Cardinal announcer Chip Carey.

Carey, a third-generation name in baseball as the son of Skip Carey and the grandson of Harry Carey, is entering his third year with the Cardinals. Carey said he and the players can not do what they do without fans like the ones who came out on Saturday.

Cardinals Announcer Chip Carey

“The Cardinals and every other major league team have fantastic fan support,” Carey explained. “The Cardinal fans are special. They show up from all across the Midwest and have done that for over 100 years.

“For us, who live in that bubble of Major League cities, going to the games, getting on planes to get out and see the folks who spend and invest their time watching and listening on the TV and radio and spend their hard-earned money to see us at Busch Stadium. To greet us so warmly, its really a nice thing. It gets us fired up for the start of the season and the start of spring training which, as you know, is right around the corner.”

Carey added the range of the broadcasts of Cardinal games in the past as well as stars and announcers like Stan Musial, Jack Buck and Harry Carey have made the birds on the bat an iconic brand.

While the stadium is not the same as the one from many years ago, Chip Carey is figuratively calling games from the same announce booth where his grandfather, the aforementioned iconic announcer Harry Carey called from 1945 through 1969.

“It’s an honor and it’s humbling,” Carey explained. “It’s not just Harry Carey and Jack Buck – Dizzy Dean sat in that booth. Joe Buck. My predecessor Dan McLaughlin sat in that booth. Mike Shannon, Jay Randolph – there’ve been so many great people who have had the honor of calling Cardinal games.

Carey has called games for the Chicago Cubs and, before coming to St. Louis, the Atlanta Braves.

“To come from a great place like Atlanta and land on my feet in St. Louis was something I never imagined would be possible,” Carey added. “But, I am really, really grateful for it.

“I was born and raised a Cardinal fan and always wondered what it would be like – in a professional sense – to be a Cardinals fan. I always was as a kid. Growing up and knowing the 1964 Cardinal lineup before I knew my ABCs. To have this chance and to have this opportunity has been humbling and great.”

Former St. Louis player Bernard Gilkey was a member of the Cardinals from 1990 through 1995 and spent 11 years in the majors with five different teams.

Current Cardinal player Jordan Walker (left) and
Cardinal alum Bernard Gilkey (right)

During his career with the Cardinals, Gilkey was also part of Cardinal Caravan stops in Northwest Tennessee.

“It’s really great to come out and do the caravans to see the fans,” Gilkey explained. “It kinda lets us know – alerts us – that it’s about that time again. Almost spring training.

“Just to see the fans and see the excitement in their eyes and their inquisitiveness they have to find out what we’re going to do this year.”

As Gilkey pointed out, Cardinal fans are spread out across a large area of the country.

“These fans are diehards,” Gilkey explained. “They’re the heart and soul – the heartbeat – of our fanbase.”

Jordan Walker is among the young players among the caravan roster who is getting ready for the upcoming season. At the age of only 22, Walker is looking to improve heading into his third season at the major league level – having rotated back and forth from Triple-A Memphis and the big show for the past two seasons.

St. Louis Cardinal outfielder Jordan Walker (left)

Walker shared some of his offseason workout details in regards to getting ready for the 2025 season.

“I think it’s more just focusing on getting back to what I was good at in 2023,” Walker said. “My offseason hitting program was a little similar to what I did before the 2023 season.

“Just kind of getting that feel back again and also making more positive adjustments because, obviously, 2023 wasn’t perfect either. Kind of combining what I’ve learned and what I used to do well to try to create the best version of myself.”

Walker stressed that his main goal is to be in St. Louis with the MLB club and produce for the whole year.

“Stay up there and produce for the whole year,” Walker said. “I usually sit down with my dad and talk numbers-wise.

“My main goal is to be one of those effective hitters in the lineup.”

For the Cardinals, pitchers and catchers report on Feb. 12 while the full squad will begin on Feb. 17.