'Like a dream come true': Cards fan gets longtime wish with grounds crew
Kimberly Amos grew up going to Cardinals games with her father, Elmer Brader Jr., even attending one at Sportsman’s Park before Busch Memorial Stadium opened on May 12, 1966.
Some of the 67-year-old’s favorite memories at the ballpark came on giveaway days.
Amos remembers the team would have “bat days,” when kids received wooden bats with players’ names engraved in them. When those players came to bat, anybody who had the name on a bat would hold it above their head.
“I still have my bat from when I was little; I have a Joe Torre bat,” Amos said. “Those are my earliest memories from going with my dad, and then as I got older, just enjoying the game. But I’ve always been fascinated, enamored really, with the grounds crew. I think they have the best job in the organization.”
That fascination turned into a lifelong dream of becoming an honorary member of the grounds crew at Busch Stadium. On Aug. 11, AARP’s Wish of a Lifetime granted the cancer survivor that wish, allowing Amos to help prepare the field before a game.
Ten years ago, Amos was diagnosed with Stage IV neuroendocrine cancer, the same disease that claimed her mother’s life. But that has not stopped Amos’ commitment to helping those around her while continuing treatment and participating in cancer research.
So, while other fans would be waiting for the players to come out of the dugout, Amos’ show had already started.
“I think I probably [have] OCD,” Amos said. “So, the things that they do feed into that. Everything is timed, and it’s always done the same way, and it’s perfect. And when they get done, the field is just pristine, and then the players come out and mess it up.”
On her special day, Amos got to do far more than watch the grounds crew at work.
“I got to do so much. It was amazing,” said Amos, whose favorite player over the years was Jim Edmonds. “I got to rake the infield, which was my No. 1 thing I wanted to do, and I really thought that was all I was going to do. But they let me do so much. I painted home plate, and I painted the batter’s boxes.”
She was also able to see under the stands, where the grounds crew keeps its equipment, giving her a closer look at how they care for the field. That included a lesson on how they keep the grass alive during the winter with grow lights.
“It was like a dream come true. It was so satisfying, and the crew,” Amos said, “I cannot say enough nice things about them. They were so kind and so accommodating. They're all these young men, and they were so nice to this old woman who came out there to invade their territory.”
The request was submitted by Amos’ sister to AARP’s Wish of a Lifetime and stood out among more than 1,000 requests.
“It is very unique, and I think that’s what makes it so special,” said Wish of a Lifetime executive director Tom Wagenlander. “It underlies her deep appreciation for baseball and all the little intricacies that go into baseball. There’s a humility that comes in a request like that, but also just that passion that shines through.”
When Wagenlander started working at Wish of a Lifetime, he did not anticipate how popular baseball-themed wishes would be. He quickly learned that for generations now in their 70s and 80s, baseball holds a special place in their lives.
The organization has now granted nearly 130 baseball-themed wishes, with approximately 60 female, 70 male and around 45 veteran recipients. It is the most common type of wish, making it a joy for Wagenlander to experience baseball through the eyes of the recipients.
“It was just an awesome experience, given everything she’s going through for her to have this unique relationship with baseball,” Wagenlander said of Amos. “Which is clearly such a source of strength for her, with the challenges she’s facing.”
Before retiring as a doula and childbirth educator, Amos helped more than 1,000 families through childbirth. She spent 10 years working at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in a unique program and also with private births.
“I loved all of it -- the births, the babies, the moms, the families,” Amos said. “They just accept you as part of the family … even non-English-speaking people, when they realized you were just there to help them and suddenly you were just part of the family. So, it was really good, because the hospital I was at had a lot of immigrants that deliver there. So, lots of languages spoken.”
Amos has shifted her attention to volunteering at Lafayette Preparatory School, where she is known as “Nana Kim.” She loves spending time with the children, including her two grandsons who attend the school. Her daughter is also the executive director of the district.
With the school located a mile from Busch Stadium, one of Amos’ favorite events comes when the school has a field trip in the spring. About 900 people usually attend the game, with the third-grade class going down to the field to sing “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.”
Amos is now helping create memories in a place where countless memories of her own were created.
For Wagenlander, those wishes are rallying points of recollection that go back to childhood, when many of the recipients grew up deeply immersed in the stories of baseball legends.
“That’s what is amazing about sports, and baseball in general, is it is such a gift to have in one’s life,” Wagenlander said. “It represents a distraction, a source of inspiration and connection. We’ve heard so many of our baseball wishes started with a dad taking their son or daughter to a game, and really vivid memories of walking into a baseball stadium for the first time … baseball has some of the best stories out there.”
“The history is so great because so many fans see themselves as part of those stories.”
Inspired by his grandparents, Wagenlander saw the wishes as a way to give back to generations that helped lead to the current one enjoying the benefits of the sacrifices made by previous generations.
Now, Amos has her Edmonds jersey and Torre bat, along with a memory of the day she got to live out her dream.
“It was such an amazing day. I cannot thank AARP’s Wish of a Lifetime and the Cardinals organization [enough],” Amos said. “They were all just amazing [for] making this happen.”