NEW YORK -- It wasn’t until José Martínez was 12 that he got his first baseball shoes and batting gloves from his dad, Carlos Martinez, but that memory is the one that sticks with the Cardinals’ right fielder the most.

The day he received the baseball equipment -- the day his career started, Jose says -- remains a special memory, not only because Carlos played parts of seven seasons in the Major Leagues, but because receiving new shoes was the highlight of any 12-year-old’s life.

“You go out with a new team, you got some new shoes and stuff,” Martinez said. “I remember everyone commenting on my shoes and stuff. You always want to look good.”

Carlos died in 2006 after a lengthy battle with cancer. Many people say that there’s a lot of Carlos in Jose. After all, Jose’s nickname, “Cafecito” -- Little Cup of Coffee -- stems from his dad’s nickname, “Café.”

“Of course, you always think about it,” Jose said. “There are a lot of memories there.”

Many of the Cardinals are honoring their dads for Father’s Day during Sunday’s game against the Mets at Citi Field. Backup catcher Matt Wieters has white catching gear with blue accents, and “Thanks Dad” is written in different colors across the chest.

For Matt Carpenter, Father’s Day is about reflecting on all the things his dad, Rick Carpenter, taught him. Rick recently retired after 40 years of coaching -- 37 years at the high school level.

Two of those years produced Matt’s favorite memories with his dad: When Matt was a junior and senior at Elkins High School, he won back-to-back state championships, and Rick was at the helm of those two teams.

“It was quite a thrill to be able to do that with him,” Carpenter said. “I give him a lot of credit for my knowledge of the strike zone. Knowing what’s a ball and what’s a strike. He really helped me a lot as a young kid learning that. Although he lets me do my own thing now.”

With more time on his hands now, Rick will be able to follow Matt and the Cardinals around, as well as spend more time with his grandchildren, including Matt’s two children.

“There’s no way I would have been able to make it here without him and get to this point in my career without him,” Matt said. “He’s been a big influencer and motivator for me along the way.”

During Father’s Day games, for the fourth consecutive year, players wore specially-designed New Era caps to raise awareness and funds for the fight against prostate cancer. Players also had the option to wear Stance multi-pattern blue-dyed socks. MLB will again donate 100% of its royalties from the sales of specialty caps and apparel emblazoned with the symbolic blue ribbon -- a minimum $300,000 collective donation -- to the Prostate Cancer Foundation and Stand Up To Cancer.

This effort also includes the annual Prostate Cancer Foundation “Home Run Challenge,” which has given fans the chance to make a one-time monetary donation or pledge for every home run hit by their favorite MLB Clubs during the time period of Saturday, June 1 through Father’s Day, Sunday, June 16th, all the while tracking where their team stacks up in a “Team vs. Team” competition. Every dollar donated through the Home Run Challenge goes to PCF to fund critical research to defeat prostate cancer. As of June 13th, more than $1.26 million has been pledged via the Home Run Challenge in 2019. Since inception, the Home Run Challenge has raised more than $51 million for PCF, the world’s leading philanthropic organization funding and accelerating prostate cancer research.

Founded in 1993, Prostate Cancer Foundation has funded nearly $800 million of cutting-edge research by 2,200 scientists at 220 leading cancer centers in 22 countries around the world. Because of PCF’s commitment to ending death and suffering from prostate cancer, the death rate is down more than 52% and 1.5 million men are alive today as a result. PCF research now impacts 67 forms of human cancer by focusing on immunotherapy, the microbiome, and food as medicine. Learn more at pcf.org.

Worth noting

The Cardinals signed two more players from the 2019 MLB Draft over the weekend. Eighth-rounder Logan Gragg, a right-handed pitcher out of Oklahoma State, signed with the Cardinals for $167,800, the full value of the 245th pick, according to MLB.com’s Jim Callis. Gragg transferred to Oklahoma State from Connors State (Okla.) College and had been recovering from Tommy John surgery. Right-hander Tyler Statler, drafted in the 14th round out of Hononegah (Ill.) High School, was signed for $300,000, according to Callis. Statler was a Southeast Missouri State commit.