ST. LOUIS -- As this year's winner of the Roberto Clemente Award, Yadier Molina drew widespread attention for the work he had completed with much less fanfare. For much of the previous year, Molina had been pouring his heart and financial resources into his home territory of Puerto Rico, which had been ravaged by a Category 5 hurricane.
"We didn't do [the work] thinking about this award," Molina said upon receiving Major League Baseball's greatest individual honor. "They needed so much help."
While the spotlight appropriately shined upon Molina's work, he was hardly alone in leaving his fingerprints on organizations and individuals in need. Throughout 2018, many Cardinals players, sometimes through acts of anonymity, gave their time and money without the expectation of recognition. But with the Thanksgiving season here, it seems as fitting a time as ever to shed light on some of that work.
Approximately 500 children in the St. Louis area had the opportunity to attend a Cardinals game and enjoy a meet-and-greet through the Player Ticket Program. William Fowler, Adam Wainwright, Carlos Martinez, Luke Weaver, Tommy Pham and Matt Bowman combined to host 24 non-profit groups at the stadium during the season.
Wainwright's community reach continues to extend through Big League Impact, his charitable foundation, which runs fantasy football charity events across the country. A total of $380,000 was raised for various charities through this year's events.
Martinez leaned on his foundation, Tsunami Waves, to bring a young girl, Camille, from the Dominican Republic to St. Louis to receive a life-saving bone marrow transplant. He raised money for his foundation by hosting a celebrity bowling event and washer tournament over the summer.
Like Molina, both Jose Martinez and Kolten Wong undertook fundraising efforts to help residents in their respective hometowns. Martinez raised over $10,000 to benefit a non-profit humanitarian organization in Venezuela. Wong partnered with the Cardinals on a ticket fundraiser and used a GoFundMe page to assist those impacted by the volcano eruption in Hawaii.
Wong also co-hosted the fifth annual St. Louis Cornhole Challenge to benefit two local charities that assist cancer patients.
Bud Norris made a visit to nearby Scott Air Force Base, where he spent time with service members, signed autographs and distributed tickets. He later hosted service members and their families at Busch Stadium, treating them to a question-and-answer session prior to the game.
Much of the Cardinals' community outreach continues to be directed toward helping children in the local community. There were school visits, including a recent one by Michael Wacha in October and another by Norris and Paul DeJong late in the season. Fowler teamed up with decorated Olympian Jackie Joyner-Kersee to teach children the benefits of exercise.
Nine players, including rookies Jack Flaherty and Harrison Bader, helped host over 4,000 people at Busch Stadium for the team's Kids Club Party during the season. Manager Mike Shildt also participated in the event.
Cardinals' wives were busy in the community, too, starting back in Spring Training when they teamed with Marlins' wives to distribute food to families in South Florida. The group later raised enough money to grant 12 wishes to St. Louis-area kids through their Wives for Wishes fundraiser and another $60,000 by selling grab bags at the ballpark.
Several wives participated in the Komen Greater St. Louis Race for the Cure and organized visits to five area children's hospitals in August. During those visits, nearly 500 Cardinals bears were distributed.
Other highlights of the organization's off-the-field endeavors in 2018 include: the Cardinals' community ticket program, which handed out over 41,000 free tickets to nearly 700 nonprofit and community organizations; their annual Red Cross Blood Drive, which resulted in the collection of over 1,400 units of blood; and their partnership with a local furniture store to help furnish a home for local veteran.