'Dads Trip' a wholesome hit with Cardinals

This story was excerpted from John Denton's Cardinals Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

By the best he could remember, Cardinals DH/outfielder Alec Burleson had a catch with his father, Jason, for the first time in more than a decade last weekend at Minnesota’s Target Field.

For the first time in years, lefty reliever JoJo Romero celebrated something his father, Abel, accomplished on the baseball field instead of it being the other way around.

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Then, closer Ryan Helsley got to show his father, Jason, what it was like to travel on a road trip and all the prep work that goes into a game instead of just telling him about it.

As for Cards manager Oliver Marmol, he used the club’s first-ever "Dads Trip" last week in Minnesota to explain to the assembled fathers and players in the visiting clubhouse his “why” for wanting to succeed as a big league skipper. Two decades earlier, his father William, moved the Marmol family from their comfortable life in the Dominican Republic to Florida so that the three older brothers in the family -- and later Oli -- might have a shot to go to college and/or be recruited to play baseball.

“My mom and dad, they were both from the D.R. and they had two businesses that they ran, and they did a nice job, had everything that they needed and there was no reason to move to the states,” Marmol told the assembled Cardinals players and fathers and stepfathers.

“You guys in this room do a really nice job of playing for the [Cardinals] name on the front, but I do want to remind you that on a day like this that name on the back matters,” Marmol said addressing the approximately 20 Cardinals players who had their fathers on last weekend’s trip. “It’s where you came from, what shaped you and made you who you are today.

“I have three older brothers who were all born in the D.R., and one was being recruited and wanted to play at one of the academies. My dad wanted us to be able to pursue an education and pursue our baseball dream, and the way he wanted us to do that was here in the states. … He knew if he made this decision, it meant he was going to have to work labor for the rest of his life.

“For as long as I could remember this man would walk through the door at night covered in paint and cement and all types of stuff with a smile on his face. And he never complained once. The reason is he knew his why. All of us have our version of that story.”

It was veteran right-handed pitcher Kyle Gibson who brought the idea of a “Dads Weekend” to Marmol early in the season, and the skipper worked with the club’s front office to arrange plans to have players' fathers accompany the team to Minnesota. The dads and stepdads flew on the team plane, stayed in the team hotel and even got to play catch with their sons and take batting practice at Target Field. Victor Scott II's father, Victor Sr., showed off his handles by deftly backhanding a couple of balls at shortstop, and Abel Romero even left the yard with a batting practice home run.

“He had a little time to prep, and he took advantage of that by hitting in the cage,” JoJo joked. “I got the [home run] ball and I wrote a little something on it for him. I’m sure he’s going to keep it and frame it.”

Gibson, a veteran 12 MLB seasons, reveled in every second of having his father, Harold, sitting next to him on the plane, sitting at a dressing stall adorned with the “Gibson” nameplate and having him on the field. After all, Gibson said he probably never would have made it to the big leagues without the love and support of his parents.

“Every level of baseball I was at, my dad was there to encourage me,” Gibson said. “My first couple of years in Minnesota were tough, especially when I was up and down, and my dad was always there. My parents being there made the hard days better and it made the good days more special.”

Burleson, one of the Cardinals' best feel-good stories this season with how he has blossomed as a hitter, said the magnitude of the event hit him when he played catch with his dad for the first time since high school. Burleson said he even got a bit sappy about getting to share his love for baseball with his father.

“It was awesome to be able to show him what we do,” Burleson said. “I texted him after he got home and he said, ‘Let’s do it again next year!’ He loved it, and I did, too.”