Rays trio led by Fairbanks finds special meaning in St. Louis set

This story was excerpted from Adam Berry’s Rays Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

It’s been nearly seven years since the Rays’ last series in St. Louis. In addition to this being a rare trip for the team, it’s a meaningful one for closer Pete Fairbanks, rookie Kameron Misner and recently acquired outfielder Dylan Carlson.

For Fairbanks and Misner, the three-game series beginning on Tuesday represents a dream come true.

Fairbanks grew up in the St. Louis suburbs, going to games at Busch Stadium -- including Game 2 of the 2011 World Series -- and admiring the Cardinals legends of his youth. He played two games there: one as a first baseman for Webster Groves High School, while he was rehabbing from elbow surgery, and another as a pitcher for the University of Missouri against Illinois.

“I’m pretty excited,” Fairbanks said Saturday at Minute Maid Park in Houston. “Should be a pretty good turnout for a lot of people. I played there in high school. I played there in college. And now, hopefully, [I will] get an inning there in the big leagues.”

Fairbanks and his wife, Lydia, both have family members and friends in the area, and Fairbanks has extended family coming from nearby Mexico, Mo. He was expecting big crowds at Busch Stadium all three days, with plans to rent a suite for at least 90 people (and likely well past that) for one of the games.

Misner had a different estimate for the size of his personal cheering section.

“How many people are in my town?” he said, laughing. “It’s going to be quite a bit.”

(For what it’s worth, Misner’s rural hometown of Poplar Bluff, Mo., a little more than two hours south of downtown St. Louis, claims a population of around 17,000 people.)

The rookie outfielder was called up to the big leagues for the first time on Friday and joined the Rays in Houston, but the rest of the road trip itinerary couldn’t have worked out much better.

“I got called up, and then everybody was like, ‘Oh, man! Next week! St. Louis!’” he said.

Like Fairbanks, Misner played baseball at the University of Missouri, but this will be his first time taking the field at Busch Stadium. The 26-year-old also grew up a fan of the Cardinals and made the drive to watch games from the upper-deck seats in the outfield.

“Where I’m from, everyone’s diehard Cardinals fans. Rural area, a bunch of farmers, they get off work and they all drive their tractors around listening to Cardinals games,” said Misner, whose grandfather, Mike, is a cattle farmer with more than 200 cows. “It’s pretty cool. I’m really looking forward to it. It’s going to be awesome.”

Returning to Busch Stadium will bring about different feelings for Carlson. The 25-year-old switch hitter was in St. Louis’ organization from the time the Cardinals drafted him 33rd overall in 2016 until last week, when they dealt him to the Rays for reliever Shawn Armstrong at the Trade Deadline.

A week later, he’s back on the other side of the field.

“How ironic,” Carlson said. “Yeah, it's pretty funny how baseball works.”

A remarkably promising prospect who finished third in the National League Rookie of the Year Award voting in 2021, Carlson dealt with injuries and inconsistency during his time with St. Louis and eventually found himself as an ideal change-of-scenery candidate. It’s early, of course, but he thinks he’s found a good scene with the Rays, who have focused more on encouraging him with information about what he does well than whatever expectations he may not have met with the Cardinals.

“Overall, I mean, [I’m] 25 years old. I feel like I've got a lot of baseball ahead of me,” Carlson said. “I feel like I'm in a really good spot here with this organization, and I just think it's a good match.”