Baseball. A word linked to America and the history it has to offer. As someone with a tremendous interest in American history it may surprise you that I never took that much of an interest in baseball. I played baseball when I was a kid and my entire family has always been huge St. Louis Cardinals fans, but I just couldn't find the beauty and passion for the sport that everyone around me seemed to have. That was until I went on a trip to Cooperstown with my Broadcast Journalism teacher and a fellow Broadcast Journalism classmate. Me and my friend Austin were the only two students from Ladue selected for the trip which was done in conjunction with the St. Louis Cardinals. The experience was overwhelming to say the least. By the end of the trip you felt like family with some of the biggest names in baseball. While maybe not the most exciting of moments, I have picked two events from the week in Cooperstown. These two moments were, for me, the most pivotal in my growth and perspective as a human and played a big part in making this trip life changing and truly full filling. The first event happened on the second day. Me, Austin, and our teacher Mr. Goble had to record some footage at the National Baseball Hall of Fame. The Fantasy Camp was holding a little event there and all the former Cardinals players who took part in the Fantasy Camp where at this event. So were all the faculty and participants. At the very beginning everyone gathered into an auditorium with a giant screen in the very front. Once everyone was seated they played a video introducing the Baseball Hall of Fame. The video was almost like an epiphany for me. All these names that I had heard of, movies that I grew up loving, music that I grew up listening too, all connected by the sport of baseball. People like Lou Gehrig who I had heard about through ALS, and yet I had never dug into his time as player for the Yankees. After hearing a part of his speech for the first time I nearly began to tear up. So many powerful moments for baseball all packed into one video. On top of all of that you had some of the legends in the video in the actual audience with you! It was truly surreal and an amazing moment. The second event was when the head of Cardinals Alumni, Joe Pfeiffer, invited all of us to a dinner with several other members of the Fantasy Camp. The dinner was a wonderful way to learn more about the different roles needed in the Fantasy Camp and the people behind those roles. You learn about how powerful the community is that the camp builds and the powerful experiences that everyone has had at some point during their Fantasy Camp journey. Everyone had such amazing stories and the dinner was a wonderful way to get to know everyone a lot better. I don't know if I had ever witnessed a closer and more tight knit group of people. All these people had a deep history together and yet they still made you feel equally at home. I think that is what was so special about the whole experience. You never once truly felt left out. At any point throughout the camp there was always more than one person who had your back. All you had to do was bring your passion and enthusiasm to the game. This was more than just a trip. It was an experience and I got so much out of it that it really makes it difficult to fit into one blog post. The trip really changed me for the better and hope to someday see these amazing people again.
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AuthorMy name is Mate Daus. I am a filmmaker, editor, Musician, and artist. Archives
April 2023
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