By Rob Rains
It was about a year ago when Brendan Donovan and Nolan Gorman, who had come up through the Cardinals’ system together and made their major-league debuts 26 days apart in 2022, got into a conversation about the importance of that event.
Gorman had a baseball and “good memories” from his first game. Donovan has a photo with his family as his only souvenir from that day.
As the Cardinals struggled through the 2023 season, their worst in three decades, they brought up several players from the minor leagues to make their major-league debuts.
That caught the attention of Donovan and Gorman.
“We were just talking about some of the things we could do when someone comes up,” Donovan said. “The most important thing to me when someone comes up is being comfortable, letting them know that they belong, that they are here for a reason; just go play your game.
“As a young player when you have that sense of freedom, I strongly believe it leads to better results because you know everybody has your back.”
Donovan and Gorman included two of their other teammates not that far removed from their major-league debuts, Alec Burleson and Zack Thompson, in brainstorming ideas of what kind of gift they could give a player to commemorate his debut.
“We knew that it was an important day in people’s lives,” Gorman said. “We just came together and decided ‘Let’s do something that will show that we care around this clubhouse that you had that opportunity to fulfill your dreams.’”
The idea of how to do that came to Donovan one day when he was driving past a liquor store.
“I’m not frequently visiting a liquor store but I was just thinking about, ‘What can I do to make people feel comfortable, something simple, that we can repeat,’” Donovan said. “I just happened to drive by a store and I thought, ‘That’s it.’”
Donovan and Gorman went to the store, still uncertain of their next step.
“I didn’t know what to get,” Donovan said. “I don’t know anything about bourbon or nice wines. Then I thought, ‘What about a bottle of champagne?’”
Donovan asked an employee about the different bottles on display, and if any of them came in a case. The employee pointed to a bottle of Ace of Spades champagne.
“It’s a pretty stunning bottle,” Donovan said.
He and Gorman purchased all of the bottles the store had in stock – approximately $300 per bottle – and then came up with a plan of what to do with them.
When a player appears in his first game, clubhouse manager Mark Walsh inscribes the case with the player’s name, the date of the game and details of the appearance. All of the players then sign the case.
“Mark does an amazing job with the information,” Donovan said. “I think it’s kind of special.”
One of the first players to receive the gift last year was Jose Fermin – which included the oddity of him signing his own bottle.
“I remember there were six or seven (bottles) on the table and I just started signing and didn’t realize one of them was for me,” Fermin said. “Donovan saw me and he said, ‘Did you just sign your own bottle?’
“As soon as I got home to the D.R. I put it in my room. It’s a good memory.”
Several other players have received the gift following their debuts last year and four players have been added to the list so far this season – Victor Scott II, Ryan Fernandez, Pedro Pages and Chris Roycroft.
Two more bottles are ready to go – the gifts for Ryan Loutos and Adam Kloffenstein are waiting for their return to St. Louis after both were optioned to Memphis before the presentations could be made.
Rather than having to carry the bottles of champagne on the road, not knowing when a player will make his debut, the team gets them prepared and presented while the Cardinals are at home, usually a few days after that player’s first game.
Every presentation, and the player’s reaction, has been special, Donovan said.
“They can do whatever they want with it,” Donovan said. “They can drink the bottle, I don’t care. It’s their bottle. It’s just a token that they can remember their debut by. Getting here is an amazing accomplishment. You work your whole life to get here, and it’s just a little token from us to say congratulations.”
Fernandez was surprised when he and Scott received the first two bottles this season.
“It was really cool to see those guys do that,” Fernandez said. “It’s in my apartment and I look at it every day.”
Now Fernandez is one of the players who sign the bottle, and then watch for the reaction when the gift is presented.
It was not a surprise to Pages when he received his gift. He was with the team, but had yet to play in a game, when he saw the presentations to Scott and Fernandez.
“I asked what it was, and they told me, and then when I got mine I was just super happy,” Pages said. “I just went to the guys to thank them because it means so much.
“It’s a big moment (making a debut). You dream about it your whole life and just to have a little gift, that is something very special. It’s going to be in my house forever. I don’t plan on opening that bottle – maybe the day I retire, but that’s about it.”
The fact that it was two of the younger players on the team, Donovan and Gorman, along with Burleson and Thompson, who came up with the idea speaks to their leadership qualities.
“We have all played together for a couple of years now and have some great relationships,” Donovan said. “We are just looking to build something here. This team has a winning tradition and we are just looking to continue that.
“I know a player coming up is nervous as heck. We’ve all been there. The biggest thing I wanted to do was get comfortable and earn the respect of the guys around me. It’s a heck of a lot easier to go out there and do your thing knowing that guys have your back.”
To Gorman, it’s just a way to pass on some of the lessons he has received from veteran players since he made his debut.
“We have some guys in here who have done things for us,” Gorman said. “They’ve told us that when you are in my position you are going to pay it forward like we are doing for you.
“We have good leaders in here that kind of showed us the ropes and we’re just trying to pass it on.”
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