Fan Spotlight: Going to a Cardinals game was an incentive to get his strength back after his second bout with cancer

By Sally Tippett Rains

Cardinals fan Terry Kimmel who lives in Springfield, Missouri, enjoys going to Cardinals games. Recently she saw first-hand how much the simple act of going to a game can raise a person’s  spirits.

Her uncle Bob Mitchell, a lifelong Cardinals fan, recently moved to town and she took him to his first professional game.

She remembers visiting her grandparents as a kid in the rural setting that was their home in Southern Illinois. He was always a Cardinals fan but never made it to Busch Stadium for a game. He did get to go on a tour of the current Busch Stadium several years ago, but had never gone to any type of Cardinals game– major league or minor league.

“Everyone in our family was a Cardinals fan, and we went to games every summer,” she said.

She remembered hanging with her uncle as a kid and early adulthood. She became much closer to him as he developed health problems.

“Bobby, he is a fun-loving person who grew up happy and he loves listening to and watching the Cardinals games.”

Terry will never forget when Uncle Bobby decided to mow the side yard into a baseball diamond.

“Bobby said they used different things for bases,” she said. “They started with rocks, then stones. They would use anything they could think of, cardboard, plywood, and even baseball mitts.”

Bob would get up every morning before anyone else and mow the diamond. There was a lot of baseball and Whiffle ball played on that field. That was years ago, before he got sick.

“In 1993 he got cancer,” she remembered. “They told him he had six months to live. My parents had just relocated to St Louis (where I lived) and he had all of his treatments and care at Saint Louis University (SLU) Hospital including an experimental stem cell transplant. I lived in Wildwood, a suburb of St. Louis.”

Bob survived the cancer, but 18 years later his Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma came back.

It was in 2010– the second go-around with cancer– that Terry got involved in helping with his care-giving.

“At that time, there were no other relatives nearby, so I’d help him out, making trips from my home in Wildwood to Saint Louis University Hospital,” she said.

After a while, they were able to get his chemo treatments moved from St. Louis to southern Illinois and his friends and church were able to help, so he was able to be in his hometown while going through his cancer. There were trips to St. Louis and at this point, Terry became his medical power of attorney and has stayed involved with him since.

“Our relationship grew from there,” she said.

Bob was finally cancer-free but left with other health problems.

Recently, he ended up in a 3 ½ week stay in the hospital and it was getting harder and harder for him to manage and for his friends to help. She knew it would be better for all if he moved to Springfield, but after 76 years of living in southern Illinois it was a difficult decision.

“It was a huge ask to move Bobby to Springfield, Missouri,” said Terry.

But there was one thing that helped sweeten the pot.

“He remembered there was a minor league team here,” she said. “Since then, he has asked regularly about wanting to attend the game. I asked him ‘how did you even know there was a Cardinals team in Springfield?’”

It was because he’s such a knowledgeable fan. In his home in southern Illinois, he always kept up with the team. Her brother, who lives in Texas, kept him up to date, talking about the Cardinals and helping him with a big screen tv & all the sports channels.

“My brother, Rich Kimmel, and Bobby have had ongoing cardinals baseball and statistics discussions since they were kids.”

In his new home (long term care facility) he is not very mobile since he uses a wheelchair, but she wanted to figure out how to get him to a Springfield Cardinals game.

“He was beyond disbelief when I stopped in on a Friday morning and told him I had tickets for the game that night,” she said.

It was easier said than done, but with the help of two long-time friends she was able to pull it off. He had really been looking forward to being strong enough to attend a Springfield Cardinal game.

When she got home after the game, it all hit her.

“All I could think about was how far he has come,” she said. “He has made so much progress that I was able to have the pleasure of taking my Uncle Bobby, to a Cardinals baseball game!”

And he enjoyed the experience.

“He was truly beyond ecstatic,” she said. “He worked so hard with his rehab. I’m very proud of him. This guy has had Non-Hodgkins lymphoma twice– 20 years apart and he has beat it twice!”

She lives near him and gets to stop in and visit any time she wants. And they talk Cardinals baseball.

“He watches sports non-stop and goes outside and watches the squirrels,” she said. “All he is about is sports. Watching Cardinals Baseball brings him so much joy.”

The Springfield Cardinals are defending champions in the Texas League and have been having a good year so far. Bob is also having a good year, doing well and as time passes and getting stronger. Terry says, there will be more Springfield Cardinal baseball games for him.