Editor in Chief Spencer Gleason looks back on past STLCC students that played for the Cardinals
By: SPENCER GLEASON
Editor in Chief
Remember the name Andrew Reidt.
The former STLCC Archer pitcher signed a major league baseball contract with the hometown St. Louis Cardinals last June and now wears the bird on the bat for the Cardinals’ Gulf Coast League affiliate.
Reidt is the latest, in a long line of former STLCC players, to sign with MLB. But he is the first to sign, as a former member of the STLCC Archers. Previous players played for the individual campuses, when Meramec, STLCC-Forest Park and STLCC-Florissant Valley had their own teams.
The greatest names, of course, came from Meramec. Names like T.J. Matthews, Brian Boehringer and David Freese once played at Meramec.
Matthews pitched for the Cardinals from 1995-97 and again in 2001. His self-proclaimed greatest contribution to the Cards came when we was traded away to the Oakland A’s in the middle of the 1997 season for Mark McGwire.
But Matthews was no slouch. He had a 2.15 ERA in 1997 before being sent to Oakland.
Boehringer played for the New York Yankees those same years — 1995-97 and again in 2001. He won a World Series with the Yankees in 1996 and a National League Pennant with the San Diego Padres in 1998.
Freese — as the city of St. Louis will always remember — was a World Series hero in 2011, becoming the sixth player in MLB history to win both the National League Championship MVP and World Series MVP, in the same postseason.
Back to Reidt — the 6-foot-6 right-hander, last played for the Archers in 2012. He went 6-3 that year and was second on the team in strikeouts, with 38. After his stint with STLCC, Reidt transferred to Cameron University in Oklahoma.
His try-out with the Cardinals was set-up by STLCC Head Coach Scott Goodrich. And the big club signed him that afternoon.
At Rookie-A ball, Reidt was 4-1 last season and had 24 strikeouts, to his three walks. With stats like that, Reidt will be playing in front of family and friends at Busch Stadium soon.
