<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="285"><tbody><tr valign="top"><td width="100"></td><td width="185">Memphis Redbirds (AAA)
Auto Zone Stadium
Auto Zone Park
200 Union Ave.
Memphis, TN, 38103
Phone: 901-721-6000
Fax: 901-721-6017
The Gulf Coast Cardinals are a minor league baseball team that plays in the Gulf Coast League. The Cardinals were originally a team from 1966-1976, but were reactivated in 2007. The Cardinals play their home games in Jupiter, Florida at Roger Dean Stadium, which is also the spring training home of the St. Louis Cardinals and the Florida Marlins.
Cardinals Dominican Summer League:
Manager: Nelson Norman
Hitting Coach: Rene Rojas
Pitching Coach: T.B.D.
Trainer: Marconis Cabrera
In other player development staffing news, Derek Lilliquist was promoted to Jupiter Complex Pitching Coordinator and Bill Villanueva promoted to assistant to Jupiter Complex Pitching Coordinator, Mike Shildt was promoted to Spring Training Coordinator and Ramon Ortiz was hired as Gulf Coast League hitting coach/Latin American hitting coordinator.
01/18/2008 11:35 AM ET
Redbirds organist plays final note
Ramsey tickled the keys for 36 seasons
By Kyle Parkinson / Memphis Redbirds
Memphis, Tenn. - The Memphis Redbirds are one of the few minor league organizations with a live organist every night. The man that held that post for the past 36 seasons has played his final note.
David Ramsey passed away yesterday after a lengthy battle with cancer, he was 68-years-old. The legendary organist was also a music teacher and alum of Rhodes College. After graduating in 1961 he began teaching part-time at Rhodes in 1965 before joining the staff full-time in 1975. In 2002 Ramsey was recognized as a Distinguished Teacher of Music and was recently named Professor Emeritus.
As the organist for Memphis baseball beginning in 1971 Ramsey saw over 2,000 home games, seven no-hit games, three championship teams and played at two ballparks. He outlasted 15 general managers, 14 radio announcers, 10 club presidents, seven ownership groups and seven major league affiliates.
"Baseball and life around the ballpark is all about the people we meet, work with and get to know," Redbirds President/GM Dave Chase said. "I first worked with David in 1979, my second season in baseball, at McCarver Stadium with the Chicks. From that time forward David was always quick with a smile and a heartfelt 'How are you doing.' I missed him last season and will always remember him when I walk through the press box and see the ballpark organ sitting primed for another game, another season - but without our friend, David."
Winter Warm-up: Mather, Perez Q & A
By Derrick Goold
01/19/2008 4:45 pm
DOWNTOWN — The rising closer prospect in the organization and a once-idling slugger getting closer to reclaiming his reputation as a prospect were part of the younger flavor at this year’s Winter Warm-Up.
(Them and Anthony Reyes’ red-dyed swathe of spiked hair.)
Chris Perez, a 2005 draft pick out the University of Miami, is earmarked to be Triple-A’s closer this summer, coming off a year that ended with an invite to join Team USA in the Olympic preview tournament. A bulky closer with a whirling slider, Perez had 77 strikeouts in 54 2/3 innings and nearly twice as many walks as hits allowed (41 vs. 23).
Joe Mather had a breakout year, hitting 31 home runs and leaping two levels – something he had not done in his four previous seasons of pro baseball. Mather was always considered one of the best athletes and strongest players in the system, but the frame and the ability didn’t connect with the production. Until 2007. He was added to the 40-man roster and is becoming more proficient in the outfield so he has a position to go with the bat.
Both Mather and Perez will be at major-league spring training this year, but first they answered questions from the assembled media at Winter Warm-Up:
***
Q: What do you make of your first brush with this?
Mather: I had no what to expect. Last night we came into the lobby - me, Chris, Bryan Anderson, some of the young guys - no clue what the expect. It was awesome seeing all the fans camp out. It was awesome. Definitely rings true to what everyone says.
Q: You guys - Chris on Team USA, Joe starting in Springfield last year - are part of and have been with the group that the club is counting on to produce in the next few years. Can you tell us about that group of talent - yourselves, Colby Rasmus, you mentioned Anderson?
Perez: It’s pretty special. A lot of guys don’t have the opportunity to play with great players all the way through the system. It will be good when we get up there and we’re all used to playing with each other. We’ve built chemistry in the lower levels. Keep it going as we keep advancing levels. To have a core guys that are young and get along, it’s pretty special. You might not get that again in your career. I look at it as a great opportunity to help the Cardinals in the future. Comfortable with each other. Played a lot of games with each other. Played a lot of games with each other. If you’re comfortable off the field, it’s going to help you on the field. The clubhouse will be good.
We had a good time playing with each other in Springfield. We had a great team. A lot of young guys. It was a lot of our first times there. We gelled together. It’s our first time for all of us, so we’re learning together.
The road to Busch Stadium will continue to run through the Quad-Cities for minor-league baseball players in the St. Louis Cardinals organization.
Dave Heller, managing partner of the Quad-Cities River Bandits, and Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak signed a two-year extension of the existing agreement between the clubs during a Tuesday news conference at Modern Woodmen Park.
Player development contracts — the document that ties major-league clubs to their minor-league affiliates — can be two or four years in length. With new ownership operating the Quad-Cities’ Midwest League franchise, Mozeliak views a two-year deal as the most prudent approach for both parties.
“We’re coming off of a four-year agreement and at this point, it seems to make a lot of sense to go with two years to make certain that all parties are comfortable with each other,” Mozeliak said.
“We like it here, our people like it here and we are excited to continue our relationship with Dave and his people. We are excited about the plans he has for this affiliate and we are showing our commitment by renewing our agreement. Fans will see a different product here than they have in the past.”
The Quad-Cities franchise has been a St. Louis affiliate since 2005 and Tuesday’s agreement extends that relationship through the 2010 season.
In the first three years of the current four-year contract between the organizations, St. Louis-affiliated Quad-Cities teams have had a combined record of 226-189 and have reached the Midwest League playoffs each season.
Former Jaguar Freese hot prospect for Cards Minor leaguer to play in South Alabama's Alumni Game today
Saturday, February 09, 2008 By KIM SHUGART Sports Reporter
David Freese was one of the best hitters in South Alabama baseball history during the two years he wore a Jaguars uniform and is now proving himself on the professional level. The former USA third baseman is expected to open the 2008 season with the Memphis Redbirds, the Triple-A affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals, after spending the first two years of his pro career in the San Diego Padres' organization.
"It's going to be nice to be closer to home," said Freese, a Missouri native back in Mobile to participate in today's USA Alumni Game at Stanky Field. "I think my parents are more pumped up about it than I am."
Freese was traded to the Cardinals in December in a deal that sent St. Louis center fielder Jim Edmonds to San Diego.
"It's a great opportunity for me," said Freese. "I talked to the Cardinals farm director and they've invited me to the big league camp. Depending on how spring practice goes, they're thinking of putting me in Memphis. We'll just have to see."
Minor League Affiliates/Discussion Thread
Minor League Affiliates/Discussion Thread
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