10 Cardinals answer important survey questions, like: Do you have any thoughts on aliens?
A long winter of working to hone skills on the baseball field manifests itself in the results seen or not seen in spring training.
What never stops, however, is the process of getting to know teammates and diving deep into the psyches of those players who will perform for fans on the field.
By asking some of the most important questions of the year — and by giving some of the Cardinals a chance to demonstrate how old they think Adam Wainwright truly is — there’s a chance to learn how players feel about things that matter and things that definitely don’t.
The participants in this year’s spring survey were Paul DeJong, Dakota Hudson, Miles Mikolas, Jordan Montgomery, Packy Naughton, Lars Nootbaar, Andre Pallante, Chris Stratton, Jordan Walker and Wainwright himself.
Which of your teammates has a skill that surprised you?
Hudson: I’ve been fishing with Miles before. If you’ve never seen that, it’s pretty impressive.
Mikolas: Nothing surprises me.
Montgomery: Andre (Pallante) and cooking. He made us California burritos and some guac. We’re gonna get him back there and make a team meal for all of us one day.
Naughton: James Naile can play the guitar really well. (Can he sing?) I don’t know. Can you sing? (Naile: I play the guitar poorly.)
Stratton: Andre Pallante is an excellent chef. He sent me stuff all offseason. Photos of him cooking stuff, his finished product and everything. I’m not a chef myself so I couldn’t keep up.
Walker: I would say Masyn (Winn) is really good at ping pong. *Really* good at ping pong. Me and him went at it for a year in Peoria. Low key skill.
Who would you want to race against, home plate to home plate around the bases, for a million dollars?
DeJong: I want to race Knizner.
Hudson: Whoever the slowest guy in here is. I don’t know. Montgomery maybe?
Montgomery: I’m bringing Yadi or Albert back.
Naughton: Pallante.
Nootbaar: We lost two pretty good candidates for that [to retirement]. Andrew Knizner. Or Nolan (Arenado).
Walker: Gordon (Graceffo). He talks a lot of trash. I would dust him.
Do you have any thoughts on aliens?
Naughton: There’s some sort of something out there. I don’t know what it is, I don’t know who it is. But there’s some sort of something out there.
Montgomery: I’m not opposed to them being around.
Nootbaar: I mean, I try not to think about it too much because if I start thinking about that, I get into a deep rabbit hole. I’ve been deep down the YouTube rabbit hole on that one.
Pallante: I think about them sometimes. (What do you think about them?) They’re aliens.
Stratton: Nah, not really.
Walker: They’re out there, man. I would say that.
Where would you most like to play a game that’s not a traditional baseball stadium?
DeJong: In front of the pyramids in Egypt.
Hudson: Out in the cornfields. Like the Field of Dreams.
Montgomery: South Africa. Just an open field [on a] safari would be cool.
Naughton: The middle of the ocean would be kind of cool.
Stratton: I think Rome would be really cool. Near the Roman Coliseum.
Walker: Probably the Mercedes-Benz Stadium (in Atlanta). My church is right across the street from there.
Did the following world events happen before or after Adam Wainwright was born (Aug. 30, 1981)?
Walker: Oh no, don’t do this to me.
*Watergate (1972-1974)
DeJong: Before
Hudson: You want me to be honest or do you want the joke? That’s before.
Mikolas: Do I get to know what year he was born? (No.) He wasn’t born in the 70s, was he? That’s before.
Montgomery: Before
Naughton: Before
Nootbaar: (long pause) Before
Pallante: After
Stratton: Before
Wainwright: Before
*MTV debuted on air (Aug. 1, 1981)
DeJong: He was born after that.
Hudson: Before
Mikolas: After
Montgomery: That’s after. (Before.) Aw, I knew it was close.
Naughton: Before
Nootbaar: After
Pallante: After (MTV was before.) Really?
Stratton: It has to be after. (It was before.) Dang it!
Wainwright: After. (It was before.) I knew it was close.
*Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster (Jan. 28, 1986)
DeJong: I think ... before? I don’t know.
Hudson: After? I don’t know that one.
Mikolas: After
Montgomery: After
Naughton: After
Nootbaar: Before
Pallante: After
Stratton: Mmm ... before?
Wainwright: After. (Do you remember it happening?) I do. Yep.
*Who was President of the United States when Wainwright was born? (Ronald Reagan)
DeJong: In 1980-something, I’m going to say…Carter?
Hudson: Clinton?
Mikolas: Reagan?
Montgomery: Uhh ... George Washington.
Naughton: Oh (dang). Jimmy Carter?
Nootbaar: OK, he’s what, 62 right now? I’m kidding. I don’t even want to say it and show my lack of presidential knowledge. Was it Reagan?
Pallante: After. I don’t even know the presidents.
Stratton: No idea.
Wainwright: Reagan. Who’d he run against in ‘88? We talked about it in school. Did it start with a D? (It did. Michael Dukakis.) Dukakis!