McClellan Bringing "Vegas Night"
http://www.stlbaseballweekly.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/15-9-29-Kyle-McClellan.mp3
Like the rest of Cardinals Nation, Kyle McClellan was shocked by the collision he saw between Stephen Piscotty and Peter Bourjos on Monday night.
"You don't know what to do," he shared. "From a former player standpoint, the Pirates and the Cardinals all felt the same. You're competing against each other and trying to win–both of them are trying to win the division and that happens? It's just kind of like, what are we even doing? It's not that big of a deal anymore, all your thoughts are with him. And you still have to go out there and finish the game–it's really tough for those players to have to turn that page."
It was also noticeable to the former St. Louis reliever how Jason Heyward provided maturity and a calm to the situation.
"It really shakes you up, but you have to…these guys can put things away," McClellan added. "If they have a bad at-bat, they can go to the next at-bat or play defense. They're so good at that and they have to do that. If they have things going on off the field, you have to put that away to come to the field. They're so used to doing that and a guy like him, who's been around a while, and especially some of these younger guys you've got to 'hey, man he's in great hands there's nothing we can do about it, we have to move forward'. You can tell he was affected by it, but that leadership role–I think has been invaluable of what he has brought to this team. When you look at the trade and what they gave up for him, I think they definitely came out as good as they could ask for in the quality of person, teammate, and the production he's put up."
McClellan is continuing his efforts to raise funds to finish an addition to the Idadee Children's Home in Haiti. For that cause, the Brace for Impact 46 Vegas Night will be held Saturday, October 24th at The Fieldhouse in O'Fallon, Missouri.
Blackjack tables, craps, roulette wheels, horse racing, and raffle baskets will just part of the fun to go with food provided by Sugarfire Smokehouse.
"We had a guy who hosted a poker night for us and we were a beneficiary of it," explained McClellan. "They had a little casino room off to the side. My wife doesn't like to gamble, she doesn't like casinos but she went in there and she had a blast. There's so many people who had never played any of the games before. They went in there and it's a very laid back, very loose environment. Everybody had so much fun, I thought
All of the money raised that night will go to the Idadee Children's Home–with the goal of $200,000 being reached in the process.
"We've been doing this for a year and a half…it's going to be a lot of fun for finally, that goal to be reached," said McClellan, who among other things, ran in a marathon last year to help the cause.
"This event will not only get us there, we'll exceed it and we'll be able to send down extra money that they can use. It takes them $25,000 a month just to maintain what they have–they have three different orphanages, they have multiple schools, a medical center, they have a lot of stuff going on for these kids."
The Idadee Children's Home was started by Haitian orphans who wanted to return the favor they had received growing up.
"These six kids grew up in the orphanage and said they wanted to do what somebody did for them and they've come up with this vision of this orphanage," explained McClellan. "It's taken a long time for it to happen. Adam Wainwright and his wife Jenny had a big part in the main level of it and we've taken on the project of adding, so they can bring in 40 new kids and give them a loving environment so they can be successful and go out and be leaders in this community."
More information is available at VegasNightSTL.com for the event.
photo credit: Steve Mitchell-US PRESSWIRE
Tags: Adam Wainwright, Brace for Impact 46, Brian Stull, Haiti, Idadee Children's Home, Kyle McClellan, O'Fallon, St. Louis Cardinals, Stephen Piscotty, The Fieldhouse
Previous Piscotty Checks Out, Postponement
Next Wainwright Activated