Stavinoha puts run on board; wife puts message
HOUSTON — Earlier this afternoon on the outskirts of New Orleans, Cardinals’ minor leaguer Nick Stavinoha — a familiar name in those parts because of his turn as a slugger at LSU — put two bits of news on the Zephyr Field scoreboard. First, he drove in Triple-A Memphis first run in a 2-0 victory. And then a short time later …
Well, here’s how the official release from the New Orleans Zephyrs put it:
Stavinoha, a former LSU Tiger, drove in the Redbirds’ first run in the second inning after a leadoff double by Josh Phelps. Not long after, his wife called Zephyr Field to inform him that she was expecting a baby girl, a message that was relayed to Stavinoha via the scoreboard.
Second baseman Jarrett Hoffpauir drove in the other run for the Redbirds, and opening day starter Mike Parisi got the victory. Parisi scattered four hits and struck out three in six innings before handing the ball to a bullpen. Ron Flores and Jason Motte bridged the two-run lead to Chris Perez, who got his first save of the season with a scoreless ninth. He struck out two and did not walk a batter.
Z’s starter Tony Armas struck out Colby Rasmus three times.
Still, the afternoon belonged to Stavinoha. Highlighted of course by the surprise message on the scoreboard. Starting in left field, he cracked two singles to raise his average to .285 and his RBI was his fifth of the season. The former long snapper who came to LSU as a catcher and left drafted as an outfielder, Stavinoha is one of four Redbirds with at least five RBIs this season. (The others are Joe Mather, Brian Barden and team-leader Amaury Marti, who has six.) All six of Stavinoha’s hits this season, however, are singles.
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Derrick Goold said he was going to Mizzou for capital-J journalism, but after growing up in the Time Zone Baseball Forgot he was really drawn to MU sitting between two major-league cities. Goold joined the Post-Dispatch in 2001 after working for The Times-Picayune and Rocky Mountain News, covering sports from LSU to NHL and every level of baseball in between. 
memphis, by inheriting the springfield team of last year, is in for some really good baseball this summer. i would hope that juan gone would decide to suit up for the redbirds. the outstanding talent on this team comes just in time to save memphis for the cards. i just hope the team does a good job of marketing so that the memphis fans follow this team from the beginning. the redbird season could rival the parent team in terms of excitement and winning. i hope the cards don’t call mather and rasmus too soon so memphis fans can enjoy real major league talent on the birds. if the cards can perform anywhere near their great start, they really don’t need mather and rasmus unless skip slumps or there is an injury. the upper divisions of the farm system looks to be in great shape.
I’m really dying to see Marti get a shot in the big leagues. Would he now rank third on the minor-league depth chart for outfielders behind Rasmus and Mather? Given the standing-room only of youngish outfielders who are already with the big club (Ankiel, Duncan, Shoe, Barton, Ludwig), it’s hard to see where or when Marti is going to get a shot. I know that’s the life of a minor-league ballplayer, but is there any chance?