DOWNTOWN — Back in 2005, Cardinals instructor George Kissell, widely regarded as one of the authors of what manager Tony La Russa refers to as the “Cardinal Way,” returned after a year’s absence to Jupiter for his 65th spring training. No Cardinal has been a Cardinal longer nor guided and nurtured as many Cardinals as Kissell, and upon his return the Cardinals wanted to honor him for his service.

Before workouts one morning, the coaches conspired to make sure Kissell was among the last to walk out of the clubhouse. He did so to find a standing ovation from every player in camp, and a plaque with his likeness affixed to the wall. Below is the Postcard I wrote from spring training that day, one written after talking with Kissell for a memorable hour or so in a batting cage. It gives you some background on Kissell — who was injured Monday night in a traffic accident in Tampa – and his role in defining the Cardinals’ organization.

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JUPITER, Fla. (2005) - After working with a rotation of young batters on their bunting technique Wednesday, George Kissell, 84 ½ years old and in his 65th spring training in 66 years with the Cardinals, sat in the batting cage waiting for the next group to arrive.

“I like to see progress,” he explained.

Since 1940, Kissell has been a part of that progress.

The Cardinals emerged from the clubhouse door for their first full-squad workout Wednesday, but stopped to quickly recognize the plaque that will welcome them back to the clubhouse from now on. A brass plaque, about the size of a dartboard cabinet, is affixed to the facility commemorating Kissell’s service to the organization since 1940.

Kissell said he was “shocked” by the presentation; he thought all the players were stopping outside the clubhouse for ownership to give manager Tony La Russa something for winning the National League pennant. That’s when principle owner Bill DeWitt Jr. grabbed his arm and showed him the plaque.

“I’ve always been known as a hard-nosed guy, but today you really touched me to my heart,” Kissell told the players and gathered ownership and management. “I’ll never take the bird off my chest. When I take them off, that’s my last day in baseball.”

Kissell, the Cardinals’ senior field coordinator, is returning to spring training this season after missing last year to be with his ill wife, Virginia. In December 2003, Kissell went to the baseball meetings in New Orleans to receive an award for a lifetime of commitment and service to baseball. He remembers his wife getting a bit of a cold … and then losing her appetite.

It was nearly seven months before she regained it.

He remembers on July 3, 2004, his wife turned to him and said: “I’m hungry.” Food was quickly fetched and Virginia’s health started returning. She is here in Jupiter with him - driving him to the complex each day.

“I ended up getting an ulcer, through it,” Kissell said. “And I haven’t had that old ginger like I usually do.”

Renowned as an instructor and stickler for fundamentals, Kissell got his break in baseball thanks to a rainout. It was haying season and he had work to do when an invitation came to attend a Cardinals’ tryout in Rochester, N.Y. His dad told him he couldn’t go because there was cutting and bailing to do.

In came the rain.

Couldn’t cut the hay, couldn’t line it up to be bailed, so his dad told him to fetch the invite and head to Rochester. He even gave him $2 to fill the rank of gas. Kissell, a sophomore in college, was assigned No. 385 at the tryout and, he said, was one of two players to get a contract. Six seasons later he started a climb through management - from scout to minor-league manager to major-league coach and, finally, field coordinator. He told reporters Wednesday that he told a young Anthony La Russa that he should give up playing baseball in order to manage baseball.

Add to the roll call of young players steered by Kissell.

The plaque - strategically placed, no doubt, to remind the players of Kissell’s lquest for fundamentals - features a bas relief sculpture of him in Cardinals’ gear, in part:

“Every player in the Cardinals’ Organization since 1940 has had contact with George Kissell and they have all been better for it. … Well known for his emphasis on fundamentals, George taught several generations of Redbirds how to play baseball.”

Which is what he was doing Wednesday.

Delighted to be back at spring training.

He worked Yadier Molina and Einar Diaz on their bunting, telling them the bat “has no knowledge at all - it does what you tell it to.” He worked with Bo Hart, who is trying to learn to bat left-handed. And he would harp on the players bunting basics.

“It doesn’t matter how good you are, every year I tell them this is like coming back to the house in the spring, you’ve got to clean the dust out of there,” Kissell said. “That’s what we’re doing here. We have to get that dust out and clean everything up.”

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