Inductees

He had grown up in the shadow of the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, playing on baseball sandlots in the summers years before willing his way into professional baseball.

So in 2001, when in Triple-A, Kerry Robinson got the call of a lifetime. Sure, he had made his big-league debut three years earlier for Tampa Bay. But now he was in the St. Louis Cardinals farm system, and the big-league wanted him.

“I first called my mother,” Robinson said. “I told her I’m coming back to St. Louis. And she asked me, ‘Why are you quitting baseball?’ I said, ‘No, I’ve been called up to the Cardinals!’ And she said, ‘The St. Louis Cardinals?’ I said, ‘Yes, I’m coming home to play for the St. Louis Cardinals.’”

Robinson made the most of the opportunity, playing three seasons in St. Louis. And that was part of 27 years in professional baseball – 13 as a player, the past 14 as a Cardinals scout. And it’s why the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame proudly inducted the Show-Me State native with the Class of 2024.

A graduate of Hazelwood East High School and Southeast Missouri State University, Robinson played 354 games for the Cardinals from 2001 to 2003, helping the club earn the National wild card in 2001, and then win the 2002 NL Central and reach the NLCS.

Since 2010, he has scouted for the Cardinals and was part of the baseball operations staff that built the 2011 World Series championship team, the 2012 NLCS team and the 2013 NL pennant-winning club.

Best of all, he willed himself to get there.

“In my high school and college years, I always bought cheap tickets at Busch Stadium and moved down to the lower seats,” said Robinson, who in his senior yearbook had noted he planned to play in the big leagues. “On my first day with the Cardinals, when I got to the stadium, I went to batting practice and took it all in beforehand, sitting in the same box seat behind home plate that I had sat in when I was in high school. It was a surreal experience.”

A multi-sport athlete, Robinson wasn’t even seriously scouted and had one college offer – from SEMO’s Palmer Muench – only after being spotted during an American Legion game following his senior year.

Unfortunately, SEMO was out of scholarship dollars, and Robinson had to sit out his freshman year because of paperwork issues with the NCAA Clearinghouse.

Still, he soldiered on.

As a senior, Robinson batted .385 and had a 35-game hit streak, a new Ohio Valley Conference record and the 13^th longest in NCAA history. On the hit streak, he extended it to 32 games with a bunt single down the third-base line after going 0-for-3.

“My teammates rushed out of the dugout to congratulate me, but I brushed them off because I was in the mindset of still playing the game,” Robinson said. “I regret not having that moment with my guys. I should have taken the time to celebrate, but I was hyper-focused on getting the win.”

That laser-focus underscored Robinson’s game, as he knew there were no guarantees.

In June 1995, he was drafted by the Cardinals in the 34^th round and signed for $2,000.

In the minors, he was the first to arrive to the ballpark every day. That served him well in the big leagues, because he was primarily a bench guy who always felt his job was never secure.

In 2003, he had a winning home run against the Chicago Cubs that put the Cardinals in first place, and teammates, coaches and front-office personnel gave him a standing ovation on the airplane that night. He also doubled on a check swing in a game at Milwaukee.

Along the way, he became the only player in Major League Baseball history to wear the numbers 00 (Reds in 1999) and 0 (Cardinals in 2002 & 2003).

Looking back, he thanks so many for his success: coaches Greg Stigler, Mark Hogan, Paul Meunch and Bob Hardcastle.

That’s in addition to his parents, as well as wife, Maggie, and daughters Brittney, Cameron and Kori.

“Very few people get that chance, and I am grateful for every second of it. Less than 25,000 men have played MLB baseball from when it has started,” Robinson said. “The lessons were often hard. I do not feel that I was fairly compensated for my production, but I am thankful for the experiences that shaped me into the man I am today.”