Inductees

He starred at an NCAA Division II university in Pennsylvania, proved baseball scouts wrong that he was just a mere slugger and then helped one of baseball’s most storied franchises create even more tradition.

For Matt Adams, he can always sit back and reminisce feeling great about his time in the game, especially for the St. Louis Cardinals.

“As an athlete, your goal is to be drafted. But, to be drafted by an organization like the St. Louis Cardinals, was really a dream because they were a team committed to winning and had incredible players like Yadi, Albert, Matt Holliday, Waino and so many more,” Adams said, referring to Yadier Molina, Albert Pujols, Matt Holliday (MSHOF 2022) and Adam Wainwright (MSHOF 2023).

Adams carved out quite a career, and his work for the Cardinals is why the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame proudly inducted Adams with the Class of 2025.

Not only showing power but also demonstrating excellent footwork around the first base bag, Adams played 15 seasons of professional baseball – 10 in the big leagues – after being the Cardinals’ 23^rd round draft pick in 2009. The former Slippery Rock University standout spent seven seasons with the big-league Cardinals from 2012 to parts of the 2017 and 2018 seasons.

He helped St. Louis reach the 2012 and 2014 National League Championship Series and win the 2013 NL pennant. Of his 624 hits, 396 were with the Cardinals. He also hit 59 of his 118 home runs in a Redbirds uniform.

Adams later went on to play 1 ½ seasons for the Washington Nationals, helping them win the 2019 World Series.

“Although many may have doubted me, I never once questioned my ability to become a pro baseball player,” Adams said. “I have always had a strong work ethic and confidence in my God given talent.”

Among his most memorable moments came in Game 4 of the 2014 NL Division Series, when he hit a winning home run off the Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw.

“There were no outs with runners on first and second, and the count was 0-1, and we were down 2-0. It felt like Kershaw and I were the only people in the stadium,” Adams said. “As soon as the ball left his hand, everything felt like it was in slow motion. I knew it had a good chance of going out but saw (Matt) Kemp running full speed, so I started running faster. Once I saw my teammates going crazy in the bullpen, I knew it was a home run. I was so excited I almost missed first base.”

Adams had put in tons of work to reach the big leagues two years earlier. For starters, after graduating from  Philipsburg-Osceola High School in Pennsylvania, he was planning to play at the University of Pittsburgh, which at the last minute pulled a 75 percent scholarship offer and asked him to walk on.

At Slippery Rock, he never hit below .420 and showed power to all fields.

Scouts questioned whether he could play first base in the big leagues. In 2011, when he won the Texas League MVP for Double-A Springfield and was named the Cardinals Minor League Player of the Year, Adams went a long way to making believers.

That summer, Adams spent afternoons working tirelessly on his defense around the bag.

And so, months after the Cardinals saw Pujols leave for the Angels, Adams reached the big leagues on May 20, 2012, going 2-for-4 at Dodger Stadium – his first hit was ff Chad Billingsly. His first homer came a week later of Chad Qualls.

Overall, Adams played first base in 363 games (out of 455 games) over the next five seasons.

“The doubters pushed me to work that much harder and put the time and effort in,” Adams said.

To him, a number of coaches helped in his success: Mike Shildt, Pop Warner, Phillip Wellman, Jose Oquendo, Mark Budaska and Chris Maloney. Teammates such as Jon Jay, Holliday, David Freese and manager Mike Matheny (MSHOF 2011) were great influences on his career, too.

Their support proved valuable as Adams continued gaining confidence.

His parents, Jamie and Lisa, have given their unconditional love and support throughout his life and career. Adams believes that meeting his wife Kim, who helped him transform his body in 2016, changed the course of his career and eventually led to Adams becoming a World Series champion.

When people say, ‘Once a Cardinal always a Cardinal,’ it’s true,” Adams said. “The fanbase is second to none.”