J.D. Drew’s baseball anniversary

MARY REICHARD, HOST: It’s Friday, the 7th of September, 2018.

Glad to have you along for today’s edition of The World and Everything in It. Good morning, I’m Mary Reichard.

NICK EICHER, HOST: And I’m Nick Eicher. Before we get started, I just have to point out today’s surprising preroll from a listener just like you.

We were as surprised probably as you were to hear from former big leaguer J.D. Drew. Marvin Olasky’s probably busting his buttons because of Drew’s heroics wearing a Boston Red Sox jersey. And I’ll simply point out his first big-league jersey was the birds on a bat, my St. Louis Cardinals.

And you need to know, he didn’t send it with any fanfare. He didn’t expect any kind of special treatment. He got on his iPhone, recorded his preroll, and emailed it to us.

REICHARD: That’s so cool! Regular folks who happen to be famous!

EICHER: We received this back in July, just a few days after we started doing these, and J.C. wanted us to use it today, because it’s close to an important anniversary for J.D.

Baseball fans will recall Drew was the No. 1 overall pick in the 1997 draft. And he made his big-league debut 20 years ago tomorrow in this very historic ballgame: Cards-Cubs, Busch Stadium, downtown St. Louis.

AUDIO: Down the left field line! Is it enough?! GONE! There it is! 62! Touch first, Mark, you are the new single-season home run king.

REICHARD: I remember that! And I’m not even a sports fan.

EICHER: Yeah, broadcaster Joe Buck with the call! I remember laughing about it, because McGwire actually missed first base and had to go back and step on the bag. That’s what Joe was talking about “touch first, Mark.”

It was a huge moment. It happened 20 years ago this weekend, and that was the same night J.D. Drew made his major league debut, playing for those same St. Louis Cardinals.

He went on to enjoy a very nice 14-year career. In eight of those seasons his teams played in the postseason. And in one of them, 2007, he helped the Boston Red Sox win the World Series.

So, J.D. Drew, congrats on a great career, and thanks for listening.

(AP File Photo, Duane Burleson)

WORLD Radio transcripts are created on a rush deadline. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of WORLD Radio programming is the audio record.