Cardinal Caravan visit to MSSU to be aired on KGCS

(From Southern News Service)

The St. Louis Cardinals Caravan visited Joplin on Saturday, Jan. 18, and KGCS-TV was there to record the event.

The caravan featured current players Shelby Miller and Joe Kelly as well as former players Danny Cox and Tom Lawless. Cardinals broadcaster Mike Claiborne served as emcee for the program. The public session featured a chance for fans to ask questions to players.

It will be broadcast on the station at 7 p.m. Monday, Jan. 27, and 7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 28.

KGCS programming may be seen over the air on digital channel 22 and on regional cable television systems, including Cable One, Mediacom and Suddenlink. The station operates as a service of the Department of Communication at Missouri Southern State University.

Shelby Miller putting postseason snub behind him, ready for 2014 season

Cardinal starter Shelby Miller was used only one time in the postseason after winning 15 games in the regular season last year, but he does not intend to let that hold him back as he prepares for 2014:

"The season just kind of ended, and I kind of just put it in the past," Miller said. "I was a little upset I didn't pitch. I put it away. That was however long ago it was. After the season ended, I wanted to be ready for a big offseason and getting ready for the spring. I didn't want to dwell on the past as far as not pitching in October. I'm not going to go up to anybody and ask about it anymore. I'm not worried about it anymore."

Miller reiterated that, physically, he "felt amazing" over those final weeks. He conjectured that his workload may have been a factor in the Cardinals' decision, given that he had already set a career high with 173 1/3 innings during the regular season.

Despite his end-of-the-season perplexity, Miller said he does not believe his October disappearance is reflective of an organizational change of thinking about his long-term value.

"The four guys we had throwing were doing really well," Miller said. "[Adam Wainwright] is always going to throw [well]. [Michael] Wacha was doing great. Joe [Kelly] was having a killer end of the season, and Lance [Lynn] was a guy who's been around that kind of atmosphere and pitched in that. If you're asking if I've lost my role as a starter or anything like that, I don't think so. We're going into camp battling, just like I pretty much did last year, with even more guys."