TEXAS — In an unprecedented move, the St. Louis Cardinals quietly flew nearly 3 tons of food and essential supplies by private jet to areas hardest hit by the historic Texas floods.
The flight departed from the St. Louis airport at 3:47 a.m., carrying not only relief supplies, but also a heartfelt message from one of MLB’s most storied teams.
“Baseball isn’t always the number one priority. Today, it’s the people,”
— a Cardinals official shared on condition of anonymity.
Most of the food and emergency supplies – from clean water, bread, milk, flashlights to medicine – were reportedly collected directly from the team’s dining room, internal sponsors and individual contributions from the players themselves.
“We packed all night,” a logistics staffer revealed. “Some players even carried each box onto the truck themselves.”
One veteran Cardinals player in particular donated his entire All-Star bonus to buy hundreds of hot meals, although his name was not announced.
The sight of children in flooded areas holding bags of food printed with the Cardinals logo, or a mother crying while receiving a box of milk in the harsh sunlight of a Houston aid station, made social media explode with emotion.
A viral clip of a famous Cardinals pitcher holding a 3-year-old girl, giving her milk and wiping her tears, was shared more than 2 million times in less than 10 hours.
St. The St. Louis Cardinals may not be the team with the most points this year. But in the eyes of thousands of Texas families, they are champions – in a way that doesn’t require a scoreboard or a trophy.
When asked why the team acted so quickly, the Cardinals head coach simply said:
“Because we’re Americans. And that’s what matters today.”