Monday’s big announcement was that of new St. Louis Cardinals manager Mike Matheny. But when will the new skipper first lead his team onto the baseball fields of Florida?
If you are like me, even before the press conference, you were already looking forward to the first official pitch of spring training 2012. Though the exact timing of that moment is still unclear, more details are coming to light.
With another disclosure on Monday, that of the New York Mets’ spring training schedule by ESPN New York, about two-thirds of the tentative slate of spring games for the Cardinals can be pieced together from various non-official sources.
So far, 19 games appear on the tentative schedule, including home and away tilts against Houston, Atlanta and Minnesota. Six contests against the Mets lead the way with three against Washington. Just one Detroit game appears to date.
Finally, only two contests against the new Miami Marlins have been disclosed so far with as many as a half-dozen more that could be added when the Roger Dean Stadium schedule is released. Home season tickets can be purchased, but a date for single-game sales may not be announced until the Cardinals make their entire schedule official.
Player reporting dates to camp have not yet been made public, either, but around February 20-22 should be close.
The Cardinals are expected to host 14 home games in Jupiter this spring, with nine currently known.
St. Louis Cardinals tentative 2012 spring training schedule (as of 11/15/11)
| Day | Date | Opponent | Location | Local Time |
| Mon | 5-Mar | |||
| Tue | 6-Mar | Mets | Port St. Lucie | 1:10 PM |
| Wed | 7-Mar | |||
| Thu | 8-Mar | |||
| Fri | 9-Mar | Twins | Ft. Myers | |
| Sat | 10-Mar | Marlins | Jupiter (away) | 1:05 PM |
| Sun | 11-Mar | Nationals | Jupiter | 1:05 PM |
| Mon | 12-Mar | Braves | Jupiter | 1:05 PM |
| Tue | 13-Mar | Mets | Port St. Lucie | 1:10 PM |
| Wed | 14-Mar | Astros | Jupiter | 1:05 PM |
| Thu | 15-Mar | |||
| Fri | 16-Mar | |||
| Sat | 17-Mar | Tigers | Lakeland | |
| Sun | 18-Mar | Marlins | Jupiter (home) | 1:05 PM |
| Mon | 19-Mar | Braves | Disney | 1:05 PM |
| Tue | 20-Mar | Astros | Kissimmee | |
| Wed | 21-Mar | Mets | Jupiter | 1:05 PM |
| Thu | 22-Mar | |||
| Fri | 23-Mar | |||
| Sat | 24-Mar | Mets | Port St. Lucie | 1:10 PM |
| Sun | 25-Mar | Twins | Jupiter | 1:05 PM |
| Mon | 26-Mar | Mets | Jupiter | 1:05 PM |
| Tue | 27-Mar | |||
| Wed | 28-Mar | |||
| Thu | 29-Mar | |||
| Fri | 30-Mar | Mets | Jupiter | 1:05 PM |
| Sat | 31-Mar | Nationals | Viera | |
| Sun | 1-Apr | Nationals | Jupiter | 1:05 PM |
| Mon | 2-Apr | Springfield | Springfield, MO | 6:00 PM |
The Springfield exhibition on April 2 will close out the spring, setting off a whirlwind travel stretch that will go something like this. The Cardinals will log over 3,400 air miles in the course of just five days as they zigzag back and forth from, to and from Florida.
Monday, April 1: Jupiter to Springfield
Wednesday, April 3: Springfield to Miami
Friday, April 5: Miami to Milwaukee
The 2012 regular-season opener will be an unusual one-game set to be played on Thursday, April 4 in celebration of the opening of the new Marlins stadium. The Cardinals’ first full series will begin against the defending National League Central Division champion Brewers on Friday, April 6 in Milwaukee. The Cards will not reach St. Louis until Thursday, April 12, following another road series in Cincinnati.
11/22 Update: The full 2012 Cardinals spring schedule has now been announced.
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