JUPITER, Fla. • If ever there was one player who should side with me in the honorable fight to convince Cardinals fans the designated hitter belongs in the National League, it should be Jose Martinez, a DH living in the NL.
As if Cardinal Nation needed yet another reason to love Martinez, the fan favorite who weathered multiple knee surgeries and a decade in the minors before blooming. He could carry so much resentment. Instead he enters the clubhouse every morning with an authentic appreciation of his arrival. His mission is to make it last. His next moment taken for granted will be his first.