Scott Rolen has been a Cardinals Hall of Famer for a while, but he made his first appearance at Busch Stadium as a National Baseball Hall of Famer on Thursday as part of the pomp and circumstance before the Cardinals' home opener with Toronto.
Rolen, wearing one of the 13 red coats, was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame last December by the Baseball Writers' Association of America in his sixth year on the ballot. He gained 76.3% of the vote after polling just 10.2% in his first year of eligibility.
Two years before third baseman Rolen became eligible for the Hall of Fame, center fielder Jim Edmonds, a Gold Glove, power-hitting teammate of Rolen's for two World Series Cardinals clubs, had his first crack at the ballot in 2016.