ST. LOUIS -- Brian Cope can still see his son standing on the Busch Stadium dirt. In his mind, Preston is still smiling, safely on third base, just 90 feet from home.
That was last summer, when Preston's Marshall County High School (Benton, Ky.) team played an exhibition game at Busch, his favorite place in the world and the same field he'd watched his idols on.
"His life was short," Brian Cope said, holding back tears. "But that memory. … It's tough being back here. Bittersweet."
Lifelong Cardinals fans, the Copes regularly made three-hour pilgrimages to Busch, often for the biggest moments.