CARDINALS IN THE CLASSROOM FEATURE 01 READING BETWEEN THE LINES WITH STEPHEN PISCOTTY St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Stephen Piscotty admits he the 2014 season to finish his degree in atmospheric and doesn’t have enough time to sit down and dive into a good energy engineering. book, but he does his best to read as much as he can. “I’m not a big book reader, but I do like to read articles to stay “The academics are a big deal for the kids who come here,” up to date on current events,” he says. “I’m pretty interested said Mark Marquess, longtime head baseball coach at in financial articles, business, the stock market and global Stanford. “They usually come back to finish. That’s normal. economy. I pay attention to those types of things.” But his major is unique. I told Stephen that he’s the only guy to ever major in that.” When you consider a 162-game season, two months of Spring Training in Florida, and (hopefully) a lengthy post- And for Piscotty, reading isn’t only about getting an season run, you can understand why Piscotty gets his news education; he uses it every day at work. “There’s definitely on the go. “I get my news through my iPhone,” he admits. “We some reading involved, but I think there’s a little more math. travel so much, so it’s kind of like my newspaper. Anything It’s such a numbers game that we play so it’s important that’s interesting, I’ll click on it.” that we understand the numbers, but you have to read the scouting reports.” Piscotty grew up in California and played college baseball there for Stanford University, where he excelled as a Piscotty certainly understands the importance of a good pitcher, outfielder and third baseman. He batted .340 with education and he also knows how much reading plays a part, 124 runs, 132 RBIs, 43 doubles and 12 homers during his especially for younger kids. “Reading starts that learning collegiate career. curve and it’s really important when you are real young to get a book in your hand and start growing your brain,” he said. The Cardinals drafted their future outfielder in the first round of the 2012 Major League Baseball draft, and he ascended A book that Piscotty recalls reading while he was younger is through the minor leagues. Piscotty made his major league “Holes” by Louis Sachar. The award-winning book was later debut in July 2015 and was named the organization’s Player turned into a feature film by Walt Disney Pictures. In the book, of the Year that season. He entered the 2017 season with a the main character is 14-year-old boy named Stanley, who career batting average of .282, 29 home runs and 124 RBIs. battles adversity to find riches for him and his family. Much He made an impact in the 2015 post-season against the like the young Stanley, Piscotty has worked hard and has a Chicago Cubs, batting .375 with three homers and six RBIs in strong character. Cardinals Nation can already see there’s a the four-game series. Last year, in his first full-season with the reward at the end of his story too. team, he batted .273 with 22 homers and 85 RBIs. WRITTEN BY MIKE KERN Notably, nearly three years removed from attending classes at Stanford, Piscotty went back to school following Join NIE & the Cardinals at Teachers Theme Night on June 15 to receive a teachers-themed Cardinals shirt. Buy your tickets @ cardinals.com/theme.