Heading West
We’re going back to some familiar places for me this week, to Los Angeles and San Diego.
We actually played at Dodger Stadium in Interleague Play this year when I was with Oakland. The Dodgers obviously have a great team, so it’s going to be a challenge, but I tend to hit pretty well at Dodger Stadium. PETCO Park is a very pitcher-friendly park, so that will be a challenge for us hitters. It’s all about winning games and finding ways to win but it will be two nice cities to go to. It probably won’t be too hot — we should have some nice and cool weather. That’s always nice in August to go out to some cool weather, so that should be good.
My family is still living at the hotel for now, but we are probably going to move into an apartment complex where some of the other guys live when we get back off this road trip. It’s been good. It’s been easy to get over here since the hotel is by the stadium. We’re going to go ahead and put my five-year-old in school here and finish out the year and go from there.
My family went to the St. Louis Zoo, they’ve done a few things like that, but we’ve pretty much been spending most of our time here at the park or just hanging out. Albert has a guy who lent us a car so we’ve had a car.
The trade was probably harder for my wife than for me. My wife has pretty much done everything. For me, I just picked up and moved on but she has had to go to California and pack up the house and get all of our stuff sent places. So she had the hard part of that. She’s done a great job of getting us all situated and now were in a pretty good now, most everything is done, and were just enjoying our time here.
It’s been a lot of fun lately. Obviously winning games is the most important thing. I was playing well before the trade so it was perfect timing. I was comfortable swinging the bat since the first day I got here so everything was just perfect timing, both personally and professionally.
Matt's Blog 
If your looking for something great for your kids to do in STL when u get back. I highly reccomend “The Magic House”. It’s basically a big old house with a bunch of interactive science exhibits for kids. Secretly my parents had as much fun as I did. Lots of great memories as a family. If you need more ideas for the family i’m sure the fans would be more than happy to give more suggestions….anything to help keep you with the cards. Great work, and we appreciate your approach to the game.
Glad to hear you’re settling in, Matt. You’ve been a fantastic addition to the Cardinals, and I can’t wait to see you and Albert and all the other redbirds mash in October!
Glad to hear you’re settling in, Matt. You’ve been a fantastic addition to the Cardinals, and I can’t wait to see you and Albert and all the other Redbirds mash in October!
Hey Matt you’re the man! Check out Grant’s Farm also…real cool for the little ones and a nice beer court for the men! :0) It’s exciting watching you play, I still can’t beilive after Albert bats, Matt Holliday comes up next, it’s a knockout punch to any pitcher. Well enjoy St. Louis it’s an awesome place, and I live in Chicago. Oh which reminds me Beat Those Dubbies!! Alright man take care and good luck, Hope to watch you for years to come!! Go Cardinals!!
love it when you can muscle up and hit a homer.. then run out an infield single.. iwas at ur first game in philly.. already ordered your jersey!! hope you stay in st. louis after this year!!! good luck
Keep up the good work Matty!! Take it to the Dodgers for all of us out in Colorado!!
Great post. It’s got to be rough for the family. I would also reccomend the City Museum; it’s not too far from the ballpark and there are lots of places for kids to crawl, climb, slide, and even a decent aquarium.
Don’t forget to take your kids to City Museum. They’ll love it, I’m sure.
Ever since your days with the Rockies I dreamed of seeing you in Cardinal Red! Your a tremendous player and this Cardinal fan is jazzed to have you with the Redbirds! Welcome to the Show-Me-State Matt! May your stay be extended for the rest of your career!
First off, let me join the others in welcoming you and your family to St. Louis! We sincerely hope y’all enjoy your stay in the Gateway City. Your wife sounds like a real trooper, and I’m sure it goes without saying that baseball wives are the unsung heroes when it comes to the success of their husbands. As fans I suppose we just take it for granted that when players are traded that they just seamlessly fit in, never taking into account what kind of havoc that might wreak on their families. That being said, I think you’ll find St. Louis to be a hospitable area to raise a family – lots of great schools, and a plethora of activities for everyone to enjoy. I see some have already mentioned The Magic House, City Museum and Grant’s Farm – all classic St. Louis institutions. The Museum of Transportation in Kirkwood is also a great addition to that list, as is the Science Center in Forest Park.
Once again – welcome to St. Louis and the fans that are Cardinal Nation. Hope to see you wearing the birds on the bat for years to come.
Hey, Matt. Welcome to St. Louis! You’ve been coveted by the Cardinals for several years, and it’s exciting to finally see you wearing Cardinal red. I’ve been living in LA for a couple years and got to see you play both the Dodgers and the Padres when you were on the road. PETCO Park may be pitcher-friendly, but you didn’t seem to have a problem with that when you belted a three-run HR in the first inning on Saturday. Keep up the good work!
Welcome to StL! Those birds on the bat look good on you! Lot’s of good suggestions for you and your family to check out, but I’m surprised no one mentioned Ted Drewes. You have to take your family there. Good luck w/ the rest of the season, and here’s hoping you’ll be wearing Cardinal red for years to come!
Matt, you should treat your wife to the Missouri Botanical Gardens… my girlfriend finds it very romantic when I take her there, and you can’t go wrong with a place designed with flowers(way better than constantly buying flowers). It will definitely be a change of pace from seeing cardboard box gardens.
RedBirds FTW!
Welcome to St. Louis, Matt! We’re happy to have you.
Matt, as a former STL resident who now lives in CA, you will LOVE STL. Enjoy all the fun things to do with your kids and the people. They are amazing. We drove 8 hours to see you play in PETCO, and it was well worth it. I have never seen a player run so fast to turn a double into a triple! It was so exciting! My 7 year old was giddy. Thanks for your hard work. Enjoy STL. Hope you are there for a LONG time.
Hey Matt…welcome from a fellow former resident of Stillwater, OK with ties to OSU. Many years ago, my uncle was a professor (An Sci) and coach of the livestock judging team and it is the alma mater of many in my family. I was raised to hate the Sooners and to love the St. Louis Cardinals. Stillwater is a nice little city and a good place to raise kids and I think you’ll find St. Louis has many similarities to it. It’s great that you keep your family with you, instead of leaving them hundreds of miles away, like so many players. The Cardinals have always been very supportive of players’ families, so you should be able to find some stability for your family here, if that is one of your goals. Thank you for taking the time to share some of your experiences with the fans. It’s nice to hear about your family and we all hope that they are adjusting well and enjoying St. Louis. I hope your dad is able to get more sleep at night now that you are playing in the central time zone! ;o)
Glad to see you in a Cardinal uni. Hope to see you in one for a long time 🙂
Matt: This is your uncle Tim in Japan. I just discovered your blog on mlb.com, even though I go there every day to check out how you’re doing in the game. It’s great to see you on a winning team in St. Louis ? especially after such a miserable start of the season at Oakland, with you having to battle health issues as well as opposing pitchers. Even though I have no particular ties with St. Louis, I’ve always liked the Cardinals ?except when they played the Rockies when you were there or my native Arizona team, the Diamondbacks ? but now I root for them whoever they play. I can’t wait to see you in the World Series again, only this time to win it all.
Note to Mrs. Holliday: we really, really, really like having you and family here! Oh and Matt too. Hope you want to stay a very long time.
Matt-have a great away trip. See you on the 10th,12th, 15th, 17th, 18th, 19th and 20th.-Nurse Deb
Matt, undoubtedly your presence has been a pleasure for all of us St. Louis Cardinal fans, and as a lifelong Cards fan, I want to say thank you for your excitement you brought when you were traded to St. Louis. You’re exactly what the team needed: a proven power bat to hit behind Albert. Since you’ve come over to the club you’ve not only protected Albert, but you’ve made other hitters better (Ludwick in particular). Your spark and relentless style of play has made St. Louis fans fall in love with you from day one. Although, I know a lot of my friends and I were hoping you would have gotten traded to the Birds last year, but I guess this year will suffice. It’s too bad that you’re knee kept you from finishing the game yesterday in Milwaukee, but you’re right, with an 11.5 game lead, there’s no reason to push it. Your wife sounds like an amazing woman, and like one of the people who’s already commented on this blog said, “baseball wives are undoubtedly the unsung heroes for baseball players’ success.” We’re all glad that you’re settling in so well in St. Louis and would love to have your amazing talent and genuine heart on our ball club and in our city. I hope you’ve fallen in love with us as much as we have fallen in love with you, Matt. Thanks again!
Mr. Holliday,
My brother and I are devout Cards fans and we’ve come to the same conclusion about you joining the club and it can be summed up in 3 words…
“Best…Trade…Ever.”
Thanks for the great moments, the game winners, and making our great team even better…you are a very welcomed addition and we look forward to seeing you with a World Series Ring on your hand and a Cards uniform on your back for many years to come.
heyy matt,
I think you are an awesome player and i love watching you…i’ll be at the game monday night (the 14th) i can’t wait 2 be there i am a huge cardinals fan and the whole team is so great 2 watch good luck with things 2 come.
Brooke
The City Museum (www.citymuseum.org) is an awesome place your kids should check out. Lots of cool things to climb around on, tunnels, slides, etc. etc. My family loves going there, and they’re open late.
I’ll admit, it is a bit strange seeing someone other than Edmonds wearing the 15, but you’re doing it with as much style as anybody could.
It’s impossible to overstate how excited we all are about the move.
Once again, THANK YOU!
And good luck in the playoffs!
GO CARDS