Asked about his philanthropic bent, Holliday offers a response grounded in scripture. “It’s very clear in the Bible, from those to whom much is given, much is required,” he said. “You’re also told not to go shouting into the streets. Give with your right hand without telling your left.”

Kolten Wong at first thought the text message a prank.

Bearing a St. Louis area code, the message reached Wong in his native Hawaii on a January morning. The invitation sounded preposterous to the Cardinals’ infield prospect: A weeklong visit to St. Louis that included airfare and five nights’ lodging at a tony Frontenac hotel.

The sender identified himself as Matt Holliday.

Unknown to the Cardinals’ most recent first-round draft pick, fellow prospects Matt Adams, Ryan Jackson and Charlie Tilson also received similar messages.
It was no prank.

Ten days later the four prospects reached St. Louis from Honolulu, Pittsburgh, Miami or Chicago to spend most of a week eating, hitting, working out and attending a Blues game with the Cardinals left fielder and several high-profile teammates from the reigning World Series champions. Each morning a large, muscular figure arrived at the hotel to chauffeur the foursome to Busch Stadium.

The man was Holliday, who covered the week’s tab without assistance from the club.

The group more than once enjoyed dinner at the Holliday home. They trained in the stadium weight room under the supervision of Cardinals strength and conditioning coach Pete Prinzi and alongside David Freese, Chris Carpenter and Holliday at a Kirkwood performance center. They attended a Blues shootout loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

“I didn’t want to go home,” said Wong, eight months earlier a second baseman at the University of Hawaii.

“There aren’t many words I can use to describe the experience,” offered Jackson, a shortstop some within the organization consider the system’s best infield defender since Brendan Ryan. Jackson eventually settled for “awesome” and “unforgettable” as descriptions of choice.

Less than three years after coming to the Cardinals in July via a trade that helped cement a division championship, Holliday arrived at Roger Dean Stadium last month the same player and the same person but cast in a bit different light. Nine seasons in Colorado and St. Louis left him as the gifted second to franchise icons such as Todd Helton and Albert Pujols.

Long considered a clubhouse pillar by teammates, Holliday enters the third season of a franchise-record $120 million contract wanting to remain what he has been — a publicly reserved man uncomfortable with 30-second sound bites but committed to turning professional relationships into personal ones with those around him.

“We know the kind of guy he is,” aid Fre.ese, who arguably shares the most profound relationship with Holliday among his teammates. “It’s not Matt’s way to put himself on display. But maybe it’s time other people get to see more of what we see.”

IN THE SPOTLIGHT?

With Pujols gone via free agency, five-time All-Star and four-time Silver Slugger Holliday realizes the glare of a city smitten by its baseball team might now shine more brightly upon him. If his first reaction previously has been to shield himself, Holliday now might be willing to let others outside his clubhouse see a dry wit, a deep insight into the game and a desire to be active within his adopted city.

“You feel more comfortable in time where you fit in with a group,” Holliday said last week. “Those things don’t happen overnight just because you sign a contract. As relationships grow, people know where you’re coming from and what you’re about. Both sides become more comfortable with each other.”

For more than two years Holliday’s sway within the clubhouse has remained largely cloaked. Former manager Tony La Russa and Pujols exuded huge personalities and commanded different types of deference. Holliday, however, has long served as a role model to ascending players and a respected member of the team’s veteran core.

“I want to be like him,” outfielder Allen Craig said. “Why would he not be a good example?”

Holliday has gradually increased his visibility in recent months, either by activating a Twitter account dormant for almost two years or more readily engaging local sports-talk radio. But Holliday reminds people that visibility doesn’t necessarily equate to leadership.

“Whether it’s a perception of media or the fans, my role has been bigger and a little bit stronger than people know,” Holliday said. “And that’s OK with me. I don’t want to be considered a leader based on what people think goes on in the clubhouse.”

Holliday doesn’t consider himself shy or introverted but some teammates describe a man uncomfortable when surrounded by strangers. He has no established charitable foundation but, according to one person familiar with his habit, routinely writes “very significant” checks to local charities.

Holliday doesn’t offer specifics, but others portray a regular visitor to local children’s hospitals, including last Labor Day when he, his wife, Leslee, and two sons spent more than two hours at Shriners Hospitals for Children in Frontenac visiting a 14-year-old boy recovering from hip surgery.

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HT-JH