JUPITER, Fla. — The day the ballplayer decided to become a switch-hitter, Dylan Carlson confidently put a ball on a tee and just began taking lefty hacks. He was 6.
He was at his dad’s practice. He always was at dad’s practice. Carlson loved being around the Thundering Herd of Elk Grove High in northern California. And this particular day, he watched a lefty hitter hit and decided to do that, too.
Who knows, maybe that day will go down in Cardinal history, like when the erratic young pitcher Stan Musial decided to switch positions or when Garry Templeton decided to flip off the fans or when the Angels decided to draft Alfredo Amezaga with the 401st pick in the 1999 draft, allowing the Cards to select Maple Woods Community College infielder Albert Pujols.