Rascals Team Up With Ozzie Smith to Help Another Former Cardinal

The River City Rascals are teaming up withOzzie Smith at Thursday's game to help out a former St. Louis Cardinal player in need. 

Clayton native Lonnie Maclin, who played in 12 games for the Cardinals in 1993, suffered a stroke in January. The Rascals are asking fans to come together to help raise money for the longtime baseball coach who has no medical insurance. 

“People who’ve met him love the guy, and we thought it was the right thing to do, having the baseball community helping a fellow baseball player and coach," Rascals President John Kuhn told Patch. 

Kuhn said $1.50 from every Rascals ticket sold for Thursday's game will go to help with Maclin’s medical bills. 

Ozzie Smith, a longtime friend of Maclin, gave the Rascals permission to hand out bobbleheads of him on Thursday as the Rascals take on the Southern Illinois Miners. 

The first 1,000 fans through the  gates receive a special Ozzie Smith bobblehead doll, compliments of CenturyLink. 

For Thursday's game, the Rascals will also change their name to the River City Wizards in honor of Ozzie's nickname. Every jersey will be autographed by Ozzie Smith and sold to benefit Maclin. Smith will also throw out the ceremonial first pitch. 

“Whether one is a fan of Ozzie Smith, or one’s life has been touched by Lonnie Maclin, it’ll be a great event that will raise needed money and wrap up our regular season in a big way,” Kuhn said. 

A silent auction will also be held to benefit Maclin. Items include:

• Roy Halladay autographed baseball
• Columbus Blue Jackets team autographed hockey stick
• Jake Peavey autographed jersey
• Dale Murphy autographed baseball card
• Justin Upton autographed photo 
• An autographed canvas from Gene Cernan (Commander of Apollo 17), the “last man on the moon"

Kuhn said other former St. Louis Cardinal players will also be on hand to sign autographs.