St. Louis Cardinals cancel fan event due to MLB lockout

The St. Louis Cardinals canceled their annual Winter Warm-Up fan event this year because of the ongoing MLB lockout preventing players from attending.

The MLB lockout stretching onward is starting to impact events for the 2022 season.

The St. Louis Cardinals had to cancel their 2022 Winter Warm-Up scheduled for Jan. 15-17 this year. The annual event gives fans the chance to mingle with players while also raising money for youth programs.

“The Winter Warm-Up is all about the fans interacting with the players, and unfortunately the current circumstances are keeping us from planning the event as usual,” Bill DeWitt III, the President of the St. Louis Cardinals and Chairman of the Board of Cardinals Care, said in a statement.

Cardinals canceled Winter Warm-Up amid MLB lockout

The MLB locked out the players on Dec. 1 after the collective bargaining agreement between owners and players expired without a new deal in place. The two sides have been unmoving ever since.

That’s why team websites don’t feature any current players. The St. Louis site is full of throwback features on former players or stories reliving past glories. Players definitely weren’t going to be welcomed back for a fan event in the middle of a lockout.

Fans who bought tickets will get a full refund but St. Louis is going forward with their 50/50 raffle online. Proceeds from the raffle will go to Cardinals Care youth programs.

It’s one thing to skip a fan even for a year, but the lockout is threatening to impact the 2022 season in big ways. Spring training is supposed to begin in February so the clock is ticking on that front.