Ron Wilkinson saw the Busch Stadium field and thought the grass was artificial turf. Shortly though, he realized it was nothing short of the finest grass he had ever seen.
Wilkinson was at the game with 63 other performers – ranging from professionals to seven-year-old children – to sing the National Anthem.
“At least two of those people who sang with us spoke of the Anthem being something on their bucket list that they would have wanted to do someday in life,” Wilkinson said.
Wilkinson has been a lifelong performer. Even when working for Anheuser-Busch in Houston for 20 years, he found opportunities to play his jazz music in clubs and other venues. Highlights of his music career include opening for Nancy Wilson and Jennifer Holliday.
In 2003, Wilkinson was relocated by Anheuser-Busch to St. Louis. He retired in 2004 and continued playing music. His new CD is called Welcome Into Me. Wilkinson is also a longtime performer at the St. Louis American Foundation’s Salute to Excellence in Education Scholarship and Awards Gala with the Jazz Edge Band.
Initially, Wilkinson talked to a friend in the Cardinals public relations department about auditioning to sing as a solo artist at a baseball game. Over time, though, the plan developed and Wilkinson was asked to help sell tickets to a game where he and a large group would sing.
So, after selling over 750 tickets and gathering his group of singers, Wilkinson was all set to sing on Monday, August 5 against the Los Angeles Dodgers. His happiest memory from the experience, however, was not at the game.
“The favorite part was rehearsal Saturday,” he said. “Just seeing all the folks come together at one place and seeing how happy they were after we had organized their voices.”
Wilkinson makes sure to credit the director, Jermaine Smith, for bringing the “best out of each voice that was there.”
The joy from the rehearsal continued to the game that Monday, when the singers had to arrive hours before game time to prepare.
During the singers’ time around the dugout, Wilkinson’s group had a brief encounter with All Star Edward Mujica, the Cardinal closer. Though Wilkinson thought Mujica might have been surprised to see everyone, he said Mujica was very nice and they wished him well.
As game time grew closer, Wilkinson and his group walked behind home plate at Busch Stadium and prepared to sing. When they began, Wilkinson had the attention of all 42,464 fans in the stadium.
One of the most touching moments for Wilkinson happened shortly after they finished singing, when they heard the crowd’s reaction.
“As we left the field a lot of folks came down to the edge of the seating area and thanked us and kept clapping,” he said.
As the game was played, Wilkinson walked through the stadium and expressed his appreciation to the people who made the night possible.
“We sold all those tickets,” he said. “I was running around thanking people and saying ‘hi.’”
Wilkinson has already started to see new opportunities emerge from his performance. A few days after the game, Wilkinson’s group was asked to sing the National Anthem at the St. Louis Hispanic Fest this September.
Overall, though, the biggest impact on Wilkinson was seeing the joy of his fellow singers.
He said, “It is going to be a conversation piece of a lifetime for some of us, if not all of us, to say we sang at the Cardinals game.”
