Jason Motte

Catcher turned pitcher and Sports Speaker Jason Motte became a St. Louis Cardinal in 2007 and was called up from the minors on September 2, 2008. After spending most of the 2008 season with the Memphis Redbirds, he had a great season with 16 strikeouts and his famous fastball clocked in the upper 90’s. In the 2009 spring training camp, Jason went up against Ryan Franklin and Chris Perez to see who would be the Cardinals’ 2009 closer.

During the 2011 season, Sports Speaker Jason became the closer and helped his team win the Wild Card, where they beat the Philadelphia Phillies in the NLDS and Jason was on the mound when the Cardinals won the 2011 World Series against the Texas Rangers. Starting the 2012 season, Jason won the NL Player of the Week Award after his 40th save and would end the season with a National League leading  42 saves. This meant Jason was only one out of four players in Cardinal history to reach 40 or more saves. The following season the Cardinals agreed to a two-year contract, but Jason was forced to sit out the 2013 season due to Tommy John surgery in May. While still recovering Jason was always trying to help the rookies and inexperienced relievers even though he was unable to pitch. These selfless leadership skills awarded him the Darryl Kile Good Guy Award voted on by his team mates. He is the first player to receive this award while not making a single game appearance.

After a long awaited return Jason returned to the mound in May 2014, however he struggled with the pain the rest of the season. He was released and became a free agent before being picked up by the Chicago Cubs where he currently still plays.

Through out Jason’s career he has been very involved with cancer research. During his time with the cardinals he organized a pediatric cancer awareness day where 5,000 game tickets were set aside for all proceeds to go to his foundation, he and his wife started, called the Jason Motte Foundation: Lets Strike out Cancer. Another 1,000 tickets were donated to the pediatric cancer patients just released from the hospital, and those patients still fighting Jason organized a group of him and his teammates to visit the children. Jason Motte is available for speaking engagements, personal appearances and sporting events.