LOS ANGELES — Victor Scott Sr. is simply bewildered as he recounts the last week of his life.
Sitting alongside his wife Mary and his brother Ben in the lounge of the St. Louis Cardinals team hotel, Scott Sr. acknowledges he hasn’t slept much lately. Who could blame him? Last Saturday, he was making plans to fly to Memphis, Tenn., where his son, Victor Scott II would be starting the baseball season. On Tuesday, he was scrambling to change his and Mary’s flight from Memphis International Airport to LAX. And by Thursday afternoon, he was sitting in the Cardinals family section at Dodger Stadium, watching as his son was introduced as the Cardinals starting center fielder in his major-league debut.
“This is a whirlwind,” Scott Sr. said, eyes wide. “His head, our heads. We were all over the place.”
Understandably so. Over the past seven days, Scott II has gone from being one of the final cuts in camp to donning a No. 11 Cardinals jersey — a tribute to the suffix of his last name — as he toed the chalk line at Dodger Stadium on Opening Day.
“It’s unreal,” Scott II said, hours before his first major-league game. “I woke up at 6 a.m. kind of jittery and have just been trying to calm down from that point.”
“My dad likes to describe me sometimes as a duck on a pond. Like you’d see the duck on top of the pond but his feet are like this,” he added while mimicking rapid paddling. “I promise you that’s what’s going on right now.”
First of many for VSII.#ForTheLou pic.twitter.com/aVFGZX0D6a
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) March 28, 2024
The Cardinals spent much of the spring debating how their outfield would play out. Scott II, 23, posted a stellar spring, and injuries to starting outfielders Tommy Edman and Lars Nootbaar opened a door for a call-up. But the Cardinals ultimately decided to roll with Dylan Carlson. The decision stemmed partly from Carlson’s own excellent camp, but with Scott II having played just 153 minor-league games, and none above Double A, the organization also believed more fine-tuning in the minors would help Scott II’s development.
A nasty outfield collision between Carlson and Jordan Walker in the club’s second-to-last exhibition game upended those plans. Carlson suffered a sprained AC joint in his right shoulder and was placed on the 15-day injured list to start the year. It was a brutal break for the former top prospect who battled multiple injuries last season and played in just 76 games. It was also an opening for Scott II, who departed to his Atlanta home after the Cardinals left their spring training site in Jupiter, Fla.
During that eight-hour drive to Georgia, Scott II had plenty of time to think. He would later remark that it was the only time over the last five days when he would have a chance to breathe. The plan was for him to remain in Georgia for a few days before joining the Redbirds, who opened the Triple A season Friday at home.
The Cardinals on the other hand were headed to Phoenix for their final spring games, a rare two-game set against the Chicago Cubs. Scott Sr. and Mary had booked flights to Los Angeles just in case Scott II made the roster but canceled them in exchange for flight credit. They had planned to use that credit to purchase flights to Memphis. They hadn’t had the chance when Scott II’s girlfriend, Alivia, texted them with the news.
“Have you seen Twitter?” the text read. “Did you know Dylan Carlson got hurt?”
A couple of hours later, Scott II called his dad.
“He called me and said ‘Where’s Mom, where’s mom?’” Scott Sr. recollected. “Always gotta have Mom. I kind of could feel his excitement in his voice that something was happening here.”
The Cardinals did not know the extent of Carlson’s injury, but with the season set to open in three days, they had no time to waste. The organization’s player development team called Scott II shortly after the game. He needed to be on a flight to Phoenix as soon as possible. They still weren’t sure if he would make the Opening Day roster, but there was a 6:55 a.m. flight booked for Tuesday morning, and he needed to be on it.
Scott II packed two bags: one for Memphis and one for Phoenix. He dashed to the airport that morning and made it to Mesa, Ariz., the spring home of the Cubs, by pregame. That’s when Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak told reporters in Mesa that Carlson would open the year on the injured list. Scott II would make his major-league debut in center field on Opening Day.
“Once he got there, and the team realized the severity (of Carlson’s injury), they told him, ‘You’re going to be on the roster. You’ve just been called up,’” Mary recollected. “So he calls me, and he said ‘Mom, I’ve been called up the majors,’ and I said, ‘Do you mean like the majors?”
“You could hear the elation, but you could also hear him being overwhelmed too,” Mary continued. “At that point it really became surreal. Like, did he just say what I thought he said? Did this just happen?”
Even now, Scott Sr. is overcome with emotion when speaking about that phone call.
“I was en route to work,” he recalled. “And (Scott II) called me up and he said, ‘Dad! …. Dad! … Dad!. I made it to the show Dad!”
“He said it eight times, ‘I made the show, Dad.” Scott Sr. added with a massive smile. “I was like, ‘Yes. Yes! You go boy.’”
It’s here when Scott Sr.’s voice quavers. His eyes begin to well up.
“That just hit. And it resonated,” Scott Sr. continued through shaky breath. “I told him, ‘You worked for this moment. So take heed to it. I always told him and my daughter, people always sky is the limit. The sky is not the limit. Reach for the galaxies.’”
Scott II hopped on the team plane after Tuesday’s game for the quick flight to Los Angeles. He was in such a rush, so overwhelmed that he left his suitcase in the visitor’s clubhouse and had to go shopping on Wednesday for more clothes. Head clubhouse manager Mark Walsh saved the day though, and arranged for the suitcase to arrive on Thursday for the rest of the road trip.
Now it was the Scott family’s turn for a mad dash. Mary was able to rebook her and Scott Sr.’s flights to Los Angeles. Ernie Moore, the director of team travel, helped her configure accommodations at the team hotel. Eight family members made the trip to southern California. One cousin flew from Pittsburgh but his flight was canceled, so he drove three hours to Cleveland and flew to Los Angeles. Scott Sr. didn’t sleep a second Wednesday night. He and Mary took an early flight out of Atlanta Thursday morning and were sitting in the family section of Dodger Stadium by Thursday afternoon.
They wouldn’t miss this for anything, and Scott Sr. made sure his son would know they were there.
“My dad is a big-time whistler,” Scott II explained. “He’ll try to whistle as loud as he can so I can know where they are.”
Sure enough, after Scott II dug into the batter’s box for the first time in his major-league career, a sharp whistle pierced through the Dodger Stadium crowd, loud enough that even some reporters in the press box could hear it. As for Scott II?
“Oh yeah,” he grinned. “Definitely.”
The Cardinals lost 7-1, but Scott II still recorded a milestone. Career steal No. 1 came in career Game No. 1 and was hardly a surprise considering he stole a minor-league-high 94 bases last year.
Victor Scott II swipes his first Major League bag ⚡️
The @Cardinals‘ No. 3 prospect utilizes a 29.6 ft/sec sprint speed for his first steal. pic.twitter.com/gqYCB5nAgd
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) March 28, 2024
“Vic’s worked hard for this moment,” Scott Sr. said. “And he’ll continue to work hard. I just keep telling him to play hard. Baseball is set up for failure, and you’re going to fail. But it’s how you bounce back from the failure. So go out there, more or less have fun, and entertain the crowd. That’s what they pay for, for them to be entertained.”
It’s been just two games, but so far, so good. Scott II has yet to record a yet, but he’s come close in both games. He beat out an infield groundball that was ruled an error on shortstop Mookie Betts on Thursday. On Friday, a diving snag by center fielder Kiké Hernández denied what would have been a single.
Still, the Scott family is just thankful to be here. And Scott Sr. even got a full night’s sleep on Thursday.
“It’s really unbelievable,” Mary said. “It just still seems surreal.”
(Photo of Victor Scott II: Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
