Randal Grichuk of the St. Louis Cardinals is a player I root a little harder for, and I'm not just saying that because of the special night he had on Monday.

Grichuk, the center fielder for the Cardinals, has been struggling to start the season. Yesterday, the media reminded him of it.

Randal entered Monday night's game against the Chicago Cubs hitting just .220. At least one St. Louis sportswriter suggested it was time to send him to the minor leagues. That night, Grichuk hit the first walk-off home run of his career, showing the media and the fans why he belongs in the big leagues.

Randal Grichuk 2010 Cedar Rapids Kernels via Stephen Smith
Randal Grichuk 2010 Cedar Rapids Kernels via Stephen Smith
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Grichuk, who played in Cedar Rapids for parts of the 2010 and 2011 seasons, is only 24. His stat-line from his time in Class A ball in Cedar Rapids looks like this:
84 games
.269 batting average
9 Home Runs
49 Runs Batted In
79 strikeouts

Compare those to his major league stats over the past three seasons:
193 games
.258 batting average
26 Home Runs
76 Runs Batted In
178 strikeouts

I've always loved Randal for several reasons. He's an excellent outfielder and his speed is exciting to watch. His power at the plate is amazing, especially to the opposite field.

There's another reason I root a little harder for Grichuk. A former classmate of mine in little Sigourney, Iowa was his first-grade teacher in Richmond, Texas. Tracie Shettler Miller remembers Randal well. She told me, "He was a really nice boy to have in class. Polite, good work ethic, kinda quiet in class but sociable among his classmates. It was a rough class that year - lots of behavior problems, but if more of the kids in that class would have been more like him, it would have been a breeze. It truly is a small world."

Tracie Shettler Miller via Facebook
Tracie Shettler Miller via Facebook
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I admit there's one thing Grichuk does that drives me crazy. He strikes out. A lot. He's like many power hitters in that regard. He struck out 110 times last year in 103 games. Over a 162-game season, he's projected to strike out 149 times. Last night, the strikeouts were forgotten by me and all Cardinals fans. I'm not going to lie... a walk-off win against the Cubs was glorious. Now if we can just win two more...

Chicago Cubs v St Louis Cardinals
Scott Kane, Getty Images
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