It has been a long winter around these parts. Too long, actually. Even when the weather has been mild, the winter has always been too long in this baseball town when the Cardinals missed the playoffs.

Nothing warms the heart and soul — if not the body — quite like the start of baseball season in St. Louis. The build-up to the Cardinals’ 2018 season officially starts this Friday when the club begins its annual Caravan that will eventually make stops in six states over three days.

Next Saturday, Cardinals fans from throughout the Midwest will make their annual pilgrimages to St. Louis to see their favorite current and past stars at the Winter Warm-Up Jan. 13-15 at the Hyatt Regency St. Louis at the Arch.

Although I appreciated St. Louis’ status as America’s best baseball town long ago while covering playoff berths and multiple World Series here as a visiting writer, I must admit that I didn’t quite grasp the deep passion Cardinals fans have for their storied franchise’s stars until last year’s Winter Warm-Up.

I confessed as much to Cardinals chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. on Wednesday when he called to invite me to join his red ribbon panel to decide the next Cardinals Hall of Fame ballot. By the way, I’m already putting together my pitch for slugger Ray Lankford’s candidacy.

Every baseball franchise does multiple caravans and a FanFest to build excitement leading up to the upcoming season, but the Cardinals are different than any of my previous career stops.

The defending World Series champion Astros play in a town that will be first and foremost a football town. The Dodgers have a legendary following, but there are many other teams capturing Angelenos’ attention. The Tampa Bay Rays have enough trouble creating interest during the regular season, so their caravans are modest. The New York market is perhaps the only one of my previous career stops that matches the baseball passion we see in St. Louis throughout the whole year.

Inclement weather forced the Cardinals to cancel the first scheduled day of the 2017 Winter Warm-up, denying fans an opportunity to meet the charismatic Dexter Fowler a few months after he signed as the team’s biggest free agent last season.

If weather holds next Sunday, as expected, locals fans will get their first look at the Cardinals’ biggest addition when slugging outfielder Marcell Ozuna makes his first Winter Warm-Up appearance.

After spending the first five seasons with the Marlins, Ozuna will surely appreciate the reception he’ll get at the Hyatt. More importantly, Cardinals fans will start to appreciate Ozuna’s personality.

By all accounts, the two-time All-Star should fit in well in the clubhouse and give fellow Dominican Republic native Carlos Martinez another close confidant in St. Louis.

“We got really good reports on how popular he was with the fans and his teammates,” DeWitt said of Ozuna.

It remains to be seen if the Cardinals will make another addition to the roster, but there’s no doubt that they’re an improved club overall with Ozuna in the outfield, Luke Gregerson in the bullpen and Miles Mikolas in the rotation.

There’s a good argument to be made that Lance Lynn is a better option for the rotation than Mikolas. Some would counter, however, that Mikolas is a better bargain that gives the club the payroll flexibility to pursue an established closer via trade or free agency.

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Whatever the case, Mikolas will make his Winter Warm-Up debut next Saturday. The Winter Warm-Up and the Cardinals’ Caravan are just two of three major upcoming events that will highlight St. Louis’ rich baseball culture.

Some of the biggest names in Cardinals history will be on hand next Sunday night at Union Station Hotel for the St. Louis Baseball Writers’ 60th Anniversary Dinner. Hall of Famers Bob Gibson, Red Schoendienst, Lou Brock, Tony La Russa and Whitey Herzog are among the legends who will be honored among the Cardinals of the Decade at the dinner.

Tommy Pham will also receive the J.G. Taylor Spink Man of the Year Award at the popular dinner that is considered one of the top local BBWAA dinners in the country.

To be clear, the fans would rather celebrate a World Series at next year’s Winter Warm-Up. After all, the franchise’s 11 titles are major reasons why the Cardinals have developed a deep following throughout the Midwest and beyond.

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DeWitt, president of baseball operations John Mozeliak, general manager Michael Girsch, manager Mike Matheny and all the players are hungry to end their two-year playoff drought. Nobody at Busch Stadium is pleased with the way the last two seasons have ended. Nor should they.

The Cardinals and their fans celebrate a tradition of winning baseball in St. Louis. To that end, DeWitt and Mozeliak captivated their fans during the hot stove league when they made a run at acquiring NL MVP Giancarlo Stanton from the Marlins this winter. When Stanton snubbed St. Louis, they pounced on Ozuna.

Ozuna and Pham should give the Cardinals a formidable slugging duo this season.

“I feel pretty good with what we’ve done so far,” DeWitt said.

Mozeliak concedes that he is still open minded about making an addition to the bullpen. With a month until the players report to Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter, Fla., he admittedly doesn’t think it’s a smart idea to put a period at the end of a sentence declaring the Cardinals done with their roster upgrades.

Nonetheless, “It’s nice to be thinking about baseball soon,” Mozeliak said.

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“Bill and I were speaking the other day and saying when you’re sitting through single digits, the hot stove cannot end soon enough and the spring can’t start soon enough.”

Baseball season is starting to warm up again in St. Louis, and that’s a dang good thing.

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