JUPITER, Fla. — The distance between Portland, Ore., and the Cardinals spring training complex in Jupiter, Fla., is more than 3,600 miles by car, or in reliever Lance Lynn's case, a Chevy Tahoe.
Lynn, his pregnant wife and their two dogs packed up and made the cross-country excursion from home last month, going through nine states, three time zones and several hundred gallons of gas before arriving in south Florida.
"It actually went pretty smoothly, surprisingly," Lynn said. "With two dogs and a pregnant wife, you're expecting things to go bad, but it went really well. We're all here, and we're all healthy so it's good."
But the Lynns didn't make the trip — which took nearly five days and more than 50 hours behind the wheel — so they go on a sight-seeing tour before the start of camp.
Lynn's wife, Lauren, was due to give birth on the same day as the Cardinals' first spring workout last Sunday. So instead of Lynn missing practice to return home and then not being able to see his wife or daughter for several weeks, they decided to bring the whole clan to Florida instead.
And luckily enough they decided to come a few weeks early. Daughter Mia Jane Lynn was born last week — well ahead of the Feb. 19th due date.
The trip took longer than it might have normally taken because Lynn stopped every two hours or so to let his wife stretch her legs and the dogs — a German shepherd named Schatzie and a maltipoo named Harley — do their business.
And while they were in the car?
"We did a little bit of everything," Lynn said. "Listened to the radio. I tried to find the good stations in each city but they were going in and out pretty quick. She was reading parenting books and all that good stuff and telling me everything I needed to know."
Their journey took them down south to Los Angeles and then east, through Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and into Florida. Along the way they encountered high gas prices in California and a little bit of car trouble.
"Coming down from the mountains from the cold going into the warm weather, coming from the snow, the four-wheel drive was wanting to kick in when we didn't need it," Lynn said. "But it didn't last more than half a day. After that we were fine."
Lynn, who grew up in Indiana and attended Ole Miss, moved to Portland to be near his wife's family after they got married about a year and a half ago. His brother-in-law serves as his catcher during offseason throwing sessions.
Living in Portland also allowed Lynn the chance to have a rather quiet offseason, away from the fame and attention that usually comes with winning the World Series.
"Nobody knows who I am up there so it worked out well," Lynn joked.
After a year in which he went from a fill-in starter to a dominant and important member of the Cardinals bullpen, the right-hander is ready to build off his success.
The right-hander posted a 2.22 ERA and held opponents to a .176 batting average in 16 relief appearances in the regular season.
"I don't feel any different at all," Lynn said. "I'm coming in trying to win a spot on the team wherever it may be. I don't think of it anything differently. I'm just trying to pitch well and make the team.
"You try to approach every outing the same, no matter when or where it is, whether it's spring training or the regular season, so I don't think of it any differently, even how big or small it might be. You think of it as the same."
As for his time at home with his wife and daughter, Lynn said he's surprisingly been getting plenty of sleep at night.
"I'm doing well so far," Lynn said.
