KERRY-ING OUT A DREAM

Kerry Robinson has been with the St. Louis Cardinals for a little more than a week now but he says he still has to sometimes pinch himself to make sure it's all real.

Robinson, a former Southeast Missouri State University baseball star, is living out a lifelong dream and he doesn't want to wake up anytime soon.

"It's kind of like an out-of-body experience. It's hard to believe," said a laughing Robinson during a telephone interview from St. Louis. "I've dreamed about this for a long time and to finally get to play for the Cardinals, it's just really exciting."

In his seventh professional season -- and after playing in nine major-league games with Tampa Bay and Cincinnati in 1998-99 -- the St. Louis native finally joined his home town team last Wednesday when he was promoted from the Cardinals Class AAA Memphis squad.

And the dream got even better Tuesday night when, appearing as a pinch-hitter in the seventh inning of a 7-2 St. Louis victory over Montreal at Busch Stadium, Robinson beat out an infield single for his first major-league hit (he had been 0-for-6 in his brief major-league career, including 0-for-2 with the Cardinals).

"I was a little embarrassed by it. I wanted my first one to be a line drive or hard ground ball," said Robinson. "But it was still exciting, to get my first hit out of the way."

A Redbird at heart

Robinson, 27, envisioned his first major-league experience of any kind being with the Cardinals. He was drafted by them in the 34th round in 1995 after a banner senior season at Southeast that saw him bat .385 and compile a 35-game hitting streak that set an Ohio Valley Conference record (since broken) and ranked as the 13th longest in NCAA history.

The speedy outfielder became one of the Cardinals' top prospects over the next few years. He led the Class A Midwest League with a .359 batting average and 50 stolen bases in 1996. The next season, he batted .321 and stole 40 bases in the Class AA Texas League while earning a late-season call-up to Class AAA.

But Robinson's goal of playing for the Cardinals received a major jolt when the Devil Rays picked him in the 1997 expansion draft. That led to him playing for the Tampa Bay, Seattle, Cincinnati and New York Yankees organizations over the next three seasons, putting up impressive Class AAA numbers all the while but only appearing in those nine big-league games, primarily as a pinch-runner.

Back with the Cards

After batting .319 for the Yankees' Class AAA Columbus team last year, Robinson became a free agent and the Cardinals signed him to a minor-league contract.

All of a sudden, Robinson was back in the organization that he wanted to be with all along.

"I was really happy to get back with the Cardinals," he said. "The big reason I signed, (manager) Tony (La Russa) had told me a few years ago that if I keep producing, I would be back there. So all along, I thought I would get back with the Cardinals."

Robinson did well with the Cardinals in exhibition play, batting .385 (5-for-13). But he wasn't surprised when he started the season at Class AAA Memphis.

"I was a minor league free agent, so I knew it would be tough (to make the team)," he said. "I just wanted to go in and make an impression on Tony."

Robinson, who has stolen 231 bases in 682 minor league games, was batting .325 with four stolen bases in 10 games at Memphis when he was called up to St. Louis after Mark McGwire was put on the disabled list.

As irony would have it, upon arriving at Busch Stadium last Wednesday, Robinson said the first person he saw when he walked into the clubhouse was McGwire.

"He congratulated me and said welcome back," Robinson said. "It's not like we're best buds or anything, but because I was with the team in the spring, I knew him a little bit."

Still much to prove

Robinson realizes his opportunities to make an impression with the Cardinals might be limited. So far, he's appeared in three games, all as a pinch-hitter in the late going.

"I'd like to get a game or two where I get more than one at-bat, to get in a groove, but if that's going to be my role, I'll take it right now, just to prove myself at this level and to help the team as much as I can," he said.

Robinson also realizes that how long he remains in St. Louis could very well hinge on just when McGwire is ready to return. But he prefers not to look at it that way.

"I'm going to approach it like, even if he does come back, if I'm performing, they'll have to keep me," he said.

Major League pampering

Besides the thrill of playing in the majors for his all-time favorite team, Robinson acknowledges the other perks that go along with being in the "Show," such as the travel and pay. He's making the major-league minimum of $200,000, which might not be much for most big-leaguers but is quite a raise from the Class AAA level.

"The travel is much easier. We have the charter flights where they just baby us and pamper us. You get your own room in luxury hotels. They give you meal money and you can't even think about spending it all in one day," he said. "They just treat you so good."

As for the money, a chuckling Robinson said, "It's a little bit of a raise. That's another reason I'd love to stay up here. I have a family (wife Maggie and daughters Brittney, 4, and Cameron, 8 months) and I want to provide for them."

Robinson knows he has no guarantees as a major-leaguer. That has been proven to him over the past several years when he excelled in the highest levels of the minors but has basically never been given a chance to prove himself in the big time.

Still, right now he's living out a dream. And he hopes he doesn't have to wake up any time soon.

"This was the goal all along when I got drafted," he said. "Now it's to live the goal, to keep it alive and establish myself as big league ballplayer."