After a storied high school career at Lafayette High School outside of St. Louis, David Freese decided to call it quits. He enrolled at the University of Missouri but did not play baseball despite the pleas of the the Mizzou coaching staff. Following his freshman year at Mizzou, Freese returned to his home town and decided to give baseball another shot. He decided to play junior college ball at Meramec Community College and later at the University of South Alabama before being ninth round pick of the San Diego Padres in 2006 before being traded to the Cardinals in the Jim Edmonds deal. In the story link below, Freese talks about losing and then regaining his love for baseball, playing for his home town Cardinals, and enjoying the team’s playoff push. It’s a good read.

Freese has coming-out party — Columbia Tribune