Over the previous seven years, we have had the privilege of hosting many Cardinals players and area media personalities.

Cardinal hurler Kent Bottenfield, hitting coach Mike Easler, and ESPN/WB11 (now MASN) broadcaster Bob Carpenter were with us in September of 1999, as we held the first-ever Classic.

In 2000, St. Louis catcher Mike Matheny, accompanied by his wife and children, was kind enough to join us and share his faith with the crowd.

2001 was a memorable year, as former Cardinal and 1982 World Series MVP Darrell Porter joined us for what would be one of the final public appearances of his life. Darrell served as pitcher for the Safe At Home All-Stars, and also belted a couple of home runs. When not active on the field, he took the time to share with those assembled the way in which his life was dramatically transformed by the love of Jesus.

During the summer of 2002, the year when he hit St. Louis as a rookie pitching sensation, Jason Simontacchi attended the Classic. In addition to sharing the story of his Christian conversion, he also received personal prayer from the spectators who were gathered for that year's event.

The following summer, in 2003, Jason again made an appearance at the Classic, joined this time by fellow Cardinal moundsman Steve Kline.

The summer of 2004 stands out as one of the most memorable Classics of all time. It featured appearances by Cardinal slugger Reggie Sanders and relief pitcher Ray King. Both Reggie and Ray elected to play in the Classic that year, and each went on to hammer a pair of home runs out of the small confines of Laderman Park.

August of 2005 was the first time in the history of the Classic that we hosted three active Cardinals, as Abraham Nunez, Mark Grudzielanek, and Einar Diaz were kind enough to make the trip over to Belleville and interact with the crowd. Abraham took the extra step of standing before the spectators and sharing with them the story of his childhood years in the Dominican Republic and the wonderful way in which His life was changed by Jesus. It was during the Classic of 2005 that the tradition of a Home Run Derby was inaugurated.

2006 was a very special year for the Softball Classic along with all of Cardinal nation. World Series pitchers, Jeff Suppan and Adam Wainwright joined us at Laderman Park and each took time to sign autographs, speak with the crowd, and participate in the Home Run Derby! Jeff beat Adam by a few homers, in case you were wondering. This Classic also took place during the filming of the Arndt's TLC show, Kids by the Dozen.

In 2007, Dave McKay of the Cardinals joined us for the 9th Annual Softball Classic. The Classic of 2007 marked the first year that we introduced the very-popular, Co-Rec Tournament featuring players from all over the Belleville and bi-state area. 14 teams competed for a trophy and other prizes until one team emerged victorious. Although we don't have means to measure the exact number of people in attendance, we believe the 2007 Classic to be one of the largest -- if not the largest -- Softball Classic crowd to date!

2008 marked the 10-year anniversary of the Classic! We had another beautiful evening at Laderman Park, and the Arndt Family Team took part in another triple-header under the lights.

The Softball Classics of 2009 and 2010 were accompanied by some very threatening weather. To our amazement, we went forward as scheduled. To date, there has only been one Softball Classic postponement -- in 2002.