Jon Jay's off-the-field hobby has lots of "sole"

By COREY NOLES

As one enters the St. Louis Cardinals clubhouse, you are confronted with many things--baseball players, sometimes loud music and usually a hefty crowd of reporters.

A more observant person though, might spot a dark corner in the clubhouse nestled just beyond the locker of David Freese. It's an open closet with a paper sign scotch taped from the doorframe. Written in blue ink pen, the sign states "2 J's shoe box."

"2 J," for those who haven't yet caught the fun nickname, is the Cardinals young centerfielder from south Florida--Jon Jay.

What's inside the closet? His sneakers...well, some of them.

Lots of people have collections of all sorts of things. For some people it's baseball cards, or figurines, or even watches. For the University of Miami alum turned MLB centerfielder, that love is for sneakers.

"I really don't know how it started," Jay said in August during a four-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. "I've just always had a thing for sneakers since I was a little kid."

While he now has countless pairs of Nike Air Jordan's, there was a time in his life when collecting shoes like that weren't an option.

"I remember having Jordan's as a kid, but nothing like I have now," he said, noting that he is quick to pick up new ones as they are released.

Now that he's a professional athlete, he would confess shoes are his kryptonite.

When asked how many pairs he has in his collection, Jay only laughed. "A lot." I pressed for a number, but with a smile came the same answer.

"A whole lot."

Jay said he owns virtually every style of Jordan through its 28 standard runs in varying color combinations. His collection also features many shoes from the special runs that have been released throughout the years, too. He still has Ken Griffey Jr. and Deion Sanders model shoes from his younger years.

Jay said he's also a fan of the LeBron James model Nike.

As much as he likes the street stuff, he's also building a collection of game used memorabilia filled with some special shoes.

"I've got cleats from the 2011 World Series that I had MLB authenticate," Jay said when we caught back up during the 2013 World Series. "I got some from this World Series already, too."

While most of the cleats come from his own collection, he just recently got his first pair from a fellow player and dear friend, Gio Gonzales--pitcher for the Washington Nationals.

"Gio [Gonzales] hooked me up with a pair of his Jordans," Jay said. "He didn't sign them for me yet, but I'm going to have him sign them for me when I get back home."

So far, that's all he has from other players, but he plans to stretch out that end of his collection soon enough.

For now, he's also putting together a hefty collection of other memorabilia.

"I have quite a few jerseys, bats and especially baseballs," Jay said.

He is, however, quick to remind that his true love is still for his sneakers. When new Jordans (or any other sneaker he likes for that matter) are released, he has them in his possession in a hurry.

Whether he goes and picks them up or has them shipped in, he doesn't go without for long. Nor does he stay out of them for long.

If you run into Jay, whether on the field or out on the town, there's no doubt he'll be sporting some sharp sneakers.

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Corey Noles is a Cardinals Writer and Columnist for The Daily Statesman. He is also a regular contributor to StLSportsPage.com, KSDK.com, Gammons Daily and Bleacher Report. Contact him at cnoles@dailystatesman.com or on Twitter @coreynoles.