It turned out to be one hell of a road trip.

Sal Frisella, outfielder for the Johnson City (Tenn.) Cardinals of the Appalachian League, walked into the clubhouse as he always did and checked the board to find out when batting practice was and if he was in the starting lineup for the night.

His name was there, next to the words “see the manager.” Frisella knew seeing the manager could be a good thing or a bad thing, but with the year he was having, it couldn’t have been that bad.

After all, the former SIU Saluki was doing well at the plate and had recently found out he was named to the Appalachian League All-Star Team.

And as it turned out, there was nothing to worry about. The manager wanted to tell him he had been promoted to the short-season Class-A New Jersey Cardinals of the New York-Penn League.

After two rain delays, a bus trip back to Johnson City, a plane trip to Atlanta, where he met Kingsport Mets manager and former major leaguer Mookie Wilson, another flight to Newark, N.J., a 45-minute shuttle from the airport to his new clubhouse and another bus trip to Brooklyn, N.Y., Frisella finally played in his first game for New Jersey – on three hours sleep.

But it was all worth it. Not only did Frisella get the promotion, but Baseball America, a premier monthly magazine dedicated to all levels of professional baseball, said he had the best professional start for the Cardinals organization and also tabbed him the third-best second-day draft pick overall.

Frisella hit .337 with eight home runs and 37 runs batted in 60 games for Johnson City.

“It’s nice to do what I did,” Frisella said, “Where I was at, it was a nice honor. I was an all-star. For me, the way I look at it, they’re all great accomplishments, but until I get to The Show, those are just numbers.

“Not that they don’t mean anything, but my goal is to get to the big leagues. It’s just a step that I have to take to get there. And I’m glad it worked out the way it did? I worked hard to get those numbers and hopefully, in the end, they all pay off.”

In New Jersey, Frisella endured the typical New York fans as he listened to them yelling about how much he “sucked,” but he was still able to hit .136 with three hits, including a triple, in 22 at-bats.

Both the New Jersey and Johnson City teams wear uniforms identical to their parent club, the St. Louis Cardinals. This was an especially good thing for Frisella because he grew up in St. Louis and is a die-hard Cardinals fan.

“I was willing to put on any jersey, but the fact that it’s [a Cardinals] jersey, it means that much more,” Frisella said while reflecting on putting on the Johnson City uniform for the first time. “It’s sentimental. It’s just so exciting to be able to wear your home colors for the team you grow up watching, that you love.

“For me to be able to wear the red and white, it’s pretty neat.”

Frisella earned that right after four years with SIU, where he finished with a career average of .287 with 113 RBIs and a .981 fielding percentage. He also hit 28 home runs, which ties him for second all-time at SIU.

As a senior with the Salukis last season, Frisella was among team leaders in several offensive categories, including runs scored (45, first), hits (59, third), doubles (10, T-third), home runs (10, first), RBIs (30, third) total bases (99, third) walks (32, first), on-base percentage (.425, first) and stolen bases (nine, first).

He returned to SIU this fall to finish his degree in business administration and has been working out with his former Saluki teammates.

“He’s the kind of guy that is going to be successful at whatever he does,” said Ken Henderson, SIU baseball hitting coach. “He’s just that kind of person. He’s willing to work to do that and he’s an intelligent kid.

“He’ll have success. To what level, to what extent, who knows? Minor league baseball is an interesting game, but he’ll do what he’s supposed to do and what he needs to do to give himself the opportunity to have success.”

Whether it’s in academics or between the lines, Frisella thanks Henderson, SIU head coach Dan Callahan and outfield coach Kevin Kimball for being so good to him and providing him with some of the greatest years of his life.

But more great years are bound to lie ahead as Frisella is only a few months away from heading to spring training, where he will attempt to make one of the clubs.

His goal is to earn a roster spot with the Knoxville, Tenn., team, the Cardinals’ AA club, but he realizes that he will probably be sent to Palm Beach (high A) and has a chance to go to Peoria.

But no matter where he ends up next season, it will be quite the road trip working his way back home to St. Louis to play for the big club.

“I’ve got a couple jerseys,” he said. “I’ve got my memories. I’ve got my buddies. There’s only a few people who get to do what I do. Nobody can ever take that away from me.”