Kolten Wong Q&A: ‘I have a deep passion’ for helping fight cancer

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Kolten Wong is one of a young group of St. Louis Cardinals players the team is hoping can take over as the championship core when the careers of Matt Holliday, Adam Wainwright and Yadier Molina wane in the coming years. He got off to a rough start, admitting the pressure of a new five-year, $25.5 million contract was affecting him, but has steadied his game lately and returned to being the team’s everyday second baseman.

He agreed to a quick Q & A before batting practice recently and touched on a number of topics, from a charity that is close to his heart to his Hawaiian heritage.

Kolten Wong, who lost his mother to cancer, took up the cause to try to help find a cure. Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images

Q. You have joined up with former teammate Jason Motte’s “Strike Out Cancer” charity. Why is that cause important to you?

A. I lost my mother to cancer. I think if there was anyone on this team who wanted to be involved with that, it was me. I was the one who was affected the most by it and I have a deep passion to try and help and definitely to try and find something to help cure this disease.

Q. That must have been a terrible time for you and your family.

A. Yeah, it was right after the World Series when she passed away. That was a tough offseason going into it and then when she died, it got a lot tougher.

Q. When Motte and the Rockies were in town, you had a fundraiser at a nearby establishment. How did the fundraiser go?

A. It was a good time and we raised a bunch of money. All the guys showed up, including a bunch of the Rockies.

Q. What’s the best part about …

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