Sure, it would have been simple (and obvious) to spotlight either of the most recent Cardinals to wear 26 today, as we’re now that many days until the Cardinals take on the Cubs at Wrigley Field on April 5. I could have written hundreds of words on Trevor Rosenthal (more than I have, anyway) or Kyle Lohse, but I’m always a sucker for good stories.

And what’s a more iconic baseball story than one about a father and a son — especially a father and son winning World Series championships for the same team?

Neither Ed Spiezio, No. 26 for the Cardinals from 1964 to 1968, nor Scott Spiezio, who wore his dad’s number as a Cardinal in 2006-2007, was a star player. Ed only played in 132 games total in his Cards career, with 281 plate appearances and one World Series at-bat in 1967 and one in 1968. Scott played in 201 games, and did very well in the 2006 NLCS — hitting a game-tying triple in Game Two at Shea Stadium before So Taguchi won the game with a homer off Billy Wagner. And probably the less said about the ending of Scott’s Cardinals (and baseball) career, the better. (Let’s hope this encouraging story from last May is still holding true today.)

Still, the Cardinals won the World Series in 1964, 1967 and 2006 plus the NL pennant in 1967 when the Spiezios were members of those teams. And it was very fitting that, in April 2007, Scott received his World Series ring from his dad — who wore a bit of his own jewelry for the occasion.

Here’s a video clip from the ceremony (found on YouTube and of the Busch Stadium video board, but it’s still cool). As Mike Shannon says, the Spiezios are the only father and son who’ve ever won World Series championships for the same team.

A special, and incredibly rare, experience, for sure. Plus a reminder that World Series championship teams are made up of more than those star players who immediately come to mind when we think of those particular years.

And now just 26 more days until real baseball.