|
 |   |
|
EVENTS Fantasy Central Inside Game Multimedia Central Statitudes Your Turn Message Boards Email Newsletters Golf Guide Cities Work in Sports
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE
|  |
'The Man' Musial joins Hall of Famous Missourians
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- St. Louis Cardinals' Hall of Famer Stan "The Man" Musial on Tuesday joined former President Harry Truman, cartoonist Walt Disney and broadcaster Walter Cronkite as a member of the Hall of Famous Missourians. A bust of the baseball star was unveiled following a spirited rendition of 'Take Me Out To The Ballgame' by Musial during a Capitol Rotunda ceremony attended by more than 300 well-wishers, politicians and state workers. "I am proud to be honored by my people from St. Louis and Missouri," said Musial, who met Truman, Disney and Cronkite during his career with the Cardinals. Musial said he wanted his bust to be a source of inspiration to those who see it. "Sports gives us an opportunity for a great way of life and I was glad to become a big-league ballplayer because it was a dream," he said. Musial, who retired in 1963 after 22 years with the Cardinals, is the first sports figure and only the second living person to be inducted into the hall, which has honored 22 well-known Missourians since 1982. Cronkite was inducted last year. Musial's Missouri connection dates to 1941, when he played briefly for the Springfield Cardinals in the old Western Association before moving that same year to the majors. Musial, 79, who still lives in the St. Louis area, bussed in about 150 friends for the event. Also on hand was former Cardinals great Lou Brock. "He was my idol," Brock said during the ceremony hosted by Cardinals' broadcaster Jack Buck.
Longtime teammate and roommate Red Schoendienst joked that he knew Musial better than anyone after their years on the road together. "They don't call him Stan 'The Man' for nothing," Schoendienst said. "He wears No. 6 on his uniform, but he's No. 1 in my heart." Musial, who played outfield and first base, was named to 24 All-Star teams, received three Most Valuable Player awards, hit 475 home runs and had 3,630 hits. He finished his career with a lifetime batting average of .331. The Donora, Pa., native also served as general manager of the Cardinals in 1967, the year the team beat the Boston Red Sox in the Wold Series. Gov. Mel Carnahan said Missouri was happy to claim Musial as its own. "Stan was everything a baseball player should be, then and now," Carnahan said. Musial was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1969. Dewey Carlstom, a fan of Musial's who was celebrating his 50th birthday on Tuesday, showed up in a Cardinals ballcap and t-shirt to honor him. "He's meant the world to me since I was seven years old and saw my first baseball game," Carlstrom said. The Hall of Famous Missourians is overseen by House Speaker Steve Gaw, D-Moberly, and funded through private donations. The bust was sculpted by William J. Williams of Lafayette, N.Y., who has created all of the sculptures in the hall.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
