The Cardinals’ record-setting winning streak of 17 games captured the attention of many in September. But there were some other Cardinals’ milestones apart from the playing field that were my favorite stories of the year.
September marked the 20th anniversary of 9-11 and the galvanizing, powerful poem read at Busch Stadium by broadcaster Jack Buck, less than a year before his death, on the occasion of baseball resuming following a week off after terrorists had commandeered aircraft in New York City and elsewhere on one of the most tragic days in our history.
The month finally marked the admission of longtime Cardinals star catcher Ted Simmons into the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.
In November, Hall of Fame manager Whitey Herzog, who traded Simmons and used to play pinochle with Buck, turned 90 and lamented the state of the game.
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And, in December, Joe Torre, who managed the Cardinals the last time there was a labor stoppage, recalled how the 1994 strike and his interest in the players’ lot, ultimately became the low point of his career, which eventually became a high point when he got to manage the Yankees.
A closer look at my favorite stories from 2021:
1. Jack Buck fought in World War II and vowed that our country would not give into terrorism or any outside influence in a poem he had hand-written. His proud son, Joe, and others involved recall how they felt that night.
2. Whitey Herzog, never lacking for opinions, says, among other things, that baseball has to be more exciting to retain its hold on the public.
3. Joe Torre got to the Hall of Fame after the Cardinals, unhappy with his siding with the players during the 1994-95 strike, dumped him as manager.
4. After a quarter century of waiting, Ted Simmons heads for Cooperstown, delighted with his inclusion into the Hall of Fame but disappointed that one of his heroes and fellow catcher Bill Freehan didn’t have the same opportunity.
5. When Simmons gives his induction speech, he knocks it out of the park.