Honoring Stan the Man
We had the privilege of going to the Cardinals game tonight where they honored Stan “The Man” Musial. As soon as we got off the train, we noticed tributes to Stan.
The Gateway Harmonica Club, of which Stan was a member, was in attendance. They played outside the stadium as the gates were opening, and then played inside before the game. I was shocked to see that there are so many different types of harmonicas!
The most noticeable tribute inside Busch Stadium itself was the giant “6″ in the outfield.
The outfield fence has a replica of the patch the Cardinals players are wearing in Stan’s memory this season, as well.
There were other mentions of Stan around the park and in the Team Store…
But the most meaningful of all were the tributes by the military. A B-25 flyover:
And a group of sailors unveiling an additional to the Musial statue outside the ballpark. If you didn’t shed a tear when they saluted, I seriously think you might be lacking a soul!
Stan’s grandchildren threw out the first pitch(es). They were led out to the mound by Stan’s longtime friend, Red Schoendienst, which seemed fitting.
It was also harmonica night.
During the sixth inning (of course), the fans were encouraged to pull out their harmonicas, and play “Take Me Out to the Ball Game,” along with an old video of Stan playing on his own harmonica.
It was a beautiful and fitting way to honor the greatest Cardinal to ever wear the uniform!
Retiring #10
Last night, Ryan and I, (and one seven-week-old hitchhiker), went to the Cardinals game. When we ordered our (free!) tickets, we knew that they were giving away a Tony La Russa figurine, but it wasn’t until we got our tickets that they announced that they would be retiring La Russa’s #10 that night, as well.
I thought it was very cool how they combed his number into the grass of the outfield.
There were many baseball dignitaries in attendance–past and present Cardinals, as well as players and front-office people from La Russa’s other teams, and, of course, his family. Mike Shannon, the voice of the Cardinals, was the emcee of the ceremony.
Mayor Francis Slay gave him a key to the city of St. Louis
He also received a gold-dipped bat, with a list of his achievements as manager.
And a framed jersey.
Tony gave a nice speech, which was very focused on the organization, and not on himself.
The big moment came when they unveiled his picture and number on the left center field wall, just down the way from the other Cardinals greats who have already had their numbers retired.
The give-away was cool, too, as evidenced by the fact that some idiot was trying to buy them off of people, just to turn around and sell them on Ebay.
It was quite a night–I’ve never been to anything like that before, and I may never see such a thing again!
