Major-minor League Heroes
Springfield played host to several players that would go on to the Major League and Senior Circuit scene. The greatest of these was Stan Musial, also known as Stan "The Man." Stan played 87 games for Springfield during the 1941 season, batting .379 and quickly becoming a fan favorite. In April 2005, Musial played his harmonica to the tune of "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" to a crowd of near 12,000 during the inaugural St. Louis vs. Springfield Cardinals game. After throwing out the inaugural ceremonial first pitch that same day, Musial stumbled and almost fell to the ground. However, Springfield General Manager Matt Gifford was quick on the scene to catch Stan and avert embarrassment.
Among other stars who played in Springfield are Dizzy Dean and his brother Paul, Pepper Martin, Joe Medwick. Babe Ruth also spent some time playing baseball in Springfield, but not as a member of the Cardinals.
Read more about this topic: Springfield Cardinals
Famous quotes containing the words league and/or heroes:
“Half a league, half a league,
Half a league onward,
All in the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
“Forward the Light Brigade!”
—Alfred Tennyson (1809–1892)
“On the whole, my respect for my fellow-men, except as one may outweigh a million, is not being increased these days.... Such do not know that like the seed is the fruit, and that, in the moral world, when good seed is planted, good fruit is inevitable, and does not depend on our watering and cultivating; that when you plant, or bury, a hero in his field, a crop of heroes is sure to spring up. This is a seed of such force and vitality, that it does not ask our leave to germinate.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)