By Mike McMurran
The very first article I ever had published was in the Current, UMSL’s student newspaper. The article had to do with how a life long Cardinal fan was being deprived the time of attending Cardinal games due to the demands of studying English. It was rather crudely written with a number of mistakes. Some things never change.
It told of my fondest Cardinal memories which included Lou Brock’s 3000th hit, Ozzie Smith’s back flips, and my all time Cardinal highlight, game 7 of the 1982 World Series (I still have my ticket stubs). I can remember the time my wife-to-be and I were leaving a Cardinal game and I saw the Missouri license plate number “3000.” Immediately I began yelling “Stan, Stan,” to which my wife-to-be told me (for the first of many times) what a fool I was making of my self. True to his personality, the driver of the car rolled his window down and gave me an autographed card of Stan Musial. Yes, it was “Stan the Man,” arguably the best, and without a doubt the most approachable, baseball player in the long history of the Cardinals.
To this day it is not uncommon to run in to Stan, even for me, a common, if not low- life type person. Most recently it was at a Rams game. I introduced my oldest son Joe to “the greatest Cardinal of all time.” “Better than Mark McGuire?” Joe wanted to know.
Being a father is the most rewarding, and at the same time the toughest, job I have ever had. How did I break the news to my son that McGuire didn’t belong in the same sentence, let alone the same page, as Stan Musial. As far as that goes, for my money he doesn’t rank up there with Ozzie Smith, Bob Gibson or Saint Charles City’s own Lou Brock.
McGuire’s recent embarrassment in front of Congress only reinforced my theory. I can only wonder what would happened if the average “Joe” would have responded as McQuire did; “I don’t wish to talk about the past.” Pardon me, but is not that the entire point of the investigation?
The investigation tugs at my heart for another reason. As a child growing up I remember how excited I was when the Cardinals traded for Roger Maris. I always thought it was an injustice that “the mark” was next to Maris’ name in the record book. In that magical year McQuire broke “the record” I had mixed emotions. Sure McQuire was a Cardinal, but we were talking Roger Maris. As a kid I always wore the number “9” out of respect for Roger. Ah the memories it brings back. My 8th grade girlfriend, Chris Eisenbseis always wore “27” for Dal Maxvill and I wore “9” for Maris.
Seldom do I agree with the politics of Lacey Clay; this time I must. It is a disgrace that Interstate 70 bears the name of Mark McQuire highway. Much like the youngsters once coined the phrase in reference of the Black Sox, I suspect it is only time before kids start uttering the phrase “Say it ain’t so Mark, say it ain’t so.”
MIKE McCURR
