MediaNotes
Features that there probably was fault on both sides. Stan and Joe had been long-tme partners in a St. Louis bowling alley, and the Garagiolas sued the Musials over — what else? — money, with accusations of misspent funds. The suit was settled, court testimony was sealed and family members — on both sides — decline to comment.
I’m not a fan of owners in the sports business, but I applaud the Cardinals for their successful attempt to honor Stan Musial for perhaps one last time. Joe Pollack is a former St. Louis-Post Dispatch columnist and operator of the blog www.StLouisEats.typepad.com
Vecsey also shows Stan as someone who doesn’t take kindly to those who would smudge his image or otherwise not show proper respect. More recently, Musial apparently developed signs of Alzheimer’s disease. Vecsey mentioned it but did not belabor the point, but some absurdly-loyal media types responded as if the author had called Stan a child-molester.
Stories Sutin worked on: analyzing the area’s fragmented governments, covering the saga of the Admiral entertainment boat, editing more than 20 voters’ guides and writing the lead story on his last day. A blue turtleneck was his trademark and he’s probably had more bylines than any other Post reporter. St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley honored him by naming May 31 as Phil Sutin Day. In retirement, he plans to help his wife Kathy with her website, www.st.louisonthecheap.com.
For some night games my Dad and I would sit on the front steps, listening to Red Barber broadcast over a radio whose range was extended by the length of several extension cords. When the game was played down the street, we could hear the cheers whenever something good happened for the home team.
I met Stan later that year. As sports editor of the Columbia Missourian, covering Tiger football, I talked to him at one of the games and then briefly at another. In 1955, as a rookie sports writer with the old Globe-Democrat, I was re-introduced in the Cardinals’ dressing room and he remembered our earlier meetings. I was impressed. I never was on the baseball beat, but knowing Stan, even as tangentially as I did, always has been something to make me smile. It’s a sadder smile today, given the recent news about the health problems affecting the 90-year-old Musial, but it’s still a smile.
Page 54 • Gateway Journalism Review • Summer 2011
From hot lead to computers; from a p.m. newspaper to an a.m.; from Pulitzer ownership to Lee Enterprises, four veterans who have written and edited for a total of 135 years, recently walked out of the Post-Dispatch for the last time. They are Phil Sutin, John Duxbury, Ron Cobb and Joan McKenna. It was a big loss of talent, experience and institutional memory.
After a session at University of California, Berkeley in the early 1970s, focusing on urban studies, he returned and tackled regional issues, city hall, county government, transportation and the Clayton Bureau. He filled in as the metro-desk editor in the late 1990s and early 2000s; his slot as regular Saturday night desk editor lasted until his retirement.
I saw a lot of games at Ebbets Field, living just a 10-minute walk from the ballpark. Bleacher seats cost 55 cents and in the later innings we might get in free. My mom, listening at home, knew I’d arrive 20 minutes or so after the game ended.
Luckily, I attended the University of Missouri’s School of Journalism, with dreams of becoming a sports writer, which made it possible to watch games at the old Sportsman’s Park. One Sunday, in 1954, I saw Musial hit a record five home runs in a double-header against the then-New York Giants.
A v i s M e yer
Phil Sutin started his 45-year tour after his work at the University of Michigan gained him a Post-Dispatch internship. He worked as a general-assignment reporter, in zones and the east side.
I was 11 when I first saw him play, against my Dodgers at Ebbets Field in the spring of 1942. He came up to the majors in 1941, batting .426 in September. But we won the pennant, with the Cardinals second, and even though we lost to the Yankees in the World Series, we were happy with our first pennant since 1920.
Watching Musial was a thrill for me and for anyone who loved baseball. He uncoiled from his corkscrew stance, always in balance, and he lashed the ball to all fields. He was a fine line-drive hitter, had great speed, was an excellent fielder, and while his arm was not the strongest, it was accurate.
Four Stalwarts Retire From Post-Dispatch
Photo by Kelly K.
G TEWAY J OU R N A LI S M REVI E W
In the know . . . in the now. gatewayjr.org
Duxbury, called ``Dux’’ by his sports-department colleagues, worked four years at The Sporting News before being hired in 1969 by the late Bob Broeg, then the Post’s sports editor. Duxbury was unassuming but highly valued over his 42 years because of his bedrock knowledge of sports knowledge and his good humor. Dux missed only one day of work. Among dozens of colleagues he recalls working with — Rick Hummel, who was selected for the Baseball Writers Hall Of Fame, and Neal Russo, a baseball writer whose weird antics included shoe-polishing his hair to keep it black. Dux’s work included hundreds of rewrites, handling agate copy of league standings, box scores, a dizzying array of
G TEWAY J OURNALISM REV IEW
facts and stats, and maintaining a library of college catalogs and history sources on sagging shelves — collections from the old days to shore up the present. He still belongs to the Baseball Writers Association of America, so lots of Cardinal games and watching sports on TV are on his retirement schedule. Ron Cobb came to the Post as a sports copy editor 31 years ago, but three years later found himself on the Blues hockey beat. He covered other sports as well, including Wayne Gretzky and the Edmonton Oilers winning the first of five Stanley Cups in 1984. He saw Jack Clark hit the pennantwinning homer in Dodger Stadium in 1985. He wrote a speech for tennis great Arthur Ashe, which Ashe delivered at the St. Louis Tennis Hall of Fame induction ceremony a year before he died of AIDS. Cobb, a top-rated local amateur tennis player, even traded shots with Rod Laver at Forest Park. Cobb transferred to features for the next 16 years. He served an eight-year stint as travel editor and wrote about places he visited around the country and things he did — snowmobiling, hiking, dog sledding and golfing. “This was my job,’’ he kept telling himself amid the fun. In retirement, he has no travel plans but will be sprucing up his house and playing ``a lot of golf without getting bored.’’ Joan McKenna started at the Post in 1994 as a free-lancer covering local governments. She got on the features department, worked on the Calendar section, Get Out, and whatever else came down the pike. Then it was the copy desk and finally into design, where she worked for 13 years. Among her memories is this story: On a Monday night in October 2000, a plane crashed in thick, foggy weather. The night editor told McKenna they needed a small, 4-inch wire story. Word then came that the plane was owned by the son of Gov. Mel Carnahan and he often flew his dad to campaign events, No one spoke, but they knew. Volunteers filled the newsroom to pitch in where needed — editing copy for an obit, answering phones; taking dictation. At a furious pace they worked to get it all, get it right. She plans to stay in writing and editing, hone her computer-programming skills and be a Facebook blogger for a non-profit group.
Subscribe now. Be informed. gatewayjr.org Summer 2011 • Gateway Journalism Review • Page 55