St. Louis Cardinals create team Hall of Fame
By Jeff Adcox
The St. Louis Cardinals recently announced details about the team’s new Hall of Fame that will be established this spring. The new Cardinals Hall of Fame will honor the greatest players and other important figures in team history.
“We are very excited to be able to recognize the exceptional careers and significant achievements of some of the greatest names in Cardinals history,” said Bill DeWitt Jr., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the St. Louis Cardinals. “Induction into the Cardinals Hall of Fame will be one of the highest honors the team can bestow.”
Each member of the Cardinals Hall of Fame will be permanently enshrined in the new Cardinals Hall of Fame Gallery, located on the second floor of Cardinals Nation just outside the entrance to the Cardinals new museum. The gallery is free and open to the public.
Members of the inaugural class will include Cardinals who have been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame, primarily as members of the Cardinals organization, or those who have had their number retired by the team. The initial induction class will be enshrined on August 16th.
“We felt strongly that those who had been inducted into Cooperstown and who already had their number retired by the Cardinals should be part of the Cardinals Hall of Fame on day one,” said Bill DeWitt III, team President. “We didn’t think it made sense with this list of greats to go through a lengthy formal induction process.”
The 2014 Cardinals Hall of Fame Inaugural Class:
Jim Bottomley, Ken Boyer, Lou Brock, Jack Buck, August A. “Gussie” Busch Jr., Dizzy Dean, Frank Frisch, Bob Gibson, Chick Hafey, Jesse Haines, Whitey Herzog, Rogers Hornsby, Tony La Russa, Joe Medwick, Johnny Mize, Stan Musial, Branch Rickey, Red Schoendienst, Enos Slaughter, Ozzie Smith, Billy Southworth and Bruce Sutter