Then I would be really, really depressed right now. 
Actually I probably would have found my way to being a Cards fan anyways even if I would have had more time with my grandfather.
Posted on 06/18/2002 10:17:59 PM PDT by MediaMole
I'll never forget that night when baseball resumed mainly because of Jack and his poem.
To see him shaking and tears in his eyes was something I'll never forget.
I'll have to find the tapes I made of the game and watch them again.
I also love his Memorial Day poem.
You can hear it or download it and Jack singing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" at a Cubs/Cards game HERE.
I have the "We Remember" poem on my profile page...I taped it Memorial Day 2001 and tried to get the words down right -- I think I got a few wrong so I'll have to fix it.
Some tributes to Jack are HERE along with video and audio clips, including from the September 17th game.
America's loss.
Do not abuse the keywords. A little humor is ok, but I am not lying when I say if we find users adding tasteless keywords or creating work for the moderators one of two thins is going to happen. Either someone is going to get suspended or banned over something really stupid or John is going to remove the functionality altogether.
Save it for when it can be really funny, and make it rare and infrequent, ok? That way functionality doesn't get removed and I and the other moderators aren't put in the position of doing something we would rather not do. Thanks.
An awesome and gracious baseball town St. Louis is, with sportsmanship second to none, in no small part due to KMOX and their crew. Its stadium is the most beautiful to be found, the heart of the city... and Jack Buck was and is its soul. May St. Louis never forget that.
Then I would be really, really depressed right now.
Actually I probably would have found my way to being a Cards fan anyways even if I would have had more time with my grandfather.
(what ya gonna do, when they come for you.. dadada..)
I watched a tribute tonight on Fox Sports Midwest. The statue of Buck at Busch Stadium has become a impromptu shrine, with hundreds of people leaving messages, flowers, and baseball memorabillia. I saw one sign that said, "And so long for just a while," how he ended the broadcast each night. I miss him already.
By R.B. FALLSTROM
ST. LOUIS (AP) - Jack Buck, the revered voice of the St. Louis Cardinals, is going to get the biggest baseball send-off since Babe Ruth.
For 4½ hours on Thursday, the team will hold a public viewing of Buck's closed casket at home plate at Busch Stadium. The 77-year-old broadcaster died late Tuesday night after being hospitalized more than 5½ months.
"He's a Cardinal," said Red Schoendienst, one of the team's six living Hall of Famers. "If he was a ballplayer, with his timing, he'd probably have been a .400 hitter."
Buck's broadcasting colleagues across the country agreed.
"He became a fabric of the St. Louis society, as (Vin) Scully is in Los Angeles and (Ernie) Harwell is in Detroit," said Reds Hall of Fame voice Marty Brennaman. "Those guys were there so long that they became bigger than any player on that team.
"I had someone say to me, 'Stan Musial's the greatest Cardinal of them all.' I said no he's not, because there are generations of people who have listened to the Cardinals that don't even know who Stan Musial is. They know who Jack Buck is because he's been there through the bad times and the good times."
Baseball hasn't had a comparable ballpark ceremony since the Yankees held a two-day visitation for Babe Ruth at Yankee Stadium in 1948 with hundreds of thousands of people paying their respects. Manager Tony La Russa, a close friend of Buck during his seven years with the team, approved of the treatment.
"I think it's real appropriate," La Russa said. "I'm sure there are going to be a lot of people here and a lot of people that wished they were here. He's the greatest Cardinal."
The team also carved the initials "JFB" in the grass just beyond the center field wall and again behind second base. And the bronze bust of Buck at the microphone outside the stadium became a shrine crammed with homemade cards, baseball hats, toy animals, balloons, old framed photographs of Buck and even a transistor radio tuned to KMOX - the Cardinals' flagship station. Black bunting hung over the statue, alongside an American flag.
On the dugout wall, reserve outfielder and St. Louis native Kerry Robinson and a clubhouse attendant taped Buck's signature signoff, "That's a Winner!" in tiny strips.
In pregame ceremonies Wednesday, there was a moment of silence for Buck followed by Taps, a video tribute and speeches by team majority owner Bill DeWitt and broadcaster Joe Buck.
"Words are hard to come by," Buck said of his father. "He would have loved to be with us tonight and I kind feel like he is."
DeWitt said Buck would be added to the list of the team's retired numbers, represented by a plaque and a flag carrying the words, "That's a Winner!"
Buck, who in more than five decades as a broadcaster rose from Harry Caray's sidekick to a St. Louis institution, died after a long battle with various ailments. He had been hospitalized since Jan. 3, about a month after undergoing surgery for lung cancer.
On May 16, Buck underwent another operation to eradicate a series of recurring infections, including pneumonia, and was placed on dialysis. Joe Buck, who announced the death of his father on KMOX late Tuesday, said Jack Buck died with his family by his side.
"He made us proud every day," his son said. "He battled for his life."
Buck quickly connected with players. Second baseman Fernando Vina, who came to the Cardinals in a 2000 trade with the Brewers, remembers Buck giving him a special silver dollar after he hit his first home run with his new team.
"He gave me one for good luck, and I always kept it with me," Vina said. "Now, I just save it in a good place and know he gave it to me. Jack, he had that special aura."
Center fielder Jim Edmonds, who also joined the team in 2000, said Buck belonged on "another tier" of people.
"It's like the president, the pope, whatever you want to call it," Edmonds said. "It's like losing somebody like that."
Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully said he'll miss Buck's sense of humor the most.
"He was a gruff-voiced guy with a big heart," Scully said. "I can understand why the people of St. Louis and throughout the Midwest especially loved him and put him on the highest pedestal."
Buck began calling Cardinals games on radio in 1954, teaming first with Caray. Nationally, Buck called Super Bowls, World Series and even pro bowling for CBS, ABC and NBC.
Buck was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame broadcaster's wing in 1987. He later became a member of both the broadcasters and radio halls of fame. He was awarded the Pete Rozelle Award by the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1996 and received a lifetime achievement Emmy in 2000.
Buck, who had six children with his first wife Alyce, and two with wife Carole, is survived by his second wife; sons Jack Jr., Dan and Joe; and daughters Beverly, Christine, Bonnie, Betsy and Julie.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch had an annecdote that illustrated Buck's generosity. A couple of years ago, despite failing health, he attended a CF charity tournament at a local golf course. Jack was too ill to play, but he spent more than seven hours in 100-degree heat, greeting participants and fans and signing autographs for anyone that wanted one. He left late in the afternoon to attend a family birthday party. When he returned home that evening, he immediately called the tournament organizer to see how the event turned out.
Jack was also a frequent visitor to the VA hospital in St. Louis, visiting sick and wounded vets and passing out sackloads of Cardinal caps and other memorabilia. Many didn't know that Buck himself was wounded in combat during WWII; he never forgot our nation's veterans and their contributions to our freedom.
Thanks for your time, Jack. Baseball, broadcasting and the human condition were better for the time you spent with us....
It's amazing the impact Jack Buck had on this city. He was probably St. Louis's most well-known and best loved citizen. For almost fify years he was a big part of this community, and not just broadcasting baseball games. Jack Buck was very involved in his community, very generous, very down-to-earth. The service personnel--the "little people"--at ballparks, restaurants, hotels, etc., all around the country loved him, because he was so generous and friendly. Buck was extremely witty, a terrific sense of humor, a great storyteller. And he was a great American, very patriotic, a man who served his country well in battle.
Yesterday, today, and tomorrow, it's nothing but Jack Buck on TV, radio, and newspapers here in St. Louis. Well deserved.
Bob Costas lives right here in St. Louis. A native New Yorker, he came here as a young man to do St. Louis ABA games and never left.
You're right about Costas understanding the beauty of baseball and appreciating its history. I know he's got megabuck deals with HBO (to do interviews) and NBC (to do Olympics), but I wish he had a role somewhere covering baseball regularly.
BTW, the "eternal kid" Costas now is about 50!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.