For the White Rat, a white wreath.
Below Busch Stadium’s batter’s eye, a ring of cream roses adorned with a red ribbon paid tribute to Hall of Famer and World Series champion manager Whitey Herzog on Friday, before the Cardinals played their first home game since his passing at the age of 92.
Tributes continue to flow, like one of those Busch beers Herzog and Hall of Fame broadcaster Jack Buck used to team up to promote.
Sharing a moment of silence with thousands of fellow admirers, cracking a cold one in his honor and the Cardinals hopefully putting a No. 24 patch on their uniforms for the rest of the season — no official word on that one just yet — are all fitting salutes.
Another one, and perhaps the best one, would be for all of us to try to live a little more like Herzog lived.
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How?
“I love that question,†Cardinals broadcaster Ricky Horton, who pitched for Herzog during his Cardinals career, answered Friday. “And for people who have been around him, we probably have several different ways we can go with that.â€
Here are a few ways to try, if you’re up for the challenge.
Find what you are meant to do, then do it to the best of your ability.
“Enjoy the thing you are doing in the moment,†Horton said. “Whether it was golfing with him, being at a social event or managing, you could tell he was all in on what he was doing. There was a passion to it.â€
Take your work seriously. But don’t take yourself too seriously. Herzog was a baseball savant and an incredible competitor. He was also lightning quick to crack a joke and maintained a twinkle in his eye until the end.
His signature grin and wave during Cardinals home openers, sometimes accompanied by the shake of his baseball-bat cane, became one of the highlights of the home opener. He delivered again this season. His ovation was one of the loudest. His humor never went missing. He even found it on the day he resigned in frustration with a 33-47 season record in 1990.
“I came here in last place, and I leave here in last place,†Herzog jokingly told the Post-Dispatch back then. “I left them right where I started.â€
Three National League pennants, a World Series championship, a likely second one if one of the biggest mistakes in umpiring history had not been made in 1985 and the establishment of a revered style of play synonymous with his name would disagree with that assessment.
Here’s another way to be like Whitey.
If you get a chance to lead, like Herzog did and did so well, do so with courage but also with compassion.
When Herzog was first introduced as Cardinals manager, he was photographed raising a closed fist, like a boxer. Former Post-Dispatch photographer J.B. Forbes, writing the caption for that memorable image, said Herzog, “strikes the kind of tough pose that may be necessary to take the faltering team back to respectability in the National League.†Herzog that same day was asked if he needed a team leader to emerge from the clubhouse.
“I don’t need a team leader,†he answered. “I’m the leader.â€
But Herzog’s fist was not made of iron all the time, and often it was used instead to deliver a pat on the shoulder.
Whether you were the biggest star on his team or a get-in-where-you-fit-in guy, Herzog had a way of making each hitter and pitcher feel valued, even when he was sticking his pitchers in the outfield.
“In leading people, he was conscious of where they were,†Horton said. “He had influence, there was no question. When he was in the room, he was in the room. But he used that influence benevolently.â€
Now Horton was rolling.
“The other thing we can do?†he said. “Just be honest. It was a hallmark of Whitey. Sometimes, it wasn’t what you wanted to hear. But it was the truth. It was what you needed to hear.â€
Another one?
Forgive.
It’s hard. But we can do it. We should do it.
Herzog forgave Don Denkinger for his blown call in Game 6 of the 1985 World Series, for goodness’ sake. Even invited him to ºüÀêÊÓƵ for events after the fact. It helped a good man find peace. And more than three decades later, Denkinger’s great nephew, Drew, pitched for the ºüÀêÊÓƵ University Billikens. Would that have happened without Herzog’s ability to forgive? Who knows.
There’s more, but let’s end here, because it’s something that can truly apply to everyone, whether you care about baseball a ton or not at all.
Chances are, somebody in your life looks up to you.
Don’t let them down.
Herzog’s humble, approachable nature gave so many Cardinals fans the thrill of meeting a hero and not regretting it. Some heroes can’t say the same. Too many, unfortunately.
“He had a great platform, but he never crawled up on it and spoke down to anybody, ever,†Horton said. “He never projected he was better than anybody else. Baseball royalty, with a common touch.â€
Sometimes, just like during Herzog’s last appearance here at Busch, a simple smile and wave can mean so much.