Bob Broeg facts for kids
Robert William Patrick Broeg (born March 18, 1918 – died October 28, 2005) was an American sportswriter and newspaper editor. He wrote about sports for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch newspaper for forty years. He was especially known for covering the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team.
Contents
Biography
Early Life
Bob Broeg was born and grew up in St. Louis, Missouri. He finished Cleveland High School in 1936. Later, he went to the University of Missouri. After college, he joined the United States Marines. He served in Washington, D.C., because of an eye injury he had since birth.
Career in Sports Journalism
After World War II, Broeg started working for newspapers. He joined the St. Louis Star-Times and then the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in 1945. Many people say he wrote more articles than anyone else in the Post-Dispatch's history. He wrote his last column for the newspaper in 2004.
He first wrote about the St. Louis Browns baseball team. He was part of many important moments in baseball history. For example, Broeg helped make sure a famous picture of a very short baseball player, Eddie Gaedel, was taken in 1951. He told the photographer to wait until Gaedel came to bat, and the picture was captured.
Later, he even helped pitcher Bob Gibson win a big game in the 1967 World Series. Gibson couldn't get breakfast at the team's hotel in Boston. So, Broeg brought him a ham and egg sandwich. Gibson then pitched a complete game and won!
Broeg is famous for giving the nickname "Stan the Man" to legendary Cardinals player Stan Musial. He also worked hard to help other Cardinals players, like Red Schoendienst, Enos Slaughter, and Chick Hafey, get into the Baseball Hall of Fame. He also helped create the first pension plan for major league baseball players.
Bob Broeg wrote 20 books about sports. He also wrote a regular column for The Sporting News magazine for many years.
In 1972, Broeg was chosen to be on the board of directors for the Baseball Hall of Fame. He held this important job for 28 years. He was also a long-time member of the Committee on Baseball Veterans. This group helps decide which older players should be in the Hall of Fame.
Personal Life, Death, and Legacy
Bob Broeg was married twice. His first wife, Dorothy Carr, passed away in 1975. He then married Lynette Anton Emmenegger in 1977. She passed away in 2018. Bob Broeg did not have any children.
Broeg once said he wanted his gravestone to say, "Hopefully, he was fair, as in just, not as in mediocre." After five years of health problems, including two strokes, Bob Broeg passed away. He died a few days after the final game of the 2005 World Series. He was 87 years old.
The St. Louis chapter of the Society for American Baseball Research is named after Bob Broeg. He received the J. G. Taylor Spink Award in 1979. This is a very high honor for baseball writers. In 1997, he was also chosen for the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Hall of Fame.
Awards and Honors
- 1964 Sportswriter of the Year award – Rockne Club
- 1969 University of Missouri Faculty Alumni Award
- 1971 University of Missouri journalism medal
- 1978 Missouri Sports Hall of Fame
- 1979 Cooperstown Baseball Writers Hall of Fame
- 1979 J. G. Taylor Spink Award – National Baseball Hall of Fame
- 1997 Sportswriters & Sportscasters Hall of Fame
- 1998 National Baseball Congress Hall of Fame
Selected Works
- Ol' Mizzou: A Story of Missouri Football. Strode, 1974.
- The Pilot Light and the Gas House Gang. Bethany Press, 1980.
- My Baseball Scrapbook. River City Publishers, 1983.
- Bob Broeg's Redbirds: A Century Of Cardinals' Baseball. River City Publishers, 1987.
- Baseball from a Different Angle. With William J. Miller. Diamond Communications, 1988.
- The Story of Stan Musial. The Sporting News, 1971.
- The St. Louis Cardinals Encyclopedia. With Jerry Vickery. Masters Press, 1998.
- Bob Broeg: Memories of a Hall of Fame Sportswriter. Sports Publishing LLC, 1995.
