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Rick Hummel, BJ '68, was inducted into the writer's wing of the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., on July 29, 2007, as the recipient of the 2006 J.G. Taylor Spink Award. The award, named after the late editor of The Sporting News, has been voted upon annually since 1962 by members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America. The award honors a baseball writer "for meritorious contributions to baseball writing" and is presented at the Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony. Here, Joe Holleman of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch takes a look back at Hummel's life and career in sports journalism.

Rick Hummel at Cooperstown: 'He genuinely loves the game'

By Joe Holleman
Republished with Permission
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Original Publishing Date: 07/28/2007

Post-Dispatch baseball writer Rick Hummel chats with Hall of Famers Ozzie Smith (left), Lou Brock and Bob Gibson on Friday in Cooperstown, N.Y. Photo by Chris Lee for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Used with permission.

To beat writers, ballplayers and bartenders, Post-Dispatch baseball scribe Rick Hummel has been an unofficial legend for years.

On Sunday, it's official.

Hummel - known to many as "Commish" - will be inducted Sunday afternoon into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y.

"I'm surprised at how people have reacted, shaking my hand and congratulating me," said Hummel. "I'm very happy that they're all so happy."

Other surprises surface after spending time with Hummel. Who would have guessed his favorite sports interview was with a boxer; his drivers-ed teacher helped him choose a career; or a clerk kept him stateside during the Vietnam War?

Rick Hummel, BJ '68

But let's get through the basics as Hummel writes his stories: simple sentences, solid stats.

Richard Lowell Hummel was born Feb. 25, 1946, the only child of Hobart and Geraldine Hummel. He went to Quincy (Ill.) High School, spent two years at Quincy College and graduated from the University of Missouri School of Journalism in 1968.

During three years in the Army, Hummel worked for the Colorado Springs Free Press/Sun. He was hired by the Post-Dispatch in 1971, started covering the Cardinals in 1973 and became the lead writer in 1978. In 2002, he was named the newspaper's national baseball columnist.

Hummel was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in 1980 for a series of stories on controversial shortstop Garry Templeton. He won the 2006 J.G. Taylor Spink Award from the Baseball Writers Association of America, which is the honor given to one writer each year who will be enshrined in the Hall of Fame. He has covered virtually every type of sporting event, including 29 World Series, 27 baseball All-Star games and two NCAA Final Four basketball tournaments.

Hummel has two children from his first marriage - Scott, 33, a cardiologist at the University of Michigan Medical Center, and Christy, 29, a public relations specialist in Chicago; and a daughter, Lauren, 15, from his second marriage. He has one grandchild, 2-year-old Alexandra. He lives in Webster Groves and has been with his current companion, Debbie Medbury, for nine years.

Finally, the "Commish" nickname does not come from Hummel's baseball expertise. It came from the sports statistical leagues he has governed over the years.

Job Advice

By high school, Hummel knew he wanted to be a sports broadcaster. Melvin Tappe, a former minor-leaguer and Hummel's driver-training teacher, influenced his career choice.

"He asked me what I wanted to do, and I told him 'sports broadcaster.' He told me those jobs would be taken by retired athletes and I should think about newspapers. So I did."

After graduating from Mizzou, Hummel joined the Army and worked on a military newspaper in Germany. A year later, he got orders to go to Fort Carson, Colo. He also got contradictory orders sending him to Vietnam.

Time for a tough civilian clerk at Fort Carson with a fondness for Hummel and his writing to come to the rescue.

"Irene Posner was her name, I'll never forget it," he said. "She's listening to some officer on the phone, saying 'yeah, uh-huh' and nodding her head. And when he's done, Irene just says, 'Well, he's not going.' And that was that."

After his discharge, sports editor Bob Broeg hired Hummel at the Post-Dispatch.

"Bob said Rick was the best at consuming a lot of information and processing it so that he could offer perspective to the readers," Lynn Broeg, Bob's widow, said. "And he always said, 'You'll always get the truth from Rick.'"

When Broeg assigned Hummel to cover his first Cardinals game, Hummel made a decision he has stuck with for 36 years. "That day, I realized I could no longer be a fan. I like certain players and I'm glad when they do well, but I don't root for anybody," he said.

"I mean, I was happy that the Cardinals won the World Series last year. But I wouldn't have been unhappy if they'd lost."

Whitey Herzog, the Redbird manager from 1980 to 1990, respected Hummel's objectivity.

"Commish was always fair. He'd print the truth, and I never had a problem with that because, hell, the truth's the truth. And he's intelligent about the game. He always had good questions.

"But what I liked best about Rick was that he seemed to enjoy coming to the ballpark and doing his job," Herzog said. "He genuinely loves the game."

Work as Usual

Hummel's blond hair has given way to whiter shades, and his 6-foot frame appears a bit shorter, perhaps from years of hunkering down over a keyboard. But he stills gets excited about the job.

He was on the job Tuesday for the Cards-Cubs opener at Busch Stadium. As usual, he hit the clubhouse, wrote down the posted lineup and waited for the 4 p.m. pre-game press conference in manager Tony La Russa's office.

With Hummel's induction just days away, fellow sportswriters began paying their respects. The tributes came like nonchalant questions: "Got your speech written yet?" (Yes.) "How long is it?" (About six minutes.) "Are you nervous?" (Sure.)

Even La Russa got into the act, showing surprise that Hummel had not yet left for Cooperstown. "Leaving Thursday," Hummel said.

Later, La Russa described his impressions of Hummel.

"Rick is very honest, and he states exactly what's wrong," LaRussa said. "But he never tries to tear the scab off the wound. Rick does what he has to do, but he respects the game and the people who are in it. "He is the ultimate professional."

Hummel said the biggest black mark on baseball during his career was the suspected steroid use by Mark McGwire, Barry Bonds and other players. "We missed it, we all missed it. There was no testing. Guys were hitting home runs, the fans loved it, the owners loved it. But what can we do now about that? At some point, you just have to move on."

During Tuesday's game, Hummel sat in the press box, took notes and pecked away at his laptop. ("I'm an awful typist, but very fast.")

During the seventh-inning stretch, Ian Murrell, 14, of Vandalia, Ill., shouted up to the press box: "Mr. Hummel, would you please sign my hat?"

Hummel blushed slightly, caught the toss, grabbed a pen and signed the cap.

How much respect does Hummel draw in the press box? Consider that with such a great chance for good-natured ribbing, no one gave Hummel any grief - as if they understood that every now and then, Hall of Famers have to sign autographs.

A High Toll

For 25 seasons, Hummel covered almost every Cardinals game, home and away, as the lead writer. Doing so took its toll.

"I didn't do a very good job raising my kids," Hummel said quietly.

But they all turned out healthy and successful. "I attribute that to their mothers," he said. "They certainly picked up the slack and did a great job."

His eldest child, Scott Hummel, said that in Hall of Fame terms, his father reminded him of Paul Molitor, who amassed 3,319 hits and was inducted in 2004.

"Like Molitor, my dad's just consistently excellent but never draws attention to himself. Then one day you look up and realize he's one of the overall great players."

Hummel said he was excited about his children's being at Cooperstown for Sunday's ceremonies.

"I think they like me, and they've forgiven me," he said. "I think they're happy about my induction, and I think they're even happier that I quit drinking."

Hummel gave up drinking seven years ago, but that doesn't mean he stays out of taverns.

"I'm pretty certain this honor I'm receiving is because of all the beers I've bought for out-of-town sportswriters," he joked.

"The Greatest"

Although Hummel has covered more than 4,000 baseball games, his fondest sports recollection doesn't involve the national pastime.

Hummel - whose encyclopedic memory produces information in a blink - became the most animated when recalling an interview nearly 30 years ago with Muhammad Ali.

Hummel was at the Las Vegas Hilton in November 1977 to cover the Leon Spinks-Alfio Righetti fight. The winner was to face Ali in early 1978.

"Ali comes walking through the casino with three or four people. So I follow behind him hoping to get a few words. I tap him on the shoulder and I identify myself. So he says, 'Come on,' and walks toward the elevators.

"We go up to his penthouse, and he's still motioning for me to follow," Hummel continued. Then Ali dismisses his bodyguards and asks his wife to leave them alone.

"So I end up interviewing him for about a half an hour. So we're done and he says, 'OK, I did you a favor, how about you do me a favor?'"

With that, Ali whipped out a typewritten speech and explained he had to rehearse a commencement address he was giving at Harvard University.

"So I sat there while he went through his entire speech," Hummel said, still smiling at the memory.

Reflecting on his career, Hummel said he'd do one thing differently. "I'd learn Spanish," he said. "With all the Hispanic players, it's hard for me and even harder for them. But when I started out, it wasn't that big of an issue."

It's clear that if Hummel had it to do all over again, he'd do it all over again.

"I'm not sure what else I could be," Hummel said with a laugh. "I don't have any other job skills."

That didn't bother Steve Schulz of Affton, who approached Hummel at a restaurant with the easy reverence shown to friendly legends. After congratulating Hummel, a satisfied Schulz turned and said:

"Now I can say I shook his hand."