ST. LOUIS — The family of Whitey Herzog shared more of their memories of the legendary St. Louis Cardinals manager on Sunday. He died last week at the age of 92.
Herzog led the Cardinals to three pennants and a World Series title in only five years from 1982-1987. His style of play — "Whiteyball" — was known for speed on the bases.
A wreath of flowers stood tall this weekend in Busch Stadium to honor Herzog. His wife, Mary Lou Herzog, spent most of her Sunday morning in St. Louis with her cousins Jim and Judy Newman as she continued to cope with Herzog's passing on Monday night.
"Her faith if anything will pull her through," Judy Newman said. "It will be her devoted family and her faith."
Herzog's loved ones from New Athens, Illinois, shared new photos of his life off the field as they continued to process his recent hospitalization and eventual move to a hospice care facility.
"I think in a lot of ways it was a surprise," Judy said. "It was a surprise because maybe they just didn't want it to happen. So, it's hard to deal with reality in a situation like that."
Whitey and Mary Lou Herzog were married in their hometown of New Athens at St. John's United Church of Christ. So were Judy and Jim, who always admired their marriage of more than 70 years.
"They were high school sweethearts just like my wife and I," Jim said. "They were classmates basically, and it was just great. But that's what small towns are about. It just happens."
For the last week, people have visited Jim's Hiway Lumber Company in New Athens to offer their condolences and make the White Rat a daily topic of conversation for the regulars at The Bull Pen Bar and Grill.
Dennis Breihaupt has eaten many lunches there since moving to New Athens in 1957, never forgetting Herzog or his signature generosity.
"The most memorable thing that I remember is that in 1982, when the Cardinals were in the World Series," Breihaupt said. "He personally came down and hand-delivered World Series tickets to all of his classmates that he played baseball and basketball with in high school."
In this small town of about 2,000, Herzog's legacy will be "talked about forever," Jim said. "Probably because he was such a guy that cared about New Athens like he did."
There are no official plans yet for a celebration of Whitey's life.