The Pecan Park Eagle

May 1996, St. Louis: A Moment in the Company of A Childhood God.

As some of you already know, Bill Rogers of the St. Louis Browns Historical Society sent me a link to that You Tube clip of Tony La Russa’s rookie managerial appearance on the old “To Tell The Truth” TV game show. It’s amazing how cheap the cash prizes were back in the old days and, in this instance, how little that either the guest panelists or other contestants knew about baseball. Tony himself wasn’t too swift either when asked the name of baseball’s inventor, but I guess he did come of age back when the baseball world was still buying into the party line.

For those who haven’t seen it, here’s the link to Tony La Russa’s spot on “To Tell The Truth:” …

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oHrygsiNfc

A number of other baseball stars also appeared often on another popular quiz show that began on TV back in the early 1950s. Here are links to the “What’s My Line?” appearances of six others – and these men are now all Hall of Famers:

Joe Di Maggio … 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYTIMCmemA8

Stan Musial …

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lsfm56autyk

Duke Snider …

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkQNut9DUrs

Robin (“Forest Gump”) Roberts …

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZToCwu3w0OM

Jackie Robinson …

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LaRkuU-YjM

Satchel Paige …

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxF1zW71_nU&feature=related

Thank you, Bill Rogers, for getting this snowball rolling all the way to Houston – and that’s saying a lot in these ongoing days of an endless summer drought.