Stand for Stan

Over the past few months, the St. Louis Cardinals, my favorite baseball team (sorry Tigers), created a campaign to promote their endorsement of Stan Musial for the Presidential Medal of Freedom honor.  Here's an excerpt from the letter that Bill Dewitt Jr. submitted on his behalf:

Not only is Stan Musial one of the greatest players to play the game of baseball, he is also an extraordinary American deserving of the nation's highest civilian honor.

Part of the campaign included a Stand for Stan website where anyone could post a photo with Stan.  There was a flat stand photo that you could print out to take a picture of yourself with, and then email it to the site.  I took my photo a few months ago before I headed out for a workout sporting my red.

Today, President Obama announced 15 winners of the honor, which included Stan!  Here's an excerpt from the President's official release:

Stan “The Man” Musial is a baseball legend and Hall of Fame first baseman for the St. Louis Cardinals.   Musial played 22 seasons for the Cardinals from 1941 to 1963.  A 24-time All-Star selection, Musial accumulated 3,630 hits and 475 home runs during his career, was named the National League’s Most Valuable Player three times, and was a member of three World Series championship teams.  Musial also served as the Cardinals’ general manager in 1967, when the team once again won the World Series.

Congrats Stan, you'll always be "the man"!  Here's a nice recap of the event to recognize Stan from Bernie Miklasz of the St. Louis Post Dispatch.