Rick Hummel, who covered the Cardinals for five decades for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and who is enshrined in the writer's wing of the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, has died.
The reported that Hummel 鈥� known as 鈥淭he Commish鈥� by friends, players, managers, even baseball commissioners 鈥� died Saturday after a short, unspecified illness. He was 77.
Hummel was born in 1946 in Quincy, Illinois, and graduated from the University of Missouri in 1968. He was hired at the Post-Dispatch in 1971, joining the baseball beat two years later. He chronicled three Cardinals' World Series championships, seven National League pennants and six MVP seasons.
Hummel received the Baseball Writers鈥� Association of America Career Excellence Award in 2006, placed by his peers in the writers鈥� wing in Cooperstown. He said in his speech that the honor was 鈥渕ore than just a dream come true because I never could have dreamt this.鈥�
Sixteen years after that, Hummel was still covering the Cardinals. He retired last season.
鈥淩ick was one of the most renowned and respected writers in the history of the Post-Dispatch,鈥� Executive Editor Alan Achkar said. 鈥淏ut more importantly, he always carried himself with grace and kindness. And he was an incredible teammate to a very long list of colleagues. It鈥檚 impossible to measure the impact he鈥檚 had on the Post-Dispatch.鈥�
Hummel is survived by his wife, Melissa, along with three children from previous marriages and their families.
The Associated Press
