From left, Whitey Herzog, Albert Fred “Red" Schoendienst and Tony La Russa participate in a ‘Special Salute' to three generations of World Series-winning St. Louis Cardinals managers, as part of the Baseball Hall of Fame Induction ceremonies at Doubleday Field in Cooperstown Saturday. At left is the 2011 World Series trophy. — APCOOPERSTOWN, NY — On the day before Barry Larkin and the late Ron Santo are inducted into the Hall of Fame, Tim McCarver and Bob Elliott were the center of attention. The two were honored Saturday in a ceremony at Doubleday Field. McCarver received the Ford C. Frick Award for his contributions in broadcasting, while Elliott of the Toronto Sun was given the J.G. Taylor Spink Award for sports writing. It was the second straight year the awards were not given on induction Sunday. “I received a text from Al Michaels today. The text was very, very thoughtful and very nice. And I also received a text from Bob Costas," McCarver, the former big league catcher in his fourth decade in a broadcast booth, said before the ceremony. “And the reason I'm dropping those two names is to show you the importance of the weekend that Bob and Barry and the family of Ron Santo and I are about to experience. “I'm humbled by the whole experience. ... It's very difficult to be here without being overwhelmed. And I am. And I'm trying to get over it so I can get through my talk." Elliott, a national fixture in Canada for the past 30 years, also called the honor “humbling," but recalled with some joy a school guidance counselor who wasn't exactly encouraging. “He said, ‘What do you want to be?' and I said, ‘I'd like to work at the newspaper.' So he's looking at my marks and laughing and said, ‘You've got a 61 in English Composition and you've got a 63 in English. You've got no chance,'" Elliott said. “I said, ‘Sir, I've been working there for three years on weekends.' He said, ‘You can never work there full-time. Maybe you can get a job at the Napanee Beaver. It's a bi-weekly.' “I went back to a reunion about 20 years later and I couldn't find him. Not that I was looking for him," Elliott said with a smile. The awards presentation also celebrated the three living former managers who led the St. Louis Cardinals to World Series titles: Hall of Famers Red Schoendienst and Whitey Herzog, as well as Tony La Russa, who skippered the Cards to last year's championship. — Agencies
