Robert William Patrick Broeg (March 18, 1918 – October 28, 2005) was an American sportswriter and newspaper editor who covered theSt. Louis Cardinals for theSt. Louis Post-Dispatch for forty years.
Broeg was born and raised inSt. Louis, Missouri.[1] He graduated fromCleveland High School in 1936 and theUniversity of Missouri before entering theUnited States Marines.[2] He served in Washington as a result of an eye injury suffered at birth.[2][1]
After the war, Broeg joined theSt. Louis Star-Times[3] and then theSt. Louis Post-Dispatch in 1945.[4] He was reportedly the most prolific writer in the history of thePost-Dispatch.[4] He penned his finalPost-Dispatch column in 2004.[2]
He first covered theSt. Louis Browns.[4] He was privy to many important events in baseball history. Broeg was partially responsible for the famous picture ofEddie Gaedel at the plate in 1951. He told the photographer to stay at the game until Gaedel came to the plate and the picture was taken.[2]
Later, he helpedBob Gibson win the1967 World Series. Gibson was unable to get breakfast at the Cardinals' hotel in Boston, so Broeg delivered a ham and egg sandwich. Gibson pitched a complete, winning game.[5]
Broeg is known for coining the nickname "Stan the Man" for Cardinal baseball playerStan Musial,[4] working on the Hall of Fame causes of CardinalsRed Schoendienst,Enos Slaughter andChick Hafey and helping to devise, and successfully push for the first pension plan for veteran major-league players.[3][6]
Broeg published 20 books on sports.[4] He also wrote a column forThe Sporting News for decades.[7]
Broeg was named to the board of directors of theBaseball Hall of Fame in 1972, a position he held for 28 years.[8][1] He was also a longtime member of theCommittee on Baseball Veterans.[7]
Broeg was married first to Dorothy Carr; she died of cancer in 1975. He married Lynette Anton Emmenegger in 1977; she died in 2018. Broeg had no children.[9][1]
Broeg said he wished his epitaph to read, "Hopefully, he was fair, as in just, not as in mediocre." After five years of health problems that included two strokes, Bob Broeg died several days after the final game of the2005 World Series. He was 87.[2][4]
The St. Louis chapter of theSociety for American Baseball Research is named for Bob Broeg.[10] He was awarded theJ. G. Taylor Spink Award in 1979.[11] He was elected to theNational Sportscasters and Sportswriters Hall of Fame in 1997.[11]
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