Known as “The Commissioner” throughout baseball, which he covered in St. Louis for more than 40 years, Rick Hummel worked his first major-league game in 1973 and served as the Cardinals’ beat writer for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch for 24 years, from 1978 through 2001.
He then became the Post- Dispatch’s national baseball columnist.
Hummel was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in 1980 and was named Missouri Sportswriter of the Year multiple times.
Hummel covered more than 40 All-Star Games and 35 World Series.
“The Commish” earned his nickname early in his career for organizing the Post-Dispatch newsroom’s softball and bowling leagues. But that honorary title has come to reflect his encyclopedic knowledge of baseball, its rules, players and history.
“I have learned a lot from Whitey Herzog, Joe Torre and Tony La Russa about how to watch the game and maybe how to write about it a little,” Hummel said. “You couldn’t pick three better [teachers] than that.”
Hummel was national president of the BBWAA in 1994 and served on the Spink Award Committee for 10 years.