Joe Cunningham obit

 

Former Cardinal Joe Cunningham, who challenged Aaron for batting title, dies at 89

He was not on the list.

The words of Mike Bertani, the former director of stadium operations for the Cardinals at Busch Stadium, may best have captured the essence of Joe Cunningham, the longtime former Cardinals player and front office worker/ambassador who died Thursday at age 89 in hospice care at his home in Chesterfield. Said Bertani: “Joe was kind of like the Bob Plager of the Cardinals.”

Plager is the longtime St. Louis Blues player and ambassador who died on Wednesday after an auto accident.

Cunningham the player had considerable success. He homered and drove in five runs in his first game as a Cardinal in 1954 in Cincinnati. He hit two homers and knocked in four runs in his second game in Milwaukee.

A first baseman-outfielder, not necessarily known for his defense, Cunningham played 12 seasons in the major leagues, including 1954 and 1956-61 with the Cardinals. He also was with the Chicago White Sox from 1962-64 and Washington Senators in 1964-66, finishing with a .291 career average.

A two-time All-Star, he hit .345 in 1959, finishing second to Hall of Famer Henry Aaron of Milwaukee (.355) and Cunningham led the league in on-base percentage that year at .453 thanks to his 88 walks. Cunningham had an excellent eye, walking 599 times in his career and striking out only 369 times.

He managed in the minors for a while with the Cardinals and then went into sales with the Cardinals. “He really made the people who bought the tickets feel special,” said Bertani.

Al Hrabosky, a staple on Cardinals television programming for years, recalled Cunningham as his first minor league manager in Modesto, California, and then later as a mentor to Hrabosky, who took over for Cunningham after the latter had founded the Cardinals’ elementary school program where Cunningham would team with Fredbird to warn the children of the dangers of drugs, among other things.

“I wouldn’t have a broadcasting career without the stuff that he told me,” Hrabosky said. “He talked to me about going to the Elks clubs, going to the Lions clubs, going to all these service clubs and getting comfortable speaking.”

Cardinals broadcaster Rick Horton, for many years a leader in the St. Louis chapter of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, said Cunningham had been one of the founders of the chapter.

“You think about Joe being such an infectious personality,” said Horton after the Cardinals’ game here Thursday night. “You couldn’t help but like Joe when you were around him. He always had a smile on his face and a cigar, the good outlook, the positive comment. He was an encourager to me on many fronts. He got me involved in the school program. He taught me how to do it and I remember him doing it at my kid’s elementary school. Every time I saw Joe, he would say something encouraging to me. Every time.

“And he was the Innovator. He was the one who essentially invented the party suites. He’d take his buddies and corporate clients and ask for seats in a certain area and would say, ‘Hey, can somebody bring me food?’ And they kind of found a makeshift thing at the ball park and they finally decided to build a place devoted to that.

“It started with the Cardinals and now it’s a baseball thing.”

Cunningham battled health issues, including kidney problems, over the last few years and spent time in the hospital before returning home recently and going into hospice. He is survived by his wife, Kathe, sons Peter and Joseph Jr., and three grandchildren. Funeral arrangements are pending.

Bertani, one of Cunningham’s closest friends who began working with Cunningham in 1972, visited Cunningham only on Wednesday at his home. “He had bacon and eggs and when I left there, I said, ‘This guy’s strong. He’s going to last two more weeks,’” said Bertani.

‘Made baseball fun’

Hrabosky remembered that the younger Cunninghams were active children apt to get into trouble and one night Hrabosky, the next day’s pitcher for Modesto, was charting pitches in the stands and also trying to keep an eye on 5-year-old Peter.

“After the game, I was scared to death,” said Hrabosky. “I said, ‘Mr. Cunningham, there were 432 pitches thrown tonight and I recorded three of them. He said, ‘Alan, you were watching Peter tonight.’ I said, ‘Yessir.’ He said ‘It’s totally understandable.’”

New Jersey native Cunningham had a wit about him and it rubbed off.

“Joe made baseball fun,” said former Cardinals teammate Bill White. “Obviously, it was fun watching him hit. He did a lot of different things hitting.”

“He kept us loose. He was always there with the positive word and attitude. He did not have as much ability as a lot of guys but he made up for it by hustling. He was just an old-timer.”

“He played wherever he had to play. He did whatever the manager asked him. He was a good guy to have around on a ball club. If they asked him to pitch, he would have pitched. If they asked him to catch, he would have caught (Cunningham was a lefthanded thrower).”

Also a lefthanded hitter, Cunningham was known for his many stances.

“He had a few,” said White. “The pitchers didn’t know what the hell was going on.”

Club President Bill DeWitt III, like Cunningham a member of the 1-2-3 Club, a Monday noon gathering of sports personalities, said in an e-mail, “Joe was a great ambassador for us for many years and a pillar in the community. He was also a warm, positive person with a great wit. He will be sorely missed.”

Bertani said, “He made going to work each day a pleasure because you knew you were going to have fun or he was going to play a joke on you.

“I just said to (senior vice president for sales and marketing) Dan Farrell, ‘The Good Lord had better watch out because if He sits down, He might have a glass of water on his seat.’”