In our life, things, events, each day just seem to WALK ON BY! The famous 1963 song by Dionne Warwick sold over 12m copies! We’re standing, as we did for the Veil Prophet parade, anxious to see   a parade of sports figures WALKING ON BY. Go ahead & join us…

….After the usual High School bands marched through, they were followed by the St. Louis Blues (at least many of them). Putting aside the heartbreaking loss in the playoffs, they still seemed to be celebrating their record of 12 consecutive wins & 11 straight home wins in the 24-25 season. The players tossed some pucks into the crowd not far from us. The fans scrambled for them. I was too old to be a part of that 😊   

…walking into our view was a 2nd group all Dressed in Blue….as they got closer, we could see that they were being led by Craig Berube. Of course, Berube was the only Blues HC to win a Stanley Cup. Several former coaches had joined him.  The Blues have hired 28 Head Coaches in their history.  Some of the more recognizable coaches, who were waving to the crowd, were Scotty Bowman (1967-1971), Ken Hitchcock (2011-17)-who won 181 games as Blues HC, Joel Quenneville (1997-2004)—who led the Blues to 6 playoff seasons (most of any Blues coach) and recorded the most wins of any Blues coach—260 wins. The Crowd seemed very happy to see this foursome of memorable Blues Coaches as they WALKED ON BY!

…following the bands, WALKING by himself was Yadi Molina. As you would expect, he got a rousing round of applause. StL fans haven’t forgotten the many successful years that Yadi was a part of winning championships as a Cardinal. As he waves, he throws baseballs into the huge crowd on each side of the street. Each one has his autograph so there was a scramble for them when they were thrown in their area. Fans couldn’t forget Yadi’s career marks. Smiling & throwing “out” the baseballs, Yadi was really enjoying himself!  He just kept WALKING RIGHT ON BY!

… Following his retirement in 2022, Yadier Molina took some time to himself and his family. The future St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Famer couldn’t stay away for too long following his retirement, as he and the Cardinals agreed to a front office role for Molina in December of 2023. Molina, who played his whole career in the Lou played in 2,224 Cardinal games. He won 9 Gold Gloves & 10 All-Star teams during his career.  The Cardinals backstop set the record for the most games caught in MLB history with 2,184, and he and Adam Wainwright hold the record for the most starts as a battery with 328. I think that sometimes, Yadi’s superior defensive skills over shadowed his batting skills. Yadi held a lifetime batting average of .277; shockingly to me—he stole 71 bases and finished his batting career with a .726 OPS! To give you an idea of Yadi’s surprising numbers, Jim Edmond (regarded, justifiably, as more of a batting threat, finished his career with a .284 batting average! That’s only .007 better than Yadi.

Yadi kept moving at a good pace. All my friends started yelling, “Yadi, Yadi, Yadi”, others yelled, “We want you! WE WANT YOU”. My buddies started taking different sides about WHEN Yadi would become the Cards next manager…not IF HE WOULD, but WHEN HE WOULD!! I knew it wouldn’t be that easy since several other teams also had Yadi as one of their targets to be THEIR MANAGER!! But…YADI just kept smiling & waving as he was WALKING ON BY!

…NOT WALKING but being driven along in a new ’25 car sat former St Louis Hawk, Bob Pettit. Pettit is now 92 years of age. I started telling people around me (anyone that would listen😊) how good Pettit was as a player. I had watched him often @ Kiel Auditorium & on TV frequently. He was 6-9, a very tall forward for his era. Some called him the greatest forward of his era! Pettit was an All-NBA First Team selection 10 times, and an All-NBA Second Team pick once. He never finished below 7th in the NBA scoring race, and he left the sport with 2 MVP awards. and an NBA championship ring. In 1956, the NBA decided to award an MVP award– Pettit won it!! Pettit played in 11 straight All Star Games, was named All Star Game MVP more times than any player in history. When he retired in 1965, he was the league’s highest scorer (20,880) and second highest rebounder (12,849).

…I must say that Pettit clearly deserved all those awards, yet he was NOT a tremendous athlete.  He didn’t have great speed, a great 1^st step, or great jumping ability but he worked & worked on his skills & knowledge of the game to become one of the best, if not THE best, of his era. Unfortunately (from my eyes), the Hawks moved to Atlanta in 1968 and the Lou has seen only 1 other pro basketball team (the Spirits) since then. The Spirits played in the ABA not the NBA from 1974 to 1976. When the leagues merged, the Spirits declined to join the NBA….ugh! Then…I realized I had to get back to watching the parade, not moaning about the Spirits. Pettit’s car just KEPT MOVING ON BY!

…the next pair of players were WALKING side x side. They were the star players from the St Louis Football Cardinals teams & the St Louis Rams. The Football Cardinals played here in the Lou from 1960 to 1987. Then they moved to Arizona. Leading the way were a group of stars of the “Big Red” (as they were called). The Rams played in the Lou for 20 years (1995-2015) The front pair of Larry Wilson & Marshal Faulk were cheered loudly as they symbolized both teams. Wilson (Big RED), a safety, was known for his hard-hitting style and was an 8-time Pro Bowler. Faulk (Rams), a running back, was a key part of the “Greatest Show on Turf” era and is the only player to have 12,000 rushing yards and 6,000 receiving yards in his career. It’s been 10 years since the Lou had NFL football. Fans were mixed on their feelings about another NFL team finding its way to St. Louis. However, most fans around us that day, thought that it had a snowball’s chance in hell of happening. We waved at the Football stars as they walked past us. They seemed indifferent to us …just like the other NFL owners! Before we knew it…they had just kept WALKING ON BY!

…Walking next was a group of women…waving, smiling, happy to be there…. but, no one seemed to know who they were!!!  Just like in their regular season! It was the St Louis U softball team!! College softball is played in the fall by some conferences. That’s when the Lady Billikens played. The Lady Billikens posted a 34-24 record last year. For the 1^st time, they won Atlantic-10 post season tournament! Sr Abby Mallo was the leading batter on this team and 1 of 5 players to play in all 58 games. Mallo’s .363 average & her 1.238 OPS led the Billikens. They seemed to still be celebrating as they waved to all consistently, smiled/ laughed with each other and it was easy to see that they were really enjoying the crowd! It was almost “sad” to see them WALK ON BY! 

…Walking right behind some of their classmates @ St Louis U was the Womens’ Soccer Team. Arguably, the most Successful athletic team on the SLU campus in the past decade. The Lady Billikens hold a stunning record in recent years.  They’ve won 7 consecutive conference championships and 7 straight NCAA tournament berths. Their overall record of 117-25-13 over those 7 seasons and a 60-3-5 mark in regular-season Atlantic 10 play. Showcasing some of their skills, they were “heading” the ball back & forth across the team. It was entertaining for the crowd who began counting each time a ball was flicked to another teammate. Meanwhile, their HC Hannah Larson is back for a sixth season at SLU. She’s already got a championship ring for each finger on one hand. Now she wants to start on the other hand. She was holding up both hands & pointing to the hand filled with rings & providing a big, beautiful smile as she looked at them. They were doing this as they were WALKING ON BY!

…Walking right behind the SLU Women’s soccer team was a pair of women’s teams– It was the Washington University’s soccer & tennis teams! Both teams had won the national title! This group had their players holding their fore finger in front of their mouth.  It was a way to remind everyone to keep the national titles a secret 😊  Most fans got a “kick out it”, so they imitated the Wash U teams by holding their forefinger in front of their mouth!  All the spectators enjoyed the banter & interaction as the teams WALKED ON BY! 

…The next pair walking together were much more comfortable on the ice –skating. Brett Hull & Bernie Federko were representing the St. Louis Blues. Hull holds the team record for goals—527 and most goals in a season-86. Federko is the all-time POINTS leader in a Blues uniform with 1073 points. Seeing this pair of Blues instantly brought back the heart-breaking defeat of the Blues last spring. Joining them as they were walking was Jordan Kyrou. Despite trade rumors about Kyrou, this StL hocky trio, to loud cheers,  just kept WALKING ON BY!

…The next group was all wearing Blue! But we’d already seen the Blues…but…it was the Billikens of St Louis U. They were scattered about in small groups.  The Front group was the St Louis U Men’s Soccer Team. They were 8-4-8 last year. They had 2 tough losses at the end of the 8-5-8 year.  The Bills lost the championship game of the A-10 Tourney then lost the 1^st round game in the NCAA tournament. The players looked focused as they, probably, were already looking ahead to the A-10 Tourney & hopes for being named to the NCAA tournament in 2025. Every U.S. team in men’s World Cup history has included at least 1 St. Louisan on its roster and 29 St. Louisans have been inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame. Each SLU team continues carrying on the tradition of the rich Billiken Men’s soccer program. The Billikens have 10 NCAA championships. The most of any collegiate program! They also hold the record for the fastest time to reach 600 victories. The players were having some fun as the “headed” the ball all around as they were WALKING ON BY!     

…While football has faded away @SLU, SLU does have a distinctive role in development of college football.  SLU football coach Eddie Cochems developed the first modern passing offense in American football history in 1906. Cochems’ star halfback, Bradbury Robinson, threw the first legal forward pass on September 5, 1906, in a 22–0 victory over Carroll College at Waukesha, Wisconsin. I suspect that not even 1 SLU player knew that fact 😊 The Memories just kept WALKING ON BY!

…Seemingly walking with a bit more energy and happiness were players from the St. Louis City Soccer Club. City had just defeated Eastern Conference opponents Nashville SC 3-1 on Saturday night at Energizer Park. The win seemed to have really perked up the entire City club, who showed up in good numbers. They were being led by their top scorer– Joao Klaus. Their waves & smiles to fans made it a wonderfully enjoyable time when they crossed in front of us. The crowd was surprised…then very happy…to see the entire club waving to all in the crowd. They entertained the crowd by “heading” the ball back & forth to entertain the crowd.  They were really enjoying themselves as they WALKED ON BY! Funny… what a win could do 🙂

…The next group approaching us was a group of men of all sizes…the make-up of a professional football team. They were waving banners that said, “LIVING THE DREAM” Giving StL its only professional football team, albeit not in the NFL. The Battlehawks have been successful on the field. They finished with a 7-3 record as they Lost XFL Conference Championship to the Brahmas 25-15. Their signs read, THANK YOU!   The Battlehawks players were grateful for the outstanding crowds that attended their games. The Battlehawks, who play @ the Dome, have the highest average attendance in the league (by a wide margin). I would guess that their attendance matches the attendance of all the other league games combined on most league days.  Largely unknown by most of the parade spectators, nonetheless, fans waved to the Battlehawks who responded with wide smiles & waves. For these players, playing professional Football was their DREAM! They proudly just kept WALKING ON BY!

…Well…that brings us to the end of the parade. Hope that you enjoyed reading about your old friends and maybe some new ones, in the sports world. YOUR thoughts are always invited. Email directly to me rjryansr@charter.net or post on my Facebook page (right underneath this Buzz). Thanks again for your time & the read of WALK ON BY! Bob