Back in May, the St. Louis Cardinals began publicly lobbying to get Hall of Famer Stan Musial the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Wednesday night, Musial (who will turn 90 this Sunday) got the call from baseball comissioner Bud Selig…the “Flat Stan the Man” campaign had paid off.
Early next year, President Obama will honor the Cardinals legend.
Since 1977, seven others (Hank Aaron, Roberto Clemente, Joe DiMaggio, Buck O’Neil, Frank Robinson, Jackie Robinson and Ted Williams) have received the highest honor in the land. And since 1992, there have been 185 overall Medals handed out.
This year, Obama will hand out 15 more.
“These outstanding honorees come from a broad range of backgrounds and they’ve excelled in a broad range of fields,” the nation’s First Fan said, “but all of them have lived extraordinary lives that have inspired us, enriched our culture, and made our country and our world a better place. I look forward to awarding them this honor.”
So when you are asked around the water cooler “what do George Bush the elder, Maya Angelou, Yo-Yo Ma and Stan Musial have in common”…you can now answer with confidence.
They’re all being awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011.
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