Cardinals past and present to be honored at baseball writer’s annual banquet

The St. Louis chapter of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America is set to host its annual dinner and awards banquet on Sunday night at the Missouri Athletic Club in downtown St. Louis. There, several St. Louis Cardinals and other notable figures from the world of baseball will be honored for their contributions to the game in 2024 and beyond.

The evening’s highest honor, the Red Schoendienst Medal for service to baseball, will be awarded to Hall of Fame shortstop and franchise legend Ozzie Smith. Along with his teammates on the 1985 National League champions, celebrating this year their 40th anniversary, Smith’s contributions to the Cardinals, the community, and important institutions like the National Baseball Hall of Fame will be honored by the assembled crowd.

Ryan Helsley, who set a franchise record with 49 saves and was arguably the game’s most dominant closer in 2024, will receive the St. Louis Baseball Man of the Year award. The pitcher whose record Helsley broke, Trevor Rosenthal, is scheduled to be in attendance to help present him with his award and acknowledge the new record holder.

Among awards being given to active players, the Darryl Kile Award is the only at this year’s ceremony which will be given to a player not currently under contract with the team. The Kile Award, meant to honor an outstanding teammate and role model, is voted on by the players themselves. This year’s recipient is Kyle Gibson, who nonetheless plans to attend and accept the award. Gibson remains a free agent, and the Cardinals have been eager to find a roster solution which would allow them to pursue a reunion with the veteran righty.

Two more of Gibson’s presently former teammates are set to receive their own honors. Masyn Winn was unanimously named the Cardinals rookie of the year for 2024, and Brendan Donovan was likewise selected as the comeback player of the year for his recovery from elbow surgery and solid performance both at the plate and in left field.

Perhaps the biggest highlight of the 2024 season for the Cardinals was their trip to historic Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Ala. for a celebration of the Negro Leagues and the recently deceased Willie Mays. Events like that, and MLB’s broader actions to preserve the legacies of the Negro Leagues, would likely not be possible without the work of this year’s winner of the Branch Rickey Award for Innovation in Baseball.

Bob Kendrick, director of the National Negro Leagues Hall of Fame and Museum in Kansas City, will receive that award. Kendrick has long been a passionate voice for the preservation of the history of Black baseball in America and has revolutionized some of the methods for doing so. That has occurred not only through the impressive Kansas City museum campus, but also through video and game activations in the popular MLB The Show franchise.

Another national baseball figure with local roots is receiving the award for Outstanding Achievement in Baseball. University of Tennessee head coach Tony Vitello, a native St. Louisian and alum of the University of Missouri, will be honored for his success in guiding the Volunteers to last year’s NCAA National Championship.

Cardinals broadcaster Rick Horton will host the dinner’s VIP event, a discussion featuring 1985 alums Vince Coleman and Todd Worrell, and will also receive the chapter’s Good Guy Award. Horton and veteran broadcasters Tom Ackerman and Randy Karraker will appear throughout the evening, which is hosted by Cardinals radio play-by-play voice John Rooney.

The meritorious service to sports award will be presented to Frank Viverito, a Missouri Sports Hall of Famer and former longtime chair of the St. Louis Sports Commission.

The annual event, the last of its kind among all chapters of the BBWAA, is an opportunity to acknowledge the prior year in baseball while simultaneously providing a preview of the year to come. Both manager Oli Marmol and president of baseball operations John Mozeliak will give brief addresses, and the chapter will acknowledge Mozeliak’s many years with the team.

Most importantly, the dinner allows the local BBWAA chapter to raise funds which contribute to journalism scholarships at the University of Missouri and with various philanthropic organizations throughout the metro area. (Disclaimer: I am a BBWAA member and on the committee which organizes the event.)

The history of baseball in St. Louis is part of what has long made up the character of the city and the surrounding areas, forming the heart of why so many take pride in the city’s status as a “baseball town.” Acknowledging successes is important, but perhaps secondary to taking steps to secure that history and assure that it is passed down to continue to create the local fabric of the game.

The event comes in the midst of the Cardinals’ annual Winter Warm-Up celebration, at which players and team personnel will address the media, in many cases for the first time since the conclusion of the season. The three-day event is now located at Ballpark Village and in various locations inside Busch Stadium.