Whitey goes to bat for fund raiser

Yes, Whitey Herzog is asked by Cardinals fans wherever he goes if he eventually might return as the team's manager.

No, he doesn't see it happening.

"I get that a lot," said a laughing Herzog. "But they're not looking for a 72-year-old manager."

Seventy-two but apparently going on 30, if Herzog's appearance in the area Monday is any indication.

In town as a special guest at the first annual Joe Uhls Memorial Golf Tournament and Dinner -- a fund raiser for Southeast Missouri State University's baseball program -- Herzog appeared to be having a blast as he spent much of the day mingling with Southeast supporters.

Herzog began in the morning at Bent Creek Golf Course in Jackson, talking baseball and other subjects with just about anybody who cared to listen as the 34 four-person teams prepared for a noon start.

Herzog then played in the tournament -- "I play golf the way I used to play baseball. The more I played the worse I got," he said -- before making his way to the Cape Girardeau Elks Lodge as the featured speaker for the evening's silent auction and dinner.

"I think any time I can do something to help a college program, young ballplayers, I'm glad to do it," Herzog said during a late-morning interview prior to teeing off at Bent Creek. "I really enjoy these kinds of things."

Said Southeast baseball coach Mark Hogan, "Whitey is just unbelievable in this kind of setting. He's great with everybody, and as a program we can't tell you how much it means for him to be here."

Herzog, affectionately known as "The White Rat" during his managing days that featured 10 mostly successful seasons with the Cardinals in the 1980s, lent his considerable popularity to Monday's affair primarily because of his longtime friendship with Jack Litzelfelner, whose family owns and operates Bent Creek.

Herzog and Litzelfelner played minor league baseball together in 1952 in Quincy, Ill., which was then a farm team of the Yankees.

"We roomed together and we had more fun, even though we didn't make much money. We've been buddies for 52 years," Herzog said. "I met Mark Hogan at the Legends camp in Florida last year, and I got a letter from Jack asking if I would come down and do a fundraiser. I said I'd love to do it."

Herzog, who led the Cardinals to three World Series appearances -- a victory over the Brewers in 1982 and losses to the Royals in 1985 and Twins in 1987 -- said he is content to continue living the retired life that includes plenty of fishing and leisure time with his eight grandchildren, including one who plays baseball in the Yankees system.

"I've been offered many jobs in the past but I didn't want to go to the East coast or West coast. I'm a Midwestern boy," said Herzog, who was born in New Athens, Ill., near St. Louis and still makes his home in St. Louis. "And I don't think my name comes up too much anymore."

Anyway, Herzog said, he didn't even know if there would be much of a market these days for his "Whiteyball" style that featured an abundance of speed and not all that much power.

"It's a different game now. You couldn't play like that," Herzog said. "The big change is the jacked up baseball and home runs. The game is so out of balance offensively."

Asked if a speed-dominated offense could still work today, a chuckling Herzog said, "If you had 500 feet center field fences. But you don't have that anymore."

Herzog, who follows the Cardinals now mostly on television but goes to a few games a year, said he is not necessarily in favor of a new stadium -- but it's a sign of the times.

"It's progress," he said. "It's basically all about revenue."

And as for the steroid issue that dominates headlines these days, Herzog had a simple response.

"I don't know what they're taking," he said, then flashed a wide grin. "I know one thing, I drank beer when I played. That's what I was on. Look at Babe Ruth. He hit 60 home runs on hot dogs and beer."