Another great "Hot Stove" get-together with our good friend Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post Dispatch. Rick, along with his wife Melissa, comes to Quincy every February and brings his vast knowledge of sports, especially the St. Louis Cardinals, and is kind enough to share that knowledge with the Quincy Exchange Club. Hummel answered a variety of questions from the crowd and shared his thoughts on the upcoming 2015 Major League Baseball season.

Hummel is a Quincy native and a 1964 graduate of Quincy High School. He became the first Quincy person inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York in July of 2007 when he received the J.G. Taylor Spink Award for baseball writing.

Having covered his first major league game in 1973, Hummel is a past National President of the Baseball Writers Association of America and was voted Missouri Sportswriter of the Year four times by the National Sportswriters and Sportscaster's Association. He serves on the Baseball Hall of Fame Overview Committee, which reviews the candidacies of former players for possible selection to the Hall by the Veterans Committee.

Hummel, who attended Quincy College for two years, is a 1968 graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism. He credits the late Melvin Tappe of Quincy for steering him to become a writer rather than a broadcaster. Rick has also authored a book, along with former Cardinal Manager Tony LaRussa, called "One Last Strike."

Jared Haugh presented a baseball oriented prayer especially for the four or five Cub fans in attendance.

Mel Dillman got the honors of inhaling air and exhaling the word "I" to begin the Pledge of Allegiance. His next breath was followed by words to ask me if I heard him. We all did as we recited the rest of the Pledge.

To allow additional time for our speaker we did not have a tail-twister last Friday.

The 50-50 card draw was put on hold for the same reason. The pot of $882 is still out there for winning if you draw the Ace of Spades from the deck this Friday.

President Curt Moore was absent and his shoes were filled by Vice-President Jared Haugh. Jared did mention that there will be another date established in the future for us to watch the Avenue of Lights teardown project which again does NOT involve the actual work since the prisoners do the labor needed.

Plenty of special guests joined us last Friday, too many to catch all the names.

Lost & Found: Someone left a long black overcoat at a recent meeting. It is at The Stoney Creek Inn.