Stan musial ever bad at last, his induction into the hall of fame was at the thencommissioner, and that was his wife, lil, by the way. I did not realize and you stan was unease uneasy in front of a microphone, but i didnt realize he stuttered. Just had a bit of a stutter, i thought that was why he used some of his nonsense phrases. They wonderful, wonderful, what do you say, what do you say . He was saying something, and it wasnt necessarily stopping and finding the right thing. Tim back then, the say hey, kid, willie mays, number 24. If he was the say hey, kid, then the musial was the what do you say, what do you say kid. Tim they will all mimic th. He had another way of keeping attention on himself without having to talk, without having to get too serious or two analytical. He would pull a harmonica out of his pocket, says, im not going to play the harmonica tonight, but somewhere during the middle of a party, particularly at the hall of fame, the induction ceremonies, which he did for many years, he always had the harmonica, and he would pull it out and play. He would played in the vatican, in poland where nobody knew this guy on the street, but it was entertaining people with the harmonica. Tim im sure he played for general wes moreland who was head of the troops in vietnam. The reason i bring that up, joe torre told me a story about stan. Wasnt particularly good with names, as we knew, and after two or three days, he was calling general westmoreland, wessie. Im sure he was a lowkey, friendly guy. But musial is like that. Had a way of talking to people, whether it was john paul ii, or over in poland, he had a way of talking to people that they accepted him as a character even if they didnt know exactly what tim type of character he was,t he never met a stranger. Tim everything stan touched turned out right. You could be in a poker game with him, as i was, when i was 19 years old, with the cardinals, the back of a d. C. Six, they actually had a card table, and we would play 4. 08 limit. And stan would hit an inside straight, and i will guarantee you, more often than not, it hit it. A five card stud, he would have an ace, dues, four, five, and hit a three. Beyond all odds, he becomes the general manager of the st. Louis cardinals for one year, and we win the World Championship in 1967. Everything he did was right. Where do you think this luck comes from . Tim i dont know. I know that in the book that you refer to him as one of gods chosen people and i said, you may like yogi. And your point was exactly, yogi berra has the same thing. Sitting in a plane, you say nothing bad will ever happen as long as yogi is sitting on the skanky charter. You told the story about being on a charter, always looking happy that musial was on the plane. And then there was the day tim we were flying, as i said, dc6, some guys were very serious, saying, is stan on the plane . We used to say that all the time, and if he wasnt there, guys were reluctant, they werent kidding, they were serious. Sure enough, we take off, we played a series in philadelphia, and stan went to new york. He wasnt on the plane. One back to st. Louis, we look out, the last prop is not working, we are on three engines, a four engine plane, we had to circle the field and come back and land. Wasnt an emergency landing, im not trying to be apocryphal with the story, but guys were saying before we took off, it stands not here, im not sure i want to be on the plane, and one of the engines broke down. It was weird, strange. Stan musial went 18 years without being in a world series. Well finish up with George Vecsey right after this. Announcer the tim mccarver show is brought to you by geico. 15 minutes could save you 15 or more on car insurance. Call geico at 1800947auto or visit geico. Com. The 88th southern parallel. We had traveled for over 850 miles. My men driven nearly mad from starvation and frostbite. Today we make history. Bienvenidos welcome to the south pole if youre dora the explorer, you explore. Its what you do. What took you so long . If you want to save fifteen percent or more on car insurance, you switch to geico. Its what you do. You did it, yay announcer enjoy the quintessential manhattan experience at the kimberlys new upstairs lounge. 30 floors above, upstairs is a glamorous oasis overlooking the Chrysler Building featuring an eclectic array of small plate options and specialty cocktails. All upstairs at the kimberly. Tim hits number 3030, off jim maloney on september 29, 1963, and i am back with George Vecsey, he has written the book stan musial an american life, i dont often reveal the last line of a book that many of you havent read, but i would like george to explain these words, the last line of the book. Simply, i am grateful for the memory of the warmth of his hand. What did you mean by that . Stan was not available while i was working on this book. I talked to family, friends, teammates, people who kno knew m from baseball. I happen to be at a restaurant in st. Louis, and he happens to be in this restaurant and he came by. I was introduced to stan, and musial reached out his hand, i shook it, and i seemed to i did get to shake his hand. Tim what a thrill. Was this book authorized, george . Absolutely not authorized. I got some help from a Family Member or two, and from people around, but from within the core of the family, and lil has all these clippings, they just didnt feel it cooperating, and that is fine, because of you and ruben amaro, some of the guys, joe cunningham, guys that played with him, going back to the day, so that the oldtime cardinals, i was able to get enough memories of musial, and these little sightings, jim frey talking about spring training in the major leagues, never getting there, but talking to musial and musial wouldnt let him hit hitbecause he said he hit. And he thought of that as sort of the wrapup of musials wrap attitude towards life. He had more of an ego that he would let on, he saw himself as a ballplayer, a performer named stanley. His ball, his bed, going to do what he wanted. Tim almost taking himself out of his stance into he was. He had this persona, stanley was the performer, and he came into the dugout, said to frey, then a rookie, trying to make a team, saying they all come to see stanley, they love to see stanley hit. Frey said its interesting, very few people who like who they are, who like being themselves. I think stan musial is one of those people. Tim i think stan musial was one of those people. George, thank you very much. My pleasure. Tim and with George Vecsey. Hes been my guest. Im tim mccarver, i hope you enjoyed it. Announcer Elegant Hotel accommodations are provided by the kimberly hotel. When you choose new york, choose a suite at the kimberly. Male announcer youre watching an nbc bay area news special, bay area proud. Virginia becker ready . One, two, three. Announcer a photographer finds a way to capture some of lifes most precious moments for people who are not used to being in the spotlight. Virginia thats a milestone, all right. Announcer plus, a son travels to Great Lengths in search of strangers. Richard zinn they saved my fathers life. Announcer how veterans who served with his father in world war ii filled in important gaps about his Family History. But first, San Jose High School students wish upon little blue stars. Antoine delcayre can you please come down . Announcer and their classmates deliver in a very big way. [screaming] announcer heres nbc bay areas garvin thomas. Garvin thomas good evening and thank you so much for joining us. High school can be a difficult time, particularly for those who dont feel like they fit in. But students at one San Jose School have come up with a tradition to counter that. One that brings the whole School Together and often to tears. Garvin the Leadership Class at san joses Branham High School understands there are only so many words one can legibly fit on a 6inch blue paper star. Male i wish for doughnuts. Garvin the magic, though, they will end up creating out of them . Well, that seems just about limitless. Raquel corrosco i justi feel like im doing something great that needs to be done. Raquel are these two Christmas Trees . Garvin raquel corrosco and Antoine Delcayre are heading up this years fifth annual branham makeawish rally. They began months ago by passing out 1500 of those blue stars to every student and teacher with one simple request make a wish for yourself or someone else. Many wishes, antoine says, were small but the big ones, he admits, were an eyeopener. That, in such a wealthy region, so many classmates were struggling. Antoine they had to skip meals because they didnt have enough money or they were in thousands of dollars of debt because of medical bills. Female ty newin wished for a jamba juice gift card. Lets go. Garvin so for months, while fulfilling hundreds of the small wishes, theyve been working on the big ones, ones they feel deserve a big stage and the whole school watching. Antoine senna hanna, can you please come down . Garvin it is a nonstop 45minute assembly of awesomeness and emotion. Raquel coach cooper, can you come on down here . Garvin of students wishing their coach be recognized for all her hard work. [screaming] garvin a boy wishing financial help for his girlfriends family over the holidays. Female she mentioned that she had no computer at home. Garvin a teacher wishing a home computer for her colleague so there arent as many late nights at school. Female well, because weve been through everything together. My grandma garvin and a girl just wishing something nice for her mom after two strokes and years in the hospital. Female and im glad that shes finally home for this christmas. Thats all i wanted. Garvin as all teenagers know, it can be tough to stand out in high school for the wrong reasons. But in this high school, at least, they know they dont have to stand alone. Antoine theyre gonna remember this for the rest of their lives. Theyre gonna remember that their community saw their problem and their community had their back. Garvin a San Francisco woman is also bringing others to tears, by making a place no one wants to be, beautiful. Nancy ballard is fortunate that neither she nor anyone in her immediate family has had to deal with cancer, which is why it surprised her as much as anyone that she has chosen the mission she has. Garvin when it comes to directions, taking a left where you normally take a right can lead to some unexpected places. In her Doctors Office for a routine visit 6 years ago, Nancy Ballard took such a turn and hasnt turned back since. Nancy ballard yeah, i really didnt think that that was the path i was gonna be taking. Nancy i hate to hurt your heart. Garvin that left you see led to a chemotherapy treatment room. The place where Cancer Patients spend hours upon hours, depressed nancy in a matter of seconds. Nancy seventies sad. Id say 70s sad. When i saw that room and i knew what people had to go through in there, it kind of clicked. Like i said, i wouldnt wanna be there on a good day, let alone a day that i was fighting for my life. Nancy but thats something that can be delivered tomorrow. Garvin nancy vowed to remodel that room. And though not a designer herself, she found some to help her. And she hasnt stopped since. This past weekend, through her rooms that rock 4 chemo nonprofit, nancy and her team madeover three rooms at San Franciscos Saint Francis hospital. Add that to the more than 150 other rooms in 15 facilities and nancy has touched spaces that see 800,000 Cancer Patients a year; patients nancy will never see. Shes gone long before they can ever say thanks. Nancy its not about seeing the persons gratitude but its knowing that if your mom or dad or your kid or your somebody was in there, youd want them to be in a room like this too. [applauding] garvin nancy did stick around, though, long enough this time for former giant and cancer survivor, dave dravecky, to dedicate all the hard work. Dave dravecky it creates an environment where for just a few moments in their day or, you know, sometimes its more than a few moments, as theyre getting their chemo, they can actually push the pause button and look around them and experience something other than the pain that they are going through. And that is a beautiful thing. Garvin this next woman youll meet captures in photos the lifechanging milestones of some of societys most vulnerable. Virginia becker says its the most fulfilling work she has ever done, once, of course, she figured out how to do it. Virginia yeah, have a seat. Garvin when it comes to taking pictures virginia you can kind of lean forward garvin virginia becker will tell you as little as 5 years ago virginia ready . One, two, three. Garvin she knew nothing more about cameras virginia youre gonna love this. Garvin than how to turn one on. Virginia i didnt know the difference between an fstop and a bus stop. Virginia and let me see your right shoulder. Garvin since then, though, virginia has snapped more than 60,000 images and, in the process, brought her lifes purpose into clear focus. Virginia everything that i had done in the past, i think kind of built up to this. And this is, like, the big crescendo of why am i here . Garvin virginia started the family album project as a way to help people print out their precious memories and not leave them forgotten in cameras or on hard drives. Virginia and i think were losing a big part of our history by not printing, by not having that shoebox of prints. Garvin what virginia soon discovered, though, was that many of lifes most important moments werent being captured at all, particularly among societys most vulnerable. Virginia right there. Love my new liver garvin like the sick kid getting a second chance. Virginia thats a milestone, all right. Virginia perfect. And look right here at me. Garvin the foster child graduating high school, or the homeless family finally getting a home. Virginia there are so many people that want their story told. Garvin and virginia is now there to tell it. Not with words virginia one more. Garvin but with a picture. A hard copy printed out, right there and then, with the help of husband albert. Virginia says shes motivated to do all this for free because she just wants these people to see themselves the way she sees them. Not just folks whove had some hard knocks, but people who are thriving in spite of them. Virginia theyre heroes. There are so many Unsung Heroes out there. Garvin coming up, she saw the devastation in the valley fire in lake county and decided she had to do something. Candy alcott this is about a promise to one little boy. Garvin a promise that a livermore preschool teacher has more than kept. What a new bike means to children who have lost everything. But first, a group of women go on a secret mission to do good, one stitch at a time. Kate kelly its been in secret for months. Sewing machines have been humming. Garvin the surprise gifts that mean so much to the men and women who gave so much for their country. [applauding] with just your age, income, zip code,g for Health Insurance and the number of people in your household. Information you probably know off the top of your head. Enroll by january 31st to avoid the irs tax penalty. If you havent checked out covered california in a while, weve got some new options that might interest you. Like adult dental coverage. Great news for you. And your sweet tooth. To find free, local, inperson help, visit coveredca. Com garvin our next story is about an east bay man who made a trip of a lifetime to thank people he had never met for something they did long before he was born. Richard zinns father rarely talked about his time serving in world war ii. But a recent trip filled in the gaps of a Family History that a son desperately wanted filled. Male now youll notice over in this corner here, there are garvin at the National Infantry museum outside the gates of georgias fort benning, youll find a wellpreserved collection of world war ii era buildings. Richard zinn came all the way from walnut creek to soak up some of the history, though, truth be told, its not really the buildings he came to see. Richard oh, its such a pleasure to meet you. Garvin its men. Richard absolutely, these are the people who saved my fathers life. Garvin herb zinn was a member of the 95th Infantry Division and, like many world war ii vets, he didnt share much about his experience with his family. Richard any time i would ask him for detail, he would just say, i dont wanna talk about it. I cant talk about it. Garvin in fact, about all richard could get out of his father before his death was that during the battle for the french city of metz, he was one of a small group of soldiers trapped behind enemy lines for 8 days before being rescued on thanksgiving day, 1944. At least, that was all richard knew until about a year ago when he began searching for more information about the battle of metz. It was the start of a journey that eventually took him to eastern france and, with the help of a local woman, he searched for the very location of the most Pivotal Moment of his fathers life. Richard as we were close to saying, you know, were not gonna find it, i looked over and i saw this ruined concrete ruin, off in the distance. Itears coming down my face. It was the most spiritual moment of my life. All hooray for the bald eagle at metz. Garvin still, knowing the place and knowing the story are not the same, which is why richard has come to georgia for the 66th reunion of the 95th infantry, the iron men of metz. Fifteen thousand served, only fourteen are here. Richard most of them, as we know, are gone but whoever is here, i personally wanna thank. They saved my fathers life. Male it was a very interesting experience, for what it was worth. Garvin but thanking them is not all richard wanted to do. He was hoping there was someone here who could tell him more about his fathers story. Richard made a point to talk to each and every one of them until one night at dinner male zinn, i think, was in the 3rd platoon. Garvin he found just what he was looking for. Two who had, indeed, served with his father. Jerry schwartz well, we were cut off. Garvin one, telling a very familiar tale. Jerry so for 8 days we had nothing. Yeah, i would say things were pretty bad. Garvin Jerry Schwartz was trapped with herb zinn for 8 days. Richard, asking jerry every question he had always wanted to ask, absorbing every detail he had so long wanted to know. Jerry i think some guys figured they were gonna die and some guys figured they werent gonna die. [bugle playing] garvin by the time the next day, when a monument to the 95th at war was dedicated, richard was at peace. Finally given the chance to learn his history. Finally given a chance to say thanks to those responsible for his future. Garvin while richard traveled to Great Lengths to honor his fathers legacy, a group of women stayed close to home to pull off a Stealth Mission to honor their neighbors who also served this country. What these pleasanton women did took months of hard work and secrecy to pull off a celebration some world war ii veterans wont soon forget. Garvin sure, the Second World War may have ended 70 years ago but that doesnt mean all its secret missions are over. Like the one a group of women at the Stoneridge Creek Retirement Community in pleasanton have been on for months. Kate [laughing] a secret special op, yes. Garvin kate kelly says the whole operation began right around veterans day last year, when she and others began to realize just how many of their neighbors had served. Kate here at stoneridge creek, over 20 of our population have served. And thats stunning. To imagine that we have 21 living world war ii vets among us right now is incredible. Garvin with so much history around them and dwindling time to act, they began gathering the vets stories to preserve them forever. Kate here we had this wonderful opportunity and we didnt wanna waste it. Garvin but what about thanking them . Kate oh, that ones good. Garvin it was then, kate says, someone mentioned quilts of valor, a National Group that custommakes quilts for vets. Kate and her friends contacted the local chapter, then got busy quilting. And quilting. And quilting. Kate its been in secret for months. Sewing machines have been humming. Garvin all so this veterans day, they could surprise their world war ii vets and neighbors with the finished products. Kate dan ashton, United States navy, 1943 to 1946. Kate peg crystal, United States navy, 1943 to 1945. Kate gordon pathurst, United States army, 1942 to 1945, prisoner of war. Garvin months in the making, these quilts became instant heirlooms once in the hands of the grateful veteran. Male its wonderful that they remember. Wonderful that were still here to hear them say it. Im just overwhelmed, i really am. Garvin just one more way, the quilters say, of thanking them for all we have to be thankful for today. Garvin coming up, three berkeley grads show real heart in revolutionizing a medical equipment mainstay. Connor landgraf we wanted to be on the forefront of something that was exciting. Garvin what they did to turn a stethoscope into smart technology. But first, a livermore preschool teacher is on a roll, going above and beyond to help families who have lost so much in the valley fire. [music]