Marty Hendin: Mayor of Trinket City
Like his love for the Cardinals, Marty Hendin wore his history on his sleeve — or spread across his desk, stacked on his bookshelves and displayed on any open piece of real estate he could find from Busch Stadium to UMSL. Hendin shared all of the treasures he could from his life as the conscious of the Cardinals and the personification of Cardinal Nation.
But he had two favorites.
This past season, over the course of a couple days, Hendin gave me a guided tour of Trinket City. Er, Trinket Cities. See, long ago Hendin’s vast collection of Cardinals memorabilia jumped its borders and ran amok. He annexed an area at his alma mater, UMSL, for some of the better items, and still his office runneth over with bobbleheads, framed pictures, knick-knacks, bric-a-bracs and Cardinals curious of all shapes, sizes and memories. It was there that the he told me two items he cherished were right there:
Baseballs signed by all of the living Hall of Famers.
He’d spent the better part of the last decade collecting the signatures, and was giddy that he had filled one ball already and was certain that getting Tony Gwynn that night would put him another name closer to filling the second ball.
Late Saturday night, Hendin died at a St. Louis hospital. He was 59.
Cardinal red isn’t quite as vibrant today because of the loss.
“If you were a Cardinals fan over the past 35 years, there was a good chance that you had either met Marty or heard his name,” Cardinals chairman Bill DeWitt said in a statement released by the club Sunday. “He was friends with everyone from Hall of Famers to the casual fan. If you were a Cardinals fan, you were a friend of Marty.”
A University City native, Hendin joined the Cardinals in 1973. He worked for the organization in public relations, marketing and community relations. As the Cardinals’ Vice President of Community Relations he was, among many things, responsible for the spectacle that was Opening Day in St. Louis. He was part of its genesis, part of its organization and, yet, never part of its grandeur. He was often behind the scenes, but was instrumental in creating the scenes.
When Stan Musial waves to the crowd and pantomines his signature swing, that’s usually Marty there offering the Hall of Famer a hand.
You could recognize his grin.
In the late 1970s, Hendin moved into an office at the old Busch Stadium and the wood-paneled walls begged to be covered up. He started by taping up pictures of celebrities that came to the ballpark. Frames followed. Then pins. Then bobbleheads. Then enough pieces to call Trinket City a subsidiary of the Danbury Mint. Anything he received at the ballpark or was part of a giveaway went home. Trinket City had “unique” residency requirements.
Hendin’s collection was the history of the Cardinals in plastic and die-cast. Some items:
- – Hall of Fame induction pins. Pins from All-Star Games, including one from 2002 in Seattle that has a working compass in it. World Series pins from the 1980s to present.– A CD cover signed by Bruce Springsteen.
– Press passes used by Bob Costas and Billy Crystal to get into the clubhouse, both autographed by the bearer.
– Lenard Blaine, who is an unopened Cabbage Patch Kid dressed in the Cardinals’ home whites.
– A bat all gooped up to look like it’s covered in pine tar. It’s signed by George Brett.
– A harmonica signed by Musial.
Out at UMSL, on the first floor of the Millennium Student Center is part of Hendin’s labor of love, a sampling of Trinket City, right down to the sign that says so. “Welcome to Trinket City.” Stop by. Take in the sights. And remember who built the place. If you didn’t know Marty Hendin, get to know him there.
Musial may be the enduring face of the Cardinals. Mike Shannon the club’s voice, Bob Gibson its guts, and KMOX its (bygone) megaphone.
Hendin was more than the Cardinals’ archivist.
He was, to all corners of Cardinals Nation, the franchise’s ambassador.
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In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Marty Hendin Fund at B’nai El, Cardinals Care, March of Dimes and the Asthma & Allergy Foundation of St. Louis.
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Derrick Goold said he was going to Mizzou for capital-J journalism, but after growing up in the Time Zone Baseball Forgot he was really drawn to MU sitting between two major-league cities. Goold joined the Post-Dispatch in 2001 after working for The Times-Picayune and Rocky Mountain News, covering sports from LSU to NHL and every level of baseball in between. 
Thirty nine years ago, when I was about to become a freshman at UMSL, Marty conducted the orientation session I attended. It was a small group that met in a regular clssroom and not one of the large lecture halls. I can still picture him in that session, with his black wavy hair and black framed glasses. It was easy to see, even in that first encounter that Marty was an idea man and a campus leader. Many times after that day, I would encounter Marty around the UMSL campus and he never failed to say “Hi.” While our paths never crossed after he graduated, It was especially satisfying to watch him do such a wonderful job with our beloved Cardinals.
Thanks for all you did Marty, we’re all gonna miss you.