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Marvin B. “Marv” Stendel

MARV STENDEL (Jun 1947)

Marv Stendel HOF

Marvin was born in St. Louis and at RHS played football, basketball, track and baseball but selected basketball as the sport he wanted to continue playing.  In the summer of 1947, the St. Louis Cardinals wanted to sign him as a pitcher but he decided to accept the pro football scholarship to the University of Arkansas.  During his football career as a Razorback, he stated that they didn’t have much of a record, but had a lot of good players including Pat Summerall (sportscaster), Dave Hog Hanner (Green Bay Packers) and Fred Williams (Chicago Bears).  Marv also played baseball for the Razorbacks and following the 1950 season, dropped out of school and signed a contract with the Boston Red Sox.  He spent five years in their organization, climbing to the Triple A level before a shoulder injury ended his career.  In the meantime, he received his B.S. in Agriculture from the University of Arkansas in 1952.  Marv and his wife, Charlene Jones (1948), had retired to Mountain View, Arkansas.  They had three children, six grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

Following his baseball career, Marv became a baseball scout for the Boston Red Sox, St. Louis Cardinals and San Francisco Giants.  He scouted over 3,000 baseball games.  One of the highlights of Marv’s life was being inducted into the National Baseball Scouts Hall of Fame in January 2005.  What was really great about this, as he said, was sitting next to and getting to know Ryan Howard, 2006 MVP (most valuable player) who beat out our own Cardinal player, Albert Puholz.  Another memorable event in Marv’s life included being inducted into the St. Louis Amateur Baseball Hall of Fame in 1983.

After his wife died, a good friend from high school days convinced Marv to play in the Senior Olympics.  At the age of 88, he travels to various states playing in “nothing but net” three-on-three basketball tournaments.

DOD: August 4, 2022 in Arkansas.

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