Local Browns Fans Stay Sharp With Baseball Reminiscence League

When Affton residents John and Mary Ann Kunderman were young, they met on the streetcar to Old Sportsman’s Park. They were on their way to watch the Cardinals play, as part of the “Knothole Gang.”

Mary Ann knew had known future husband when she was a child, but then see saw him again on that streetcar after he came back from the Navy in 1946.

John noticed her. “Are you Mary Ann Ruzicka?” he asked, and the rest is history.

Decades later, their love of baseball continues, and they participate in the St. Louis Baseball Reminiscence League, a program created by the St. Louis Veterans Administration Medical Center (VAMC). The program uses "reminiscence therapy" to help prevent memory loss through conversations that draw out memories of the Cardinals and Browns (an American League team in St. Louis that moved to Baltimore in 1953). 

Kunderman preferred the Browns, and to this day, he loves to remember them. 

A typical meeting features photographs, old programs, memorabilia and other familiar items, which trigger pleasant memories from the past, helping increase memory and elevate the mood of seniors in the group. Who doesn’t like talking about baseball?

“He is a dyed-in-the-wool Browns fan,” said Nina Tumosa, acting director of the St. Louis VAMC and a professor of internal medicine at Saint Louis University Hospitals. “John has contributed to some lively discussions this season about the Browns, Lou Brock, the various baseball parks and bottle cap games.”

John Morley, director of geriatrics at St. Louis University and a geriatrician at St. Louis VAMC, was instrumental in starting the Cardinals reminiscence program.

“Dr. Morley is a big Cardinals fan,” said Tumosa, “He heard about ‘reminiscence leagues’ in Scotland that provided an opportunity for men, who do not often join support groups, to talk sports. He looked into the studies behind it and thought, ‘We could do this at the VA in St. Louis with baseball.’”

Kunderman enjoyed playing sandlot baseball as a kid. His love of sports got him in shape for his job as a mail carrier. He delivered the mail in the mornings and then watched the kids while his wife worked at the National Food Store in Grasso Plaza.

The Kundermans had four children—three sons and a daughter—all of whom were sports fans. John was so excited when the first football team came to St. Louis that he bought season tickets for the family.

“We had so much fun going to those games as a family,” John Kunderman said. “I’d buy one big soda to share, and we'd always bring Cracker Jacks.”

“We all went to watch the Big Red,” said Mary Ann, “We sat in the bleachers. We always sat in the bleachers for baseball or football.”

John played on adult baseball teams and continued watching the Cardinals. Now Mary Ann and John watch the games on television, and he looks forward to the next time he can talk about his favorite pastime with his new friends.

For more information about participating or volunteering as a coordinator for St. Louis Baseball Reminiscence League, call 314-894-6510.