Butch Yatkeman

Morris Yatkeman (Butch)

• Born June 15, 1908
• Died January 20, 2000

A well liked company man, Butch Yatkeman joined the St. Louis Cardinals organization in 1924. He began as a clubhouse attendant doing the most menial chores as he was just 16 years old. After 59 years of service, he was a clubhouse fixture, he would arrange for the uniforms and equipment to be transported from city to city and, according to Stan Musial, tailor each player's uniform to his exact standards.

During Yatkeman's time in the Cardinals organization, they won 13 National League pennants and nine World Series. From retirement in 1982 until 2006, the Cardinals made the playoffs eight times but have not won the World Series. Some attribute the Cardinals failure to publicly recognize their former employee as the reason for their ineptitude in the playoffs. Additionally, many players have been injured in odd ways (see Vince Coleman) at playoff time since Yatkeman's retirement. The Cards finally broke "Yatkeman's Curse" by winning the World Series in 2006.