I remember as a 12-year-old girl living in St. Louis and loving my Cardinals, watching the season opening game against the Chicago Cubs in 1954. We had recently traded one of our greatest players, Enos Slaughter, and his place in the lineup was taken by a young-and handsome-left-handed hitter by the name of Wally Moon.

I'll never forget the first time Wally came to bat at the old Sportsmen's Park. Many in the opening-day crowd actually booed him, more in support of what Slaughter had meant to the team and its fans than anything against Moon. I decided to give Wally a chance to prove that he belonged in a Cardinal uniform.

Moments later, I'm sure he had to hear my screams the loudest over a roaring crowd as Wally homered in his very first at bat. Thus began my young-girl's devotion to Wally Moon., a loyalty which has lasted ever since.

Shortly after that game, I met Wally Moon and he was everything you wanted your baseball hero to be: kind, courteous, well-spoken and interested in his fans. Not long after that, I started the Wally Moon Fan Club and persuaded all of my friends to join.

I was heart-broken when Wally was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers at the end of the 1958 season, but, I remained committed to my favorite ball player. You can't imagine what my life was like between the years 1963 and 1968. During that time, the National League pennant was captured either by my Cardinals or Wally's Dodgers every year but one.

Wally and I have become good friends through the years. After his retirement from baseball, any time we'd have occasion to talk, I'd always remind him that I was still the president of his fan club.

When Wally told me that he was resurrecting my old fan club with the launch of his new Web site, I couldn't have been more excited. I hope you'll join me in becoming a member and let Wally know that he's not been forgotten and that he remains a defining figure for many of us who fondly recall a bygone baseball era when the fans had a closer and more deeply-rooted relationship with their team and its players.

The Cardinals are still my favorite team, but Wally Moon never stopped being my very favorite player.

Click here to open Wally's Mail Bag