Pujols Wasn't the First to Say Goodbye: Other Farewell Letters to St. Louis

Albert Pujols's farewell letter to St. Louis that ran as a full-page ad in the Post-Dispatch last week inspired anger and tears in equal measure. But, as some readers pointed out, farewell letters to the city are nothing new, though of course few who have left the city have been able to afford full-page newspaper ads. Unreal spent a few hours rummaging through various archives and found these bits of ephemera:

Garry Templeton, the Cardinals' switch-hitting, All-Star shortstop, was a man of few words. In a late-August game back in 1981, he responded to some hometown hecklers with an obscene gesture. The Cards traded him to the San Diego Padres at the end of the season for a light-hitting SS named Ozzie something.

From Tennessee Williams, playwright, composed sometime in the late 1930s. The writer was too distraught to note the date.*

From St. Louis Brown Eddie Gaedel, the best -- and only -- midget to play major league baseball:

A faithful transcription of the second and final farewell letter from explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark from September, 1806:

Farewell friends,

We realize we said that two years ago, when we set out on our westward journey, but this time we really mean it. The whole time we were gone, we thought of you and your fair city with fondness and even affection. Then we got back here and espied our old campground at the confluence of the great rivers and remembered just how bored we were that winter, waiting for the ice to melt. We realize now we only yearned for beds and roofs over our heads, fine mugs of ale, and all the other comforts of civilization, and we can find those just as well in Washington, DC, in addition to the admiration of fair ladies and scribblers eager to take down our every word. So farewell, and goodbye. Fame and glory await us! Also, President Jefferson, in his gratitude, has promised us full access to his wine cellar, and don't pretend you would dream of passing that up.

We remain,
Capt. Meriwether Lewis and Capt. Wm. Clark