St. Louis Hawks Reunion

1957-58 ST. LOUIS HAWKS ROSTER Coach - Alex Hannum
No	Name	Pos	Hgt	Wgt	Birthdate	College
11	Jack Coleman	F	6-7	230	5-23-54	Louisville '49
12	Walt Davis	F-C	6-8	205	1-5-31	Texas A&M '52
16	Cliff Hagan	F	6-4	210	12-9-31	Kentucky '53
20	Ed Macauley	F	6-8	195	3-22-28	St. Louis '49
22	Slater Martin	G	5-10	170	10-22-25	Texas '49
21	Jack McMahon	G	6-1	185	12-3-28	St. John's '52
17	Med Park	G	6-2	205	4-11-33	Missouri '56
9	Bob Pettit	F/C	6-9	215	12-12-32	Louisiana State '54
19	Frank Selvy	G	6-3	180	11-9-32	Furman '54
13	Charlie Share	C	6-11	235	3-14-27	Bowling Green '50
15	Win Wilfong	G	6-2	185	3-18-32	Memphis State '57
IN MILITARY SERVICE
	Al Ferrari	G/F	6-4	195	7-6-33	Michigan State '55
	Jack Stephens	G/F	6-3	185	5-18-33	Notre Dame '55

ABOUT THE 1957-58 ST. LOUIS HAWKS

The 1956-57 NBA World Championship Series has culminated in one of the greatest games in basketball history. The Boston Celtics had defeated the St. Louis Hawks 125-123 in two overtimes in game seven. A full-court inbounds pass by player-coach Alex Hannum off the backboard to star Bob Pettit which would have tied the game failed to connect. The Celtics had the first of their many championships and the Hawks were more determined to win the next season.

Led by Pettit and fellow frontcourt stars Cliff Hagan and Ed Macauley and guard Slater Martin, the Hawks finished 41-31, eight games ahead of Detroit and Cincinnati to win the Western Division. The Western Conference Finals brought a matchup with the Pistons, and the Hawks had little trouble with Detroit winning the series 4 games to 1.

In game one of the series the Hawks managed an upset in Boston Garden, edging the Celtics 104-102. But the second belonged to the Celtics as they cruised to a 136-112 win. In game three the Hawks prevailed 111-108 as the series moved to Keil Auditorium in St. Louis. But the momentum swung back to the Celtics in game four as they broke through on the road to win 109-98 despite Russell missing the game with a ligament injury to his ankle suffered in game three. In game five the Hawks pulled within a win of the title by taking game five in Boston 102-100.

Russell returned for game six and managed to play 20 minutes but the hero would prove to be Pettit. Pettit, who had averaged 26.4 points during the season, came through with one of the greatest clutch performances with 50 points - including 19 in the final quarter- to tie the NBA playoff record set by Boston's Bob Cousy in 1953. The Hawks clinched their only NBA title for owner Ben Kerner with a 110-109 victory.

Hawks 1958 by airplane left to right: Win Wilfong, Walt Davis, Jack McMahon,
Jack Coleman, Alex Hannum, Ed Macauley (rear), Med Park, Slater Martin
(behind pilot), Charlie Share, Cliff Hagan (on steps) Bob Pettit

standing left to right: Med Park, Cliff Hagan, Jack Coleman, Alex Hannum,
Ben Kerner, Ed Macauley, Jack McMahon. kneeling left to right:
Charlie Share, Bob Pettit

left to right: Al Ferrari (not on team, but a Hawk later on and current
St. Louisan), Med Park, Jack McMahon, Charlie Share, Cliff Hagan,
Alex Hannum, Bob Pettit, Ed Macauley

left to right: Ben Kerner, Bob Pettit, Ed Macauley, Charlie Share

Clockwise from lower left: Martha Hagan, Cliff Hagan, Jackie London,
Ed Macauley, Jackie Macauley, Mrs. Jack Coleman, Jack Coleman,
Alex Hannum, Gene Kirby (color announcer),
Dr. Stan London (team physician)

Clockwise from lower left: Ben Kerner, Kerner's son, Mrs. Kerner,
Bob Pettit, Carol Pettit, Rose Share, Win Wilfong's son, Martha Wilfong