RIP Stan the Man.

Terry O'Keefe · Jan 19, 2013

One of my boyhood hero's.
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Sid · Jan 19, 2013

My boyhood idol, one of the greatest players ever and arguably the greatest gentleman the game has ever known. He won seven National League batting titles, was a three-time MVP and helped the Cardinals capture three World Series championships in the 1940s.

The following courtesy of the Associated Press:

Musial never struck out 50 times in a season. He led the NL in most every hitting category for at least one year, except homers. He hit a career-high 39 home runs in 1948, falling one short of winning the Triple Crown.

In all, Musial held 55 records when he retired in 1963. Fittingly, the accolades on his his bronze Hall plaque start off with this fact, rather than flowery prose: "Holds many National League records ..."

He played nearly until 43rd birthday, adding to his totals. He got a hit with his final swing, sending an RBI single past Cincinnati's rookie second baseman - that was Pete Rose, who would break Musial's league hit record of 3,630 some 18 years later.

Of those hits, Musial got exactly 1,815 at home and exactly 1,815 on the road. He also finished with 1,951 RBIs and scored 1,949 runs.

All that balance despite a most unorthodox left-handed stance. Legs and knees close together, he would cock the bat near his ear and twist his body away from the pitcher. When the ball came, he uncoiled.

Unusual, that aspect of Musial.

Asked to describe the habits that kept him in baseball for so long, Musial once said: "Get eight hours of sleep regularly. Keep your weight down, run a mile a day. If you must smoke, try light cigars. They cut down on inhaling."

One last thing, he said: "Make it a point to bat .300."

As for how he did that, Musial offered a secret.

"I consciously memorized the speed at which every pitcher in the league threw his fastball, curve, and slider," he said. "Then, I'd pick up the speed of the ball in the first 30 feet of its flight and knew how it would move once it has crossed the plate."

It worked pretty well, considering Musial began his baseball career as a pitcher in the low minors. And by his account, as he said during his induction speech in Cooperstown, an injury had left him as a "dead, left-handed pitcher just out of Class D."

Hoping to still reach the majors, he turned toward another position. It was just what he needed.

Musial made his major league debut late in 1941, the season that Ted Williams batted .406 for the Boston Red Sox and Joe DiMaggio hit in a record 56 straight games for the New York Yankees.

Musial never expressed regret or remorse that he didn't attract more attention than the cool DiMaggio or prickly Williams. Fact is, Musial was plenty familiar in every place he played.

Few could bring themselves to boo baseball's nicest superstar, not even the Brooklyn Dodgers crowds that helped give him his nickname, a sign of weary respect for his .359 batting average at Ebbets Field.

Many, many years before any sports fans yelled "You're the man!" at their favorite athletes, Stan was indeed the Man.

Dodgers pitcher Preacher Roe once joked about how to handle Musial: "I throw him four wide ones and then I try to pick him off first base."

Brooklynites had another reason to think well of Musial: Unlike Enos Slaughter and other Cardinal teammates, he was supportive when the Dodgers' Jackie Robinson broke baseball's color barrier in 1947. Bob Gibson, who started out with the Cardinals in the late 1950s, would recall how Musial had helped established a warm atmosphere between blacks and whites on the team.

Like DiMaggio and Williams, Musial embodied a time when the greats stayed with one team. He joined the Cardinals during the last remnants of the Gas House Gang and stayed in St. Louis until Gibson and Curt Flood ushered in a new era of greatness.

The only year Musial missed with the Cardinals was 1945, when he was in the U.S. Navy during World War II. He was based in Pearl Harbor, assigned to a unit that helped with ship repair.

Before and after his military service, he was a star hitter.

Musial was the NL MVP in 1943, 1946 and 1948, and was runner-up four other years. He enjoyed a career remarkably free of slumps, controversies or rivalries.

The Cardinals were dominant early in Musial's career. They beat DiMaggio and the Yankees in the 1942 World Series, lost to the Yankees the next year and defeated the St. Louis Browns in 1944. In 1946, the Cardinals beat Williams and the visiting Red Sox in Game 7 at Sportsman's Park.

Musial, mostly a left fielder then, starred with Terry Moore in center and Slaughter, another future Hall of Famer, in right, making up one of baseball's greatest outfields. Later on, Musial would switch between the outfield and first base.

Musial never played on another pennant winner after 1946. Yet even after the likes of Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays and Hank Aaron came to the majors, Musial remained among baseball's best.

The original Musial statue outside the new Busch Stadium is a popular meeting place before games and carries this inscription: "Here stands baseball's perfect warrior. Here stands baseball's perfect knight."

"Everybody's a Musial fan," former Cardinals manager Whitey Herzog once said.

Musial gave the press little to write about beyond his grace and greatness on the field. He didn't date movie stars, spike opponents or chew out reporters or umpires.

In 1958, he reached the 3,000-hit level and became the NL's first $100,000-a-year player. Years earlier, he had turned down a huge offer to join the short-lived Mexican League. He never showed resentment over the multimillion dollar salaries of modern players. He thought they had more fun in his days.

"I enjoyed coming to the ballpark every day and I think we enjoyed the game," Musial said in a 1991 Associated Press interview. "We had a lot of train travel, so we had more time together. We socialized quite a bit and we'd go out after ball games."

He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1969, his first year of eligibility.
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George Krebs · Jan 19, 2013

One of the greatest of the great. I saw him play one of his last games in Crosley Field in 1963. Got to shake hands with him two years later at KoC event in Dayton Ohio. They truly do not make them like The Man anymore.

HUSKERMAN-HUSKERFAN · Jan 19, 2013

Musial got exactly 1,815 at home and exactly 1,815 on the road. He also finished with 1,951 RBIs and scored 1,949 runs.
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Which means he came to play every day.

IrishCorey · Jan 20, 2013

Some memories are worth a tip of the cap. Then there are others that you just throw the hat away, sit back and relive every dream that person brought to your life while you try to grasp the enormity of their greatness. Stan the man was one of the latter.

JO'Co · Jan 20, 2013

A former pitcher who taught himself how to hit. There weren't any better hitters...ever.

gipper · Jan 20, 2013

My closest roommate was from Belleville, Ill. a suburb of St. Louis. On a break I went down to stay with him and his family. We did the usual St. Louis stuff. I saw the Arch. He showed me where on his side of the Mississippi he thought that they should build a large croquet mallet. And of course we had to eat at Stan and Biggies. Stan was there.

Gator Bill · Jan 21, 2013

A really special player and a class act to boot.

Sid · Jan 27, 2013

For those who are interested, this description of his funeral service is a beautiful tribute to The Man:

Tribute to Stan Musial

Grandson Andrew Edmonds said the public Musial was no different from the private Musial, the grandpa who bought McDonalds for the family every Sunday. He recalled a fan telling him, "Your grandpa's best attribute is he made nobodies feel like somebodies."
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During a funeral that was almost entirely upbeat, son-in-law Martin Schwarze got the biggest laugh when he recounted a 1995 radio interview with Jack Buck during which Musial was asked how good of a hitter he'd have been had he played in the modern era. Musial, who finished with a .331 career batting average, replied he probably would have batted about .275, and Buck said "Whoa, whoa, whoa," that's way too low.

Then Musial added with a chuckle, "Hey, Jack, I'm 75!"
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JO'Co · Jan 28, 2013

LOL

Tim Gentry · Jan 28, 2013

Stan

<t>You know I actually met him while I was stationed in Korea back in about 1987. He was with Ozzie Smith that day. They were doing a USO type thing if I remember and stopped by the 121 Hosp were I worked in Yongson(Seoul). I didnt know they were there in the hospital that day and I'm walking down the hallway when a friend of mind standing in the lobby pulls me aside and says I have acouple of gentlemen you might be interested in meeting. He walks me over to these two guys in civilian attire and says "SSG Gentry, let me introduce you to Stan Musial and Ozzie Smith". Needless to say I was floored! Had a short conversation with both. They were both very easy to talk to and very personable. Both seemed to be great guys.</t>

Sid · Jan 28, 2013

Wow, Tim!

JO'Co · Jan 28, 2013

:shock:
Wowza!

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RIP Stan the Man.

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RIP Stan the Man.

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