RIP Stan. You will forever be The Man

Stanley Frank "Stan" Musial (pron.: /ˈmjuːziəl/ or /ˈmjuːʒəl/; (November 21, 1920 – January 19, 2013) was an American professional baseball player who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals (1941–1963). Nicknamed "Stan the Man", Musial was a record 24-time All-Star selection (tied with Willie Mays), and is widely considered to be one of the greatest hitters in baseball history.[SUP][1][/SUP] He compiled 3,630 hits (ranking fourth all-time and most in a career spent with only one team). With 1,815 hits at home and 1,815 on the road, he is also considered to be the most consistent hitter of his era.[SUP][1][/SUP] He also compiled 475 home runs during his career, was named the National League's (NL) Most Valuable Player (MVP) three times, and won three World Series championship titles. Musial was a first-ballot inductee to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1969.

Click to expand...

Stan Musial made his major-league debut on September 17, 1941, at the age of 20. He stroked a base hit in his first at-bat.
Dizzy Dean was on the radio call that September day in St. Louis. Even though the rookie went 2 for 4 with a double and drove in a pair of runs, it's likely neither Ol' Diz nor any of his listening audience had any idea that the kid with the funky peak-a-boo batting stance had just started what would be the greatest career in the Cardinals history.

2011, Joe Posnanski wrote a cover story on Musial for Sports Illustrated that brought tears to my eyes in a good way. Finally, someone had shared with the world what Cardinals fans all knew by heart. In the article, Posnanski quotes Bob Gibson saying that Musial was the nicest man he ever met in baseball. Indeed, Musial's kindness was his hallmark. The article contains perhaps my favorite Musial story, one that shows his greatness as a player and kindness as a person:

It was April 18, 1954, in Chicago. The Cardinals trailed 3--0 in the seventh, and lefty Paul Minner was on the mound for the Cubs. There was a man on first, one out, when Musial smacked a double down the rightfield line. Or, anyway, the Cardinals thought it was a double. Wally Moon, the man on first, ran around the bases to score. Musial stood happily at second. The Cardinals' bench cheered. And apparently nobody noticed that first base umpire Lee Ballanfant had called the ball foul.
No footage of the play remains, of course, so we only get what we can read in the newspaper reports: Apparently the ball was definitively fair. Cardinals players came racing out of the dugout to go after Ballanfant, starting with shortstop Solly Hemus. Donatelli, the crew chief, who was behind home plate (and who apparently realized that Ballanfant had blown the call), threw Hemus out of the game. Cardinals manager Eddie Stanky was right behind. Donatelli threw him out of the game too. Peanuts Lowrey rushed out, and Donatelli was telling him to get back or he would get tossed as well. And it was about then that Musial, who apparently was not entirely sure why there was so much commotion, wandered over to Donatelli.
"What happened, Augie?" Musial asked. "It didn't count, huh?" Donatelli nodded and said the ball had been called foul.
"Well," Musial said, "there's nothing you can do about it." And without saying another word, Musial stepped back into the batter's box and doubled to the same spot in rightfield. This time it was called fair. The Cardinals rallied and won the game.

​

Click to expand...

Musial took his final major league at-bat on September 29, 1963, at the age of 42. He grounded through the infield's left side for a base hit. It's poetic that the gods of baseball saw fit to bookend Musial's career with base hits over 22 years apart.

Click to expand...

Al K said:

RIP,Mr. Musial-and Mr. Earl Weaver as well. Sad day for the baseball faithful. I'm sure Earl hit the Pearly Gates looking for an umpire to berate-he never met an ump he didn't hate.

Click to expand...

egrand1508 said:

I was born a couple of years after Stan retired, so I never got to see him play. But, growing up as a Cardinal fan in the St. Louis area you can't help but know about him and his career and feel like he was still part of the team. I have been struck by watching the news coverage on tv at how many people who are too young to have remembered his career are commenting on him. That is the power of his legacy in St. Louis.

We all were fans of Stan the Man. And, Stan was a fan of St. Louis and the Cardinals. He stayed in St. Louis. Retired there when he could have gone anywhere else in the world. He always promoted the town, and its people, and the team. He had class.

Click to expand...