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Sports Arena
The Man at 90 — A Tribute
Happily, the good don’t always die young — Stan Musial turns 90 on Sunday.
Happily, the good don’t always die young. This Sunday, God willing, Stan “The Man” Musial, who was not only one of baseball’s greatest hitters but one of the nicest guys to ever wear cleats, will turn 90. He lives independently with Lillian, his bride of 71 years, in St. Louis where they are beloved.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch plans extensive coverage of Stan’s 90th this weekend, as well it should. Red Sox Nation and Fenway fanatics may get more coverage nationally. But there are also plenty of savvy baseball fans in St. Louis, home of a venerable and successful franchise in the Cardinals. Stan is remembered and revered here, even though it has been 47 years since Stan ended his career at Busch Stadium with a sharp, RBI single to right Sept. 29, 1963 against Jim Maloney of the Cincinnati Reds.
Long-time Post-Dispatch baseball writer Rick Hummel, who knows as much about the Cardinals and The Man as anyone, told me that neither of the Musials is suffering from any debilitating ailments. Stan still gets out, he said, though less often than in the past and sometimes with the help of a cane. He even makes it to his natural habitat, the ballpark, from time to time. Good thing. Somebody has to give Albert Pujols hitting tips.
“Everybody here still knows who Stan is,” Hummel said. “The fans go nuts every time he appears at the ball park.” Few players have the numbers and the gravitas to presume to advise the great Albert on hitting. But Stan certainly does. Between September of 1941 and the end of the 1963 season, with 1945 off in the U.S. Navy, Stan compiled a .331 lifetime batting average on 3,630 hits, including 475 home runs. He drove in 1,951 runs while winning seven batting titles and being chosen as the league’s most valuable player three times.
Musial, not streaky or prone to slumps, was consistent with his gaudy numbers. He hit .336 against right-handers and .323 against lefties. He hit .336 at home and .326 on the road. He had 1,815 hits both at home and on the road.
Musial put his Hall of Fame career together with a combination of God-given talent, hustle, and considerable baseball smarts. His head was always in the game. With superb coordination, sharp reflexes and eye sight, he made hitting look easy. He was rarely fooled by a pitch. When he was he was usually quick enough to adjust and still hit the pitch.
Musial always busted it out of the batters’ box when he hit the ball, after-burners blazing and extra-bases on his mind. This approach allowed Musial to hit 40 or more doubles nine times and have double figures in triples eight times during his career. He twice hit 20 triples in a season. Not even Carl Crawford has done that, and he’s faster than the wind. Many of today’s sluggers, prone to looking at what they have wrought rather than running, could benefit from Musial’s approach.
Another difference between Musial and most modern hitters is that he rarely struck out. In a career of nearly 11,000 at bats, Musial only struck out 696 times while striking 475 home runs, a remarkable strikeout/power ratio. In his greatest year, 1948, Musial hit .376 and missed the triple-crown by one home run. That year he hit 39 home runs and only struck out 34 times.
These remarkable numbers (there are more, but in considering Musial one can easily OD on stats) make Musial one of baseball’s most elite hitters. But if there were stats for best human being he would walk away with honors here as well. Just about anyone who knew Stan from school days to the present describes him as a friendly, approachable, humble but dignified man, supportive of teammates, loyal to family, and available to his many fans. He even got along with umpires. He was never ejected from a single one of the 3,026 Major League games he played in over two-plus decades.
Wayne Stewart’s commendable 2010 book Stan the Man (April — Triumph) is rich with anecdotes from Musial’s friends and relatives, and from those who played with or against him. Stewart describes a man (unavoidable pun) whom success did not spoil.
Stanislaw Franciszek Musial was born in Donora, Pennsylvania, a small industrial town 30 miles south of Pittsburgh, to Lukasz and Mary Musial. Zinc miner Lukasz was just eight years in America from Poland. Mary was a first-generation Czech-American. Lukasz gave his oldest son the nickname Stashu.
Baseball fame and success as a restaurateur and real estate investor made Musial a rich man before he was 40, but he never acted the big star. He was always solicitous of others, and treated stars, fans, the club house guy, waitresses, and the scrub player hitting .204 and destined for a career in used car sales just the same, respectfully. Even after he had won three MVP awards his home phone number was still listed in the St. Louis directory.
For baseball and business reasons Musial moved from Donora to St. Louis. But he didn’t leave his home town behind, returning often, including for his high school reunions. He remained Stashu to the people he came up with, who he never abandoned after he became The Man.
He never abandoned his Catholic faith either. He’s regularly attended mass all his life, including on the road as a player. Musial has lived his long life with considerable grace. A class act, we might be tempted to say. But all the evidence shows that Musial’s quiet charisma isn’t and has never been an act.
As a youngster in Tampa I was familiar with Stan the great hitter and Stan the approachable hero. My father, who batted and threw left for company softball teams, admired The Man, a mannerism I inherited. Summer mornings in the Thornberry household began with baseball box scores where we first checked on what Stan and the Cardinals had done the night before. Spring training for me included 25-mile Greyhound Bus rides on non-school days to watch Stan and the Cardinals play at Al Lang Field in nearby St. Petersburg.
About the Author
Larry Thornberry is a writer in Tampa.
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Gene Hotz| 11.19.10 @ 6:50AM
I have had a couple of occasions to meet Mr. Musial in my life, once as a child at a spring training game and another time at a restaurant in the St. Louis area.
Both times he was very gracious. He truly understood that as a player he was "dependent" on the fans. Far different than most of the players today.
Truly a class act.
Bob K.| 11.19.10 @ 6:56AM
Stan Musial! Great American! Great Polish-American! Great Ball Player!
God Bless America. God Bless the melting pot! God Bless Baseball! God Bless Mr. and Mrs. Stanley Musial!
mikeman | 11.19.10 @ 7:11AM
Stan's unique batting stance is forever etched in my mind. As well as a triple he lined against the center field wall in the old, old Busch stadium. The pitcher that day was Warren Spahn.
Robbins Mitchell| 11.19.10 @ 8:25AM
Dad and I used to drive up from Paris,TN to St Louis every summer for a weekend Cardinal series at old Busch Stadium...usually against either the Dodgers or the Giants..depending on how the pennant race was going...when I was 12 or so,at one Saturday afternoon game and it was Gibson vs Koufax,I was fortunate enough to get some dandy autographs before game time near the Cardinal dugout...Lou Brock,Kenny Boyer,Tim McCarver,Orlando Cepeda,Curt Flood etc...but I didn't get the one I really wanted...Stan 'the Man'...Dad could tell I was disappointed and after the game,he suggested we to to Stan & Biggies' Restaurant out on King's Highway...we got there about 6:30 and just after we had ordered,I saw some hostess typed going around to various tables and saying something to the people eating there,and then some kid would get up and head toward the back...she finally got to our table and asked my dad "Mr Mitchell,would your son like to meet Mr Musial?"..welllll,you didn't have to ask ME twice....I got up and headed toward the back where the other kids had gone,and waited for a few minutes with about a dozen other kids outside what was clearly Stan's office...he finally opened the door,resplendent in gray slacks,white polo shirt,and light blue sport coat, and said "Hi fellows,come on in"..well,we all crowded around his desk as he personally signed for each of us an 8x10 glossy of him in Cardinal uniform in that classic Musial batting stance and talked to us about this and that...as I returned to our table,I was literally in tears...and Dad was grinning from ear to ear...it seems a friend of his had told him before the trip,that the best way to get Stan's autograph was to go to the restaurant for dinner...it was 'inside baseball' from the get go...still got that glossy pic of Stan...and a memory that is priceless.
PJ| 11.19.10 @ 8:53AM
What a great story! Stan Musial is such a class act. I wish there were more of his type on & off the field.
LarryK| 11.19.10 @ 9:00AM
Great story. I went to the old Musial & Biggie's (not to quibble, but on Oakland, just off Kingshighway) one time and saw Stan there. I also remember seeing him on the old Goldenrod Showboat, where he was sitting at a table with the famed sportswriter Bob Broeg. What a amazing athlete and classy guy...and isn't it interesting that the ballplayer today who best reflects Musial's dignity, excellence, and consistency is none other than Albert Pujols, who also wears a Cardinals uniform? In 15 yrs or so, I'm sure they will add a statue of Pujols outside Busch Stadium to complement the one that's already there for "The Man."
Readan Loyalist| 11.19.10 @ 2:35PM
*tears*
Petronius| 11.19.10 @ 8:48AM
Please get me started! The Cardinals during the Musial years will always be their golden age.
1st base Bill White (National League President), but not forgotten here. 2nd base Don Blassingame. Shortstop Joe Cunningham. 3rd base Kenny Boyer. MUSIAL in left under the bleachers. Curt Flood in center. Gino Cimmoli in right. And on the good days the battery was either Larry Jackson or Wilmer Mizell with Hal Smith behind the plate accented by Lindy McDaniel as the closer. Solly Hemus was manager. Harry Carey and Jack Buck called it all. "It might be, it could be, it is, another Home Run" was such a pleasure to hear. And bless Gussie Busch for bringing them to us.
Robbins Mitchell| 11.19.10 @ 9:40AM
Not to quibble either,but it was Joe Garagiola who sidekicked with Harry on the radio before Jack Buck..and Gabby Street before him....trivia nugget...Stan is the ONLY player in Major League history to hit a home run in an official regular season game as a grandfather.
Petronius| 11.19.10 @ 12:29PM
Got me. Memory isn't 100% that early. When they put Bud Blattner on the call for the televised games we turned the volume down on the TV set and listened to Harry on KMOX. And I may have switched around Cunningham and Blassingame.
Just put on your old glove, thump it three times, and say, "there's no place like...."
Lee| 11.19.10 @ 10:52AM
Not to quibble either, but Joe Cunningham must have been the one and only left-handed shortstop in MLB. Joe was a fine hitting first baseman for the Cards. I think Al Dark may have been the SS for the Cardinals. Dick Groat also put in some time as their SS and Red Schoendienst was their 2B for much of the 50s.
cuban pete| 11.19.10 @ 10:00AM
The same amount of hits at home or on the road.
As George Will said,"He didn't care where he was. He just hit."
I was home from school with a sore throat the day he got number 3,000 off Moe Drabowsky of the Cubs. They were holding him out of the game so he could get 3,000 at home but they needed a pinch hit so he went in and delivered.
Dick Miller| 11.19.10 @ 10:20AM
Stan really is "The Man" - the greatest because he was respected by everyone. Stan is the epitome of grace, kindness, and sportsmanship. As a young man growing up in Pittsburgh, I was privileged once to have met him. He not only signed his book for me, he asked about me and my family and wished me well in school. Imagine that today!
I was there for his last game at Forbes Field in 1963. I am also reminded of the class of Stan Musial in reflecting on the time at bat when he was called out on strikes by Al Barlick, one of the greatest umpires of all time. Stan is reported to have turned to Al and said, "Al, you missed that one" as he returned to the dugout. It is also reported that, when questioned about what Stan said, Al said, " He told me that is missed that called third strike; if Stan said I missed it , I did!" That was how good Stan's eyesight was. He and Ted Williams had to have had the greatest pair of eyes of their era.
Happy Birthday Stan! What a rich blessing your life and career have been to us all. God Bless!
Doghouse Riley| 11.19.10 @ 10:22AM
My two favorite athletes while growing up on Chicago's North Side were both "Stashu"s.
Musial of the Cards, despite the damage he wreaked on the pathetic Cubs of the pre-Durocher era, and Mikita of my beloved Hawks.
Richard Wendt| 11.19.10 @ 10:40AM
I am old enough to have seen him play in person in the original Busch Stadium beginning in 1957. I would set in the right field grandstand near he foul pole and watch him knock those home runs onto Grand Avenue. If I ever had a true hero in my youth it was Stan Musial. That was during the days when baseball was truly a game for the fans and players. This brings tears to my eyes to read this.
Wayne| 11.19.10 @ 2:06PM
You must have been sitting next to me. I always tried to get the seat right on the foul pole in the upper deck. General Admin as I recall for about 90 cents.
B. Wardell| 11.21.10 @ 11:50PM
The "original" stadium was named Sportsman's Park and Grand Avenue. My Father took me there many time on the trolley to see Stan and thwe Cardinals paly. And he never left until the last autograph was signed - that's why he is remembered as "Stan the Man' - a manof the kids!
JmsA| 11.19.10 @ 10:51AM
I like the American League, but Mr. Musial is the reason why the St. Louis Cardinals are my favorite National League team. The man was not only a great ballplayer, but is a great and classy human being.
Dave | 11.19.10 @ 10:54AM
When I read this mornings column on the birthday of Stan Musial, I thought I'd re-post a letter I sent a couple of years ago to a writer at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. It's a kid's recollection of how a single moment or event can last a lifetime in the mind of a small boy. That's something too many of today's highly compensated pros tend to forget as they push their way to the parking lot and into their gleaming new Porches.
Here's that recollection from 52 seasons ago:
Stalking "The Man"
It was 1958; the first year the former Brooklyn Dodgers played in that spacious, but never quite ready for prime time baseball field called the
Los Angeles Coliseum. My buddy Dennis, his dad and I got to the park a little early to see our new L.A. Dodgers play the Cardinals and maybe
collect a few autographs. It was my first major league game. Sha-zam!
As a short statured kid (about four inches under 5 feet) I usually had a tough time moving around in crowds of tall people. The Coliseum had a long
concrete runway that lead down to the dressing room areas and then out onto the field. The gate area, at that time, is where team buses would pull up and unload player so they could get down to their designated clubhouse. That night, like other kids who knew where those visiting team buses
would arrive and unload, Dennis and I were right there near the gates with dozens of people, all clutching an assortment of balls, photos and small
pieces of paper, and ready for our baseball gods to scribble their signatures.
Tick-tick-tick ... Man, where was that bus?
A little earlier, I'd gone to the stadium gift shop and bought a 12 pack of black and white, individual Cardinals photos. But, at the time, I had NO idea what a smart move that was going to be. Especially smart for a kid of short stature.
When Card's bus finally pulled up to the back gate and began unloading players, about 20 or 30 fans were all gathered around there just hoping to get one of them to sign their stuff. When the guys began stepping off the charter ... the first player I spotted was a catcher name Hal Smith, then out came second baseman Don Blasingame and right behind him ..."The Man."
As most of us realized that Stan Musial was within autograph reach ... the crush to get him to sign was underway. Adults, older teens and some kids a lot bigger than me shoved their way into the tight circle that surrounded Musial. At that point, I figured he be long gone and way down the tunnel before I had the chance to ask him sign anything. Just then, I realized I had that gift pack of black and white Cardinals photos still in my hand.
I had a shot.
As Stan was briskly signing as many autographs as he could grab, I opened up my pack of Cardinals pictures and pulled out his 5x7. At that moment, I decided to go for it and toss pain to the wind. Well, that little four-foot-noting kid managed to bull rush his still-growing-body into the frantic circle of signing seekers while thrusting his hand and photo into the air just hoping "The Man" might spot it among all the pieces of white paper, balls and pens. After being bumped around for what seemed like an hour, Mr. Musial happened to glance down my way and spotted the raised black and white photo in my hand. Then despite a few howls of - "Heeey, we was in front of THAT kid" - one of baseball's great players reached down, snatched up that photo I was holding and scribble his name across the bottom. Then while handing it back; smiled and said something like - "There 'ya go, buddy." Simple, clean and decent. Can't beat it.
In a different time, I might not have worked my way out of that circle of nut cases without pickin' up some serious bodily damage. Today, just
walking though the parking lot while wearing visitors gear can get you popped.
These days I'm pushin' 66, retired and begin most mornings stepping though the backdoor that leads into my garage. And right there on the corner wall near the doorway is that framed, autographed 5x7 photo of a genuine good guy: Stan Musial.
Epilogue ...
That same night at the Coliseum, I ran up to a guy with dark black hair, carrying a tweed coat over his arm, who stopped, took a second and signed
the back of my Dodgers team photo. At the time, that black haired guy was just another of those second level autographs we occasionally collected. Actually, he was in that level of players we used to ask to sign for us on the chance that "they might be somebody someday." Well, a few years later he was.
Sandy Koufax.
To this day two other players, who stiffed a lot us that night, will remain in my mind just a couple of clods who blew us off -- while Stan Musial and Sandy Koufax will continue to be the nice guys who took the time to sign and say ... thanks.
To Mr. Koufax I say - thank you. And to Stan the Man - I'll send a heartfelt thanks for the memory and wish you a very Happy Birthday.
I guess in the world of hip-hop -- "You still 'da Man."
Dave - Calif.
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Brian| 11.19.10 @ 2:31PM
There was a feature article in a recent Sports Illustrated about Mr. Musial. One great aspect of it concerned the respect Albert Puhols has for him. Apparently, some media outlets took to refering to Puhols as "El Hombre", the man in spanish. The Sports Illustrated article reported that Puhols quietly asked that they not refer to him in that way, as there was only one "man" in St. Louis, and that was Mr. Musial.
Brian| 11.19.10 @ 2:34PM
Excuse me, I misspelled Pujols. Sorry.
Bob K.| 11.19.10 @ 2:44PM
Albert Puhols is a class act too!
astorian| 11.19.10 @ 2:58PM
Sportswriter Joe Posnanski once told a funny, telling story about Stan Musial.
He says Musial always wanted to be a good role model, and tried very hard to live up to the heroic image his fans had of him. But, naturally, Musial is only human, and has a few minor vices- including smoking.
One time, before an autograph signing session, Posnanski saw Musial hiding underneath a staircase, sneaking a cigarette. Musial acted deeply ashamed, and begged Posnanski not to tell anyone! Poor Stan couldn’t bear the thought that kids might find out he smoked.
John Rutnik| 11.19.10 @ 3:54PM
PBS did a special on Stan after he retired. I went through four hankies, before going to a hand towel to get me through it. What a Man!
AndaO| 11.19.10 @ 7:57PM
When I married my second husband back in 1975 my year old son came along as part of the package. When that same son as a going on two year old practiced his throwing with the very-much-treasured Stan Musial autographed baseball that my husband had gotten as a young lad at the ballpark (I think there was a Stan conversation that involved hitting home runs, as well) into very sudsy bathtub.. well, I was distraught. The autograph just didn't survive. I didn't think it augered well for the marriage either. I got a baseball, hunted up Mr. Musial's address, sent it out with a despairing plea and got back a signed baseball w/ a very personal note. He is SUCH a classy man.
Aldis Walt| 11.20.10 @ 12:44AM
Wishing him a very happy 90th birthday.....
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wvwisdom| 11.20.10 @ 11:59PM
One correction: Stan's father wasn't a "zinc miner". He worked in a zinc smelting mill, where conditions were by today's standards terrible, and skill is required to know when and how to pour the smelted zinc. The elder Musial died in 1948 in a historic industrial pollution accident sometimes called the "Donora smog."
Stephen Browne | 11.21.10 @ 12:25PM
My then-girlfriend (now wife and mother of our two children) met Stan the Man in Warsaw about ten years ago when he came with representatives of the Little League for the opening of the European Little League HQ in Kutno, Poland. I was covering the opening for a local English-language magazine.
Monika, who at the time knew nothing about baseball, was absolutely charmed. I was gratified to find these guys all really believed in all that stuff about sportsmanship, character building, etc.
Great experience, great guy.
Tex Expatriate| 11.22.10 @ 10:53PM
Not only was Stan one of a handful of great players, he was always a gentleman. Every real student of baseball knows that there are unwritten codes in baseball that permit all kinds of cheating, and I'll bet that Stan never cheated.
James River| 11.23.10 @ 5:20PM
He really is The Man. Hope he has a great 90th B-day.
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