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Sports Arena
Stan Musial Deserves a Better Biography
George Vecsey strikes out, big time.
Although Stan Musial played his last baseball game nearly a decade before I was born, I have long been fond of him. Because when I think of Stan the Man, I think of my Dad who back in 1955 had a chance meeting with Musial and several other members of the St. Louis Cardinals at the Polo Grounds after a Sunday doubleheader between the Redbirds and the New York Giants had been called on account of rain. My father got the opportunity to ask Musial about his unique batting stance on Bill Stern’s radio show.
So needless to say I was very much looking forward to reading George Vecsey’s biography of Musial titled, Stan Musial: An American Life. I began reading the book during a day trip to Portland, Maine on Memorial Day. But I would soon become overwhelmed with disappointment by the time the bus had left Boston city limits.
To start with, I was dismayed with Vecsey’s premise that Musial had been relegated to obscurity while his contemporaries, Joe DiMaggio and Ted Williams are still remembered:
Almost as if by will, DiMaggio and Williams became distant towering legends, the stormy Himalayas, whereas Stan the Man endured as the weathered old Appalachians, like the coal-laden hills behind his boyhood home in Donora, Pennsylvania.
DiMaggio would be remembered for the rose on Marilyn Monroe’s grave.
Williams would be remembered for crash-landing his burning jet on an airfield in South Korea.
But Musial, a diligent businessman with a successful marriage, would be the nice old guy who mimicked his own batting stance in public. Was this a flaw on Musial’s part – or ours?
To the extent Stan the Man is overshadowed by Joltin’ Joe and Teddy Ballgame isn’t because the Yankee Clipper was married to Marilyn Monroe or because The Kid was a fighter pilot. DiMaggio is best remembered for his 56-game hitting streak while Williams is best remembered for being the last player to hit .400 in a season. The fact that both these feats occurred in 1941 and remain untouched seventy years later is what cemented their legacy. These achievements have attained a mythical status.
When Musial finished his career in 1963, his 3,630 hits were the most in National League history and second only to Ty Cobb on the all-time list. Before Pete Rose passed Cobb, Charlie Hustle would eclipse Musial for the NL record in 1981. Musial didn’t do anything so spectacular during his 22 seasons with the Cardinals. Certainly nothing that would warrant an essay by John Updike or inspire a song by Paul Simon. He was simply Stanley the Steady.
The other flaw with Vecsey’s biography is that he feels the need to inject his politics into the proceedings as if his subject weren’t interesting enough on his own merits. Vecsey likens Musial to President Eisenhower, although it becomes clear this comparison is nothing more than an exercise in taking a cheap shot at another Republican President:
He also met every President from Truman through Obama, except, for no particular reason, Dwight D. Eisenhower, for whom he apparently voted twice. Over time, Musial has come to be seen as the epitome of the Eisenhower years, from 1953 to 1960, a time now ridiculed for its – what? Complacency? Stability? Normalcy? In this age when yappers spout nuttiness over the airwaves and nihilists fly airplanes into buildings, normalcy is looking good.
Musial is not the first or last public figure to suffer from the short attention span of the vox populi. Even presidents come and go in the power ratings.
With his deceptively transparent smile, Eisenhower –as in “I Like Ike” – won two elections handily, but after he was out of office Ike was often depicted as a mediocre fuddy-duddy.
Early in the 21st century, Ike began making a comeback. To demonstrate the contrast to a certain inarticulate president of more recent vintage, David Letterman displayed videos of Ike’s clearheaded warning about the “military-industrial complex.” Ike was looking better all the time. Maybe Stan the Man’s time would come around again.
I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised by this passage. After all, Vecsey works for the New York Times and it would seem its employees are contractually obliged to take digs at President Bush even when the subject matter has little or nothing to do with politics. If Vecsey dislikes Bush, then fine. If Vecsey genuinely believes there’s no difference between Rush Limbaugh and Mohammed Atta, then so be it. There is nothing stopping him from writing books on those subjects. I just wish he hadn’t expressed those views in a book that supposed to be about the life of Stan Musial. They are completely out of place. Musial deserved better.
I am also unaware of the 21st century comeback of Dwight Eisenhower of which Vecsey writes. It is a figment of Vecsey’s imagination. So is the idea that Stan Musial’s time will come around again. Let us remember that during this past off-season, Albert Pujols was looking to extend his contract with the Cardinals. It is believed that he wishes to supplant Alex Rodriguez as MLB’s highest paid player. The deadline to renegotiate the contract was set for February 15, 2011. However, at the last minute, both parties agreed to extend the deadline by 24 hours because that was the day Musial was set to be bestowed with the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Obama. Curiously, Vecsey does not see fit to mention this tidbit.
Albert Pujols might very well end up being the greatest player ever to don a baseball uniform. When it’s all said and done, Pujols might finish his career eclipsing Pete Rose in hits, Barry Bonds in homeruns and Hank Aaron in RBIs. Pujols might be King Albert, but Musial is still The Man. Vecsey might be content to wait for Musial’s time to come around again. I say that he has never left us.
About the Author
Aaron Goldstein writes from Boston, Massachusetts.
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Robbins Mitchell| 6.15.11 @ 6:31AM
Met Stan the Man at his St Louis restaurant back in the early 60's and got a nice autographed 8x10 glossy of him in Cardinal uniform in that classic batting stance...still have that pic...and the great memory....I can't help but wonder if Vecsey happened to mention in his book that Stan is the only player in MLB history to hit a home run in a regular season game as a grandfather....which,of course,is just the kind of record you would expect from an icon like Stan Musial isn't it?
Bob K.| 6.15.11 @ 7:53AM
The journalists who write sports columns for NYC newspapers are swollen up with their own self importance! They are no different in that respect from the political columnists. Vecsey is a typical NYC talent limited journalist. Big ego, pin head.
The game of baseball and the country passed both by years ago. It started when the Dodgers and Giants realized that there was a vast country west of the Hudson River, which was what really made our Nation great, and they moved west to join it.
albert constantine jr.| 6.15.11 @ 9:24AM
When I see irrelevant remarks about political preferences injected into a biography about a baseball great like Stan the Man, I am reminded of Ted Williams' likening of the average sports writer to equine manure, and find myself in concurrence for at least the instant example.
Steve A| 6.15.11 @ 9:48AM
The overwhelming problem with sports writers of all stripes is this: The vast majority of them, with few exceptions, absolutely sucked as players. These are the guys who got cut from JV in High School. These are the guys who saw the High School star get the girl they were after. These are the guys looking to manufacture a story. These are the guys with no perspective, having never been there, on pressure performance. These are the guys who choke while writing a paragraph, never mind a 3 foot putt for a playoff. These are the guys who's hands would shake too much to tie Lebron's shoe lace, never mind shoot an NBA 3.
LarryK| 6.15.11 @ 9:49AM
I remember as a kid, my dad took me to Forbes field to see the Pirates play the Cardinals. Stan the Man came up to bat and blasted a homer on/over the right field roof. We were on the first base side and that was exciting to see. I got his autograph after the game. What a game! What a Man!
Petronius| 6.15.11 @ 9:58AM
Political digs and other insults by eastern sports writers are really expressions of detestation for the city where Stan Musial played and the fans who saw him. Ergo, he has no real standing in the pantheon because he played for the "hicks" in St. Louis. I still see him once or twice a year since we have the same barber. But the city of St. Louis is finished because it is run by people who think like and would rather be New Yorkers. We don't need any screeds from Vecsey, especially since it probably came from Bob Costas. New York can keep him too.
Seek| 6.15.11 @ 10:57AM
You, like Aaron, fail to see that the author's political comments were intended as complimentary to Ike and Stan the Man, not derogatory. In making the comparison, he was offering praise; both were men of common sense and stability. As for St. Louis being "mocked" by the Eastern writers -- baloney. I grew up in St. Louis and know the city and suburbs well. I never got the sense that anyone from outside was mocking us as a bunch of hicks.
Gary| 6.15.11 @ 10:02AM
This quote by Ike is loved by liberals who dis conservatives except when they happen to agree with them. With defense's shrinking portion of the budget, fears of the dreaded "military complex" have a Chicken Little quality. One might fear instead, given the huge proportion of the budget for entitlements, the great social welfare complex populated by government bureaucrats, regulators, private advocacy groups which all make a living finding "grievances" to sue government and private business for.
J.C.Eaton| 6.15.11 @ 10:29AM
Most sports writers of our time are, as noted above, raving liberals. They have an unquenchable thirst to influence the full spectrum of our thinking. It is never enough for them to merely write a fine 'baseball story'[ and truth be told, few of them could]. Additionally they are needful of insinuating a political tract along with their scribbles. This makes them appear cosmopolitan, sophisticated, wise. In other words, real journalists. Look around, read any Grantland Rice or Jim Murray-like stuff lately? You lie if you say you have.
ejp| 6.15.11 @ 7:49PM
Amen to that, speaking as NY area resident who has to see the foul stench of Mike Lupica and Filip Bondy injecting their wacko leftism in everything they right (and then after going on their soapboxes these wackos are too cowardly to allow ANY reader feedback to what they write).
dissent555| 6.15.11 @ 12:01PM
[grammarnazi] "on a count of" in the first paragraph should be "on account of" [/grammarnazi]
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/on_account_of
Aaron Goldstein| 6.15.11 @ 1:10PM
Thank you. It's all fixed.
A Stephens| 6.15.11 @ 12:15PM
It's the narcissism culture of today. Their own internal smugness and arrogance over their inflated self importance and overinflated opinion of their intellect requires that they tell the rest of us how enlightened they are. Insecure adolescents.
Dave| 6.15.11 @ 3:11PM
As a lifelong Cardinals fan, I can attest to the wonderful human decency of Stan Musial. He is an American treasure. Although he doesn't get out as much as he used to even 3 or 4 years ago, it is still a treat when he shows up at Busch Stadium.
Vern Trotter| 6.15.11 @ 4:03PM
Stan is a member of the Brooklyn Dodgers Hall of Fame, I am told. This a tribute to his hitting against them.
I like the story of his hard line drive against the right field wall at Ebbets Field that richochted all the way back to the second baseman so quickly that he had to hold it to a single.
CharlieEcho| 6.15.11 @ 8:01PM
I guess I'll pass on the book. I have fond memories of listening to the Cardinals live on the radio, with my dad. Dizzy Dean and Pewee Reese announcing. Dad might have a Falstaff beer while sitting in the shade. My dad played minor league ball too. I still have his glove. The old glove with only a pocket and no lacing through the fingers. Back in the day when there were no soccer moms and you rode your bike to practice and games, because little league was the game of the day. Went to my first Cardinals game when I was seven. My dad was a Cardinals fan until the day he died.
Richard Baker| 6.15.11 @ 9:10PM
When I attended St. Louis University, I'd hear him advertising something on the radio by referring to himself as "Old Stan." Compared to Ted Williams and Joe Dimaggio with their pronounced public persona, Stan Musial was the comfortable old shoe in comparison and that ain't bad. His statue outside Busch Stadium is modest just like "The Man."
Occam's Tool| 6.16.11 @ 1:54AM
"The Man" was also a pioneer advocate of Civil Rights for Blacks in the majors. He is simply a great man who is also a great ballplayer---a nosebleed upper tier HOFer.
Occam's Tool| 6.16.11 @ 2:01AM
He also had a higher lifetime batting average than DiMaggio, and was in an all-star game in 21 separate years---DiMaggio played only 13 seasons, Mantle played 18.
Occam's Tool| 6.16.11 @ 2:02AM
And by the way, my encomiums for Musial are coming from a CUBS fan!
Vincent Garcia| 6.16.11 @ 2:31AM
Musial is one of the top 5 players of all time if you ask me. He is a class act all the way and one heck of a ballplayer.
http://www.zimbio.com/Anti-Agi.....le+Wrinkle
weddingdresses | 6.16.11 @ 4:09AM
I always find it amusing that the sexual perversion of the homosexual is "GLAAD" and "GAY." Wonder how the gerbil population is doing these days, as well?
John| 6.16.11 @ 10:53AM
EJT, you are so right. Over the years I have noticed that the left rarely have a "comment" page or an email address. I'd love to throw a fastball at the chins of the types like those pissy little sissies Lupica and Olbermann. Neither has the balls to stand in there. The big mouths would probably shit themselves.
Gregory Boyenga| 6.16.11 @ 2:31PM
I liked DiMaggio, but Ruth was my favorite Yankee. Ted Williams was a hot head who should have been kicked out of baseball...I once saw him sling a bat into the stands during one of his numerous childish fits.
I first saw Musial play when I attended a game at Wrigley Field when the Card's vs the Cubs. He punched a homer into the right field bleachers and drew an intentional walk that day. I can't remember which team won.
I moved to St. Louis in 54, and I watched him play ball until I moved to Mobile, Alabama in 57.
Stan was my man then, and he remains so to this day.
Lisa| 6.16.11 @ 5:08PM
As A Stephens touched on, the problem with sportswriters is they are so convinced that they are intellectually, even morally, superior to their subject.
There is also a great deal of resentment: why should these doofuses get paid bazillions to play a child's game? Besides the obvious answer of supply and demand, pro athletes have a drive to succeed and a work eithic that border on the masochistic. Nothing has been handed to them; what they have, they've earned. Unlike sportswriters, who got their cushy jobs by knowing and hooking up with the right people.
David Duke| 6.21.11 @ 7:31PM
In a Sunday header, Musial hit 5 home runs. Never done before (or probably since).
Autoacct628| 6.28.11 @ 1:25PM
Everything that Mr. Musial was, in terms of intangibles, courage, skill, class and sportsmanship...can also be said about Mr. Billy Williams who was also a great hitter but whose career with the Cubs was overshadowed by Willie Banks.
autoacct628| 6.29.11 @ 8:21AM
Sorry....obviously I meant ERNIE Banks....but the point remains.