Stan Musial

Infobox MLB retired
name=Stan Musial
position=Outfielder / First baseman


bats=Left
throws=Left
birthdate=birth date and age|1920|11|21
city-state|Donora|Pennsylvania
deathdate=
debutdate=September 17
debutyear=by|1941
debutteam=St. Louis Cardinals
finaldate=September 29
finalyear=by|1963
finalteam=St. Louis Cardinals
stat1label=Batting average
stat1value=.331
stat2label=Hits
stat2value=3,630
stat3label=Home runs
stat3value=475
teams=
* St. Louis Cardinals (by|1941-by|1963)
highlights=
* 24x All-Star selection (1943, 1944, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963)
* 3x World Series champion (1942, 1944, 1946)
* 3x NL MVP (1943, 1946, 1948)
* 1957 Lou Gehrig Memorial Award
* 1957 "SI" Sportsman of the Year
* St. Louis Cardinals #6 retired
hofdate=by|1969
hofvote=93.2% (first ballot)

Stanley Frank Musial (born November 21, 1920), originally Stanisław Franciszek Musiał, (pronEng|ˈmjuːziəl), nicknamed "Stan the Man" and "The Donora Greyhound", is an American former player in Major League Baseball who played 22 seasons for the St. Louis Cardinals from by|1941 to by|1963. He is considered the greatest player in the history of the St. Louis Cardinals [cite web
title=St. Louis Cardinals All-Time Top 40| url =http://stlcardinals.scout.com/2/609510.html
accessdate =2008-03-02] and one of the greatest baseball players of all time. [Top 100 Baseball Players, The Sporting News (1998) [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sporting_News_list_of_Baseball's_Greatest_Players] ]

Early life

Musial was the first son born to Mary and Łukasz Musial, entering the world at the family's home on Sixth Street in Donora, Pennsylvania.cite book | last=Lansche | first=Jerry | title=Stan the Man Musial: Born to Be a Ballplayer | year=1994 | publisher=Taylor Publishing Company | location=Dallas | isbn=0-87833-846-2 | pages=6] His father was a Polish immigrant who was born on a farm near Warsaw. [Lansche (1994) p. 6] In 1910 Łukasz was employed by the American Steel and Wire Company, moving hundred-pound bales of wire around the company's shipping department. His mother Mary, herself the daughter of Czech immigrants, sorted nails at the factory, which was how she met Lukasz. [Lansche (1994) p. 5-6] Musial grew up in the Pittsburgh-area industrial town, where he played ball on his high school team along with the father of future major leaguer Ken Griffey, Sr., in turn the father of Ken Griffey, Jr. [http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/wire?section=mlb&id=1825227 ESPN - Reds star hits 500th career home run - MLB ] ] On his 19th birthday, he married Lillian Labash, and they have four children.Fact|date=August 2007

Career

Musial started his career as a pitcher. but after a shoulder injury he moved to the outfield in 1940. Musial played 1,890 games in the outfield and 1,016 games at first base, but was primarily known for his consistent hitting. The left-hander led the National League in batting average seven times and in on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and hits six times each. He won the National League Most Valuable Player award in by|1943, by|1946, and by|1948, and in by|1957, received "Sports Illustrated" magazine's "Sportsman of the Year" award. He is one of only two players to hit five home runs in one day—Musial did it in a doubleheader against the New York Giants in 1954 (Nate Colbert of the San Diego Padres accomplished the same feat in 1972). In addition to his three MVP awards (currently only nine players have won three or more), Musial also finished second in MVP voting four times, including three years in a row (from 1949-51), and finished among the top ten of NL MVP voting fourteen times between 1943 and 1962. Remarkably, Musial only struck out more than forty times in a season three times, two of them his final two years active, and only once (during his last active year) struck out more times than he walked.

His 3,630 career hits made him the NL's all-time leader on that list at the time he retired, and second in the major leagues to Ty Cobb. He still ranks fourth all-time, behind Pete Rose, Cobb and Hank Aaron. Musial's 3,630th and final hit was a single beyond the reach of Rose, then a rookie second baseman.

Musial's career was perhaps most notable for its consistency. His .331 career batting average ranks 30th; he batted .336 at home and .326 on the road. Amazingly, Musial had 1,815 hits at home, and 1,815 on the road. He batted .340 in day games and .320 at night. In his September 1941 debut, Musial had two hits; after he got two hits in his final game, 22 years later, a sportswriter jokingly wrote, "He hasn't improved at all."

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

Former Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher Carl Erskine once described his strategy of pitching to Musial: "I've had pretty good success with Stan by throwing him my best pitch and backing up third."cite web
title =Stan Musial Quotes
work =Baseball Almanac
url =http://www.baseball-almanac.com/quotes/quomusl.shtml
accessdate =2007-02-13] Erskine's teammate, Preacher Roe, shared a similar sentiment. He summarized his strategy of pitching to Musial as "I throw him four wide ones and try to pick him off at first." "Once Musial timed your fastball," observed Warren Spahn, "your infielders were in jeopardy." In another story, Willie Mays, then playing for the New York Giants, was receiving instruction from his manager Leo Durocher about how he should prepare defensively in center field for each of the hitters in the Cardinals' lineup. He described the weaknesses and tendencies of the first two hitters, then moved on to the cleanup (fourth) hitter. Mays interrupted to ask about the man in the third slot. Durocher replied, "The third hitter is Stan Musial. There is no advice I can give you about him."

It was fans of the Dodgers who gave him his nickname. Musial loved to hit in Ebbets Field and after several amazing hitting performances there, Brooklyn fans would see him come to bat, and say, "Uh-oh, here comes the man again. The man is back!" St. Louis sportswriter Bob Broeg picked up on this and said to the fans, "You mean THAT man?" and they said, "No, THE Man." Musial was "Stan the Man" from that point on. Typically, respectful Brooklyn fans did not boo him at Ebbets Field.

Like many American baseball players of his era, Musial spent part of his career serving in World War II, missing the by|1945 season to serve as a seaman first class in the United States Navy from January 1945 to March 1946. Musial played in 24 All-Star games [http://www.baseball-almanac.com/rb_asm.shtml Baseball Almanac - All Star Game] Note: Hank Aaron and Willie Mays also appeared in 24 games. There were also 2 All-Star games played from 1959-1962.] tying him with Henry Aaron for most all-time. The Cardinals retired his uniform number '6' at the end of the by|1963 season. He was a fan favorite for his reputation, both on the field and off, as a gentleman. In Musial's 3,026 ML games, he was never once ejected from a game. Umpire Tom Gorman said, "The bigger the guy, the less he argues. You never heard a word out of Stan Musial...."

At the time of his retirement, Musial was among the all-time leaders in many offensive categories—first in Total Bases and Extra-Base Hits, second in Hits, Doubles, Runs Created, Games Played and At Bats, fourth in Runs and Runs Batted In, fifth in Walks, sixth in Home Runs, and eighth in Slugging Percentage and On-Base Plus Slugging Percentage (OPS).

The rise of Bill James and the extensive use of sabermetrics has enhanced Musial's credentials as not only one of the greatest of his generation, but of all baseball history. At Baseball-Reference.com, Musial is consistent among the various test leaders: He ranks fifth all-time among hitters according to the Black Ink Test (behind Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Rogers Hornsby, and Ted Williams), third all-time on the Gray Ink Test (behind Cobb and Hank Aaron), tied with Barry Bonds for second in the Hall of Fame Career Standards Test, behind only Ruth, and ranks first among all hitters and pitchers on the Hall of Fame Monitor Test. Surprisingly, despite his towering reputation with statistic-based aficionados of the game, many common fans are unaware of his achievements, leading ESPN and other organizations to list him as the most underrated athlete of all-time. [ [http://espn.go.com/page2/s/list/alltimeunderrated.html ESPN Page 2, "The List: Underrated all-time athletes"] .]

Retirement

MLBBioRet


Name = Stan Musial
Number = 6
Team = St. Louis Cardinals
Year = 1963At the time of his retirement in by|1963, Musial held 17 major league, 29 National League, and 9 All-Star game records. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility in by|1969.

A statue of Musial was erected outside of Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri in by|1968, and was dedicated after a Sunday afternoon loss to the Cubs on August 4, 1968. The statue was moved from its original location outside the old Busch Stadium (1966–2005) to the front of the new Busch Stadium for the first season in 2006. The statue has always been a popular place to meet friends at the stadium, and a small tradition among fans has been to climb the statue after the Cards' World Series wins in 1982 and 2006. It is inscribed with a quote from former baseball commissioner Ford Frick: "Here stands baseball's perfect warrior. Here stands baseball's perfect knight."

Musial also served one year as general manager of the Cardinals. After the by|1966 season, Musial succeeded Bob Howsam as GM and the by|1967 Cardinals promptly won 101 games, the NL pennant, and the 1967 World Series title. Musial then stepped down at the end of the season and was succeeded by Bing Devine.

Following his retirement Musial has been a successful businessman and restaurateur, and remains a popular figure in the St. Louis area. When asked why he always seemed so happy, he remarked, "If you had a .331 lifetime batting average, you'd be happy all the time, too!"

In 1985, he opened and operated Inn at Grand Glaize at the Lake of the Ozarks, Mo.

In 1989, he was inducted into the St. Louis Walk of Fame.

In 1999, he ranked tenth on "The Sporting News"' list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players. Some fans suggested that being placed so high on the list was a "hometown pick," as "TSN" is published in St. Louis. Musial did less well in fan voting for that year's Major League Baseball All-Century Team, but was added by a special committee along with Honus Wagner, one of only 30 players to be honored for his great success. The surprise at his high esteem among baseball critics and omission from fan-voted all-time teams are a reflection of his rather understated demeanor. Indeed, it was Musial's characteristic modesty, in addition to the fact that he played his entire career for a midwestern ballclub, that allowed his legacy to fall behind those of his contemporaries such as Ted Williams and Joe DiMaggio.

More recently, Musial threw out the first pitch in the 5th (and final) game of the 2006 World Series at Busch Stadium to the loud cheers of Cardinal fans.

On May 18, 2008, Stan was honored with the "Stan the Man" day at Busch Stadium, with Mike Shannon acting as emcee, Stan was honored for his contributions to the St. Louis Cardinals. Included during the ceremony was a proclamation from the Mayor, a street renamed after him, and a standing ovation. [http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080518&content_id=2725475&vkey=news_stl&fext=.jsp&c_id=stl Musial honored before Rays finale | stlcardinals.com: News ] ]

Career MLB statistics

Hitting

T = tied

Rankings as of September 27, by|2007. [cite web |url=http://mlb.mlb.com/stats/historical/player_stats.jsp?c_id=mlb&section1=1&statSet1=1&sortByStat=H&statType=1&timeFrame=3&timeSubFrame=0&baseballScope=mlb&prevPage1=9&readBoxes=true&teamPosCode=null&HS=true |title=Historical Player Stats |accessdate=2008-06-18 |publisher=MLB.com]

ee also

*List of top 500 Major League Baseball home run hitters
*List of Major League Baseball Hit Records
*List of Major League Baseball doubles records
*List of Major League Baseball triples records
*DHL Hometown Heroes
*List of major league players with 2,000 hits
*List of Major League Baseball players with 4,000 Total bases
*List of Major League Baseball players with 400 doubles
*List of Major League Baseball players with 100 triples
*List of Major League Baseball players with 1000 runs
*List of Major League Baseball players with 1000 RBI
*3000 hit club
*3000-300 club
*Hitting for the cycle
*List of Major League Baseball RBI champions
*List of Major League Baseball batting champions
*List of Major League Baseball runs scored champions
*List of Major League Baseball doubles champions
*List of Major League Baseball triples champions
*MLB consecutive games played streaks
*Major League Baseball hitters with three home runs in one game
*Major League Baseball titles leaders

References

Bibliography

*cite book | last=Lansche | first=Jerry | title=Stan the Man Musial: Born to Be a Ballplayer | year=1994 | publisher=Taylor Publishing Company | location=Dallas | isbn=0-87833-846-2

External links

* [http://www.stan-the-man.com/ Official site]
*bbhof|id=119602
*baseballstats |br=m/musiast01 |fangraphs=1009405 |cube=M/stan-musial
* [http://bioproj.sabr.org/bioproj.cfm?a=v&v=l&bid=816&pid=10216 SABR Biography Project]
* [http://www.stlouiswalkoffame.org/inductees/stan-musial.html St. Louis Walk of Fame]
* [http://web.baseballhalloffame.org/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080512&content_id=7320&vkey=hof_news Baseball Hall of Fame: Musial's 3000th a Testament to One of the Greatest]
* [http://www.davidpietrusza.com/Stan_The_Man.html Stan the Man and the Question of Fame]
* [http://www.sportingnews.com/archives/gwynn/man_to_man.html The Sporting News] - interview with Stan Musial and Tony Gwynn, July 1997
* [http://www.wjbc.com/media/Musials_3000th_hit.mp3 Audio: Musial's 3,000th career hit] as called by Harry Caray in 1958
*Whmc stl photodb|keywords=stan+musial|title=Stan Musial
* [http://www.thesportgallery.com/products/limited2/musial.html The SPORT Gallery] - 1952 photo of Musial from "SPORT" magazine

Persondata
NAME=Musial, Stan
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=Musial, "Stan the Man"
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Major League baseball player
DATE OF BIRTH=November 21, 1920
PLACE OF BIRTH=Donora, Pennsylvania
DATE OF DEATH=
PLACE OF DEATH=