Cardinals Hall of Famer Stan Musial dies at age 92

[Faygo Kid]

Source: U.S. News & World Report

Stan Musial, one of baseball's greatest hitters and a Hall of Famer with the St. Louis Cardinals for more than two decades, has died. He was 92.


Stan the Man won seven National League batting titles, was a three-time MVP and helped the Cardinals capture three World Series championships in the 1940s.

The Cardinals announced Musial's death in a news release. They said he died Saturday evening at his home surrounded by family.

Musial was so revered in St. Louis, two statues of him stand outside Busch Stadium. He spent his entire 22-year career with the Cardinals and made the All-Star team 24 times — baseball held two All-Star games each summer for a few seasons.


Read more: http://www.usnews.com/news/sports/articles/2013/01/19/cardinals-hall-of-famer-stan-musial-dies-at-age-92

---

One of the greatest ever, bar none. Played a mean harmonica, too.

[graham4anything]

1. RIP Stan the man. I respected his talent, though Willie Mays was the man to me.

From the era where they just had natural talent.

If the superstars then did what the so-called faux stars today did, the probably could have had 1000 or 1500 home runs in their career not just 400-600.

[Faygo Kid]

4. Thankful that Willie is still with us. But Stan was incredible, too.

Still fourth all time in hits, 3,630. Lifetime .331, and like so many, he missed years to WWII. I'm not sure there are any great ones left who played in the '40s. Stan was an old guy in the early '60s when I became a baseball nut, but still an All Star. Glad my boyhood hero is still here, too.

[graham4anything]

9. I agree. I always respected most of the greats on other teams

Willie also missed 2 1/2 years in the army.
Stan was always nice to us back when we were kids, freely signing autographs for us
(back in the old days when stars didn't mind signing for free)

and the Cards' Bob Gibson is perhaps the best modern day pitcher along with Sandy Koufax, but Gibson did it longer. IMHO.

BTW, manager Earl Weaver also died yesterday, another HOFer.

[brush]

25. Years missed in service

Wonder how many homeruns he and Willie would have ended up with if not for the time missed in the service? And Ted Williams I think served in WWll and Korea.

[graham4anything]

35. Think Willie would have beaten Ruth, Musial 535

and over 1000 if any of the greats had used steroids.(figure 65-70 each year plus)
(Ruth might have had 1250, who knows. His first years he was a pitcher and he could have been a hall of famer just on his pitching alone).
That is what makes the Bonds mess so frustrating.
Bonds without steroids most likely 500-525 total.(and in hall of fame, but not record holder).
McGwire without 400-450
imho
and one just has to look at their sizes to see the obvious.
Wish they would use an asterik in the record books.

also, don't forget that for most of their career, there were only 154 and not 162 games.
Those 8 games could have been another 3 or 4 each year.Through a 15-20 year career, that adds up.
1961 the American league switched
1962 the national league switched and it was both due to expansion at the time.

Hank Aaron was interesting in that he never hit 50 a year, just consistent througout 20 full seasons plus at around 30-33 a year.
So Hank's total would have remained the same as he never missed many games til he got older.
It is possible, had Mays or one of the others beaten Ruth, that Aaron would not have hung around to do so.

Also with Ruth, what is unknown is, he shattered the old record prior to him so early on, that each new home run was basically meaningless record wise.Who knows if he needed to go for a record, if that would have meant even more.

Gotta give a shout out to my favorite non-500 home run hitter, Dave Kingman.
Who hit 35 in his last year and went free agent in a year that the owners colluded to not sign any free agents(illegally), and who never used drugs and who, yeah, he was a one trick pony and didn't care much about being nice, didn't care much about fielding or in the later years about doing anything but what he was paid for, hitting home runs but if he had been allowed to keep playing, easily would have hit over 500, and if he had used, he too would have had at least 200-250 more homeruns.Some of the parks he played in were the worst for hitters(wind factor and distance). Still think someday they should change the HOF rules and he should be in, if for no other reason than he never used and did it naturally.While others of his time and after cheated.
Had he been not so obnoxious to the press, he almost certainly would have gotten in anyhow.
Billy Williams finally did and the two have simliar stats.

[brush]

40. Are you a Giants fan?

Didn't Kingman play a good part of his career with the Giants at Candlestick. That wind robbed him, Mays, Cepeda and McCovey of who knows how many homeruns.

One other question, two actually. How many do you think Mantle would have hit if not for messing up his knee, and how many Williams would have had if not serving in WWll and Korea?

[graham4anything]

41. The Giants are my 2nd favorite (after the Mets).

Even though the Mets are in a way more like the old Brooklyn Dodgers, always liked the Giants.

Dave Kingman's first 4 years in Candlestick
next 2 in Shea(also not a HR park)
3 more in Shea later on
ending in Oakland (last 3 years 35/30/35)
He could have played another 5 years, especially as DH, as he was in decent condition.
(I saw him play in the short lived senior league a few years after, but it was too late by then, and the sportswriters hated him.0

I am not a Mantle fan. He abused his body and IMHO was lazy, causing himself the damage.
Don't think he would have had more than Mays.But would have had more.

Williams never had more than 43. Adding say 150 over the 3 missed years and the one year I guess he was hurt, would have given him 625-650. imho.
Williams would have benefited from 162 schedule too.

Think Mays/McCovey were the best two in a row in history.
Same with Koufax/Drysdale on the mound

The Koufax/Gibson then Marichal/Seaver all in at one point the same time frame
Marichal was one of the best, the unfortunate incident with Johnny Roseboro tarnished him.
I cannot say who was better Gibson or Koufax. Probably Gibson. Imagine if both were on the same team.

btw, am a National League fan, not American league.
and like that there is no DH in the national league, though wish Kingman would have been able to have another 3 or 4 years as DH in the American league
(or cared more about fielding.)

[brush]

45. Quite an era . . .

. . . back then. Those Koufax v Marichal games kept the Dodger/Giant rivalry hot even out on the west coast.

And we forgot to mention Ernie Banks and Frank Robinson.

[graham4anything]

46. Ernie Banks "let's play two" but now they don't play two anymore. Frank Robinson, MVP both...

MVP in both leagues
First black manager

all of them had class all the way,Mays and Musial and Gibson and Koufax and Banks and Frank Robinson, etc.

They all took pride in what they did, and would all have played for free.
The money they all made probably added together doesn't equal one year for A-Rod or other pampered players today.

and they played every game
and the pitchers pitched all game.And sometimes were on a 3 or 4 day rotation at most.
None of this 5 game rotation and 115 pitchers and they leave.

Had the pleasure of seeing Gibson,Frank Robinson, Marichal and Kingman recently
at a show. Well worth it to me.
Hadn't gone to one of them in years and they all were friendly and all sharp, especially Robinson who is 77 now.
All of them looked like they could still play today too. (no paunch whatsoever.)

I remember attempting that Marichal kick he had back then. Don't know how he did it
every single time. Unreal as a Bob Gibson fastball.

The great thing about baseball is the stats. Even with the steroid age, still, anyone who hit 400 plus home runs, or won 200 plus games those numbers remain.
No matter if more people get that or more, it still is very few considering the thousands and thousands who played in the majors and the millions of kids who played.

Or the one year greats like Vida Blue or Dwight Gooden who either burnt out quickly or
had drug problems.
(sometimes I wonder whether Gooden did what he did on them or without them then went on them.) He should have been so much better.
Those first two years, after the first month or two, we went to every single game he pitched
Back then was living closer to Shea Stadium, it was easier.
So many great memories there and now that is gone too.

A few years ago, we did get to SF and saw the Giants in their new park.
Just as windy and cold though.

One of these days would love to take that trip to all the ballparks, or at least all the National League ones. (or maybe two trips.)

Wish they had a way to let the players stay with the same team, but make the money they can (the owners can afford it, or they wouldn't pay it, I don't hold it against the players).
But it was better when the players were with a specific team longterm.
Made the games better too.
Now when say a Brave gets traded to the Mets, you gotta like someone you couldn't stand.
LOL

[UnrepentantLiberal]

14. Al Kaline?

[Faygo Kid]

15. Yup. He never let me down.

Grew up without a Dad, and idolized Al in the early '60s. He meant a lot to me, as Stan did to so many others. Role models maybe shouldn't exist, but there were two very good ones.

[longship]

32. Al Kaline, nice pic of him.

I grew up in Detroit. Cooley High class of 66.

Love the Tigers. Will never forget 1968 season!!

[Faygo Kid]

38. That '68 season was the best.

East Detroit, class of '69.

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

42. Al is mine too Faygo

Grew up on the westside. I remember when Al was having a great year and broke his collarbone I think it was, diving to make a catch. Like 58 or 59 maybe?

[DCBob]

2. Childhood hero.

Stan was in his final years when I became a fan but he was still a legend to me. He will be greatly missed in Cardinal Nation.

[IggleDoer]

7. Me too!

[DCBob]

10. I remember seeing him at the old Sportsmans Park with my older brother

Great memories. Forever a Cardinal fan no matter where I live.

[tekriter]

3. I'm sitting here in St. Louis, nearly 60 years old...

And I'm crying like a baby.

[Faygo Kid]

11. Kinda choked up myself

Tigers' fan, but that doesn't matter. What a great player and person. The Man.

[WranglerRog]

13. Haven't cried in years....

until tonight.

[another_liberal]

5. Words alone . . .

Words alone cannot express the loss. St Louis will wear black.

[Hard Assets]

6. Early childhood memories

was collecting Stan Musial puzzles from my baseball card collection (since long gone)...

it was fun.

[Gemini Cat]

23. It's funny that you mention the puzzle

I have all the puzzle pieces, but never put it together. A couple of days ago I took the pieces out of a box and thought about finally doing it. Tonight I will.

[Wolf Frankula]

8. Wunnerful, Wunnerful

I met him as a child. He was a nice guy.

Wolf

[abq e streeter]

12. RIP to one of the greats, and by all accounts, a good and decent man too.

I remember reading David Halberstam's book about the '64 pennant races , which included writing at length about race relations in baseball in the 50's and 60's (the Cardinals were exemplary in that area for those days) and he wrote about how Musial was a man utterly without prejudice. As much as i admire his enormous skills as a player, I admire him infinitely more for that.

[tekriter]

19. That's a great book.

Read it several times!

[Cooley Hurd]

16. Wow... Stan the Man Musial!

Cross gently, Stan. Even if you have to slide in.

[brush]

26. Has there ever been a better nickname than Stan the Man?

It just rolls off the tongue.

[bluestateguy]

17. I thought he died a few years ago

I did not know that.

[klook]

18. What a guy -- great bio here

On CNN/SI.

That's great that he played a good role in strengthening bonds between Black and White players, as Bob Gibson notes. I also didn't know he was such an accomplished harmonica player! I'm a Braves fan, but always admired Stan the Man. Sad day for baseball.

[rurallib]

20. One of my boyhood idols.

Musial and Ted Williams playing at the same times, wow they were great.
The fifties/ early 60s:
Mantle, Williams, Musial, Mays, Snider, Aaron, Clemente, Reese, Banks, Santo, Drysdale, Koufax, Wills, Mudcat Grant, Killebrew, Gibby, Newcombe, Curt Flood, F. Robinson and Brooks Robison, Vada Pinson...............................................
what a time to be a baseball fan.

And Musial was always, always a gentleman.

[DCBob]

22. great list!

here are a few to add.. Brock, Cepeda and Yaz.

[rurallib]

37. There were some tremendous players in that

late 1940s to @ the middle 70s.
Then it seems like the best athletes began moving to basketball and football.
Just as an athlete Musial had to be one of the best ever. He and Bob Gibson and believe it or not, Roger Maris.

[hay rick]

21. My boyhood hero.

I even copied his batting stance. My results were different...

[Gemini Cat]

24. RIP Stan the Man

One of the greats.

[rateyes]

27. You the Man, Stan!

RIP

[iandhr]

28. RIP Stan the Man.

One of the greatest ever.

#4 on baseball's all time hit list.

Behind

#3 Hank Aaron

#2 Ty Cobb

#1 Pete Rose

[awoke_in_2003]

31. The sad thing about that list...

The racist Ty Cobb is in the HOF and Charlie Hustle isn't.

[joanbarnes]

29. We share a birthday

[nyy1998]

30. RIP to one of the greatest and classiest players ever. nt

[nevergiveup]

33. He was my childhood hero.

I got his autograph on a score card at Sportsman's Park when I was about 10. I remember him getting 5 home runs in a double header once. In sports he was the class act of all class acts and the best idol a young man could ever have. Damn, I feel so sad this evening.

[xxqqqzme]

34. When I was small & young,

my grandfather and I got on a train to St Louis, short trip from where we lived. We went to my very first baseball game. He bought me all sorts of food and Cardinal stuff. I still have the hardball w/ the signatures of all the team players. Stan Musial's name is on that ball.

[malthaussen]

36. Hittin' homers in heaven, now.

By the time I was aware of baseball, he'd already hung up the spikes, but I've always appreciated what a class act he was.

-- Mal

[TuxedoKat]

39. Years ago when I lived in St. Louis

and worked for TWA his secretary called to make a reservation for him. Stan was on the Board of Directors of TWA so could fly confirmed anywhere any time, gratis. I asked her if he wanted a seat in first class or coach and she, being just as polite, modest and self-effacing as he said he didn't care either one was fine. Of course I booked him in first class though, but I never forgot that about him. Some years later working for a different airline in a different city Stan came through our city and gave one of our agents an autographed picture and something else for her son. She said he was so nice and friendly. I was so sad I wasn't working that day so that I could have met him too.

[Burma Jones]

43. I was in the stands watching my Nats lose a heartbreaker to the Cards in Game 5 of the NLDS

I noticed Cardinal Fans in the stands around me did not gloat, did not tease and a couple of them also said things along the line of "you guys will be back next year," seems like Musial had influence......

As I read the obits for Stan the Man, I get choked up, I think mostly for what the guy seemed to be. I get the impression that the great Tony Gwynn is cut from the same cloth, but in sports, I think these folks are few and far between.....

I'm 53, until the Nats came to DC, the Cards were my favorite NL club. I was an Orioles Fan as a kid. My Grandfather played in the Cards' organization briefly.

Rest in Peace.......

[dhill926]

44. I'm sure I speak for other Cub fans.....

in saying Stan the Man was one of the all-time greats. A total class act. And of course, he got his 3,000th hit at Wrigley.