Althouse: "Stan Musial, one of baseball’s greatest hitters and a revered figure in the storied history of the St. Louis Cardinals..."

January 19, 2013

"Stan Musial, one of baseball’s greatest hitters and a revered figure in the storied history of the St. Louis Cardinals..."

"... the player they called Stan the Man — died Saturday. He was 92."

34 comments:

ricpic said...: He had a cute wiggle at the plate and then POW!; 1/19/13, 9:43 PM
Chef Mojo said...: A great man and a redbird to the core. One of the true greats of baseball.; 1/19/13, 9:51 PM
Anonymous said...: He was the man.; 1/19/13, 9:59 PM
Bob R said...: Reputed to be a great whistler.; 1/19/13, 10:01 PM
Jeremy said...: Thanks for mentioning this! He doesn't get mentioned or remembered much outside of St. Louis much these days, but here he's still a very big deal.; 1/19/13, 10:04 PM
Gary Rosen said...: Stan the Man, RIP. A genuine icon of sports.; 1/19/13, 10:06 PM
edutcher said...: Saw him play the Dodgers on many an occasion.; 1/19/13, 10:13 PM
Cinderellastory said...: The quote from the statue of Stan Musial that stands outside of Busch Stadium.

“Here stands baseball’s perfect warrior. Here stands baseball’s perfect knight.”; 1/19/13, 10:55 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: A Dominican teammate, second baseman Julian Javier, named his son Stan Javier after him.

RIP.; 1/19/13, 11:38 PM
DADvocate said...: Didn't know he was still alive. God speed.; 1/20/13, 12:01 AM
Ipso Fatso said...: RIP Stan. You were one of a kind.; 1/20/13, 12:31 AM
Ctmom4 said...: Stan Musial and Earl Weaver, R.I.P.; 1/20/13, 12:52 AM
Gary Rosen said...: edutcher said...

"Saw him play the Dodgers on many an occasion."

Brooklyn or LA? His final year was 1963 so he must have played at Chavez Ravine which I think opened in 1962.; 1/20/13, 1:03 AM
Gary Rosen said...: I did not realize that Earl Weaver also just passed away. A great manager but he did not quite have the reputation as a gentleman that Musial had.; 1/20/13, 1:04 AM
Anonymous said...: What a classy man he was. Redbird fans rightly are very proud of Musial. As are the Poles - I don't think baseball is terribly popular in Poland, but they named a stadium over there after him anyway.

RIP, Mr. Musial.; 1/20/13, 1:04 AM
Anonymous said...: " A great manager but he did not quite have the reputation as a gentleman that Musial had."

Now there's an understatement. It was always fun to see a raging Weaver come charging out of the dugout to challenge a call, unless you were the umpire. We'd lay bets on whether or not Weaver would end up being expelled from the game.; 1/20/13, 1:08 AM
Unknown said...: The man. R.I.P.; 1/20/13, 1:44 AM
rhhardin said...: Playing alive or dead is a good talk show bit for co-hosts.

I'd have guessed dead, not having heard his name for decades.; 1/20/13, 5:28 AM
Clyde said...: There are too few players these days who spend their entire career on one team. Of course, back in Musial's day, that wasn't up to the player.

Two Hall of Famers passed away in one day; there will be floral arrangements next to two plaques today. A sad day for baseball.; 1/20/13, 6:19 AM
Clyde said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 1/20/13, 6:20 AM
edutcher said...: Brooklyn.

Those were the days, my friend.; 1/20/13, 6:55 AM
William said...: I don't think that even on the internet you will be able to find a single unkind comment about him. He died at 92, a year later than the wife he had been married to for his entire life. He played his whole career with the Cardinals where he was loved by the fans and his teammates. He was survived by his children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren.....I think his contemporaries, Ted Williams and Joe DiMaggio, had more jewels in their crowns, but he had, far and away, the most successful life.; 1/20/13, 7:35 AM
sakredkow said...: I remember when John Paul I became pope Stan Musial was the punchline to the question "Who was the first Polish cardinal?"; 1/20/13, 8:20 AM
Patrick said...: Stan the Man, rest in peace. A life well lived.; 1/20/13, 10:12 AM
ndspinelli said...: There's a great bio of Stan the Man. He grew up in a poor, Polish family in western Pa. He never forgot who he was and was praised by the early black players as one of the good guys. Don't hold this against him you idealogues but Stan campaigned for JFK. He toured w/ Angie Dickinson and James Michener giving speeches @ rallys. Now there's an eclectic group. Stan became aa lifelong friend of both. Now, here's some red meat for you idealogues. When they had the All Star game in St. Louis a few years back it was supposed to be a tribute to The Man ala the tribute for The Kid in Fenway about a decade earlier. Obama decided last minute to come so he stole the show. Stan had a tradition of always playing a quick song on his harmonica @ HOF inductions in Cooperstown. Some folks started calling Albert Pujols el Hombre but he put an end to it saying their is one one "The Man."; 1/20/13, 10:52 AM
ndspinelli said...: phx, Stan met the Polish Pope and said, "Hiya Pope" when introduced. The Pope loved Stan from the first moment.; 1/20/13, 10:54 AM
avwh said...: In the years he had at least 600 plate appearances, here are Musial strikeout totals: 40, 39, 39, 39, 38, 36, 34, 32, 31, 29, 28, 24, 18.

Like DiMaggio, he hit for power and average, and hardly EVER struck out. RIP.; 1/20/13, 11:09 AM
William said...: I put Musial with Phil Rizzuto, Yogi Berra, and Bobby Murcer as the kind of guy who kept his head on straight. And I give Musial more credit for doing so, because he wasn't just a member of the elite but a member of the pantheon. When you live with that kind of adulation, it's easy to start thinking you're special and entitled in other ways. It's not easy being great. Look at the shambles in the domestic lives of Mantle and DiMaggio.; 1/20/13, 1:35 PM
Baron Zemo said...: The great Stan Musial is the indeed the Man. May he rest in peace.; 1/20/13, 2:15 PM
Baron Zemo said...: Earl Weaver was one of my favorite managers of all time. I remember an interview with Earl when he said all of that "Moneyball" bullshit that so many fools believe in. Earl said "You need to throw strikes and hit three run homers and enough with that computer bullshit. Let's pound some budweiser and have a cigar."; 1/20/13, 2:17 PM
Baron Zemo said...: Baseball is a simple game. The ball and the bat are round but you have to hit is square.

Not an easy game. But a simple one.; 1/20/13, 2:18 PM
Gary Rosen said...: "Some folks started calling Albert Pujols el Hombre but he put an end to it saying their is one one "The Man.""

I've never had a reading on Pujols' character one way or the other but that says something for him.; 1/20/13, 11:03 PM
Anonymous said...: I only saw Stan in two games: one at Yankee Stadium in 1960 and the other at the Polo Grounds in 1962. He hit 4 home runs in those 2 games. I wrote up my recollections in this article here:
southerncrossreview [dot] org/73/mellet-musial [dot] html; 1/20/13, 11:59 PM
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