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Legendary Cardinals Slugger Stan Musial Dies At 92

Aaron Fischman |
January 20, 2013 | 2:35 a.m. PST

Senior Sports Editor

In Musial's best season (1948), he appeared on the September cover of Baseball Digest. (Wikimedia Commons/Uncredited)
In Musial's best season (1948), he appeared on the September cover of Baseball Digest. (Wikimedia Commons/Uncredited)
Stan Musial, one of the greatest baseball players of all time, died Saturday at the age of 92. 

Musial’s entire Hall-of-Fame baseball career, which spanned 1941-63, was spent with one team, the St. Louis Cardinals.  

Despite retiring a half-century ago, he still holds the St. Louis franchise record for a number of statistics, including games played, hits, runs, home runs, RBIs, and WAR (Wins Above Replacement), among others. That’s why two statues of Musial stand outside Busch Stadium. That’s why a St. Louis Cardinal has not worn a No. 6 jersey since 1963 and never will.

The left-handed slugger, who was affectionately nicknamed “Stan, The Man,” was just as impressive of a person off the field according to fellow Hall of Famer Willie Mays. “He was a true gentleman who understood the race thing and did all he could,” said Mays. “I never heard anybody say a bad word about him, ever.” Musial was just beginning his fifth full-time season when Jackie Robinson broke the league’s color barrier with the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Forty-nine years after Musial’s illustrious career ended, it's clear his extraordinary accomplishments will be remembered forever in the annals of baseball history. Musial finished with a career .331 batting average after winning the National League batting title seven times. His final batting title came at the ripe age of 36. The career Cardinal ranks second all-time on the career hits list (3,630), behind only Pete Rose (4,256). Ironically, Musial’s final career at bat resulted in an RBI single past Rose, then a rookie with the Reds. 

Musial was never a home-run hitter, but he did have a penchant for driving the ball on a line. The Donora, Pa. native led the big leagues in doubles on eight different occasions. Despite being a line-drive hitter, he managed to smash 475 career home runs, launching more than 30 round-trippers six times. In his best season, 1948, Musial batted .376, slugged .702, hit 39 home runs and drove in 131 runs, all career-bests. In the 10 seasons between 1948 and 1957, Musial averaged 112 RBIs per season. He never struck out more than 46 times in a season and didn’t bat below .300 until he was 38. Now that’s consistency.

Not surprisingly, Musial was selected to the N.L. All-Star team every full season he played except 1942. Because two All-Star games were played in some years in the late 50s and early 60s, he has the distinction of earning 24 All-Star appearances despite only playing for 22 seasons. Musial also won three MVP awards, as well as three World Series championships. In 1946, he did both.

Musial died on the same day as another Hall of Famer. 

Longtime Baltimore Orioles manager Earl Weaver died of an apparent heart attack on a team-sponsored Caribbean cruise Saturday. Weaver, who was known for his tirades against umpires, won four American League pennants and one World Series (1970) during his 17 seasons with Baltimore. He famously did not believe in moving runners over through steals, hit and runs or bunts. Instead, Weaver instructed his team to pitch well, play quality defense and hit three-run home runs.    

Reach Senior Sports Editor Aaron Fischman by email, or follow him on Twitter.



 

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