Baseball’s Perfect Warrior.
Baseball’s Perfect Knight.
There is a tale about a knight, born into a family in a small town, who grew up to become a legend. This knight left home at the young age of 18 and began his quest to greatness. He was not as flamboyant as others of his stature. He did not have the flashy persona of most in his livelihood. He even respected loyalty more so than dollar signs. And he cared for those in need without even batting an eye. This knight, whose likeness and stories are enshrined on the walls of Cooperstown, is none other than the beloved Cardinals hero, Stan Musial.
With immense sadness in the baseball world, and especially in Cardinal Nation, the great Stan The Man passed away Saturday afternoon at the age of 92. His legacy in the game of baseball may never be touched and his heroism outside the game was astonishing.
After 22 years playing the game, all with the St. Louis Cardinals, the numbers he collected were unthinkable. Even in this extraordinary age of performance enhancing drugs making everyone bigger, stronger, faster, Musial’s statistics have not been equaled. After 50 years removed from the game, Stan still stands within the top 10 of career hits (4th-3,630), total bases (2nd – 6,134), doubles (3rd – 725), extra base hits (3rd – 1,377), games played (6th – 3,026), at bats (9th – 10,972), plate appearances (8th – 12,717) and runs scored (9th – 1,949).
Over than 20,000 men have played major league baseball and only four have finished among the top 20 for home runs, RBIs and batting average – Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Ted Williams and Stan Musial. Only three have collected more than 6,000 total bases – Willie Mays, Hank Aaron and Stan Musial. Only one has made both of those lists.
During a doubleheader in 1954 against the New York Giants at Busch Stadium, Musial put on a show to be talked about for ages. He hit three home runs in the first game and two more in the nightcap setting a one-day major league record that lasted until 1972. In 1958, following his seventh batting title, Musial became Major League Baseball’s first $100,000 man and later that year became the eighth player to reach 3000 hits.
The winner of three MVP awards, seven batting titles and the selection to 24 All Star Games developed quite a reputation off the field as well. In 1945, Musial enlisted in the Navy and served 14 months overseas. He and his friend, and teammate, Red Schoendienst, used to go visit local hospitals on road trips and talk to the children. Not for glamour or fame or press time, that’s just who they were. After baseball, Stan gave back to the community always focusing on the children of our future. On February 15, 2001, he was presented the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest award given to a civilian, by President Barack Obama.
He was never a greedy, pretentious man. Musial once said, “Back in my day, we didn’t think about money as much. We enjoyed playing the game. We loved baseball. I didn’t think about anybody else but the Cardinals.” Maybe there’s something to be said about loyalty and money that we could all learn from past generations.
Bob Costas once said, “He didn’t hit a home in his last at-bat (like Ted Williams); he hit a single. He didn’t hit in 56 straight games. He married his high school sweetheart and stayed married to her, never married a Marilyn Monroe (like Joe DiMaggio). He didn’t play with the sheer joy and style that goes alongside Willie Mays’ name.
“None of those easy things are there to associate with Stan Musial. All Musial represents is more than two decades of sustained excellence and complete decency as a human being.”
In 1969, Musial was a unanimous decision in the Sports Writers Hall of Fame balloting, something Joe DiMaggio missed out on. Furthermore, names such as Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb and Ted Williams failed to get unanimous votes during their ballots. Musial’s list of records was so long, they had to create an extra plaque to put by his bust in Cooperstown.
A statue of Musial sits in front of St. Louis’ Bush Stadium with the plaque that reads, “Here stands baseball’s perfect warrior. Here stands baseball’s perfect knight.”
Shu in the Lou 