Stan Musial
In Stan Musial's first four full major league seasons, the Cardinals captured four pennants and three World Championships. Although the Cardinals failed to win another title during his career, Musial went on to become on of the game's greatest players. He won seven batting championships, three MVP Awards, and reached the 3,000 hit milestone. Vin Scully said of him: "He was good enough to take your breath away."
| Career Batting Stats |
| G |
AB |
H |
R |
HR |
RBI |
SB |
AVG |
SLG |
OBP |
OPS |
OPS+ |
| 3026 |
10972 |
3630 |
1949 |
475 |
1951 |
78 |
.331 |
.559 |
.417 |
.976 |
137.1 |
|
Quotes About Stan Musial
"He could have hit .300 with a fountain pen." - Joe Garagiola
"How good was Stan Musial? He was good enough to take your breath away." - Vin Scully
"I've had pretty good success with Stan by throwing him my best pitch and backing up third." - Carl Erskine
"Once Musial timed your fastball, your infielders were in jeopardy." - Warren Spahn
"A couple years ago they told me I was too young to be president and you were too old to be playing baseball. But we fooled them." - President John F. Kennedy to Musial, at the 1962 All Star Game
Quotes From Stan Musial
"There was never a day when I was as good as Joe DiMaggio at his best. Joe was the best, the very best I ever saw." — Stan Musial
"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." — Stan Musial
"I have a darn good job, but please don't ask me what I do." — Stan Musial
"I love to play this game of baseball - I love putting on this uniform." — Stan Musial
"I never realized that batting a little ball around could cause so much commotion. I now know how Lindbergh must have felt when he returned from St. Louis."
"The first principle of contract negotiations is don't remind them of what you did in the past - tell them what you're going to do in the future."
"The key to hitting for high average is to relax, concentrate, and don't hit the fly ball to center field."
"There is no one correct way to bat, and so of course there is no one correct stance for it."
"When a pitcher's throwing a spitball, don't worry and don't complain, just hit the dry side like I do."
"You wait for a strike, then you knock the shit out of it."
Where does Stan Musial rank among baseball greats?
Stan Musial ranks #1 among the Top 50 all-time at LF. Rankings ⇒
Best Season: 1948
Musial won his third MVP in 1948, and his third batting title (.376). He banged out 230 hits, leading the league in that category. He also paced the NL in runs scored, doubles, triples, RBI, total bases, extra-base hits, slugging, OBP, and OPS.
Most Walk-Off Home Runs, Career
Jimmie Foxx........12
Mickey Mantle......12
Stan Musial........12
Frank Robinson.....12
Babe Ruth..........12
Tony Perez.........11
Dick Allen.........10
Harold Baines......10
Reggie Jackson.....10
Mike Schmidt.......10
Musial's 3,000th Hit
Stan Musial was one of the greatest players in baseball history. Though he began his professional career as a pitcher, Musial was ultimately known for his bat. This is the story of his drive for 3,000 hits and an amazing streak of success in 1958.
1957 had seen "The Man" win his seventh and final batting title, so '58 seemed to hold more to come for the future Hall of Famer. The Cardinals began the season on the road at Chicago on April 15th, Musial going 1-for-5 in the loss. Little did anyone know that Musial was about to go on one of the longest sustained tears in his career, and one of the greatest quick starts in baseball history.
The opening five-game series with the Cubs saw Musial collect 10 hits; in a three-game series at San Francisco that followed, he went 7-for-11. In the first game of the next series - against the Dodgers - he went 4-for-4, raising his average to .553. Wrapping up the season-opening 13-game road trip with two contests in Cincinnati, Musial rapped out four more hits.
Coming home to St. Louis, Musial's bat stayed hot: on opening day he managed just a single hit, but over the next three days he collected 7 hits, including 4 doubles. On May 8th Musial was just 7 hits shy of the 3,000 mark, having collected an amazing 36 hits in the first 17 games of the season. He had a .529 batting average, having collected a hit in all 17 games.
Though the Cubs cooled him off on the 9th and 10th of May, collaring him at 0-for-7, he bounced back with two hits on the 11th, including his 5th home run. Three hits the next afternoon left Stan two hits from his goal with two games in Wrigley up next.
Cards manager Fred Hutchinson used his veteran in the first game on the 12th, with Stan posting his 2,999th career hit. It was a double and the red-hot Redbirds won their 5th straight. After the game Musial mentioned to coach Terry Moore that he hoped he would get the magical hit at home. Musial expressed that he hoped he would walk every time up the next day. Moore passed the conversation on to Hutchinson, who decided to hold Musial back a day.
The next afternoon, May 13th, the Cubs jumped out to an early lead as Stan watched from the bench. In the sixth inning with his team trailing 3-1 and a man on second, Hutchinson summoned Musial to pinch-hit for his pitcher. With two outs, and less than 6,000 fans in the park, Musial squared off against Moe Drabowsky. With two strikes on him Musial laced a breaking ball down the left field line, scoring the second Cardinal run.
Musial pulled into second base with a standup double, receiving a standing ovation from the sparse crowd. Just as Musial's first major league hit had been an RBI double, so was his 3,000th.
After the contest Hutchinson apologized to his star, but Musial would have none of it. He understood that he was needed to help his team come back, and they did - winning the game 5-3.
The milestone did nothing to stop Musial's torrid early pace in 1958. The following day back home in St. Louis he ripped three hits, including a homer, in the Cards seventh straight victory. 30,000 fans were on hand to honor their hero and cheer the streaking Cardinals.
Later in the month, Musial hit safely in 9 straight games, and he was above the .400 mark as late as June 11th. A special hitter, Musial had been tenacious in his quest for 3,000 hits.
Musial vs. Dodger Pitching
According to Retrosheet, here are Stan Musial's stats against Dodger pitchers, from 1946-1963:
Pitcher AB H 2B 3B HR BB SO RBI BA OA SA
Bankhead, Dan 8 2 0 0 1 1 2 1 .250 .333 .625
Banta, Jack 6 2 0 1 0 3 2 2 .333 .556 .667
Barney, Rex 22 7 1 1 0 2 0 6 .318 .375 .455
Behrman, Hank 23 9 1 0 2 2 0 5 .391 .440 .696
Bessent, Don 10 3 1 0 0 2 1 1 .300 .417 .400
Birrer, Babe 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.000 1.000 1.000
Black, Joe 11 5 1 0 2 4 0 3 .455 .600 1.091
Branca, Ralph 60 20 4 2 2 9 3 3 .333 .429 .567
Calmus, Dick 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .000 .000 .000
Casey, Hugh 11 6 1 1 1 2 1 5 .545 .615 1.091
Chandler, Ed 3 1 0 0 1 1 0 2 .333 .500 1.333
Churn, Chuck 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 1.000 1.000 1.000
Craig, Roger 50 17 2 0 2 7 3 7 .340 .414 .500
Dockins, George 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Drysdale, Don 68 22 4 0 1 5 6 5 .324 .360 .426
Erskine, Carl 116 39 10 2 8 18 4 23 .336 .430 .664
Farrell, Turk 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .500 .500 .500
Fowler, Art 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Giallombardo, Bob 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 1.000 1.000 4.000
Golden, Jim 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .000 .500 .000
Gregg, Hal 10 6 1 1 1 1 0 3 .600 .636 1.200
Hatten, Joe 72 27 10 1 2 12 2 10 .375 .477 .625
Haugstad, Phil 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Head, Ed 2 2 0 1 0 0 0 1 1.000 1.000 2.000
Herring, Art 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .250 .250 .250
Higbe, Kirby 12 2 1 0 0 3 1 1 .167 .333 .250
Hughes, Jim 15 3 2 0 0 4 2 1 .200 .368 .333
King, Clyde 9 1 0 0 0 5 0 0 .111 .429 .111
Kipp, Fred 7 5 2 0 0 2 0 1 .714 .778 1.000
Klippstein, Johnny 6 3 2 0 0 3 1 3 .500 .667 .833
Koufax, Sandy 38 13 1 0 2 6 5 7 .342 .432 .526
Labine, Clem 40 9 1 1 1 5 2 2 .225 .311 .375
Landrum, Joe 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 .500 .500 1.000
LaSorda, Tom 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 .000 .333 .000
Lehman, Ken 7 2 0 0 1 1 0 2 .286 .375 .714
Loes, Billy 14 7 2 0 1 5 0 4 .500 .632 .857
Lombardi, Vic 33 12 0 4 1 4 1 4 .364 .432 .697
Maglie, Sal 6 2 0 0 0 1 2 1 .333 .429 .333
Martin, Morrie 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .000 .000 .000
McDevitt, Danny 13 4 0 0 0 3 1 1 .308 .438 .308
McLish, Cal 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.000 1.000 1.000
Melton, Rube 9 5 1 0 0 1 0 1 .556 .600 .667
Meyer, Russ 9 2 0 0 0 3 0 0 .222 .417 .222
Miller, Bob 9 4 0 0 1 0 0 1 .444 .444 .778
Milliken, Bob 11 2 0 0 0 1 1 4 .182 .250 .182
Minner, Paul 15 7 1 0 3 1 0 3 .467 .500 1.133
Moore, Ray 2 1 0 0 1 0 0 2 .500 .500 2.000
Mossor, Earl 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .000 .000 .000
Newcombe, Don 101 37 7 3 8 8 6 21 .366 .409 .733
Ortega, Phil 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Palica, Erv 21 9 2 2 1 6 0 8 .429 .556 .857
Palmquist, Ed 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .000 .500 .000
Perranoski, Ron 12 6 2 0 0 3 0 5 .500 .600 .667
Podbielan, Bud 6 3 0 0 0 4 0 1 .500 .700 .500
Podres, Johnny 108 38 8 1 5 11 8 18 .352 .418 .583
Ramsdell, Willie 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .000 1.000 .000
Richert, Pete 6 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 .167 .286 .333
Roe, Preacher 137 52 9 1 12 13 13 28 .380 .433 .723
Roebuck, Ed 20 5 0 0 2 4 0 5 .250 .400 .550
Rowe, Ken 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.000 1.000 1.000
Rutherford, Johnny 5 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 .200 .333 .200
Schmitz, Johnny 4 1 0 1 0 2 0 1 .250 .500 .750
Scott, Dick 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Sherry, Larry 20 6 1 1 1 5 3 4 .300 .440 .600
Snyder, Gene 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Spooner, Karl 12 2 0 0 0 0 1 3 .167 .214 .167
Taylor, Harry 18 3 1 0 0 3 1 0 .167 .286 .222
Templeton, Chuck 4 2 0 0 0 1 0 1 .500 .571 .500
VanCuyk, Johnny 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .000 1.000 .000
VanCuyk, Chris 20 6 2 0 0 4 3 1 .300 .417 .400
Wade, Ben 18 5 1 0 2 4 1 6 .278 .409 .667
Webber, Les 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .000 .250 .000
Williams, Stan 31 9 1 0 1 4 3 5 .290 .371 .419
Wojey, Pete 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Totals 1308 447 85 24 67 198 83 226 .342 .429 .597
Scouting Report
Musial was signed by the Cardinals as a pitcher, but his quick feet were not overlooked. His exploits in Pennsylvania earned him the nickname "The Donora Greyhound." As a major leaguer, Musial would never steal more than nine bases in a season, though he was considered a strong base runner.
Where He Played
Outfield (1,980 games), first base (1,016). Musial played 47% of his outfield games in LF, 16% in CF, and 37% in RF. From 1955 on, he was basically a first baseman.
Born
Stanley Frank Musial was born on November 21, 1920, in Donora, PA.
Batted: Left
Threw: Left
Major League Debut
9 17,
Nine Other Players Who Debuted in 1941
Stan Musial
Phil Rizzuto
Bob Lemon
Vern Stephens
Dave Philley
Jim Hegan
Danny Murtaugh
Dick Wakefield
Virgil Trucks
Nicknames
Stan the Man
"The Man" came from Brooklyn fans lamenting, "Here comes 'that man' again."
Uniform Numbers
#6 (1941-1944, 1946-1963)
Similar Players
No one player was truly comparable to Musial, not even close. Imagine George Brett's extra-base power, Ted Williams' batting eye, the grace of Joe DiMaggio, and the competitive spirit of Pete Rose.
Related Players
Nate Colbert, Ken Griffey and Ken Griffey Jr.
| Hall of Fame Voting |
| Year |
Election |
Votes |
Pct |
| 1969 |
BBWAA |
317 |
93.2% |
|
Post-Season Appearances
1942 World Series
1943 World Series
1944 World Series
1946 World Series
Awards and Honors
1943 NL MVP
1946 NL MVP
1948 NL MVP
Milestones
- June 3, 1955: 300th HR...
- May 13, 1958: 3000th Hit... The hit was a pinch-hit double off of Moe Drabowsky.
- May 7, 1959: 400th HR...
Batting Feats
Notes
Besides being named the NL's MVP three times (1943, 1946, and 1948), he was selected as The Sporting News NL Player of the Year in 1943, 1948, 1951, and 1957, The Sporting News Major League Player of the Year in 1946 and 1951, and The Sporting News first Player of the Decade in 1956. Twelve times Musial made The Sporting News Major League All-Star team... Musial batted .340 through the 1958 season, but his lifetime average subsequently dropped to .331. The aging, injury-plagued Musial averaged only .283 over his final five seasons. Although his 3,630 hits were equally divided home and away, Musial compiled a .336 batting average in home games and .326 in road contests. He hit an impressive .340 in daylight, much higher than his .320 in night games.
Injuries and Explanation for Missed Playing Time
Early in the 1947 season, Musial suffered appendicitis. His absence from the lineup helped contribute to a bad start by the Cardinals, who were the defending NL Champions... Musial suffered a shoulder injury in 1957 that kept him out of the lineup from August 22 to September 15. Despite the injury, he won his seventh batting title. From August 15 through the end of the season, the 36-year old Musial batted .467 to pull away to win the crown.
Hitting Streaks
30 games (1950)
24 games (1952)
22 games (1943)
20 games (1957)
Home Run Facts
According to David Vincent, who has a database of every homer ever hit in baseball history, Musial belted 167 HR as a first baseman, 148 as a left fielder, and 114 as a right fielder. He is one of three players, through 2005, to have hit at least 100 at three different positions. The others are Harmon Killebrew and Dave Kingman.
All-Star Selections
1943 NL
1944 NL
1946 NL
1947 NL
1948 NL
1949 NL
1950 NL
1951 NL
1952 NL
1953 NL
1954 NL
1955 NL
1956 NL
1957 NL
1958 NL
1959 NL
1960 NL
1961 NL
1962 NL
1963 NL
Replaced
Johnny Hopp, who moved to first base in 1942 to make room for Musial in left field.
Replaced By
Lou Brock. How's that for a transition? Musial was the primary left fielder in 1963, and Brock assumed that role in '64, after he was acquired from the Cubs.
Best Strength as a Player
Everything
Largest Weakness as a Player
None
Learn More about Stan Musial
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