Stan Musial

Stan Musial

Stanley Frank Musial, nicknamed Stan the Man, was an American baseball outfielder and first baseman. He spent 22 seasons in Major League Baseball playing for the St. Louis Cardinals, from 1941 to 1944 and from 1946 to 1963. Musial was a first-ballot inductee into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1969.

About Stan Musial in brief

Summary Stan MusialStanley Frank Musial, nicknamed Stan the Man, was an American baseball outfielder and first baseman. He spent 22 seasons in Major League Baseball playing for the St. Louis Cardinals, from 1941 to 1944 and from 1946 to 1963. Musial was a first-ballot inductee into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1969. His 475 career home runs then ranked second in NL history behind Mel Ott’s total of 511. He was named the National League’s Most Valuable Player three times and was a member of three World Series championship teams. In February 2011, President Barack Obama presented Musial with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award that can be bestowed on a person by the U.S. government. In addition to overseeing personal businesses, including a restaurant, both before and after his playing career, Musial served as the Cardinals’ general manager in 1967, winning the pennant and World Series, then resigning that position. His exploits earned him the nickname “The Donora Greyhound” Musial also played basketball for the University of Pittsburgh, where he was offered an athletic scholarship by the Cardinals. In 1937, the Cardinals had scouted Musial as a pitcher and offered him a professional contract after a workout with their Class D affiliate Class D Class D Penn State. In 1938, he was converted into an outfielder and made his major league debut in 1941. He batted. 331 over the course of his career and set National League records for career hits, runs batted in, games played, at bats, runs scored and doubles.

He also shares the major league record for the most All-Star Games played with Hank Aaron and Willie Mays. In his first full season, 1942, he led the NL in six different offensive categories and earned his first MVP award. In 1948, he finished one home run short of winning baseball’s Triple Crown. After struggling offensively in 1959,Musial used a personal trainer to help maintain his productivity until he decided to retire in 1963. At the time of his retirement, he held or shared 17 major league records, 29 National League Records, and nine All-Stars Game records. He is the grandfather of MLB player Ken Griffey Sr. and grandfather to Ken Griffy Jr. The fifth of the six children of Lukasz Musial and Mary Lancos. His mother was of Carpatho-Rusyn descent and his father was a Polish immigrant who always referred to his son by the Polish nickname Stasiu, pronounced \”Stashu\”. Musial frequently played baseball with his brother Ed and other friends during his childhood, and considered Lefty Grove his favorite ballplayer. At age 15, he pitched six innings and struck out 13 batters, all of them adults, in his semi-professional team managed by Joe Barbao. He played one season on the newly revived Donora High School baseball team, where one of his teammates was Buddy Griffey, father of Buddy Griffy, and later became a professional pitcher.