80 Facts About Stan Musial

Widely considered to be one of the greatest and most consistent hitters in baseball history, Musial spent 22 seasons in Major League Baseball, playing for the St Louis Cardinals, from 1941 to 1944 and from 1946 to 1963, before becoming a first-ballot inductee into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1969.

Stan Musial was born in Donora, Pennsylvania, where he frequently played baseball informally or in organized settings, and eventually played on the baseball team at Donora High School.

Stan Musial was named to the NL All-Star squad for the first time; he appeared in every All-Star game in every subsequent season he played.

Stan Musial won his second World Series championship in 1944, then missed the 1945 season while serving in the Navy.

Stan Musial was selected for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team in 1999.

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Stan Musial was born in Donora, Pennsylvania, the fifth of the six children of Lukasz Stan Musial and Mary Lancos.

Stan Musial's 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".

Young Stan Musial frequently played baseball with his brother Ed and other friends during his childhood, and considered Lefty Grove his favorite ballplayer.

Stan Musial learned about baseball from his neighbor Joe Barbao, a former minor league pitcher.

At age 15, Stan Musial joined the Donora Zincs, a semi-professional team managed by Barbao.

Stan Musial played one season on the newly revived Donora High School baseball team, where one of his teammates was Buddy Griffey, father of MLB player Ken Griffey Sr.

Stan Musial played basketball and was offered an athletic scholarship in that sport by the University of Pittsburgh.

Stan Musial credited his school librarian Helen Kloz for pointing out that baseball was his dream and advising him to pursue it professionally.

Stan Musial then reported to the Cardinals' Class D affiliate in West Virginia, the Williamson Red Birds.

Stan Musial's rookie year with Williamson in 1938 was a period of adjustment both on and off the field.

Stan Musial finished his high school education before returning to Williamson in spring 1939.

Stan Musial spent the 1940 season with the Cardinals' other Class D team, the Daytona Beach Islanders, where he developed a lifelong friendship with manager Dickie Kerr.

On May 25,1940, Stan Musial married fellow Donora resident, Lillian "Lil" Labash, in Daytona Beach, and the couple's first child followed in August.

Stan Musial was assigned to the Class AA Columbus Red Birds to begin 1941, though manager, Burt Shotton, and Stan Musial himself quickly realized that the previous year's injury had considerably weakened his arm.

Stan Musial was reassigned to the Class C Springfield Cardinals as a full-time outfielder, and he later credited manager Ollie Vanek for displaying confidence in his hitting ability.

Stan Musial was noted for his unique batting stance, a crouch in which his back was seemingly square to the pitcher.

Stan Musial was called up to the Cardinals for the last two weeks of the 1941 season.

Stan Musial made his major league debut during the second game of a doubleheader at Sportsman's Park on September 17,1941.

Stan Musial's first hit of the Series was an RBI single that provided the margin of victory in Game 2, allowing the Cardinals to tie the Series.

Stan Musial had a single in the Cardinals' Game 1 loss, and scored a run in a Game 2 win.

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Stan Musial enlisted in the United States Navy on January 23,1945, during World War II.

Stan Musial was initially assigned to non-combat duty at the United States Naval Training Center Bainbridge.

In 2007, Stan Musial received the Navy Memorial's Lone Sailor Award, which honors Navy veterans who have excelled in civilian life.

Stan Musial became close friends with new teammate Red Schoendienst, who had joined the Cardinals during Musial's absence in 1945.

Stan Musial declined the offer, and after manager Dyer spoke to club owner Sam Breadon, Musial was given a $5,000 raise later in 1946.

Stan Musial received treatment, but did not have either his appendix or tonsils surgically removed until after the season ended.

Stan Musial approached the 1949 season with the intent to try to hit more home runs, stating he had hit 39 the previous season "without trying".

Stan Musial's new focus on hitting for power backfired, as pitchers began using the outside part of the plate to induce him to ground out to the first or second baseman.

Stan Musial had the longest hitting streak of his career during the 1950 season—a 30-game stretch that ended on July 27.

Stan Musial finished second in NL MVP voting for the third year in a row and was named The Sporting News Major League Player of the Year.

Stan Musial plays as hard when his club is away out in front of a game as he does when they're just a run or two behind.

Only major league pitching appearance of Stan Musial's career occurred as a publicity stunt during the last Cardinals home game of the 1952 season.

The play was ruled an error, and Stan Musial was embarrassed enough by his complicity in the gimmick to avoid pitching again for the remainder of his career.

Stan Musial accomplished another historical feat on May 2,1954, in a doubleheader in St Louis against the New York Giants: he hit three home runs in the first contest, then added two more in the second to become the first major leaguer to hit five home runs in a doubleheader.

The only player besides Stan Musial to hit five home runs in a doubleheader is Nate Colbert, who achieved the feat in 1972.

Stan Musial made his 12th NL All-Star appearance in 1955 as a reserve player, when Cincinnati's Ted Kluszewski outpolled him by 150,000 votes to get on the starting lineup at first base.

Stan Musial entered the game as a pinch hitter in the fourth inning, and played left field as the game entered extra innings.

On June 11,1957, Stan Musial tied the NL record for consecutive games played with his 822nd, a streak that began on the last day of the 1951 season.

Stan Musial finished 1957 as Sports Illustrateds "Sportsman of the Year".

Stan Musial signed one of the first $100,000 contracts in NL history on January 29,1958.

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Stan Musial campaigned for Kennedy later that year and became a supporter of the Democratic Party.

On June 30,1959, Stan Musial was the batter in one of the oddest plays in baseball history.

Anderson finally noticed that Stan Musial was trying for second, took the new ball, and threw it to second baseman Tony Taylor.

Stan Musial did not see Dark's throw and only noticed Anderson's ball fly over the second baseman's head, so he tried to go to third base.

Stan Musial was eager to prove that his mediocre performance was the result of improper physical conditioning, and he enlisted the help of Walter Eberhardt, Saint Louis University's director of physical education.

Stan Musial addressed the speculation in September, confirming that he would play again in 1961.

Stan Musial finished with the all-time National League hits record and second to only Ty Cobb on the all-time Major League list.

At the time of his retirement, Stan Musial held or shared 17 major league records, 29 NL records, and nine All-Star Game records.

Stan Musial held NL career marks in categories such as hits, games played, doubles, and RBI.

Stan Musial finished his career with 475 home runs despite never having led the NL in the category.

Stan Musial's home run production is a different story and it is highly unlikely he would have reached 500.

Stan Musial did not hit more than 13 home runs in any season before he entered the navy and did not hit as many as 25 until 1948,3 years after returning to baseball from World War II.

Steven R Bullock speculates that it is possible that without military service Musial might have continued playing to attempt to exceed Ty Cobb's career hit record of 4,191.

Stan Musial recorded 8 five-hit games and 59 four-hit games in his 22-year MLB career.

Stan Musial was the first major league player to appear in more than 1,000 games at two different positions, registering 1,896 games in the outfield and 1,016 at first base.

Stan Musial married his high school sweetheart and stayed married to her.

All Stan Musial represents is more than two decades of sustained excellence and complete decency as a human being.

Stan Musial was named a vice president of the St Louis Cardinals in September 1963, and he remained in that position until after the 1966 season.

Stan Musial won the allegiance of Cardinals players by making fair offers from the outset of player-contract negotiations and creating an in-stadium babysitting service so players' wives could attend games.

Stan Musial came to realize that the detail-oriented desk job was not his forte.

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Stan Musial consequently decided to step down as general manager, before even completing a full year on the job.

Stan Musial appeared on the television show Hee Haw in 1985, and in 1994 recorded 18 songs that were sold in tandem with a harmonica-playing instruction booklet.

Stan Musial gave free meals at the restaurant he owned in St Louis to any customers who presented valid ID proving they were Donora residents.

Stan Musial met Lillian Susan Labash, the daughter of a local grocer, in Donora when both were 15, and married her in St Paul's Catholic Church in Daytona Beach, Florida on May 25,1940.

Lillian Stan Musial died at 91, on May 3,2012; their marriage had lasted for almost 72 years.

Stan Musial was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility in 1969, when he was named on 93.

Stan Musial was ranked tenth on The Sporting News list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players published in 1998.

Stan Musial was one of the 30 players selected to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team, added by a special committee after he finished 11th in fan voting among outfielders.

Stan Musial threw out the first pitch in the fifth game of the 2006 World Series and delivered the ceremonial first pitch ball to President Barack Obama at the 2009 Major League Baseball All-Star Game.

On October 18,2012, Stan Musial made his final appearance at Busch Stadium, riding in a golf cart around the field before Game 4 of the National League Championship Series.

Stan Musial stopped at both dugouts and greeted San Francisco Giants manager Bruce Bochy and Cardinals manager Mike Matheny.

On January 19,2013, surrounded by his family, Stan Musial died at age 92 of natural causes at his home in Ladue, Missouri, on the same day as fellow MLB Hall of Fame inductee Earl Weaver.

Stan Musial was the greatest player in Cardinals history and one of the best players in the history of baseball.

The entire Cardinals organization extends its sincere condolences to Stan Musial's family, including his children Richard, Gerry, Janet and Jean, as well as his eleven grandchildren and twelve great grandchildren.

Bob Costas gave the principal eulogy, calling him "the genuine hero who as the years and decades passed, and disillusionment came from other directions, never once let us down", and quoting fellow Cooperstown honoree Mickey Mantle, who once said that Stan Musial "was a better player than me because he was a better man than me".