preview

Stan Musial Essay

Good Essays

Name: Stan Musial
Bith Date: December 21, 1920
Death Date:
Place of Birth: Donora, Pennsylvania, United States of America
Nationality: American
Gender: Male
Occupations: baseball player
Stan Musial
Stan Musial (born 1920), one of baseball's greatest hitters, enjoyed an extraordinary career with the St. Louis Cardinals from 1941 through 1963. Called "Stan the Man" because of his intimidating presence at the plate, Musial won seven batting championships and three Most Valuable Player awards.

Accommodating to fans and the media both during and after his playing career, Musial was considered one of the game's most gentlemanly and down-to-earth ambassadors. He came from rural Pennsylvania, never graduated from high school, and …show more content…

"They horsed around more, cut up with hillbilly songs and musical instruments. ... I never had the courage to try my harmonica outside my hotel room, but I could make my share of noise with that slide whistle and coat hanger. I always thought it helped to laugh it up before a game, not to become too tense."

Led by Musial's hot bat, the loose, inexperienced Cardinals surprised everyone by winning 106 games, including 43 of their last 52, to claim the National League pennant. Then St. Louis beat the favored Yankees in the World Series, and Musial was on a world championship team in his first full season.

Musial was disliked by Brooklyn Dodgers' fans, who bestowed his nickname. Groaning when he came up to bat in key situations, they would yell: "Oh no. Here comes that Man again." From then on, he was always "Stan the Man." Musial didn't find out till after he retired that Dodgers' shortstop, Pee Wee Reese, often used to steal his bat before games.

Musial had an unorthodox batting stance. He crouched down to make the strike zone smaller, held his hands back until the last possible instant, and punched many of his hits the opposite way. "A lot of guys saw my hitting style and said I'd never hit in the big leagues," Musial recalled. In fact, Musial feasted on all types of pitching. "I learned early to hit the curveball," Musial wrote in his

Get Access