Stan Musial was a great hitter in baseball. People also call him “Stan the Man”. He played for the St. Louis Cardinals for 22 seasons from 1941 to 1963. He missed the 1945 baseball season because he was in the Navy fighting in World War II. He was voted Most Valuable Player of the National Baseball League three times. Stan is 86 years old.
Stan was born near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on November 21, 1920. His father was a Polish immigrant. When he was 17 years old he was a pitcher in West Virginia. After two years he moved to a Florida team. He married on his 19th birthday to Lillian Labash. Musial has 4 children. In 1940 he hurt his shoulder diving to catch a ball and was not able to pitch anymore. The St. Louis Cardinals thought he was a good hitter and put him in left field.
Stan Musial spent most of his time playing baseball and working to become a better player. He studied the pitchers that were going to pitch to him. He memorized the speed each pitcher threw the ball. He would watch the ball as the pitcher threw it and knew what he had to do to hit it. Stan also learned to play the harmonica. He likes to play “Take Me Out To The Ballgame”.
Musial is 6 feet tall and crouched down when he batted. He batted left-handed. He played in 24 All Star games and played in 3 World Series. When he retired Stan had more career hits than anyone else in the National League. Stan was such a good hitter that pitchers would walk him. He retired in 1963 and was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1969. In 1964 President Johnson named him director of the Council on Physical Fitness. He also was the general manager of the 1967 Cardinals that won the World Series.
St. Louis likes Stan Musial. Stan did not always agree with the unpires but he never argued with them. Stan played hard and was a good father. There is a bronze statue of Stan Musial outside Busch Stadium. On the statue it says “Here