Outfielder, St.
Louis Cardinals
Age: 22
2nd season
with Cardinals
Bats – Left,
Throws – Left
Height: 6’0” Weight: 175
Prior to 1943:
A native of
Donora, Pennsylvania, the sports-minded Musial excelled in basketball, as well
as baseball, in his youth, where his pleasant personality and friendly
disposition were first on display as well. Signed by the Cardinals against his
immigrant father’s wishes, he started out as a pitcher. With Williamson of the
Class D Mountain State League in 1938, the 17-year-old southpaw went 6-6 with a
4.66 ERA in 20 appearances. Returning to Williamson in 1939 he produced a 9-2
tally and 4.30 ERA while issuing 85 walks in 92 innings. Playing in the
outfield between starts he batted .352. Sent to Daytona Beach of the Class D
Florida State League in 1940, his record improved to 18-5 with a 2.62 ERA,
although he still walked 145 batters over the course of 223 innings. He also
batted .311. While playing center field in an August game, Musial attempted to
make a diving catch and landed on his left shoulder, causing an injury that
finished his pitching career and turned him into a full-time outfielder,
although he never regained full strength in his throwing arm. Moving on to
Springfield of the Class C Western Association in 1941, he hit .379 with 26
home runs as a full-time outfielder before advancing to Rochester of the
International League where he batted .326 in 54 games. The Cardinals, who were
battling Brooklyn for the NL pennant, called Musial up in September and,
appearing in 12 games in place of the injured right fielder Enos Slaughter, he
hit .426 with a home run and 7 RBIs. Moving into the St. Louis lineup in left
field in 1942, he batted .315 with 32 doubles, 10 triples, 10 home runs, and 72
RBIs. The Cardinals won 106 games and the pennant and World Series, and the
21-year-old rookie placed twelfth in league MVP voting. Musial had an unusual, closed
batting stance in which he started out crouched in the back of the batter’s box
from which he uncoiled to powerfully hit line drives to all fields while rarely
striking out. With excellent speed on the bases and in the outfield, he
compensated for his weakened throwing arm by getting rid of the ball quickly
and accurately.
1943 Season Summary
Appeared in 157
games
RF – 123, LF –
28, CF – 10, PH – 2
[Bracketed
numbers indicate NL rank in Top 20]
Batting
Plate
Appearances – 701 [1]
At Bats – 617 [4]
Runs – 108 [2]
Hits – 220 [1]
Doubles – 48 [1]
Triples – 20 [1]
Home Runs – 13 [6,
tied with Whitey Kurowski]
RBI – 81 [5,
tied with Walker Cooper]
Bases on Balls
– 72 [11]
Int. BB – 14
[3, tied with Ray Mueller]
Strikeouts – 18
Stolen Bases – 9
[7, tied with Lou Klein & Whitey Wietelmann]
Caught Stealing
– 6 [8, tied with nine others]
Average - .357
[1]
OBP - .425 [1]
Slugging Pct. -
.562 [1]
Total Bases – 347
[1]
GDP – 17 [7,
tied with Joe Medwick]
Hit by Pitches
– 2 [18, tied with many others]
Sac Hits – 10
Sac Flies – N/A
League-leading
plate appearances were +4 ahead of runner-up Tommy Holmes
League-leading
hits were +25 ahead of runner-up Mickey Witek
League-leading
doubles were +7 ahead of runners-up Billy Herman & Vince DiMaggio
League-leading
triples were +6 ahead of runner-up Lou Klein
League-leading
batting average was +.027 ahead of runner-up Billy Herman
League-leading
OBP was +.013 ahead of runner-up Augie Galan
League-leading
slugging percentage was +.031 ahead of runner-up Bill Nicholson
League-leading
total bases were +24 ahead of runner-up Bill Nicholson
Midseason
snapshot: 2B – 20, 3B- 11, HR - 5, RBI - 33, AVG - .330, SLG – .522, OBP – .411
Most hits, game
– 5 (in 6 AB) vs. NY Giants 7/21
Longest hitting
streak – 22 games
HR at home – 7
HR on road – 6
Most home runs,
game – 2 (in 5 AB) at Brooklyn 8/15, (in 4 AB) vs. Pittsburgh 9/8
Multi-HR games
– 2
Most RBIs, game
– 5 at Brooklyn 8/15
Pinch-hitting –
1 for 2 (.500) with 1 R & 1 RBI
Fielding
Chances – 398
Put Outs – 376
Assists – 15
Errors – 7
DP – 4
Pct. - .982
Postseason
Batting: 5 G (World Series vs. NY Yankees)
PA – 20, AB – 18,
R – 2, H – 5, 2B – 0,3B – 0, HR – 0, RBI – 0, BB – 2, IBB – 0, SO – 2, SB – 0, CS
– 0, AVG - .278, OBP - .350, SLG - .278, TB – 5, GDP – 0, HBP – 0, SH – 0, SF –
N/A
Awards & Honors:
NL MVP: BBWAA
All-Star (Started
for NL in LF)
Top 5 in NL MVP
Voting:
Stan Musial,
StLC.: 267 pts. - 13 of 24 first place votes, 79% share
Walker Cooper,
StLC.: 192 pts. – 5 first place votes, 57% share
Bill Nicholson,
ChiC.: 181 pts. – 5 first place votes, 54% share
Billy Herman,
Brook.: 140 pts. – 42% share
Mort Cooper,
StLC.: 130 pts. –39% share
(1 first place
vote for Clyde Shoun, Cin., who ranked tenth)
Cardinals went 105-49
to win the NL pennant by 18 games over the Cincinnati Reds while lead the
league in hits (1515), batting (.279), slugging (.392), and total bases (2128).
Helped by Musial’s potent hitting, added to a lineup that had not yet been too
depleted by World War II, the Cardinals cruised to a second straight pennant. They
lost the World Series to the New York Yankees, 4 games to 1.
Aftermath of ‘43:
In the
offseason, Musial returned to Donora to do war industry work at the American
Steel & Wire Company. The Cardinals won a third straight pennant in 1944
and “the Donora Greyhound” batted .347 while leading the NL in hits (197),
doubles (51), on-base percentage (.440), and slugging percentage (.549). He
also collected 14 doubles, 12 home runs, 94 RBIs, and drew 90 walks. The Cards
defeated the St. Louis Browns, who they shared Sportsman’s Park with, in six
games with Musial hitting .304 and slugging a key home run. He also finished
fourth in league MVP balloting. Musial joined the Navy in 1945 and spent most
of the year playing service baseball. Discharged early in 1946, he was tempted
by an offer from the Mexican League, which was attempting to buy up major
league players and offered him $50,000. Staying with the Cardinals, he was
utilized primarily at first base and hit a league-leading .365 while also
topping the circuit in runs scored (124), hits (228), doubles (50), triples
(20), slugging (.587), and total bases (366). He further compiled 16 home runs
and 103 RBIs while drawing 73 walks and striking out just 31 times. He was
again the National League MVP and St. Louis defeated the Boston Red Sox in
seven games although Musial’s matchup against Boston slugger Ted Williams did
not live up to expectations (Musial hit .222 with five extra-base hits and four
RBIs and Williams batted .200 with one RBI). Musial was the league MVP for a
second time. In 1947 he was hindered by an inflamed appendix that was removed
following the season and he batted .312 with 30 doubles, 13 triples, 19 home
runs, and 95 RBIs. A player who took offseason conditioning very seriously, he
rebounded in 1948 by hitting a league-leading (and career-best) .376 while also
topping the NL in runs scored (135), hits (230), doubles (46), triples (18),
RBIs (131), OBP (.450), slugging percentage (.702), and total bases (429). His
39 home runs were just one behind league-co-leaders Johnny Mize of the Giants
and Ralph Kiner of Pittsburgh, depriving him of the batting Triple Crown. He
was still the NL MVP for the third time with the second-place Cardinals (they
would not win another pennant during his long tenure with the club). Dubbed
“Stan the Man” by New York fans and sportswriters due to his superlative
performances at Ebbets Field and the Polo Grounds (he was regularly referred to
as “that man” for the way he dominated the Dodgers and Giants), Musial, who
returned to the outfield in ’48, continued his outstanding play in 1949 by
batting .338 and leading the NL in hits (207), doubles (41), triples (13), OBP
(.438), and total bases (429). He further compiled 36 home runs and 123 RBIs
while drawing 107 walks. He finished second in the NL MVP race. His outstanding
hitting continued in 1950, ’51, and ’52. Musial won three straight batting
titles and led the NL in runs scored, slugging, and total bases twice and hits
once. He also placed second in league MVP voting in 1950 and ’51, so that over
the course of four consecutive years he either received the MVP award or
finished second. “Stan the Man” also split his time between first base and the
outfield, with satisfactory results. In 1953 he placed eighth in NL MVP voting,
leading the league in doubles (53), walks drawn (105), and OBP (.437) while
batting .337 with 200 hits, 9 doubles, 30 home runs, and 113 RBIs, while
striking out just 32 times. In 1954 against the Giants at home in Busch Stadium
(the renamed Sportsman’s Park), Musial set a record with five home runs in a
doubleheader. The Cardinals were a mediocre, seventh-place club in 1955 but
Musial kept up his steady batting production by hitting .319 with 33 home runs
and 108 RBIs. His twelfth-inning home run in the All-Star Game propelled the
National League to a 6-5 win. “Stan the Man” led the NL with 109 RBIs in 1956
while also batting .310 with 33 doubles, 27 home runs, and a .522 slugging
percentage. In 1957, his consecutive game streak dating back to 1952 ended at
895 due to torn shoulder ligaments, but he still won his seventh league batting
title by hitting .351 and finished second in MVP voting. By 1958 he was 37 and making
$100,000 per year and piling up significant career statistics. He reached 3000
hits in a May game at Wrigley Field on his way to batting .337 with 17 home
runs and 62 RBIs. Despite his excellent conditioning, age appeared to be
catching up to Musial in 1959 as his average plummeted to .255 along with 14
home runs and 44 RBIs. He rebounded somewhat in 1960 by hitting .275 with 17
home runs and 63 RBIs. In the spring of 1961, the Cardinals rented an entire
motel in segregated St. Petersburg, Florida, so the entire team, white and
black, could live together with their families. Musial, who typically rented a
house for his family, stayed at the motel in his role as an esteemed team
leader who supported the club’s action. He went on to hit .288 in 1961 and
contended for another batting championship in 1962 at age 41 as he finished at
.330 with 19 home runs and 82 RBIs. Musial played one last season in 1963 and
batted .255 with 12 home runs and 58 RBIs. For his major league career, spent
entirely with the Cardinals, “Stan the Man” batted .331 with 3630 hits that
included 725 doubles, 177 triples, and 475 home runs. He scored 1949 runs and
further compiled 1951 RBIs along with a .417 OBP and .559 slugging percentage.
Appearing in 23 World Series games, he hit .256 with a home run and 8 RBIs. A
24-time All-Star, Musial hit a record six home runs in All-Star play. He
finished in the top 10 in NL MVP voting 14 times, winning three times. The
Cardinals retired his #6 and he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in
1969. Esteemed for his dignity and class, both on and off the field he was never
ejected from a game during his major league career. Personable and popular,
Musial operated a restaurant in St. Louis and remained in the public eye long
after his playing career ended. He also served the Cardinals as a
vice-president and was general manager during the 1967 season that concluded
with a World Series title. President Lyndon B. Johnson’s advisor on physical
fitness, he was presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011 by
President Barack Obama. The Cardinals erected a statue of Musial outside Busch
Stadium in his honor. Musial died in 2013 at the age of 92.
---
MVP Profiles feature players in the National or
American leagues who were winners of the Chalmers Award (1911-14), League Award
(1922-29), or Baseball Writers’ Association of America Award (1931 to present)
as Most Valuable Player.
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