Stan Musial (1969)


Date of Birth: 11/21/1920
Date of Death: 1/19/2013
Birthplace: Donora, Pennsylvania

Stan Musial started playing semi-pro baseball as a pitcher when he was just fifteen. Two years later, in 1938, he signed with the St. Louis Cardinals, the team he played with for his entire major league career.

St. Louis Cardinals

Musial played with the Cardinals' minor league teams until September, 1941, when he was called up to the majors for 12 games. The following season, his rookie one, Musial played in the outfield, batting .315 with 147 hits, 32 doubles, and 10 triples in 140 games.

Musial was drafted into the US navy in May, 1944, but he was able to finish the baseball season before serving. He spent 15 months in the navy, missing the entire 1945 baseball season. When he returned to the Cardinals in 1946, he became their regular first baseman. He also acquired the nickname "Stan the Man" that season. In 1946, he was named the NL MVP and he led the league in hits, doubles, triples, batting average, and OPS. He finished the season with 228 hits, 50 doubles, a career high 20 triples, 16 home runs, 103 RBIs, a .365 batting average, and an OPS of 1.021. In addition to being a powerful hitter, he showed that he had a good eye and discipline at the plate, walking 73 times while striking out just 31 times.

Musial had a good season in 1947, finishing with 183 hits, 30 doubles, 13 triples, 19 home runs, 95 RBIs, and a .312 batting average in 149 games. He walked 80 times and struck out only 24 times.

Musial had his best season in 1948, winning both the NL MVP award and the Sporting News MVP award. He had career highs in hits (230), home runs (39), RBIs (131), batting average (.376), on-base percentage (.450), and OPS (1.152). He led the NL in hits, doubles (46), triples (18), RBIs, batting average, on-base percentage, and OPS.

Musial continued to dominate NL hitters in 1949 and 1950. He led the league in hits (207), doubles (41), triples (13), and on-base percentage (.438) in 1949. He walked a career high 107 times and struck out only 38 times. He batted .338 in 1949. He was just as impressive in 1950, when he batted .346. That season, he again led the NL in batting average and OPS (1.033). He finished the 1950 season with 192 hits, 41 doubles, 28 home runs, and 109 RBIs in 146 games. He walked 87 times and struck out 36 times.

In 1951, Musial won his third Sporting News MVP award, and he led the NL in triples with 12 and in batting average with .355. He finished the season with 205 hits, 30 doubles, 32 home runs, and 108 RBIs in 152 games. He once more showed a good eye and discipline at the plate, walking 98 times and striking out just 40 times.

Musial continued to be one of the NL's best hitters from 1952 through 1956, batting over .300 each season (.336 in 1952, .337 in 1953, .330 in 1954, .319 in 1955, and .310 in 1956). He led the NL in hits (194), doubles (42), batting average, and OPS (.970) in 1952. The next year, he led the league in doubles with a career high 53 and on-base percentage with .437. He also led the league in walks in 1953 with 105 (to just 32 strikeouts). In 1954, he led the league in doubles with 41, and in 1956, he led in RBIs with 109.

Musial again won the Sporting News MVP award in 1957. He also won the Lou Gehrig Memorial award that year. He again led the NL in batting average (.351), on-base percentage (.422), and OPS (1.034). He also showed his defensive skills in 1957, leading all NL first basemen in double plays turned with 131.

In 1958, Musial had a .337 batting average with 159 hits in 135 games. He walked 72 times and struck out 26 times. Defensively, he led all NL first basemen in assists with 100.

Musial struggled offensively in 1959, 1960, and 1961. For the first time in 17 years, his batting average dropped below .300 to .255 in 1959. His playing time was limited to 115 games in 1959, 116 games in 1960, and 123 games in 1961. His batting average slowly improved, going up to .275 in 1960, and to .288 in 1961. He came back strong in 1962, batting .330 with 143 hits, 18 doubles, 19 home runs, and 82 RBIs in 135 games. In 1963, his last season as a major league player, he batted .255 with 86 hits in 124 games.

Awards and MLB Records

  • NL MVP (3 times)
  • Sporting News MVP award (4 times)
  • Lou Gehrig Memorial award
  • Led the NL in batting average (7 times)
  • Led the NL in hits (6 times)
  • Led the NL in doubles (8 times)
  • Led the NL in triples (5 times)
  • Led the NL in RBIs (2 times)
  • Led the NL in on-base percentage (6 times)
  • Led the NL in OPS (7 times)
  • 16 consecutive seasons with a batting average over .300

Career Statistics

Batting statistics for Musial in 22 seasons (1941-1944, 1946-1963) in the major leagues include:

  • 15 seasons with over 150 hits, with a high of 230 in 1948
  • 16 seasons with 30 or more doubles, with a high of 53 in 1953
  • 8 seasons with 10 or more triples, with a high of 20 in 1943 and 1946
  • 10 seasons with over 20 home runs, with a high of 39 in 1948
  • 10 seasons with over 100 RBIs, with a high of 131 in 1948
  • 17 seasons with a batting average over .300, with a high of .376 in 1948

Career batting statistics for Musial include:

  • 3,026 games played
  • 3,630 hits
  • 725 doubles
  • 177 triples
  • 475 home runs
  • 1,951 RBIs
  • 696 strikeouts to 1,599 walks
  • .331 batting average
  • .417 on-base percentage
  • .976 OPS

Career fielding statistics for Musial at first base include:

  • 1,016 games played
  • 688 assists
  • 935 double plays
  • 8,709 putouts
  • 78 errors
  • .992 fielding percentage

Career fielding statistics for Musial as an outfielder include:

  • 1,890 games played
  • 3,730 putouts
  • 64 errors
  • .984 fielding percentage

Postseason statistics for Musial include:

  • 4 postseasons
  • 23 games played
  • 86 at-bats
  • 22 hits
  • 7 doubles
  • 1 triple
  • 1 home run
  • 8 RBIs
  • 1 stolen base
  • 4 strikeouts to 12 walks
  • .256 batting average

Post Playing Career

Musial served as Vice President of the Cardinals from September, 1963 through the end of the 1966 season. In 1967, he served for a year as the team's general manager.

Musial was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1969 on the first ballot with 93.2% of the vote.

Sources for Information
Wikipedia - Stan Musial
ESPN - Stan Musial
Baseball Reference - Stan Musial

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