B. Sapp and J. Coppinger

Falkenberg and Stanley

History/ English

2 March 2004

Stan the Man: His Life Story

Stan Musial is a national hero and has changed baseball in many aspects. Since his birth in a humble, small town Pennsylvania home, he has been a hero to the average baseball player everywhere. He was almost prevented from baseball but with the help of his mother he had an incredible baseball career. He was a hero in the past, he is a hero in the present, and will be a hero in the future. After all, he is "the man". (Broeg, page 86)

Stan Musial was born in 1920 in Donora, Pennsylvania. In school he barely maintained a C average. This angered his father, Lukasz, who was a Polish immigrant. Due to his disappointment, Lukasz refused to sign a form allowing Stan to play minor league ball. Then Stan’s mother, a Slovak immigrant, stepped in and convinced Lukasz to reconsider. This led to a tremendous baseball career. (Broeg page 102-110)

A scout first noticed Stan Musial when he was playing with a St. Louis farm team. The scout recorded "overall, good player, may be too good a hitter to keep out of game." He was first introduced to Major League Baseball when the St. Louis Cardinals drafted him. When he first got into Major League Baseball, he averaged .425, although he only batted about twenty times. Throughout the rest of his career, he averaged above .300 and only got an average under .300 four times. (Giglio, page 302-306)

Stan Musial got his famous nickname when he was in Brooklyn playing the Dodgers. He was arriving at the airport when a Dodgers fan said, "uh oh, here comes the man again, here comes the man." From that moment on he was known as "The Man"

Stan is still a legend to people in St. Louis. The Stan Musial walk of fame is in St. Louis. People still admire how he came from a poor immigrant family to be one of the greatest athletes to ever live. From his minor league ball in his town, to playing in the St. Louis farm system, to playing in the Major League, to entering the Hall of Fame, he has represented what you can accomplish if you really try. (Broeg, Giglio, Lansche page 45, page 79, page 90)

In Stan the Man’s first season, he had twenty hits and one home run. He had seven runs batted in (RBI’s) and averaged .426. In 1942, Musial’s second season, he had 147 hits and ten home runs. He had seventy-two RBI’s and averaged .315. In 1943, he had 226 hits and had thirteen home runs. He had eighty-seven RBI’s and averaged .357. He averaged .347 and had 147 hits, twelve home runs, and ninety-four RBI’s in his fourth season. In 1945 Stan Musial was in the military service during World War II. (Broeg page back cover)

Skeptics thought Stan Musial’s days as a professional baseball player were numbered since he had just returned from military service. In spite of these doubts, he came back with 228 hits, sixteen home runs, 103 RBI’s. His batting average that year was .356. In 1947 he had 183 hits, nineteen home runs, and ninety-five RBI’s. His average for that year was .312. During the next season, he had 230 hits and had thirty-nine home runs. He also had 131 RBI’s with an average of .376. In 1949, he had 207 hits and thirty-six home runs. He had 123 RBI’s and an average of .338. (Broeg page 93)

His career successes continued in this manner throughout his twenty-two year career. In 1963, Stan Musial’s final career season, he had eighty-seven hits, twelve home runs, fifty-seven RBI’s and averaged .255.

Throughout his baseball career, Stan Musial delivered in all 3,630 hits, 475 home runs, 1.956 RBI’s and had a lifetime batting average of .331 Musial claimed seven National League batting titles and was named MLB’s most valuable player in 1943, 1946, and 1948. He was elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1969.

People will always recognize his baseball abilities, but Musial was a devoted family man and citizen. In 1964, he served for President Lyndon B. Johnson as national director of the President’s Council on Physical Fitness.(Lansche page 105)

People around the world still admire and learn from Stan Musial. As Harry Carry once said, "To me, Stan Musial was the greatest star, not only because of his great ability, but because the man, the character, the soul of the man." Stan Musial loves and respects the game of baseball and is grateful for his experience. Musial once said, "I hope I’ve given neary as much as I’ve gotten from it[baseball]."(Broeg page 311)

Works Cited

Broeg, Bob. Stan Musial: The Man’s Own Story. Garden City, New York: Doubleday &

Company Inc, 1964.

Giglio, James. Musial: from Stash to Stan the Man. Columbia and London, Missouri:

University of Missouri Press, 2001.

Lansche, Jerry. Stan the Man Musial:Born to be a ballplayer. Dallas, Texas: Taylor

Publishing Company, 1994.