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Happy Birthday To The Man

Posted on November 21, 2011 at 9:07 AM
Filed Under: St. Louis Cardinals
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It should be a civic holiday in St. Louis--91 years ago today, in a little town in Pennsylvania, greatness was born.

When the Baseball Bloggers Alliance determined that we wanted to name our awards after legendary players, I knew that somehow I was getting Stan Musial's name in that list.  I was able to get our MVP award named the Stan Musial Award and no one has ever had much of a problem with it.  The only thing I've ever heard is that, if pitchers are eligible (as they are), it should be named after Babe Ruth.  To which I always rejoin, "Remember, Musial started out as a pitcher."

Name a characteristic of a great player and you find it with Stan.  Amazing stats?  Check.  If Albert Pujols doesn't stay with the Cardinals, chances are on Stan's 141st birthday he'll still be leading the club in most categories.  His numbers stack up well with any Hall of Famer you can bring up.

Historic moments?  Surely.  His All-Star home run in 1955 won the best All-Star moment bracket held this past season.  He was a three-time MVP.  He even got a statue with the commissioner calling him a "perfect knight".  That's gotta rank up there as moments that not just everyone has.

Consistency?  Is there a better stat in baseball than Musial's 1815 home hits being paired with 1815 road hits?  Add in the fact that Musial didn't hit under .310 for a season until 1959, his seventeenth full season and there's no doubt he was regularly a top-notch player.  Bob Costas may have said it best when he opined "All Musial represents is more than two decades of sustained excellence and complete decency as a human being."

Versatility?  Besides the fact that he did start his minor league career as a pitcher before an arm injury kept him from the mound, Musial also spent one year as the general manager of the Cardinals.  In that one year, the team won the World Series.

Class?  The reason Musial's legacy probably reverberates so much because of that "complete decency," his outstanding class and humility.  He was never ejected from a game.  He stopped smoking in public because of the young kids that would look up to him.  He would keep stacks of photos with him to give out and stay for hours signing autographs.  From all reports, he'd make you feel like the All-Star instead of looking for attention from himself.

There are a ton of stories about Musial's class and humanity.  One I like was hearing about Tony La Russa sitting in his office with Stan, then picking up the phone to call his father.  TLR would tell his dad, "Hey, guess who I'm sitting across from?" and Musial would take the phone and exclaim, "Whatta ya say!  Whatta ya say!"  The thrill it gave Tony to be able to do that and for his father to get that kind of call was probably on par with Musial's genuine thrill to make someone else happy.

Stan is now 91 years old.  Alzheimer's is his current opponent.  However, there's no doubt that anytime Stan comes out for an event, be it his receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom or being on the field for the World Series, the place lights up and everyone can go about their day with more of a spring in their step.  Hopefully there will be many more occasions where Stan Musial can know just how much he means to the red-clad fans of Cardinal Nation.

Happy birthday, Stan!
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Heroes
Matt Holliday (5)
Matt Carpenter (4)
Rafael Furcal (4)
Carlos Beltran (3)
Jaime Garcia (3)
Jon Jay (3)
Kyle Lohse (3)
Lance Lynn (3)
Yadier Molina (3)
David Freese (2)
Adam Wainwright (2)
Lance Berkman (1)
Allen Craig (1)
Shane Robinson (1)
Fernando Salas (1)
Jake Westbrook (1)

2011 Top Hero: Lance Berkman (24)
2010 Top Heroes: Matt Holliday and Albert Pujols (24)
2009 Top Hero: Albert Pujols (28)
2008 Top Hero: Albert Pujols (25)

Goats
Matt Holliday (4)
Carlos Beltran (3)
David Freese (3)
Jaime Garcia (3)
Jason Motte (3)
Marc Rzepczynski (3)
Adam Wainwright (3)
Rafael Furcal (2)
Tyler Greene (2)
J.C. Romero (2)
Fernando Salas (2)
Mitchell Boggs (1)
Matt Carpenter (1)
Tony Cruz (1)
Daniel Descalso (1)
Jon Jay (1)
Erik Komatsu (1)
Kyle Lohse (1)
Victor Marte (1)
Eduardo Sanchez (1)
Jake Westbrook (1)

2011 Top Goat: Ryan Theriot (12)
2010 Top Goat: Brendan Ryan (14)
2009 Top Goats: Rick Ankiel and Todd Wellemeyer (13)
2008 Top Goat: Troy Glaus (13)

2012 Happy Flights
Happy Flights: 7
Happy Flight Opportunities: 12
Happy Flight %: 58%

Through 5/20

    Cardinal Nation Approval Ratings (March 2012)
    Adam Wainwright 91.9% (down 2.8%)
    Chris Carpenter 90.1% (up 3.2%)
    Lance Berkman 88.6%
    Tony La Russa 88.2% (up 17.4%)
    Yadier Molina 87.4% (up 3.7%)
    Matt Holliday 87.3% (down 3.8%)
    David Freese 85.5%
    John Mozeliak 85.4% (up 13.3%)
    Mike Shannon 85.3% (up 0.4%)
    Jose Oquendo 84.7%
    Derrick Goold 82.8% (down 5.0%)
    Mark McGwire 82.6% (up 20.1%)
    John Rooney 81.5% (down 2.8%)
    Mike Matheny 81.1%
    Bill DeWitt 79.8% (up 8.8%)
    United Cardinal Bloggers 78.9%
    Skip Schumaker 73.3% (up 9.2%)
    Jim Hayes 71.9% (down 4.2%)
    Jon Jay 71.1%
    B.J. Rains 69.5% (down 0.9%)
    Kyle Lohse 68.9% (up 13.8%)
    Dan McLaughlin 68.0%
    Joe Strauss 67.7% (up 10.2%)
    Ricky Horton 67.5% (down 1.6%)
    Al Hrabosky 66.4% (up 3.2%)
    Albert Pujols 54.9% (down 45.5%)
    Colby Rasmus 46.5% (down 35.3%)

    2011
    Dave Duncan 87.9% (up 0.9%)
    Matthew Leach 85.5%
    Pop Warner 76.7%
    Ryan Franklin 72.8% (up 3.1%)
    John Vuch 68.9%
    Jeff Luhnow 66.4%
    Dan Lozano 58.7%

    2009
    Rick Ankiel 83.9%
    Chris Duncan 69.1%


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