Good bye Mr. Musial

[MikeThierry]

I'm going to miss seeing you opening day in your bright red jacket. Rest in peace Mr. Musial and may god be with you.

[UKFlounder]

Sorry to hear this news. I wish I had seen him p,ay, but I know of his reputation as a player and, especially a gentleman and class act

[MikeThierry]

Can someone edit the topic please to "bye" instead of "by".

[SirFelixCat]

Sorry to hear this news. I wish I had seen him p,ay, but I know of his reputation as a player and, especially a gentleman and class act

This. I was too young to watch him play, but from everything I've read/heard/seen, he exuded class. I hate the Cardinals, but I wouldn't have a single bad thing to say about this stud of a HOF'er and man. RIP Stan.

[cincrazy]

RIP Stan The Man. With all due respect to Mr. Pujols, nobody says "Cardinals baseball" more than Musial. Sad day for baseball fans.

[mth123]

Very sad day for Baseball. Stan the Man was one of the all time greats. More than just a Hall of Famer. He was an elite among the elites.

[Bob Borkowski]

Stan 'The Man' Musial was indeed a class act. He got along with everyone including umpires. Never argued a call...never. And because of that I imagine the umps usually gave him the benefit of the doubt on close decisions.

I grew up watching him and marvelled at the way he became a hitting machine at the plate. I tried to copy his batting stance...I'm sure I wasn't alone in that.

The baseball world is much, much poorer this evening.

RIP, Stan.

[RedsfaninMT]

My step-grandfather played with him a few years. Said he was the best player he ever had the chance to play with and was the toughest out he ever faced.

[marcshoe]

It seems like he was the last of the bunch. I guess Willie Mays is still out there, but Musial was the last one who was completely before my time. That makes him the last legend for me.

[RollyInRaleigh]

What a wonderful man. Baseball has lost an immortal. Sad day.

[Always Red]

A great man first, a great ballplayer also.

Godspeed, Mr. Musial!

[powersackers]

RIP. The HoF can pay respects to him and Earl at this years ceremonies.

[Joseph]

RIP, one of the best ever.

[OnBaseMachine]

RIP Mr. Musial. He seemed he like an incredible person, and was one of the greatest players ever.

[vic715]

Hate to admit it but I did get to see him play for a few years although he was past his prime he could still hit. I remember the day he retired in 63 he went 2 for 3 and was taken out in the 5th inning after he singled.That was Petes rookie year and the Cards made a major run at the Dodgers winning 19 of 20 at one stretch and finished 2nd that year.We all know what they did in 64 after Stan was gone.

[MrRedLegger]

This Bud's for you Stan. Rest in Peace.

[Gallen5862]

RIP Stan "The Man" Musial.

[reds1869]

RIP.

[_Sir_Charles_]

:-( First Earl, now Stan. Just sad. RIP.

[RedEye]

:-( First Earl, now Stan. Just sad. RIP.

These things tend to happen in groups of three... I wonder who is next? Very sad.

[HeatherC1212]

Dang, what a sad baseball day! First Earl and now Stan Musial. That's a lot of history gone from the baseball world and they will both be greatly missed by everyone. RIP Mr. Musial. :(

[cumberlandreds]

One of the best players of all time. Also seemed to be an even better human being. I wish I could have seen him play. He retired the year I was born,1963. I read his recent biography. I came away thinking that had to be difficult to write because there was just no controversy about the man. R.I.P Stan Musial

[George Anderson]

Its funny because Earl Weaver who was ejected 94 times during his 17 year career died today while Musial who was never ejected in his 22 year career also died today.

Musial was arguably the greatest hitter to come out of Donora, Pa and that is saying alot.

RIP Stanley Frank

[westofyou]

Its funny because Earl Weaver who was ejected 94 times during his 17 year career died today while Musial who was never ejected in his 22 year career also died today.

Musial was arguably the greatest hitter to come out of Donora, Pa and that is saying alot.

RIP Stanley Frank

Earl was born and raised in St Louis too, grew up watching both teams and soaking in some Musial first hand

[MikeThierry]

I remember reading an article one time explaining how Musial once asked for a reduction in salary because he felt his performance was lacking. How many professional athletes would do that today?

[indy_dave00]

I saw only the tale end of Stan's career. Ironic both he and Ken Griffey Jr. were both born in Donora, Pa. and share a Nov. 21st Birthday, born 49 years apart.

If you ever saw Stan hit you remember his stance and seemed like everything he hit was a line drive.

RIP Mr. Musial , you were a credit to both baseball and more importantly the human race.

[WVRedsFan]

Being in my sixth decade, the memory is not so great, but watching his last game playing against the Reds is a memory. I think Jim Maloney was pitching for the Reds. Even then, I realized as a youngster, that his greatness was what itvwascand we'd never see him again. Humbling for sure even for a kid watching in black and white. Those days, heroes were heroes. RIP.

[RedsBaron]

For a player who was properly appreciated while he was playing, Musial was underrated in retirement. In fan voting for the All Century Team Musial was left off and had to be later added by the Commissioner. Hey I grew up rooting for Pete Rose and I liked Ken Griffey Jr., but voting Rose and Junior to the team and leaving off Stan the Man was crazy.
Musial just seemed to be largely forgotten outside of St. Louis. Ted Williams had the outsize personality, Simon & Garfunkel sang of Joe DiMaggio, and Aaron, Mantle and Mays remained in the public memory, but Stan was an afterthought too often.
In the words of Bill James decades ago- Stan Musial was a ballplayer. He didn't marry Marilyn Monroe (he married his high school sweetheart, a marriage ended by her death 70+ years later), he didn't feud with sports writers or fans, he didn't battle alcohol, his cap stayed on his head--he just showed up and played at an extremely high level everyday and got along with everyone. He won 3 MVP awards and should have had at least a couple of more. He was simply a terrific player and an even better person. R.I.P.

[GradyHatton]

Quite simply the greatest hitter I was ever privileged to watch in person. R.I.P. Stan, who was indeed, "The Man" .

[RedsBaron]

One other thing about Stan the Man. I just looked up his Hall of Fame Monitor Score. The average member of the HOF has a score of 100.
Stan's score is 454.
Where does that rank all time?
1st.

[Chip R]

RIP, Stan. Such an underrated player.

[Roy Tucker]

RIP Stan. As great of a man as he was a player. And he was an elite all-time best player.

The gold standard.

[westofyou]

His wife, Lillian, whom he married in 1940, died in May 2012 at 91.

Musial had 8 5 hit games in his career and 59 4 hit games

[CySeymour]

My dad use to tell me a story about a brawl that broke out between the Reds and Cards back in the day. With both teams piled up in the middle of the field, there was Musial and Big Klu off to the side, arms crossed and chatting like two bystanders on the street corner. Almost like they were saying to each other, "Can you believe these crazy kids?"

[remdog]

Great ballplayer, smo-o-o-thest swing. Second best hitter I've ever seen (Teddy Ballgame was the best). As I understand it (since I didn't see the particular game) Stan's last hit came on a groundball past a Reds rookie secondbaseman, named Pete Rose, who would go on to pass Musial, Williams, Cobb and all others in hits. (Who knew, then)

[redsmetz]

My wife & I were away for the weekend down at Natural Bridge. First our son texted me, then my nephew (and godson) - a big Cardinals fan; then our younger daughter texted my wife. I texted my son & nephew back that they're Grandpa was a happy guy since I figured the only thing unsatisfying about heaven was that Stan wasn't there to yack with. Today my son tweeted: "Baseball lost an icon, but my grandpa gained a conversation buddy with Stan Musial's passing." Yeah, that.

Perhaps the classiest guy to ever play the game. I never saw him play, but I love watching clips of him hitting.

Great piece by Joe Poz on Musial today: http://www.sportsonearth.com/article/41045162/

And the All-Star game story is the day a very good friend of mine was born and she's never appreciated that Stan Musial won the All Star game on the day she was born (not being a baseball fan), but I'm still going to share this new angle on what I only knew as the fact (having been a Reds game once on her birthday and a "this date in history" piece showed on the scoreboard. I turned to my wife and said that's the day Anne was born.

[MikeThierry]

If someone didn't know his stats or what kind of ball player he was, all they would have to do is look at his nick name to see the kind of caliber player he was. "The Man" was given out of respect by fans of an opposing ball club.

[Always Red]

If someone didn't know his stats or what kind of ball player he was, all they would have to do is look at his nick name to see the kind of caliber player he was. "The Man" was given out of respect by fans of an opposing ball club.

It was Brooklyn fans in 1946 who gave him that nickname, in honor of his frequent pounding of Dodger's pitching:

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/baseball/professional/stan-the-man-musial-dies-no-was-greatest-cardinal/article_663ad0b8-d8fb-5cdd-8fd3-8f397f7a263a.html

[Hoosier Red]

Classy ad by Budweiser

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BBPuyvgCUAAeMNp.jpg:large

[MikeThierry]

Really good article on fangraphs about translating Musials numbers to 2012 standards:

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/translating-stan-musials-numbers-into-2012-norms/#comment-3924040

EDIT: a career ISO of .290 and 10%K rate is unheard of!

[Roy Tucker]

An excellent “MLB Network Remembers: Stan Musial” was on MLB Network last night with Bob Costas and Tom Verducci. A warm, well-done, and in-depth retrospective on a great player and a great man.

I think it re-runs today at 1 pm and tomorrow at 1 pm. I recommend it.

[George Anderson]

An excellent “MLB Network Remembers: Stan Musial” was on MLB Network last night with Bob Costas and Tom Verducci. A warm, well-done, and in-depth retrospective on a great player and a great man.

I think it re-runs today at 1 pm and tomorrow at 1 pm. I recommend it.

Yes it is good.

[cumberlandreds]

An excellent “MLB Network Remembers: Stan Musial” was on MLB Network last night with Bob Costas and Tom Verducci. A warm, well-done, and in-depth retrospective on a great player and a great man.

I think it re-runs today at 1 pm and tomorrow at 1 pm. I recommend it.

Thanks. I DVR'd and plan on watching it this weekend. Most anything Costas does in regards to baseball is good.

[TRF]

I remember reading an article one time explaining how Musial once asked for a reduction in salary because he felt his performance was lacking. How many professional athletes would do that today?

Not to take this OT, but i seem to recall Mark McGwire doing that as an Athletic. Early 90's maybe?

[MikeThierry]

It was great to hear what Hank Aaron said about The Man.

[Always Red]

It was great to hear what Hank Aaron said about The Man.

Do you have a link, Mike, about what Hank Aaron said?

The time when I finally became a fan of Albert Pujols, is when the fans in St Louis started calling him "El Hombre" (years ago) and he asked them to stop, saying there was only One Man, and that was Stan Musial. :beerme:

[MikeThierry]

Do you have a link, Mike, about what Hank Aaron said?

The time when I finally became a fan of Albert Pujols, is when the fans in St Louis started calling him "El Hombre" (years ago) and he asked them to stop, saying there was only One Man, and that was Stan Musial. :beerme:

When he went to the Angels, they put up an "El Hombre" billboard in LA. Pujols asked the Angels to take it down out of respect for Musial. They obliged to his request.

Here is that video clip of Mr. Aaron talking about The Man.

http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=25572041&partnerId=aw-7693956849510046432-996

[Always Red]

When he went to the Angels, they put up an "El Hombre" billboard in LA. Pujols asked the Angels to take it down out of respect for Musial. They obliged to his request.

Here is that video clip of Mr. Aaron talking about The Man.

http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=25572041&partnerId=aw-7693956849510046432-996

thats a great clip, Mike, thanks for posting.

[MikeThierry]

This was an amazing remembrance by Costas at Musial's official funeral today that aired on local TV. Very touching stuff and it reminds me why he's one of the best in the business.

http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=25574317&topic_id=40773316&c_id=stl&v=3&tcid=tw_video

[MikeThierry]

Very kind words by Joe Morgan on Musial. This may have been taped a couple of years ago but it's still good stuff:

http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=25574317&topic_id=40773316&c_id=stl&v=3&tcid=tw_video

[texasdave]

More sad news.

http://www.ksdk.com/news/article/318691/215/Lil-Musial-wife-of-Stan-dies-at-91?fb_xd_fragment=&odyssey=obinsite&odyssey=obinsite

[Always Red]

More sad news.

http://www.ksdk.com/news/article/318691/215/Lil-Musial-wife-of-Stan-dies-at-91?fb_xd_fragment=&odyssey=obinsite&odyssey=obinsite

Lil died 10 months ago.

http://fox2now.com/2012/05/07/family-prepares-to-say-goodbye-to-lil-musial/

It is interesting, and sweet in a way, that people can be married for so long, spend their entire lives together, and die nearly at the same time.

They were both lives well lived. I hope the same for me and my wife.

[texasdave]

Lil died 10 months ago.

http://fox2now.com/2012/05/07/family-prepares-to-say-goodbye-to-lil-musial/

It is interesting, and sweet in a way, that people can be married for so long, spend their entire lives together, and die nearly at the same time.

They were both lives well lived. I hope the same for me and my wife.

You are right. It is odd that the date on the article is Jan. 19, 2013.