St. Louis Cardinals great and baseball Hall of Famer Stan Musial died on Saturday at the age of 92,according to ESPN.com.
Stan "The Man" Musial was one of the best hitters in the history of baseball, winning seven National League batting titles and three-time MVP awards. He also helped the Cardinals capture three World Series championships in the 1940s.
According to ESPN.com, the Cardinals announced the news in a press release and said Musial died Saturday evening at his home in Ladue surrounded by family. The team said Musial's son-in-law, Dave Edmonds, informed the club of Musial's death.
"It is a very sad day for me," Willie Mays told ESPN's Willie Weinbaum of Outside The Lines at the Baseball Writers' Association of America dinner in New York. "I knew Stan very well. He used to take care of me at All-Star games, 24 of them. He was a true gentleman who understood the race thing and did all he could. Again, a true gentleman on and off the field -- I never heard anybody say a bad word about him, ever."
Musial has been a prominent figure in the St. Louis community since he retired and was one of the most revered players of all time. He has two statues outside of Busch Stadium and played all 22 years of his baseball career with the Cardinals. He began his career as a pitcher in the minors before getting injured and went on to become one of the best outfielders and first basemen ever.
His number was the first to be retired by the Cardinals and he made the All-Star team 24 times. Musial finished his career with a .331 average and 475 home runs. Musial was a consummate professional for his entire career and never endured any scandal. He was popular nationwide with baseball fans and was a part of Cardinals baseball activities in recent year, including when the Cardinals won the World Series in 2011.
In 2011 President Barack Obama presented him with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America's highest civilian honor for contributions to society.
Musial was a fantastic contact hitter and never struck out more than 50 times in any season and led the NL in most every hitting category for at least one year, except homers, according to ESPN.com. He nearly came close to a Triple Crown in 1948 after hitting 39 home runs and his name sat next to 55 records when he retired just shy of his 43rd birthday.
He had one of the most decorated careers of any player and had over 3,630 hits, including 1,815 at home and exactly 1,815 on the road. He also finished with 1,951 RBIs and scored 1,949 runs.
"I consciously memorized the speed at which every pitcher in the league threw his fastball, curve, and slider," Musial once said. "Then, I'd pick up the speed of the ball in the first 30 feet of its flight and knew how it would move once it has crossed the plate."
Musial started his major league career in 1941, the same season Ted Williams hit .406 and Joe DiMaggio had his record 56-game hitting streak. Not a bad year to debut. Musial won NL MVP in 1943, 1946 and 1948, and was runner-up four other years. When he made it to the ballot for the Hall of Fame, he was voted in on the first ballot.
"I enjoyed coming to the ballpark every day and I think we enjoyed the game," Musial said in a 1991 Associated Press interview. "We had a lot of train travel, so we had more time together. We socialized quite a bit and we'd go out after ball games."
From the Associated Press:
-Stanley Frank Musial was born in Donora, Pa., on Nov. 21, 1920, son of a Polish immigrant steelworker. He began his minor league career straight out of high school, in June 1938, and soon after married Musial married high school sweetheart Lillian Labash, with whom he four children.
-Musial fell in 1940 while trying to make a tough catch and hurt his left arm, damaging his pitching prospects. Encouraged by minor league manager Dickie Kerr to try playing outfield, he did so well in 1941 that the Cardinals moved him up to the majors in mid-September -- and he racked up a .426 average during the final weeks of the season.
-In his best year, 1948, he had four five-hit games, hit 39 home runs and batted .376, best in the National League. He also led his league that year in runs scored (135), hits (230), total bases (429), doubles (46), and triples (18).
-The original Musial statue outside the new Busch Stadium is a popular meeting place before games and carries this inscription: "Here stands baseball's perfect warrior. Here stands baseball's perfect knight."
Musial received many endorsements throughout his career and consistently performed at a high level for the Cardinals during the duration of his entire career.
