Bill James NL 1950-1959 All Decade Team

[Old Sweater]

First Team Second Team Third Team

C - Roy Campanella Del Crandall Smokey Burgess
1B - Gil Hodges Ted Kluszewski Joe Adcock
2B - Red Schoendienst Jackie Robinson Junior Gilliam
3B - Eddie Mathews Puddin' Head Jones Hank Thompson
SS - Alvin Dark Ernie Banks Johnny Logan
LF - Stan Musial Del Ennis Ralph Kiner/Hank Sauer (tie)
CF - Duke Snider Richie Ashburn Willie Mays
RF - Hank Aaron Gus Bell Carl Furillo
P - Warren Spahn Bob Rush Lew Burdette
P - Robin Roberts Johnny Antonelli Murray Dickson
P - Don Newcombe Sal Maglie Curt Simmons/Harvey Haddix (tie)
RP - Hoyt Wilhelm Clem Labine Roy Face

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Win_shares

Win shares is the name of the metric Bill James describes in his 2002 book Win Shares.

It considers statistics for baseball players, in the context of their team and in a sabermetric way, and assigns a single number to each player for his contributions for the year. All pitching, hitting and defensive contributions by the player are taken into account. Statistics are adjusted for park, league and era.

A win share represents one-third of a team win, by definition.[1] If a team wins 80 games in a season, then its players will share 240 win shares. The formula for calculating win shares is complicated; it takes up pages 16–100 in the book. The general approach is to take the team's win shares (i.e., 3 times its number of wins), then divide them between offense and defense.

On a team with equal offensive and defensive prowess, hitters receive 48% of the win shares and those win shares are allocated among the hitters based on runs created. An estimation is then made to decide what amount of the defensive credit goes to pitchers and what amount goes to fielders. Pitching contributions typically receive 35% (or 36%) of the win shares, defensive contributions receive 17% (or 16%) of the win shares. The pitching contributions are allocated among the pitchers based on runs prevented, the pitchers' analogue to runs created. Fielding contributions are allocated among the fielders based on a number of assumptions and a selection of traditional defensive statistics.[2]

In Major League Baseball, based on a 162-game schedule, a typical All-Star might amass 20 win shares in a season. More than 30 win shares (i.e. the player is directly responsible for 10 wins by his team) is indicative of MVP-level performance, and 40+ win shares represents an exceptional, historic season. For pitchers, Win Shares levels are typically lower—in fact, they often come close to mirroring actual wins.

Win shares differs from other sabermetric player rating metrics such as Total player rating and VORP in that it is based on total team wins, not runs above average.

[Old Sweater]

First Team, Catcher, Roy Campanella



^ Campanella in about 1953.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Campanella

Roy Campanella (November 19, 1921 – June 26, 1993), nicknamed "Campy", was an American baseball player, primarily at the position of catcher, in the Negro leagues and Major League Baseball. He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Widely considered to have been one of the greatest catchers in the history of the game,[1] Campanella played for the Brooklyn Dodgers during the 1940s and 1950s, as one of the pioneers in breaking the color barrier in Major League Baseball. His career was cut short in 1958 when he was paralyzed in an automobile accident.

Negro leagues

Campanella's father John was the son of Sicilian immigrants. His mother Ida was African American. Therefore, he was barred from Major League Baseball before 1947, the season that black players were admitted to the Major Leagues for the first time since the 19th century. Campanella began playing Negro league baseball for the Washington Elite Giants in 1937, after dropping out of school on his sixteenth birthday. The Elite Giants would move to Baltimore the following year,[3] and Campanella would go on to become a star player with the team.

Mexican league

In 1942 and 1943, Campanella played in the Mexican League with the Monterrey Sultans. Lazaro Salazar, the team's manager, told Campanella that he would play one day at the Major League level. In 1971, Campanella was elected to the Mexican League Hall Of Fame.

Minor league

In 1946, Campanella moved into the Brooklyn Dodgers' minor league system, as the Dodger organization began preparations to break the Major Leagues' color barrier with Jackie Robinson. For the 1946 season, Robinson was assigned to the Montreal Royals, the Dodgers' affiliate in the Class AAA International League. Meanwhile, the team looked to assign Campanella to a Class B league. After the general manager of the Danville Dodgers of the Illinois-Indiana-Iowa League reported that he did not feel that league ready for racial integration, the organization sent Campanella, along with pitcher Don Newcombe, to the Nashua Dodgers of the Class B New England League, where the Dodgers felt the climate would be more tolerant. The Nashua team thus became the first professional baseball team in the 20th century to field a racially integrated lineup in the United States.

Campanella's 1946 season proceeded largely without racist incidents, and in one game Campanella took over the managerial duties after manager Walter Alston was ejected. This made Campanella the first African-American to manage white players on an organized professional baseball team. Nashua was three runs down at the time Campanella took over. They came back to win, in part due to Campanella's decision to use Newcombe as a pinch hitter in the seventh inning; Newcombe hit a game-tying two-run home run.



^ Campanella seen shaving in a TV commercial for Gillette Razors.

Major League

Jackie Robinson's first season in the Major Leagues came in 1947, and Campanella began his Major League career with the Brooklyn Dodgers the following season, playing his first game on April 20, 1948. He went on to play for the Dodgers from 1948 through 1957 as their regular catcher. In 1948, he had three different uniform numbers (33, 39, and 56) before settling on 39 for the rest of his career.

Campanella played in the All-Star Game every year from 1949 through 1956. His 1949 All-Star selection made him one of the first four African-Americans so honored. (Jackie Robinson, Don Newcombe and Larry Doby were also All-Stars in 1949.)[5] Campanella received the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award in the National League three times: in 1951, 1953, and 1955. In each of his MVP seasons, he batted over .300, hit over 30 home runs and had over 100 runs batted in. His 142 RBIs in 1953 broke the franchise record of 130, which had been held by Jack Fournier (1925) and Babe Herman (1930). Today it is the second most in franchise history, Tommy Davis breaking it with 153 RBIs in 1962. That same year, Campanella hit 40 home runs in games in which he appeared as a catcher, a record that lasted until 1996, when it was broken by Todd Hundley. Over his career, he threw out 57% of the base runners who tried to steal a base on him, the highest by any catcher in major league history.[6]

In 1955, Campanella's final MVP season helped propel Brooklyn to its first-ever World Series championship. After the Dodgers dropped the first two games of that year's World Series to the Yankees, Campanella began Brooklyn's comeback by hitting a two-out, two-run home run in the first inning of Game 3. The Dodgers won that game, got another home run from Campanella in a Game 4 victory that tied the series, and then went on to claim the series in seven games.

Campanella caught three no-hitters during his career: Carl Erskine's two on June 19, 1952 [7] and May 12, 1956 [8] and Sal Maglie's on September 25, 1956.[9]

After the 1957 season, the Brooklyn Dodgers relocated to Los Angeles, California, and became the Los Angeles Dodgers, but Campanella's playing career came to an end before he ever played a game for Los Angeles.

Automobile accident

Campanella lived in Glen Cove, New York, on the North Shore of Long Island, while operating a liquor store in Harlem between regular-season games and during the off-season. On January 28, 1958, after closing the store for the night, he began his drive to his home in Glen Cove. En route, traveling at about 30 mph (48 km/h), his car (a rented 1957 Chevrolet sedan) hit a patch of ice at an S-curve on Dosoris Lane near Apple Tree Lane, skidded into a telephone pole and overturned, breaking Campanella's neck. He fractured the fifth and sixth cervical vertebrae and compressed the spinal cord.[10][11] The accident left Campanella paralyzed from the shoulders down.[10] Through physical therapy, he eventually was able to regain substantial use of his arms and hands.[12] He was able to feed himself, shake hands, and gesture while speaking, but he would require a wheelchair for mobility for the remainder of his life.

Post-playing career

Honors and tribute



^ Willie Mays with Roy Campanella (1961)

On May 7, 1959, the Dodgers, then playing their second season in Los Angeles, honored Campanella with Roy Campanella Night at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The New York Yankees agreed to make a special trip to Los Angeles to play an exhibition game against the Dodgers for the occasion. The Yankees won the game, 6–2. The attendance at the game was 93,103, setting a record at that time for the largest crowd to attend a Major League Baseball game. The proceeds from the game went to defray Campanella's medical bills. In 1969, Campanella was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, the second player of African American heritage so honored, after Jackie Robinson. The same year, he received the Bronze Medallion from the City of New York.

On June 4, 1972, the Dodgers retired Campanella's uniform number 39 alongside Robinson's (42) and Sandy Koufax's (32).

In an article in Esquire magazine in 1976, sportswriter Harry Stein published an article called the "All Time All-Star Argument Starter," a list of five ethnic baseball teams. Campanella was the catcher on Stein's black team.

In 1999, Campanella ranked number 50 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, and was a nominee for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team.

In 2006, Campanella was featured on a United States postage stamp.[15] The stamp is one of a block of four honoring baseball sluggers, the others being Mickey Mantle, Hank Greenberg, and Mel Ott.

In September 2006, the Los Angeles Dodgers announced the creation of the Roy Campanella Award, which is voted among the club's players and coaches and is given to the Dodger who best exemplifies "Campy's" spirit and leadership. Shortstop Rafael Furcal was named the inaugural winner of the award.

Personal life

Campanella was married three times. He married Bernice Ray in 1939, with whom he had two daughters; they divorced a few years later. On April 30, 1945, he married Ruthe Willis and had three children together (including a son, television director Roy Campanella II), though their relationship deteriorated after his accident; they separated in 1960 and Ruthe died in January 1963. Campanella's adopted son David had a somewhat troubled life, he was arrested a number of times, developed a problem with drugs and died at the age of 41. On May 5, 1964, Campanella married Roxie Doles, who survived him.

Campanella died of a heart attack on June 26, 1993, in his Woodland Hills, California home.[2][16] He was cremated by the Forest Lawn, Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles.[17] His widow, Roxie, died of cancer in 2004.

Books

In March 2011, Simon & Schuster published a new biography of Campanella written by Neil Lanctot, author of Negro League Baseball - The Rise and Ruin of a Black Institution. The book is entitled Campy - The Two Lives of Roy Campanella.[18] The book reveals new details about Campanella's near-fatal car accident and his stormy relationship with Jackie Robinson.

The book Carl Erskine's Tales from the Dodgers Dugout: Extra Innings (2004) includes short stories from former Dodger pitcher Carl Erskine. Campanella is prominent in many of these stories.
[edit] It's Good to Be Alive

Campanella himself authored the inspirational book It’s Good to Be Alive, published in 1959, which details his journey back from the near-fatal car accident that left him paralyzed. The book mentions the years of tireless efforts by physical therapist Sam Brockington which allowed Campanella to regain some use of his arms, eventually overcome his initial bitterness about his fate, and finally adopt an optimistic outlook on life. Michael Landon made his TV-movie directorial debut in the 1974 movie It’s Good to Be Alive, in which Campanella was portrayed by Paul Winfield.
[edit] Television

Roy Campanella was interviewed by Edward R. Murrow on the CBS program Person to Person on October 2, 1953 and again on January 2, 1959. Campanella also appeared as Mystery Guest on What's My Line? episode 171 on September 6, 1953 and as a guest celebrity on The Name's the Same (ABC-TV) on July 27, 1954. Campanella was also mentioned in the lyrics of the song "Did You See Jackie Robinson Hit that Ball?", written and recorded by Buddy Johnson in 1949 (and covered by Count Basie and his Orchestra that same year) and in the lyrics to the song "We Didn't Start the Fire" by Billy Joel. Campanella was also honored on the famous Ralph Edwards show This Is Your Life. Campanella appeared as himself in the Lassie episode "The Mascot," first broadcast September 27, 1959, in a story where he is coaching Timmy Martin's "Boys' League" team.

Career statistics
Batting average .276
Home runs 242
Runs batted in 856
Teams

Brooklyn Dodgers (1948–1957)

Career highlights and awards

8× All-Star selection (1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956)
World Series champion (1955)
3× NL MVP (1951, 1953, 1955)
Los Angeles Dodgers #39 retired

HOF, 1969, BBWAA, 79.41%

[Old Sweater]

First Team, First Baseman, Gil Hodges



^ Hodges in 1960.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gil_Hodges

Gilbert Ray Hodges (April 4, 1924 – April 2, 1972) was an American Major League Baseball first baseman and manager. During an 18-year baseball career, he played in 1943 and from 1947–63, spending most of his career with the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers. He was the major leagues' outstanding first baseman in the 1950s, with teammate Duke Snider being the only player to have more home runs or runs batted in during the decade. For a time, his 370 career home runs were a National League (NL) record for right-handed hitters, and briefly ranked tenth in major league history; he held the NL record for career grand slams from 1957 to 1974. He anchored the infield on six pennant winners, and remains one of the most beloved and admired players in team history.[citation needed] A sterling defensive player, he won the first three Gold Glove Awards and led the NL in double plays four times and in putouts, assists and fielding percentage three times each. He ranked second in NL history with 1,281 assists and 1,614 double plays when his career ended, and was also among the league's career leaders in games (6th, 1,908) and total chances (10th, 16,751) at first base. He managed the New York Mets to the 1969 World Series title, one of the greatest upsets in Series history, before his death in 1972.

Early years

Hodges was born in Princeton, Indiana, the son of coal miner Charlie and his wife Irene; the family moved to nearby Petersburg when Gil was seven. Hodges was a star four-sport athlete at Petersburg High School, earning a combined seven varsity letters in football, baseball, basketball, and track. He declined a 1941 contract offer from the Detroit Tigers and instead attended Saint Joseph's College with the hope of eventually becoming a collegiate coach. He was signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1943, and appeared in one game for the team as a third baseman that year. He entered the Marine Corps during World War II after having participated in its ROTC program at Saint Joseph's, serving as an anti-aircraft gunner in the battles of Tinian and Okinawa and receiving a Bronze Star and a commendation for courage under fire for his actions.

MLB career
[edit] Brooklyn Dodgers

After his 1946 military discharge he returned to Brooklyn and saw play as a catcher in 1947, joining the team's already solid nucleus of Jackie Robinson, Pee Wee Reese and Carl Furillo; but the emergence of Roy Campanella made it evident that Hodges had little future behind the plate, and he was shifted by manager Leo Durocher to first base, where his play came to be regarded as exemplary. Hodges' only appearance in the 1947 World Series against the New York Yankees was as a pinch-hitter for pitcher Rex Barney in Game 7; he struck out. As a 1948 rookie, he batted .249 with 11 home runs and 70 RBI.

On June 25, 1949, he hit for the cycle. He led the NL in putouts (1336), double plays (142) and fielding average (.995) that season, and tied Hack Wilson's 1932 club record for right-handed hitters with 23 homers. His 115 RBI were fourth in the NL, and he made his first of seven consecutive All-Star teams. Facing the Yankees again in the 1949 Series, he batted only .235 but did drive in the sole run in Brooklyn's only victory, a 1-0 triumph in Game 2. In Game 5 he hit a 3-run homer with two out in the seventh to pull the Dodgers within 10-6, but struck out to end the game and the Series. On August 31, 1950 against the Boston Braves, he joined Lou Gehrig as just the second player since 1900 to hit four home runs in a game without the benefit of extra innings; he hit them against four different pitchers, with the first coming off Warren Spahn. He also got 17 total bases in the game, tied for third in major league history. That year he also led the league in fielding (.994) and set an NL record with 159 double plays, breaking Frank McCormick's mark of 153 with the 1939 Cincinnati Reds; he broke his own record in 1951 with 171, a record which stood until Donn Clendenon had 182 for the 1966 Pittsburgh Pirates. He finished 1950 third in the league in both homers (32) and RBI (113), and came in eighth in the MVP voting. In 1951 he became the first Dodger to hit 40 home runs, breaking Babe Herman's 1930 mark of 35; Campanella hit 41 in 1953, but Hodges would recapture the record with 42 in 1954 before Snider eclipsed him again with 43 in 1956. His last home run of 1951 came on October 2 against the New York Giants, as the Dodgers tied the 3-game NL playoff series at a game each with a 10-0 win; New York would take the pennant the next day on Bobby Thomson's "Shot Heard 'Round the World". Hodges also led the NL with 126 assists in 1951, and was second in HRs, third in runs (118) and total bases (307), fifth in slugging average (.527), and sixth in RBI (103).

Hodges was an eight-time All-Star, from 1949–55 and in 1957. With his last home run of 1952, he tied Dolph Camilli's Dodger career record of 139, and he passed him in 1953; Snider would move ahead of him in 1956. He again led the NL with 116 assists in 1952, and was third in the league in home runs (32) and fourth in RBI (102) and slugging (.500). A great fan favorite in Brooklyn, he was perhaps the only Dodger regular never booed at their home park, Ebbets Field. Fans were very supportive even when Hodges suffered through one of the most famous slumps in baseball history, going hitless in the last nine games of 1952; during the 1952 World Series against the Yankees, he finished the Series 0-21 at the plate as Brooklyn lost in seven games. When his slump continued into the following spring, fans reacted with countless letters and good-luck gifts, and one Brooklyn priest – Father Herbert Redmond of St. Francis Roman Catholic Church – told his flock: "It's far too hot for a homily. Keep the Commandments and say a prayer for Gil Hodges."[1] Hodges began hitting again soon afterward, and rarely struggled again in the World Series.

Hodges was involved in a blown call in the 1952 World Series. In the fifth game, Johnny Sain, batting for the Yankees in the 10th inning, grounded out—so said first base umpire Art Passarella. The photograph of the play, however, shows Sain stepping on first base while Hodges, also with a foot on the bag, reaches for the ball, which is about a foot away from his glove. Still, Passarella called Sain out. Baseball commissioner Ford Frick, an ex-newspaperman himself, refused to defend Passarella.

He ended 1953 with a .302 batting average, though only fifth in the NL in RBI (122) and sixth in home runs (31). Against the Yankees in the 1953 Series, Hodges hit an impressive .364; he had three hits including a homer in the 9-5 Game 1 loss, but the Dodgers again lost in six games. Under new manager Walter Alston in 1954 he enjoyed one of his best campaigns, setting the team home run record, hitting a career-high .304 and again leading the NL in putouts (1381) and assists (132). He was second in the league to Ted Kluszewski in home runs and RBI (130), fifth in total bases (335) and sixth in slugging (.579) and runs (106), and placed tenth in the MVP vote.



^ Hodges attempting to make a play at Ebbets Field.

The Boys of Summer

The 1955 season saw his regular-season production drop off to a .289 average, 27 HRs and 102 RBI, but the year ended with a most satisfying conclusion. Facing the Yankees in the World Series for the fifth time, he was 1-for-12 in the first three games before coming around. In Game 4 he hit a 2-run homer in the fourth inning to put Brooklyn ahead 4-3, and later had an RBI single as they held off the Yankees 8-5; he scored the first run in the 5-3 win in Game 5. In Game 7 he drove in Campanella with two out in the fourth for a 1-0 lead, and added a sacrifice fly to score Reese with one out in the sixth. Johnny Podres scattered eight New York hits, and when Reese threw Elston Howard's grounder to Hodges for the final out, Brooklyn had a 2-0 win and the first World Series title in franchise history.

In 1956 he had 32 home runs and 87 RBI as Brooklyn won the pennant again, and once more met the Yankees in the World Series. In the third inning of Game 1 he hit a 3-run homer to put Brooklyn ahead 5-2, and they went on to a 6-3 win; he had three hits and four RBI in Game 2's 13-8 slugfest, scoring to give the Dodgers a 7-6 lead in the third and doubling in two runs each in the fourth and fifth innings for an 11-7 lead. In Game 5 he struck out, flied to center and lined to third base in Yankee Don Larsen's perfect game, and Brooklyn went on to lose in seven games.

In 1957 Hodges set the NL record for career grand slams, breaking the mark of 12 shared by Rogers Hornsby and Ralph Kiner; his final total of 14 was tied by Hank Aaron and Willie McCovey in 1972, and broken by Aaron in 1974. He had another excellent season, finishing seventh in the NL with a .299 batting average and fifth with 98 RBI, and leading the league with 1317 putouts. He was also among the NL's top ten players in HRs (27), hits (173), runs (94), triples (7), slugging (.511) and total bases (296); in late September he drove in the last Dodger run ever at Ebbets Field, and also the last run in Brooklyn history. He was named to his last All-Star team, and placed seventh in the MVP balloting.



^ Hodges in 1949.

Los Angeles Dodgers

After the Dodgers relocated to Los Angeles, on April 23, 1958 he became the seventh player to hit 300 home runs in the NL, connecting off Dick Drott of the Chicago Cubs. That year he also tied a post-1900 record by leading the league in double plays (134) for the fourth time, equaling McCormick and Kluszewski; Clendenon eventually broke the record in 1968. But he had only 22 HRs and 64 RBI as the Dodgers finished in seventh place in their first season in California. Also in 1958, he broke Camilli's NL record of 923 career strikeouts.

Things turned around in 1959 as the Dodgers captured another NL title, with Hodges contributing 25 HRs and 80 RBI and hitting .276, coming in seventh in the league with a .513 slugging mark; he also led the NL with a .992 fielding average. He batted .391 in the 1959 World Series against the Chicago White Sox (his first against a non-Yankee team), with his solo home run in the eighth inning of Game 4 giving the Dodgers a 5-4 win, as they triumphed in six games for another Series championship. In 1960 he broke Kiner's NL record for right-handed hitters of 351 career home runs, and appeared on the TV program Home Run Derby. In his last season with the Dodgers in 1961, he became the team's career RBI leader with 1254, passing Zack Wheat; Snider moved ahead of him the following year. Hodges received the first three Gold Glove Awards ever presented from 1957 to 1959; his career fielding average of .992 is outstanding.

Return to New York

After being chosen in the expansion draft, Hodges was one of the original 1962 Mets; despite knee problems he was persuaded to continue his playing career in New York, and he hit the first home run in franchise history. By the end of the year, in which he played only 54 games, he ranked tenth in major league history with 370 HRs – second to only Jimmie Foxx among right-handed hitters.

Managerial career

After 11 games with the Mets in 1963, during which he batted .227 with no homers and was plagued by injuries, he was traded to the Washington Senators in late May for outfielder Jimmy Piersall so that he could replace Mickey Vernon as Washington's manager. Hodges immediately announced his retirement from playing in order to clearly focus on his new position. The Giants' Willie Mays had passed him weeks earlier on April 19 to become the NL's home run leader among right-handed hitters; Hodges' last game had been on May 5 in a doubleheader hosting the Giants (who had moved to San Francisco in 1958).

Hodges managed the Senators through 1967, and although they improved in each season they never achieved a winning record. One of the most notable incidents in his career occurred in the summer of 1965, when pitcher Ryne Duren – reaching the end of his career and sinking into alcoholism – walked onto a bridge with intentions of suicide; his manager talked him away from the edge. In 1968 Hodges was brought back to manage the perennially woeful Mets, and while the team only posted a 73-89 record it was nonetheless the best mark in their seven-year existence. In 1969, he led the "Miracle Mets" to the World Series championship, defeating the heavily favored Baltimore Orioles; after losing Game 1, they came back for four straight victories, including two by 2-1 scores. Finishing higher than ninth place for the first time, the Mets became not only the first expansion team to win the Series, but also the first team ever to win the Series after finishing at least 15 games under .500 the previous year. Hodges was named The Sporting News' Manager of the Year. Hodges skillfully platooned his players and utilized everyone in the dugout, keeping everyone fresh.[citation needed]

In the third inning of the second game of a July 30 doubleheader against the Houston Astros, after scoring 11 runs in the ninth inning of the first game, the Astros were in the midst of a ten-run third inning, hitting a number of line drives to left field. When the Mets' star left fielder Cleon Jones failed to hustle after a ball hit to the outfield, Hodges removed him from the game. But rather than simply signal from the dugout for Jones to come out, or delegate the job to one of his coaches, Hodges left the dugout and slowly, deliberately, walked all the way out to left field to remove Jones, and walked him back to the dugout. It was a resounding message to the whole team. For the rest of that season, Jones never failed to hustle. Kiner has since retold that story dozens of times during Mets broadcasts, both as a tribute to Hodges, and as an illustration of his quiet but disciplined character.

Death

After identical third-place seasons of 83-79 in 1970 and 1971, Gil Hodges died suddenly of a heart attack in West Palm Beach, Florida, after playing golf with other members of the Mets coaching staff on April 2, 1972, two days shy of his 48th birthday.[2] He had suffered a previous heart attack during a September 1968 game.[3] He was survived by his wife, the former Joan Lombardi, whom he had married on December 26, 1948, and his son and three daughters. Yogi Berra was named to succeed him as manager. His funeral Mass was said at his home parish of Our Lady Help of Christians in the Midwood section of Brooklyn. Hodges is buried at Holy Cross Cemetery in East Flatbush, Brooklyn. The Mets retired his #14 uniform and wore a black armband on the left sleeves of their uniform jerseys during the 1973 season in honor of Hodges.

Accomplishments

Hodges batted .273 in his career with a .487 slugging average, 1921 hits, 1274 RBI, 1105 runs, 295 doubles and 63 stolen bases in 2071 games. His 361 home runs with the Dodgers remain second in team history to Snider's 389. His 1614 career double plays placed him behind only Charlie Grimm (1733) in NL history, and were a major league record for a right-handed first baseman until Chris Chambliss surpassed him in 1984. His 1281 career assists ranked second in league history to Fred Tenney's 1363, and trailed only Ed Konetchy's 1292 among all right-handed first basemen. Snider broke his NL record of 1137 career strikeouts in 1964. His 1001 RBI during the 1950s led all National League hitters.

Hodges was inducted into the New York Mets Hall of Fame in 1982.

He received New York City's highest civilian honor, the Bronze Medallion in 1969. In 1978, the Marine Parkway Bridge, connecting the Marine Park area of Brooklyn with the Rockaways in Queens, was renamed the Marine Parkway-Gil Hodges Bridge in his memory. Other Brooklyn locations named for him are a park on Carroll Street, a Little League field on MacDonald Avenue in Brooklyn, a section of Avenue L and P.S. 193. In addition, part of Bedford Ave. in Brooklyn is named Gil Hodges Way. A Brooklyn bowling alley, Gil Hodges Lanes, is also named after him. In Indiana, the high school baseball stadium in his birthplace of Princeton, Indiana, and a bridge spanning the East Fork of the White River in northern Pike County, Indiana on State Road 57 bear his name. In 2007, Hodges was inducted into the Marine Corps Sports Hall of Fame.



^ Hodges at Ebbets Field in about 1953.

Hall of Fame consideration

There has been controversy over the fact that Gil Hodges has not been elected to membership in the Baseball Hall of Fame.[citation needed] He was considered to be one of the finest players of the 1950s,[citation needed]and graduated to managerial success with the Mets. But critics of his candidacy point out that despite his offensive prowess, he never led the NL in any offensive category such as home runs, RBI, or slugging average, and never came close to winning an MVP award.[citation needed] The latter fact may have been partially due to his having many of his best seasons (1950–51, 1954, 1957) in years when the Dodgers did not win the pennant.[citation needed] In addition, his career batting average of .273 was likely frowned on by many Hall of Fame voters in his early years of eligibility; at the time of his death, only five players had ever been elected by the Baseball Writers Association of America with batting averages below .300 – all of them catchers or shortstops, and only one (Rabbit Maranville) who had an average lower than Hodges' or who had not won an MVP award. By the time his initial eligibility expired in 1983, the BBWAA had elected only two more players with averages below .274 – third basemen Eddie Mathews (.271), who hit over 500 HRs, leading the NL twice, and Brooks Robinson (.267), who won an MVP award and set numerous defensive records.

Nonetheless, Hodges was the prototype of the modern slugging first baseman, and while the post-1961 expansion era has resulted in numerous players surpassing his home run and RBI totals, he remains the only one of the 21 players who had 300 or more home runs by the time of his retirement who has not yet been elected (all but Chuck Klein and Johnny Mize were elected by the BBWAA). Some observers have also suggested that his premature passing in 1972 removed him from public consciousness, whereas other ballplayers – including numerous Dodger greats – were in the public eye for years afterward, receiving the exposure which assist in their election. He did, however, collect 3010 votes cast by the BBWAA during his initial eligibility period from 1969 to 1983 – a record for an unselected player. (Jim Rice had surpassed that total in 2007, but was eventually voted into the Hall in January 2009.) Hodges has been regularly considered for selection by the Hall of Fame's Veterans Committee since 1987, falling one vote short of election in 1993, when no candidates were selected.

In the years since Hodges' retirement, however, the Hall of Fame has refused admittance to many players with similar or even superior records.[citation needed] Frank Howard, for example, hit 382 home runs from 1958 to 1973, with a .273 batting average, a .352 on base percentage, and a .499 slugging percentage, compared to Hodges' .273 batting average, .359 on base percentage, and .487 slugging percentage. In addition, the 1960s were a far less offensively-oriented era than the 1950s in which Hodges starred.[citation needed] Howard never received serious Hall of Fame consideration.[citation needed] In November 2011, Gil Hodges was placed onto the Golden Era Veterans Committee list for consideration into the Hall of Fame. The voting will take place by a 16 member committee on December 4–5 in Dallas, Texas.[5]

A 52 ft.x16ft. mural was recently dedicated in Petersburg, Indiana, Gil's hometown. The mural was painted by artist Randy Hedden and includes three pictures of Gil— as a Brooklyn Dodger, as manager of the Mets, and at-bat in Ebbets Field. The purpose of the mural is to "raise awareness of Hodges' absence from the Baseball Hall of Fame." It is located at the intersection of Hwys 61 & 57 in Petersburg.

Career statistics
Batting average .273
Home runs 370
Runs batted in 1,274
Teams

As player

Brooklyn / Los Angeles Dodgers (1943, 1947–1961)
New York Mets (1962–1963)

As manager

Washington Senators (1963–1967)
New York Mets (1968–1971)

Career highlights and awards

8× All-Star selection (1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1957)
3× World Series champion (1955, 1959, 1969)
3× Gold Glove Award winner (1957, 1958, 1959)
1959 Lou Gehrig Memorial Award
Hit 4 home runs in one game on August 31, 1950
New York Mets #14 retired

[Old Sweater]

First Team, Second Baseman, Red Schoendienst



Schoendienst in about 1953.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Schoendienst

Albert Fred "Red" Schoendienst (play /ˈʃeɪndiːnst/; born February 2, 1923) is an American Major League Baseball coach, former player and manager, and 10-time All-star. After a 19-year playing career with the St. Louis Cardinals (1945–56, 1961–63), New York Giants (1956–57) and Milwaukee Braves (1957–60), Schoendienst managed the Cardinals from 1965 through 1976, the second-longest managerial tenure in the team's history (behind Tony La Russa's). Under his direction St. Louis won the 1967 and 1968 National League pennants and the 1967 World Series, and Schoendienst was named National League Manager of the Year in both '67 and '68. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1989 by the Veterans Committee. Schoendienst remains with the Cardinals as Special Assistant Coach; as of 2011 he has worn a Major League uniform as a player, coach or manager for 66 consecutive seasons.

Biography

Schoendienst was born in Germantown, Illinois. He signed with the Cardinals organization as an amateur free agent in 1942, and was named the Triple-A International League's Most Valuable Player in 1943 before enlisting in the Army later that year. In 1944 he received a medical discharge due to a severe injury to his left eye. The injury significantly hampered his visual acuity while batting right-handed against right-handed pitching; he trained himself as a switch hitter, and eventually became one of the best in the game.[2]

Schoendienst joined the Cardinals in 1945 as a left fielder and finished the season batting .278 with a league-high 26 stolen bases. In 1946 he moved to second base, helping the Cardinals to their third World Series title in five years. With sure hands and quick reflexes, he led the league's second basemen for seven seasons and handled 320 consecutive chances without an error in 1950. His 1956 league record fielding average of .9934 stood for 30 years until broken by Ryne Sandberg. During the 1946 off-season he won the televised Home Run Derby Contest.

In 1956 the Cardinals traded him to the New York Giants, who dealt him the following season to the Milwaukee Braves, where he promptly led the team to its first pennant in nine years, batting .309 and finishing third in the NL MVP vote. In the World Series the Braves defeated the New York Yankees to win their only world championship in Milwaukee, and the franchise's first since 1914. Milwaukee repeated as NL champions in 1958 but lost to the Yankees in their World Series rematch; Schoendienst flew out to Mickey Mantle for the Series' final out.

During the 1958-59 off-season Schoendienst was diagnosed with tuberculosis and underwent a partial pneumonectomy in February 1959. He returned to the Braves in 1960 but was released at the end of the season. In 1961 he rejoined the Cardinals, first as a pinch hitter, then as a coach when Johnny Keane replaced Solly Hemus as the Red Birds' manager. Keane resigned the day following the Cardinals' 1964 World Series victory over the Yankees, and Schoendienst was named as his replacement. His managerial record over 12 full-time seasons (1965–76) and two subsequent stints as interim manager (1980 and 1990) was 1,041 victories and 955 defeats (.522). After two years as a coach for the 1977-78 Oakland Athletics, Schoendienst returned to the Cardinals as coach and special assistant to the general manager. He remains an employee of the Cardinals organization with the title of Special Assistant Coach.

In his playing career Schoendienst compiled a .289 batting average with 84 home runs, 773 runs batted in, 1223 runs, 2449 hits, 427 doubles, 78 triples and 89 stolen bases in 2216 games played. His defensive stats as a second baseman include 4616 putouts, 5243 assists, 1368 double plays, and only 170 errors in 10029 total chances for a .983 fielding average.

Schoendienst was a member of five winning World Series teams, all of which won in seven games: as a player with the Cardinals and Braves in 1946 and 1957 respectively; as the Cardinals manager in 1967; and as a Cardinals coach in 1964 and 1982. He was also a member of three teams that lost the Series after leading three games to one: the 1958 Milwaukee Braves (to the Yankees), the 1968 Cardinals (to the Detroit Tigers), and the 1985 Cardinals (to the Kansas City Royals).

Red Schoendienst was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1989 by the Veterans Committee, and the Cardinals retired his number (2) in 1990. In 1998 he was inducted into the St. Louis Walk of Fame.

Personal life

In 1951 Schoendienst married the former Mary Eileen O'Reilly, who died in 1999.[4] Their 48-year marriage produced three daughters (Colleen, Cathleen, and Eileen) and one son (Kevin).

Career statistics
Batting average .289
Hits 2,449
Runs batted in 773
Teams

As player

St. Louis Cardinals (1945–1956)
New York Giants (1956–1957)
Milwaukee Braves (1957–1960)
St. Louis Cardinals (1961–1963)

As manager

St. Louis Cardinals (1965–1976, 1980, 1990)

Career highlights and awards

10× All-Star (1946, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1957)
5× World Series champion (1946, 1957, 1964, 1967, 1982)
St. Louis Cardinals #2 retired

HOF, 1989, Veterans Committee

[Old Sweater]

First Team, Third Baseman, Eddie Mathews



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddie_Mathews

Edwin Lee "Eddie" Mathews (October 13, 1931 – February 18, 2001) was an American professional baseball player.[1] He played in Major League Baseball as a third baseman, most notably on the Milwaukee Braves.[1] Mathews is regarded as one of the greatest third basemen ever to play the game.[2] He was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1978.

Early life

Mathews was born in Texarkana, Texas. He was six years old when his family moved to Santa Barbara, California. The Santa Barbara High School baseball field, where he developed into a star high school baseball player, is named after him. Mathews was signed by the Boston Braves in 1949. He continued to shine in their farm system as a left-handed hitting third baseman who hit towering home runs.

Baseball career
[edit] Boston, Milwaukee, and Atlanta Braves

Mathews was brought up to the major leagues in 1952, Mathews hit 25 home runs, including three in one game. In 1953 the Braves moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin where he batted .302, hit 47 home runs, and drove in 135 runs. For nine straight seasons he hit at least 30 home runs, including leading the National League twice (1953, 1959).

As one of 1954's superstars in American sports, Mathews was chosen for the cover of the first-ever issue of Sports Illustrated magazine. Around this time, Ty Cobb said of Mathews: "I've only known three or four perfect swings in my time. This lad has one of them."

Mathews was a powerful pull-hitter, and for many years of his career teams would implement the "Mathews shift" when he came to bat. The second baseman would shift well to his left, toward first base, and the shortstop would come to the second base side of the bag, leaving a gaping hole between second and third base. Mathews delighted in occasionally punching the ball through that hole.

The Braves won the 1957 National League championship. In the World Series, Mathews hit a game-winning home run in the tenth inning of game four. The Braves went on to defeat the New York Yankees to win the Series. Mathews made the final out of the Series, a forceout of Gil McDougald on Moose Skowron's hard-hit grounder.

Mathews was regarded as one of the strongest power hitters of his time, often being compared to American League contemporary Mickey Mantle, in terms of power hitting strength. Hall-of-Fame teammate Warren Spahn once said of the two: "Mathews is just as strong as Mantle. They don't hit the same – Mantle gets all of his weight into his swing; Mathews uses his wrists more." Spahn's comment on Mathews' use of his wrists was in reference to his unique swing, as believed by many to be one of the more graceful swings in baseball history.[citation needed] He is the only player to play for the Braves in Boston, Milwaukee, and Atlanta.

Houston Astros and Detroit Tigers

Mathews was traded to the Houston Astros before the 1967 season. That year, he became the seventh player to hit 500 career home runs, becoming a member of the 500 home run club coming off pitcher Juan Marichal of the San Francisco Giants. During the 1967 season, Mathews was traded from the Astros to the Detroit Tigers. In the 1968 World Series, he made his final appearances in two post-season games as the Tigers defeated the St. Louis Cardinals. Upon his retirement, he was seventh in all-time home runs with 512. Over his career, he was named to the All-Star team nine times, played in three World Series, and drove in 100 or more runs five times.

Between 1954 and 1966 he and Braves teammate Hank Aaron hit 863 home runs (Aaron 442, Mathews 421), moving ahead of the Yankees duo of Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig as the all-time leaders in major league history.

Managing

He managed the Atlanta Braves from 1972 to 1974. He was the manager when Hank Aaron hit his 715th home run. He is also one of the few players to play, coach, and manage for the same baseball team.

After baseball

Eddie Mathews was elected to the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame in 1976.

In 1978, Mathews was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1978. He ranks second among all-time third basemen in home runs, runs batted in, slugging percentage, and total bases.

In 1999, the The Sporting News ranked Mathews 63 on their list of 100, "Baseball's Greatest Players". He also nominated that year as a finalist for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team.

In 2001, Mathews died from complications of pneumonia in 2001 in La Jolla, California. He is buried in Santa Barbara Cemetery. Later that year, the Braves honored his memory with the placement of patches bearing his retired uniform number, 41, on their jerseys.

Career statistics
Batting average .271
Home runs 512
Runs batted in 1,453
Teams

As player

Boston / Milwaukee / Atlanta Braves (1952–1966)
Houston Astros (1967)
Detroit Tigers (1967–1968)

As manager

Atlanta Braves (1972–1974)

Career highlights and awards

12× All-Star selection (1953, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1959², 1960, 1960², 1961, 1961², 1962²)
2× World Series champion (1957, 1968)
Atlanta Braves #41 retired

HOF, BBWAA, 1978, 79.42%

[Old Sweater]

First Team, Shortstop, Alvin Dark



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alvin_Dark

Alvin Ralph Dark (born January 7, 1922), nicknamed "Blackie" and "The Swamp Fox", is a former shortstop and manager in Major League Baseball who played for five National League teams from 1946 to 1960. Named the major leagues' Rookie of the Year with the 1948 Boston Braves when he batted .322. After joining the New York Giants he hit .300 three more times and became the first NL shortstop to hit 20 home runs more than once. His .411 career slugging average was the seventh highest by an NL shortstop when he retired, and his 126 home runs placed him behind only Ernie Banks and Travis Jackson. After leading the NL in putouts and double plays three times each, he ended his career with the seventh most double plays (933) and tenth highest fielding percentage (.960) in league history. He went on to become the third manager to win pennants with both National and American League teams.

Baseball career

Dark attended LSU, in 1942 and was a football standout there as well as a baseball player. During World War II, he transferred through the V-12 program to the University of Louisiana-Lafayette (then Southwestern Louisiana Institute) in Lafayette, Louisiana, where he again showed his baseball skills, batting .461 in 1944. His football skills were evident there as well as he quarterbacked SLI to an undefeated season in 1943 and a New Year's Day victory in the Oil Bowl. This led to his getting drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in the 1945 NFL Draft. After serving in Asia during the war, however, he came home and chose baseball.

He was named the MLB Rookie of the Year and finished third in the MVP voting in 1948 after playing a vital part of the Braves' unlikely run to the pennant, their first since 1914, though he hit only .167 in the World Series loss to the Cleveland Indians. He was traded after the 1949 season, which turned out to be a boon for the Giants. Dark was immediately named team captain by manager Leo Durocher, and had several great seasons in New York. In 1951 he batted .303 with 114 runs and a league-leading 41 doubles as the Giants won their first pennant since 1937; he hit .417 in the World Series against the New York Yankees, including a three-run home run in Game 1, though the Giants lost in six games. He followed up with seasons hitting .301 and .300 in 1952-53, scoring 126 runs with 23 home runs and 41 doubles in the latter season. In 1954 he batted .293 with 20 home runs and was fifth in the MVP voting as the Giants won another pennant; in the World Series against the heavily favored Indians, he batted .412 with a hit in every game, and the Giants pulled off an astonishing sweep to win their first championship since 1933. He was the NL's starting shortstop for the All-Star game in 1951, 1952, and 1954. In 1955 he was awarded the first Lou Gehrig Memorial Award, given to the player who best exemplified Gehrig's character and integrity both on and off the field.

In June 1956 he was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals in a nine-player deal; he continued to hit well, and led the NL in putouts and double plays for the third time in 1957. He was traded to the Chicago Cubs in May 1958, batting .295 over the remainder of the season and .264 in 1959; with Ernie Banks at shortstop, the Cubs shifted Dark to third base, where he remained in his last seasons.

Dark had a role in one of baseball history's weirdest plays. It took place during a game played on June 30, 1959, between the St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs. Stan Musial was at the plate, with a count of 3-1. Bob Anderson's next pitch was errant, evading catcher Sammy Taylor and rolling all the way to the backstop. Umpire Vic Delmore called ball four on the pitcher, but Anderson and Taylor contended that Musial foul tipped the ball. Because the ball was still in play, and because Delmore was embroiled in an argument with the catcher and pitcher, Musial took it upon himself to try for second base. Seeing that Musial was trying for second, Dark ran to the backstop to retrieve the ball. The ball wound up in the hands of field announcer Pat Pieper, but Dark ended up getting it back anyway. Absentmindedly, however, Delmore pulled out a new ball and gave it to Taylor. Anderson finally noticed that Musial was trying for second, took the new ball, and threw it to second baseman Tony Taylor. Anderson's throw flew over Tony Taylor's head into the outfield. Dark, at the same time that Anderson threw the new ball, threw the original ball to shortstop Ernie Banks. Musial, though, did not see Dark's throw and only noticed Anderson's ball fly over the second baseman's head, so he tried to go to third base. On his way there, he was tagged by Banks, and after a delay he was ruled out.[1]

In January 1960 he was traded with two other players to the Philadelphia Phillies in exchange for Richie Ashburn; after hitting .242 in 55 games, he was traded back to the Braves (now in Milwaukee) in June, and hit .298 in his final 50 games. On October 31 of that year, he was traded back to the Giants (who had moved to San Francisco two years earlier), who wanted him as their new manager rather than as a player. Dark retired with a .289 career batting average, 2089 hits, 1064 runs and 757 runs batted in over 1828 games played. According to baseball writer Bill James, he may have lost a Hall of Fame career due to his debut being delayed by his military service during World War II.

Managerial career

Dark quickly became a successful manager, winning a pennant with the Giants in 1962, but losing the 1962 World Series in seven games to the Yankees. In 1964 he became embroiled in controversy when he was quoted in Newsday as complaining about the number of black and Hispanic players on the team and saying, "They are just not able to perform up to the white player when it comes to mental alertness." He responded that he had been severely misquoted; Willie Mays, whom he had named as team captain, came to his defense and calmed the team, and Jackie Robinson further noted, "I have found Dark to be a gentleman and, above all, unbiased. Our relationship has not only been on the ballfield but off it." Dark weathered the imbroglio, but Giants owner Horace Stoneham fired him during the sixth inning of the last game of the season, with the team about to finish in fourth place.[2] He was hired as an assistant to Kansas City Athletics owner Charlie Finley in 1965, and became that team's manager the next season, but was dismissed in August 1967 in a disagreement over player discipline after Finley fined and suspended pitcher Lew Krausse, Jr. for his behavior on a team flight. (Finley also released first baseman Ken Harrelson, who had been quoted as saying that Finley was a menace to the sport.)

Dark was hired to manage the Cleveland Indians in 1968 by Vernon Stouffer; after an initial third-place season, he was given the additional duties of general manager, but having the field manager negotiate the players' contracts proved an untenable situation. The Indians returned to their losing ways and Dark was fired in mid-1971 with the team in last place.[3] In the meantime, the Athletics had moved to Oakland, and after manager Dick Williams resigned following consecutive World Series triumphs in 1972-73, Finley rehired Dark. He guided the A's to a third straight championship in 1974, joining managers Joe McCarthy and Yogi Berra by winning pennants in both leagues, but was again fired after losing the 1975 American League Championship Series. He was hired by the San Diego Padres in mid-1977, but left the team after that season following a fifth-place finish. He ended his career with a 994-954 record, despite the decided weakness of his teams in Cleveland and San Diego. In a 1969 poll, Giants fans selected him as the greatest shortstop in team history.

In 1980, Dark penned an autobiography (with John Underwood) entitled When in Doubt, Fire the Manager, published by E. P. Dutton, the back cover of which included endorsements by Ted Williams and Gene Mauch. In it, Dark focused mostly on his career as manager, especially of the Oakland A's under Charlie Finley, and how his conversion to Christianity affected how he chose to manage his teams.

With the death of Ralph Houk in 2010, Dark is the oldest-living manager of a World Series-winning, pennant-winning or post-season team.

Career statistics
Batting average .289
Home runs 126
Runs batted in 757
Teams

As player

Boston Braves (1946–1949)
New York Giants (1950–1956)
St. Louis Cardinals (1956–1958)
Chicago Cubs (1958–1959)
Philadelphia Phillies (1960)
Milwaukee Braves (1960)

As manager

San Francisco Giants (1961–1964)
Kansas City Athletics (1966–1967)
Cleveland Indians (1968–1971)
Oakland Athletics (1974–1975)
San Diego Padres (1977)

Career highlights and awards

3× All-Star selection (1951, 1952, 1954)
2× World Series champion (1954, 1974)
1948 Rookie of the Year
1955 Lou Gehrig Memorial Award

[Old Sweater]

First Team, Left Fielder, Stan Musial



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stan_Musial

Stanley Frank "Stan" Musial (play /ˈmjuːziəl/ or /ˈmjuːʒəl/; born November 21, 1920) is a retired professional baseball player who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals (1941–1963). Nicknamed "Stan the Man", Musial was a record 24-time All-Star selection (tied with Willie Mays), and is widely considered to be one of the greatest hitters in baseball history.[1] He compiled 3,630 hits (ranking fourth all-time and most in a career spent with only one team). With 1,815 hits at home and 1,815 on the road, he is also considered to be the most consistent hitter of his era.[1] He also compiled 475 home runs during his career, was named the National League's (NL) Most Valuable Player (MVP) three times, and won three World Series championship titles. Musial was a first-ballot inductee to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1969 and is currently the longest tenured living Hall of Famer.

Musial was born in Donora, Pennsylvania, where he frequently played baseball in both informal and organized settings, eventually playing on the baseball team at Donora High School. Signed to a professional contract by the St. Louis Cardinals as a pitcher in 1938, Musial was converted into an outfielder prior to his major league debut in 1941. Noted for his unique batting stance, he quickly established himself as a consistent and productive hitter. In his first full season, 1942, the Cardinals won the World Series. The following year, he led the National League in six different offensive categories and earned his first MVP award. He was also named an All-Star for the first time; he would be selected to every All-Star Game in every subsequent season he played. Musial won his second World Series ring in 1944, then missed the entire 1945 season while serving with the United States Navy.

On his return to baseball in 1946, Musial resumed his consistent hitting. That year he earned his second MVP award and third World Series title. His third MVP award came in 1948, when he finished one home run shy of winning baseball's Triple Crown. After struggling offensively in 1959, Musial used a personal trainer to help maintain his productivity until he decided to retire in 1963. At the time of his retirement, he held or shared 17 major league records, 29 National League records, and 9 All-Star Game records. In addition to overseeing businesses such as a restaurant both before and after his playing career, Musial served as the Cardinals' general manager in 1967, winning the pennant and World Series and then quitting that position. He also became noted for his harmonica playing, a skill he acquired during his playing career. Known for his modesty and sportsmanship, Musial was selected for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team in 1999. President Barack Obama presented Musial with Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest honor that can be bestowed on a civilian, at the White House on Feb. 15, 2011.

Early life

Musial was born in Donora, Pennsylvania, the fifth of Lukasz and Mary (Lancos) Musial's six children (four girls and two boys).[2] His mother was of Czech descent and his father was a Polish-American immigrant who chose the name Stanisław Franciszek Musiał (/ˈmuːʃaʊ/) (Moo-shiau) for his first son, though his father always referred to Musial using the Polish nickname "Stashu".[2][3] Musial frequently played baseball with his brother Ed and other friends during his childhood, and considered Lefty Grove his favorite ballplayer.[4][5] Musial also had the benefit of learning about baseball from his neighbor Joe Barbao, a former minor league pitcher.[6] When he enrolled in school, his name was formally changed to Stanley Frank Musial.[2]

At the age of 15, Musial joined the Donora Zincs, a semi-professional team managed by Barbao.[7] In his Zincs debut, he pitched 6 innings and struck out 13 batters, all of them adults.[7] Musial also played one season on the newly revived Donora High School baseball team, where one of his teammates was Buddy Griffey, father of MLB player Ken Griffey, Sr. and grandfather to MLB player Ken Griffey, Jr.[8][9] Baseball statistician Bill James described Griffey Jr., in comparison to Musial, as "the second-best left-handed hitting, left-handed throwing outfielder ever born in Donora, Pennsylvania on November 21."[10] His exploits as a rising player in Pennsylvania earned him the nickname "The Donora Greyhound ".[11]

Musial also played basketball, for which he was offered a scholarship by the University of Pittsburgh.[7][12] Meanwhile, the St. Louis Cardinals had scouted Musial as a pitcher and, in 1937, offered him a professional contract after a workout with their Class D Penn State League affiliate.[13] Musial's father initially resisted the idea of his son pursuing a baseball career, but reluctantly gave his consent after lobbying by both Musial and his mother.[14] Musial also credited his school librarian Helen Kloz for pointing out that baseball was his dream and advising him to pursue it professionally.[14] In what was then a common practice, the Cardinals did not file the contract with the baseball commissioner's office until June 1938. This preserved Musial's amateur eligibility, and he was still able to participate in high school sports, leading Donora High School's basketball team to a playoff appearance.[15] He then reported to the Cardinals' Class D affiliate in West Virginia, the Williamson Red Birds.

Baseball career

Musial's rookie year with Williamson was a period of adjustment, both on and off the field. He began gaining more in-depth knowledge about baseball strategy[18] while posting a 6–6 win–loss record and a 4.66 earned run average (ERA), to go along with a .258 batting average.[19] Off the field, he confronted feelings of homesickness, while learning to live comfortably and independently on his $65-per-month salary.[18] Musial finished his high school education before returning to Williamson in spring 1939. That season, his numbers improved to a 9–2 record, a 4.30 ERA, and a .352 batting average.[20][21]

Musial spent the 1940 season with the Cardinals' other Class D team, the Daytona Beach Islanders, where he developed a lifelong friendship with manager Dickie Kerr.[22] His pitching skills improved under the guidance of Kerr, who also recognized his hitting talent, playing him in the outfield between pitching starts.[23] On May 25, 1940, Musial married fellow Donora resident Lillian "Lil" Labash in Daytona Beach, and the couple's first child followed in August.[24] During late August, Musial suffered a shoulder injury while playing in the outfield, and later made an early exit as the starting pitcher in a 12–5 playoff game loss.[25] For a while, Musial considered leaving baseball entirely, complaining that he could not afford to support himself and his wife on the $16 a week pay. Kerr talked him out of it and even took the Musials into his own home to relieve the financial burden. To repay the debt, Musial in 1958 bought Kerr a $20,000 home in Houston.[26] In 113 games in 1940, he hit .311, while compiling an 18–5 pitching record that included 176 strikeouts and 145 walks.[27][28]

Musial was assigned to the Class AA Columbus Red Birds to begin 1941, though manager Burt Shotton and Musial himself quickly realized that the previous year's injury had considerably weakened his arm.[29] He was reassigned to the Class C Springfield Cardinals as a full-time outfielder, and he later credited manager Ollie Vanek for displaying confidence in his hitting ability.[30] During 87 games with Springfield, Musial hit a league-leading .379, before being promoted to the Rochester Red Wings of the International League.[31] He was noted for his unique batting stance, a crouch in which his back was seemingly square to the pitcher.[32] This stance was later described by pitcher Ted Lyons as "a kid peeking around the corner to see if the cops were coming".[33] According to a 1950 description by author Tom Meany, "The bent knees and the crouch give him the appearance of a coiled spring, although most pitchers think of him as a coiled rattlesnake."[34] Musial continued to play well in Rochester—in one three-game stretch, he had 11 hits. He was called up to the Cardinals for the last two weeks of the 1941 season.

1941–1945

Musial made his major league debut during the second game of a doubleheader at Sportsman's Park on September 17, 1941.[36] The Cardinals were in the midst of a pennant race with the Brooklyn Dodgers; in 12 games, Musial collected 20 hits for a .426 batting average.[37] Despite Musial's late contributions, the Cardinals finished two and one-half games behind the 100-game-winning Dodgers.[38]

Cardinals manager Billy Southworth used Musial as a left fielder to begin 1942, sometimes lifting him for a pinch-hitter against left-handed pitching.[39] Musial was hitting .315 by late June,[40] as the Cardinals resumed battling the Dodgers for first place in the National League (NL).[41] The Cardinals took sole possession of first place on September 13, and when Musial caught a fly ball to end the first game of a doubleheader on September 27 they clinched the pennant with their 105th win.[42] He finished the season with a .315 batting average and 72 runs batted in (RBI) in 140 games. Musial received national publicity when he was named by St. Louis Post-Dispatch sports editor J. Roy Stockton as his choice for Rookie of the Year in a Saturday Evening Post article.[43][44]

The Cardinals played the American League champion New York Yankees in the 1942 World Series.[45] Representing the winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 1 at Sportsman's Park, Musial grounded out with the bases loaded to seal a Yankees victory.[46] Musial's first hit of the Series was an RBI single that provided the margin of victory in Game 2, allowing the Cardinals to tie the Series.[47] Over the next three games at Yankee Stadium, Musial had three more hits as the Cardinals defeated the Yankees in the Series four games to one.[48] Musial batted .222 for the Series, with two runs scored.[49]

Musial's 1943 season started with a brief contract holdout in spring training.[50] He was selected to his first All-Star Game[50] and finished the regular season leading the NL in hits (220), doubles (48), triples (20), total bases (347), on-base percentage (.425), and slugging percentage (.562).[51] This performance earned him his first NL Most Valuable Player award, ahead of teammate Walker Cooper.[51] After romping to another NL pennant by 18 games, the Cardinals again faced the Yankees in the 1943 World Series.[52] Musial had a single in the Cardinals' Game 1 loss, and scored a run in a Game 2 win.[52] The Cardinals did not win another game in the Series, but the loser's bonus share paid to each Cardinals player ($4,321.99) still amounted to nearly two-thirds of Musial's regular season salary.[53]

United States involvement in World War II began to impinge on Musial's baseball career in 1944, as he underwent a physical examination in prelude to possible service in the armed forces.[54] He ultimately remained with the Cardinals for the entire season, posting a .347 batting average with 197 hits.[55][56] The Cardinals claimed the NL pennant for the third consecutive season, and faced St. Louis's other major league team, the Browns, in the 1944 World Series.[57] The Browns took a 2–1 lead, while Musial hit .250 with zero RBI.[58] He broke out in Game 4 with a two-run home run, single, double, and a walk as part of a 5–1 Cardinals win.[58] The Cardinals went on to defeat the Browns in six games, and Musial posted a .304 batting average for the Series.[59][60]

Musial entered the United States Navy on January 23, 1945, and was initially assigned to noncombat duty at the Naval Training Station in Bainbridge, Maryland.[61] On ship repair duty at Pearl Harbor later in the year, he was able to play baseball every afternoon in the naval base's eight-team league.[62] After being granted emergency leave to see his ailing father in January 1946, he was briefly assigned to the Philadelphia Navy Yard before his honorable discharge from the Navy in March.

1946–1949

Rejoining the Cardinals under new manager Eddie Dyer, Musial posted a .388 batting average by the middle of May 1946.[64] He also became close friends with new teammate Red Schoendienst, who had joined the Cardinals during Musial's absence in 1945.[65] During the season, Musial (who was under contract to the Cardinals for $13,500 in 1946) was offered a five-year, $125,000 contract, plus a $50,000 bonus, to join the Mexican League.[66] He declined the offer, and after manager Dyer spoke to club owner Sam Breadon, Musial was given a $5,000 raise later in 1946.[67]

It was also during the 1946 season that Musial acquired his nickname of "The Man".[63] During the June 23 game against the Dodgers at Ebbets Field, St. Louis Post-Dispatch sportswriter Bob Broeg heard Dodger fans chanting whenever Musial came to bat, but could not understand the words.[63][68] Later that day over dinner, Broeg asked Cardinals traveling secretary Leo Ward if he had understood what the Dodger fans had been chanting.[63] Ward said, "Every time Stan came up they chanted, 'Here comes the man!'" "'That man,' you mean", Broeg said. "No, the man", replied Ward.[63] Broeg mentioned this story in his Post-Dispatch column, and Musial was thereafter known as Stan "The Man".

In June 1946, Dyer began to use Musial as a first baseman.[69] The Cardinals finished the season tied with the Dodgers,[70] prompting a three-game playoff for the pennant. Musial's Game 1 triple and Game 2 double contributed to the Cardinals' two-games-to-none series victory.[71] Facing the Boston Red Sox, the Cardinals won the 1946 World Series four games to three,[72] as Musial had six hits and four RBI.[73] He won his second MVP Award, receiving 22 out of a possible 24 first-place votes, finishing ahead of Brooklyn's Dixie Walker.[74]

Musial began the 1947 season by hitting .146 in April.[75] On May 9, team doctor Dr. Robert Hyland confirmed a previous diagnosis of appendicitis, while discovering that Musial was concurrently suffering from tonsilitis.[76] He received treatment, but did not have either his appendix or tonsils surgically removed until after the season ended.[77] Despite his health woes, he finished the year with a batting average of .312.[78]

Fully recovered from his ailments, Musial recorded his 1,000th career hit on April 25, 1948.[79] After a May 7 St. Louis Globe-Democrat article criticized baseball players for appearing in cigarette advertisements, he made a personal decision to never again appear in such ads.[80] By June 24, his batting average was .408, prompting Brooklyn pitcher Preacher Roe to comically announce his new method for retiring Musial: "Walk him on four pitches and pick him off first."[81] Given a mid-season pay raise by new Cardinals owner Robert E. Hannegan for his outstanding performance, Musial hit a home run in the 1948 All-Star Game.[82] On September 22, he registered five hits in a game for the fourth time in the season, tying a mark set by Ty Cobb in 1922.

Musial finished 1948 leading the major leagues in batting average (.376), hits (230), doubles (46), triples (18), total bases (429), and slugging percentage (.702).[85] Winning the NL batting title by a 43-point margin, with an on-base percentage lead of 27 points and a 138-point slugging margin—the latter being the largest gap since Rogers Hornsby's 1925 season—Musial became the first player to win the NL MVP award for a third time.[85] If a home run he hit during a rained out game had been counted in his season totals, he would have won the Triple Crown by leading the NL in batting average, home runs, and runs batted in.

Anticipating life after his baseball career, Musial began the first of several business partnerships with Julius "Biggie" Garagnani in January 1949, opening "Stan Musial & Biggie's" restaurant.[87][88] He approached the 1949 season with the intent to try to hit more home runs, stating he had hit 39 the previous season "without trying".[89] His new focus on hitting for power backfired, as pitchers began using the outside part of the plate to induce him to ground out to the first or second baseman.[89] Musial soon stopped focusing on hitting home runs and resumed his consistent offensive production by the end of May.[89] He earned his sixth consecutive All-Star Game selection, and led the NL in hits (207) while playing in every game.[90] However, the Cardinals, with 96 wins, finished one game behind the Dodgers.

1950–1954

Musial began the 1950s by posting a .350 batting average before participating in the 1950 All-Star Game, where in fan balloting he was the NL's number two vote getter.[92] He had the longest hitting streak of his career during the 1950 season—a 30-game stretch that ended on July 27.[92] With the Cardinals falling 14 games out of first place by September, manager Dyer used him at first base and all three outfield positions.[92][93] New Cardinals manager Marty Marion led the team to a third place finish in 1951, while Musial was named The Sporting News Major League Player of the Year.

National media attention inadvertently turned to Musial a month before the 1952 season began, after Ty Cobb wrote an article regarding modern baseball players that was published in Life magazine.[95] Cobb singled out Musial and Phil Rizzuto as the only players "who can be mentioned in the same breath with the oldtime greats".[95] Cobb went on to refer to Musial as "a better player than Joe DiMaggio was in his prime."[95] In response, Musial displayed his characteristic modesty, saying, "Cobb is baseball's greatest. I don't want to contradict him, but I can't say that I was ever as good as Joe DiMaggio."

The only major league pitching appearance of Musial's career occurred as a publicity stunt during the last Cardinals home game of the 1952 season.[96][97] Manager Eddie Stanky had a reluctant Musial pitch to Frank Baumholtz, the runner-up to Musial for the best batting average in the NL that season.[96] With Baumholtz batting right-handed for the first time in his career, Musial's first pitch was hit so hard it ricocheted off the shin of third baseman Solly Hemus and into the left field corner.[96] The play was ruled an error, and Musial was embarrassed enough by his complicity in the gimmick to avoid pitching again for the remainder of his career.[96]

The Cardinals franchise was up for sale in early 1953, and Musial and Schoendienst advised their friend and fellow duck-hunter Gussie Busch to consider buying the team.[98] Busch used the resources of the Anheuser-Busch company to purchase the Cardinals, keeping Musial in St. Louis by averting the possibility of a move by the team to another city.[98][99] The 1953 season marked Musial's 10th All-Star selection, and the 12th consecutive time he finished a major league season with a batting average above .300.[43][100]

Musial accomplished another historical feat on May 2, 1954, in a doubleheader in St. Louis against the New York Giants: he hit three home runs in the first contest, then added two more in the second to become the first major leaguer to hit five home runs in a doubleheader.[101] In addition to his five home runs, he also hit a single in the first game, setting a new record of 21 total bases for a doubleheader.[101] The only player besides Musial to hit five home runs in a doubleheader is Nate Colbert, who achieved the feat in 1972.

1955–1959

Musial made his 12th All-Star appearance in 1955 as a reserve, when Cincinnati's Ted Kluszewski outpolled him by 150,000 votes to win the start at first base.[103] Musial entered the game as a pinch hitter in the fourth inning, and played left field as the game entered extra innings.[104] Leading off the bottom of the 12th, he hit a home run to give the NL a 6–5 victory.

The 1956 season marked another milestone for Musial, when he broke Mel Ott's NL record for extra-base hits on August 12.[105] Earlier that season, Cardinals general manager "Trader Frank" Lane began negotiations to trade him for Philadelphia pitcher Robin Roberts.[106] When Cardinals owner Gussie Busch learned of the possible move, he made it clear that Musial was not available for any trade.[107] Instead, Lane dealt Musial's close friend Schoendienst to the New York Giants; an upset Musial made no immediate comment to the press.[108]

On June 11, 1957, Musial tied the NL record for consecutive games played with his 822nd, a streak that began on the last day of the 1951 season.[109] Despite ballot stuffing by Cincinnati Reds fans, he appeared in the All-Star Game, held at Sportsman's Park.[110] When he overextended his swing while batting during a game on August 23, Musial fractured a bone in his left shoulder socket and tore muscles over his collarbone.[111] He was unable to play again until September 8, ending his consecutive games-played streak at 895.[111] He finished 1957 as Sports Illustrated's "Sportsman of the Year".

Musial signed one of the first $100,000 contracts in NL history on January 29, 1958. (According to Baseball Almanac, Hank Greenberg was the first with Pittsburgh in 1947.)[114] Approaching the 3,000-hit milestone in his major league career, he expressed a desire to record the hit in St. Louis.[115] He ultimately reached the mark with a pinch-hit, sixth inning RBI double at Chicago's Wrigley Field on May 13.[116][117] The eighth major league player to reach 3,000 hits, and the first to reach the milestone with an extra-base hit, Musial was greeted at St. Louis Union Station that evening by roughly 1,000 fans.[118] Finishing the season in sixth place, the Cardinals embarked on an exhibition tour of Japan, winning 14 of 16 games against top players from the Central and Pacific Japanese Leagues.

Taking a new approach to preparation for the 1959 season, Musial was given permission to report late to spring training so that he might conserve his energy for the duration of the year.[120] Musial, 6 feet (1.8 m) tall, had maintained a weight of around 175 pounds (79 kg) throughout his career. He reported to spring training approximately 10 pounds (4.5 kg) overweight and in substandard physical condition.[121][122] He began the season with one hit in 15 at-bats.[122] Despite his early offensive struggles, he single-handedly spoiled potential no-hitters on April 16 and April 19.[122] A game-winning home run on May 7 made him the first major league player ever with 400 home runs and 3,000 hits.[122] As he continued to hit at a relatively low pace, his playing time was limited by Cardinals manager Solly Hemus at various points during the season.[123] Seeking more revenue for the players' pension fund, Major League Baseball held two All-Star games in a season for the first time.[124] Musial pinch-hit in both contests, flying out in the July 7 game and drawing a walk in the August 3 game.[124] He finished the season with appearances in 115 games, a .255 batting average, 37 runs, and a slugging percentage of .428.[43]

Stan Musial was the batter in one of baseball history's weirdest plays. It took place during a game played on June 30, 1959, between the St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs. Musial was at the plate, with a count of 3–1. Bob Anderson's next pitch was errant, evading catcher Sammy Taylor and rolling all the way to the backstop. Umpire Vic Delmore called ball four on the pitcher, however Anderson and Taylor contended that Musial foul tipped the ball. Because the ball was still in play, and because Delmore was embroiled in an argument with the catcher and pitcher, Musial took it upon himself to try for second base. Seeing that Musial was trying for second, Alvin Dark ran to the backstop to retrieve the ball. The ball wound up in the hands of field announcer Pat Pieper, but Dark ended up getting it back anyway. Absentmindedly, however, Delmore pulled out a new ball and gave it to Taylor. Anderson finally noticed that Musial was trying for second, took the new ball, and threw it to second baseman Tony Taylor. Anderson's throw flew over Tony Taylor's head into the outfield. Dark, at the same time that Anderson threw the new ball, threw the original ball to shortstop Ernie Banks. Musial, though, did not see Dark's throw and only noticed Anderson's ball fly over the second baseman's head, so he tried to go to third base. On his way there, he was tagged by Banks, and after a delay he was ruled out.

1960–1963

Based on his 1959 performance, Musial accepted a pay cut in 1960 from his previous $100,000 salary to $80,000.[126] Eager to prove his mediocre performance was the result of improper physical conditioning, he enlisted the help of Walter Eberhardt, St. Louis University's director of physical education.[127] In June 1960, newspaper articles began speculating that Musial would soon retire, yet he finished the season with a .275 batting average.[43][128] He addressed the speculation in September, confirming that he would play again in 1961. His .288 batting average that season reaffirmed his decision.[43][129] In 1962, Musial posted a .330 batting average, good for third in the batting race, with 19 homers and 82 RBI. As a pinch-hitter, he had 14 base hits in 19 at-bats (.615).[130] Along the way, he established new NL career marks for hits, RBI, and runs scored. That same year, on July 8, the 41-year-old Musial became the oldest player ever to hit three home runs in one game.

The Cardinals began 1963 by winning 10 of their first 15 games, as Musial posted a .237 batting average.[131] He set a new major league record for extra-base hits on May 8 and improved his batting average to .277 by the end of the month.[132] Making his 24th All-Star Game appearance on July 9, 1963, he pinch-hit in the fifth inning.[132] Asked by general manager Bing Devine on July 26 what his plans were, Musial decided to retire at season's end.[133] He waited until the Cardinals team picnic on August 12 to publicly announce his decision, hopeful he could retire on a winning note.[134]

Musial became a grandfather for the first time in the early hours of September 11; later that day, he hit a home run in his first at-bat.[135] After sweeping a doubleheader on September 15, the Cardinals had won 19 of their last 20 games, and were one game behind the Los Angeles Dodgers.[135] The Dodgers then swept the Cardinals in a three-game series in St. Louis and clinched the NL pennant on September 25.[136] Musial's last game, on September 29, 1963, was preceded by an hour-long retirement ceremony.[137] Speakers at the event included baseball commissioner Ford Frick, Cardinals broadcaster Harry Caray, and Cardinals owner Gussie Busch, who announced that Musial's uniform number "6" would be retired by the team.[137] During the game, Musial recorded a single in the fourth inning, then hit a single to right field that scored teammate Curt Flood in the sixth.[138] Cardinals manager Johnny Keane brought in Gary Kolb as a pinch-runner for Musial, bringing his major league career to an end.[138] Just as he had recorded two base hits in his major league debut, Musial finished his last game with two hits, as well.

At the time of his retirement, Musial held or shared 17 major league records, 29 NL records, and 9 All-Star Game records.[139] Among those records, he ranked as the major league career leader in extra-base hits (1,377) and total bases (6,134).[138] He also held NL career marks in categories such as hits (3,630), games played (3,026), doubles (725), and RBI (1,951).[138] He finished his career with 475 home runs despite never having led the NL in the category.[138] His career hit total was evenly split between 1,815 hits at home and 1,815 hits on the road.[33] Musial was also the first major league player to appear in more than 1,000 games at two different positions, registering 1,896 games in the outfield and 1,016 at first base.

In Musial's 3,026 major league appearances, he was never ejected from a game.[141] Speaking about his quiet reputation within the sport's history, sportscaster Bob Costas said, "He didn't hit a homer in his last at-bat; he hit a single. He didn't hit in 56 straight games. He married his high school sweetheart and stayed married to her. ... All Musial represents is more than two decades of sustained excellence and complete decency as a human being."

Post-playing career and family life

Musial was named a vice president of the St. Louis Cardinals in September 1963, and he remained in that position until after the 1966 season.[142] From February 1964 to January 1967, he also served as President Lyndon Johnson's physical fitness adviser, a part-time position created to promote better fitness among American citizens.[143] Before the 1967 season began, the Cardinals named Musial the team's general manager, and he oversaw the club's World Series championship that year.[142] He won the allegiance of Cardinals players by making fair offers from the outset of player-contract negotiations and creating an in-stadium babysitting service so players' wives could attend games.[144] His longtime business partner Biggie Garagnani died in June 1967, prompting Musial to devote more time to managing his restaurant and other business interests.[145] He came to realize that the detail-oriented desk job was not his forte. He consequently decided to step down as general manager, before even completing a full year on the job.[145]

Musial is father to four children from his marriage to wife Lillian; the couple was married in St. Paul's Roman Catholic Church in Daytona Beach on May 25, 1940. Their children were son Richard and daughters Gerry, Janet, and Jeanie.[141][146] He is noted for his harmonica playing, including his rendition of "Take Me Out to the Ball Game".[147] Through the 1990s, he frequently played the harmonica at public gatherings, such as the annual Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremony and various charity events.[148] He performed on the television show Hee Haw and in 1994 recorded 18 songs that were sold in tandem with a harmonica-playing instruction booklet.

Honors and recognition

In early 1953 the Dapper Dan Charities in his hometown of Pittsburgh honored Musial as "Sportsman of the Year" for 1952.

On August 4, 1968, a statue of Musial was erected outside of Busch Memorial Stadium on the northeast grounds of the St. Louis stadium.[145] The statue was moved from its original location to the west side of the new Busch Stadium for its first season in 2006, where it became a popular meeting place for generations of Cardinals fans.[150] Musial's statue is inscribed with a quote attributed to former baseball commissioner Ford Frick: "Here stands baseball's perfect warrior. Here stands baseball's perfect knight."

Musial was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility in 1969, named on 93.2 percent of the ballots.[151] In 1989, he was inducted into the St. Louis Walk of Fame.[152] Five years later, a baseball field was named after him in his hometown of Donora.[153] He was ranked tenth on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players published in 1998.[154] He was also one of the 30 players selected to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team, added by a special committee after he finished 11th in fan voting among outfielders.[155] In 2000, he was inducted into the Hall of Famous Missourians, and a bronze bust depicting him is on permanent display in the rotunda of the Missouri State Capitol.

Nearly two decades after Musial retired, baseball statistician Bill James and the sabermetrics movement began providing new ways of comparing players across baseball history.[157] In 2001, James ranked Musial the tenth-greatest baseball player in history, and the second-best left fielder of all time.[158] According to Baseball-Reference.com, he ranks fifth all-time among hitters on the Black Ink Test, and third all-time on the Gray Ink Test—measures designed to compare players of different eras.[43][159] He ranks first on Baseball-Reference's Hall of Fame Monitor Test, and is tied for second in the Hall of Fame Career Standards Test.[43] Despite his statistical accomplishments, he is sometimes referred to as the most underrated or overlooked athlete in modern American sports history.[160][161] For instance, in his analysis of baseball's under and overrated players in 2007, sportswriter Jason Stark said, "I can't think of any all-time great in any sport who gets left out of more who's-the-greatest conversations than Stan Musial."[160]

Musial threw out the first pitch in Game 5 of the 2006 World Series and delivered the ceremonial first pitch ball to President Barack Obama at the 2009 Major League Baseball All-Star Game.[162] A "Stan the Man" day was held in his honor by the Cardinals on May 18, 2008.[163] In 2010, the Cardinals launched a campaign to build support for awarding Musial the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his lifetime of achievement and service.[164] The campaign realized its goal, and on February 15, 2011, Musial was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama.



^ President Barack Obama awards the 2010 Presidential Medal of Freedom to Stan Musial in a ceremony in the East Room of the White House February 15, 2011.

Career statistics
Batting average .331
Hits 3,630
Home runs 475
Runs batted in 1,951
Teams

St. Louis Cardinals (1941–1944, 1946–1963)

Career highlights and awards

24× All-Star (1943, 1944, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1959², 1960, 1960², 1961, 1961², 1962, 1962², 1963)
3× World Series champion (1942, 1944, 1946)
3× NL MVP (1943, 1946, 1948)
7× NL batting title (1943, 1946, 1948, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1957)
1957 Lou Gehrig Memorial Award
St. Louis Cardinals #6 retired
Major League Baseball All-Century Team

HOF, 1969, BBWAA, 93.2% First Ballot

[Old Sweater]

First Team, Center Fielder, Duke Snider



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duke_Snider

Edwin Donald "Duke" Snider (September 19, 1926 – February 27, 2011), nicknamed "The Silver Fox" and "The Duke of Flatbush", was a Major League Baseball center fielder and left-handed batter who played for the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers (1947–62), New York Mets (1963), and San Francisco Giants (1964).

Snider was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1980.

Early life and career

Born in Los Angeles, Snider was nicknamed "Duke" by his father at age five.[1] Growing up in Southern California, Snider was a gifted all-around athlete, playing basketball, football, and baseball at Compton High School, class of 1944. He was a strong-armed quarterback, who reportedly could throw the football 70 yards. Spotted by one of Branch Rickey's scouts in the early 1940s, he was signed to a baseball contract out of high school in 1943.[1] He played briefly for the Montreal Royals of the International League in 1944 (batting twice) and for Newport News in the Piedmont League in the same year. After serving in the military in 1945, he came back to play for the Fort Worth Cats in 1946 and for St. Paul in 1947. He played well and earned a tryout with the Brooklyn Dodgers later that year. He started the next season (1948) with Montreal, and after hitting well in that league with a .327 batting average, he was called up to Brooklyn for good during the middle of the season.

Major League Baseball career

In 1949 Snider came into his own, hitting 23 home runs with 92 runs batted in, helping the Dodgers into the World Series. Snider also saw his average rise from .244 to .292. A more mature Snider became the "trigger man" in a power-laden lineup which boasted players, Jackie Robinson, Pee Wee Reese, Gil Hodges, Billy Cox, Roy Campanella, Carl Erskine, Preacher Roe, Carl Furillo, Clem Labine, and Joe Black. Often compared with two other New York center fielders, fellow Hall of Famers, Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays, he was the reigning "Duke" of Flatbush.

In 1950 he hit .321. But when his average slipped to .277 in 1951, off 44 points from his previous mark, Snider caught the brunt of the sports‑page blame when the Dodgers squandered a 13 ‑game August lead and finished sec*ond to the Giants. Snider recalls "I went to Walter O’Malley and told him I couldn’t take the pressure,” Duke says. “I told him I’d just as soon be traded. I told him I figured I could do the Dodgers no good.” Of course the trade did not happen.

Usually batting third in the line-up, Snider established some impressive offensive numbers: he hit 40 or more home runs in five consecutive seasons (1953–57), and between 1953-1956 averaged 42 home runs, 124 RBI, 123 runs, and a .320 batting average. He led the National league in runs scored, home runs, and RBIs in separate seasons, and appeared in six post-seasons with the Dodgers (1949, 1952–53, 1955–56, 1959), facing the New York Yankees in the first five and the Chicago White Sox in the last. The Dodgers won the World Series in 1955 and in 1959.

Snider's career numbers declined when the team moved to Los Angeles in 1958. Coupled with an aching knee and a 440-foot right field fence at the cavernous Coliseum, Snider hit only 15 home runs in 1958. However, he had one last hurrah in 1959 as he helped the Dodgers win their first World Series in Los Angeles. Duke rebounded that year to hit .308 with 25 home runs and 88 RBI in 400 at bats while platooning in center field with Don Demeter. Injuries and age would eventually play a role in reducing Snider to part-time status by 1961.

In 1962 when the Dodgers led the NL for most of the season (only to find themselves tied with the hated Giants at the season's end) it was Snider and third-base coach Leo Durocher who reportedly pleaded with Manager Walter Alston to bring in future Hall of Fame pitcher (and Cy Young award winner that year), Don Drysdale, in the ninth inning of the third and deciding play-off game. Instead Alston brought in Stan Williams to relieve a tiring Eddie Roebuck. A 4-2 lead turned into a 6-4 loss as the Giants rallied to win the pennant. Snider subsequently was sold to the New York Mets. It is said that Drysdale, his roommate, broke down and cried when he got the news of Snider's departure.

When Snider joined the Mets, he discovered that his familiar number 4 was being worn by Charlie Neal, who refused to give it up. So Snider wore number 11 during the first half of the season, then switched back to 4 after Neal was traded. He proved to be a sentimental favorite among former Dodger fans who now rooted for the Mets. But after one season, Snider asked to be traded to a contending team.

Snider was sold to the San Francisco Giants on Opening Day in 1964. Knowing that he had no chance of wearing number 4, which had been worn by Mel Ott and retired by the Giants, Snider took number 28. He retired at the end of that season.

In Snider's 18-year career he batted .295 with 407 home runs and 1,333 RBI in 2,143 games. Snider went on to become a popular and respected analyst and play-by-play announcer for the Montreal Expos from 1973 to 1986, characterized by his mellow, low-key style.

1955 Most Valuable Player balloting controversy

Snider finished second to teammate Roy Campanella in the 1955 Most Valuable Player balloting conducted by the Baseball Writers Association of America by just five points, 226-221, with each man receiving eight first place votes. A widely believed story, summarized in an article by columnist Tracy Ringolsby,[3] holds that a hospitalized writer from Philadelphia had turned in a ballot with Campanella listed as his first place and fifth place vote. It was assumed that the writer had meant to write Snider's name into one of those slots. Unable to get a clarification from the ill writer, the BBWAA, after considering disallowing the ballot, decided to accept it, count the first place vote for Campanella and count the fifth place vote as though it were left blank. Had the ballot been disallowed the vote would have been won by Snider 221-212. Had Snider gotten that now-blank fifth place vote, the final vote would have favored Snider 227-226.

Investigative reporting by Joe Posnanski, however, has suggested that this story is not entirely true.[4] Instead, Posnanski writes that there was a writer who did leave Snider off his ballot and write in Campanella's name twice, but it was in first and sixth positions, not first and fifth. Had Snider received the sixth place vote, the final tally would have created a tie, not a win for Snider. Additionally, the position was not discarded—everyone lower on the ballot was moved up a spot and the writer, and pitcher Jack Meyer was inserted at the bottom with a 10th place vote.

Snider did, however, win the Sporting News National League Player of the Year Award for 1955, and the Sid Mercer Award, emblematic of his selection by the New York branch of the BBWAA as the National League's best player of 1955.

Later life

Snider occasionally took acting roles, sometimes appearing in television or films as himself or as a professional baseball player. He played himself in "Hero Father" (1956) in the Robert Young television series "Father Knows Best" and made one guest appearance on the Chuck Connors television series "The Rifleman", playing Wallace in "The Retired Gun" (1959). Other appearances include an uncredited part as a Los Angeles Dodgers center fielder in "The Geisha Boy" (1958), the Cranker in "The Trouble with Girls" (1969), and a Steamer Fan in "Pastime" (1990). As recently as 2007, he was featured in "Brooklyn Dodgers: The Ghosts of Flatbush."[6]

In 1995 Snider pleaded guilty to federal tax fraud charges. According to the charges, he had failed to report income from sports card shows and memorabilia sales.[7][8]

Besides his selection to the Hall of Fame in 1980, in 1999 Snider was ranked 84 on The Sporting News's list of "100 Greatest Players", and was a nominee for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team.

Snider married Beverly Null in 1947; they had four children.

Snider died on February 27, 2011, at age 84 of what his family said of an undisclosed illness at the Valle Vista Convalescent Hospital in Escondido, California.

Career statistics
Batting average .295
Home runs 407
Runs batted in 1,333
Teams

Brooklyn / Los Angeles Dodgers (1947–1962)
New York Mets (1963)
San Francisco Giants (1964)

Career highlights and awards

8× All-Star selection (1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1963)
2× World Series champion (1955, 1959)
Los Angeles Dodgers #4 retired
Other accomplishments

HOF, 1980,BBWAA 86.49%

[BobH]

When I was a kid Stan was the man for pure consistency. One of my favorite all-time players.-BH

[Old Sweater]

When I was a kid Stan was the man for pure consistency. One of my favorite all-time players.-BH

There will never be another like him. He has done so much for the game.