Stan Musial's Last Game

 September 29^th was the fiftieth anniversary of Stan Musial’s last game. The St. Louis Cardinals legend ranked at or is near the top of baseball’s all-time lists in almost every batting category. He won seven National League batting titles and three MVPs.  Stan the Man spent 22 seasons with the Cardinals leading them to three World Series titles. But on that September day he recorded two base hits like he did in this major league debut. His last hit in his career was hit past the Cincinnati Reds second baseman at the time, Pete Rose, who would later pass Musial and Ty Cobb’s hit records. Harry Carary’s radio call from that day as Stan settled into the box tells the story. Harry said, “Take a look, fans. Take a good, long look. Remember the swing and the stance. We won’t see his like again”. Harry was right. We never have and we never will. 

 

We have a few books by and about Stan Musial including “Stan Musial, Baseball’s Perfect Knight” which tells his story from childhood to baseball through archival photos. But after all of this time, those of you fortunate enough to have seen him play or to have listened to those broadcasts on summer nights, can still picture him, like we picture no other. He is a great sports hero, a declaration based on more than statistics, an affirmation endorsed by those who have played with him, known him and met him, including me. He can be summed up with the words on his statue in St. Louis, which says, “Here stands baseball’s perfect warrior. Here stands baseball’s perfect knight.”