RIP Stan Musial, underappreciated legend

[Neroon]

He was a rarity among rarities. One of the all-time greatest hitters in baseball, he was as great a husband and gentleman it seemed. His wife preceded him in death by a mere 8 months.

Stan Musial passes on at age 92

 

[Timby]

Three of my favorite baseball quotes are about Stan Musial (who may be the most underrated player ever because his career was at the same time as a similar and slightly superior player in Williams):

1.) "Here stands baseball's perfect warrior, here stands baseball's perfect knight." - Ford Frick

2.) "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, never married a Marilyn Monroe. He didn't play with the sheer joy and style that goes alongside Willie Mays' name. None of those easy things are there to associate with Stan Musial. All Musial represents is more than two decades of sustained excellence and complete decency as a human being." - Bob Costas

3.) "How good was Stan Musial? He was good enough to take your breath away." - Vin Scully

Edit for another Musial story: Stan Musial was one of the first ballplayers to join SABR back in the day. On the old application form, they used to have a spot for "Area of Expertise" for the membership directory; Musial listed his as "hitting a baseball!"

 

[the 4th hanson bro]

RIP, Stan.

 

[Tom Hendricks]

I got my love of baseball from my father, my dad never had a favorite team or favorite player. He loved baseball, we would be driving somewhere and if we had time, stopped at little league games and we would watch. We went to Yankees and Mets games together, he didn't often speak of his favorite players but when he did, Stan Musial was someone he always had a reverence for.

 

[Neroon]

On the ESPN report I was watching, one of the contributors offered an interesting little bit. In a game in Atlanta, I think Musial was injured... and came away with 5 hits. On 5 swings.