Stan The Man

Posted: July 27th, 2010 | Filed under: Media | 35 Comments »

wpid-Stan_on_Sports_Illustrated_cover_t620-2010-07-27-14-01.jpg

Lots of pieces in the works including something on Hall of Fame weekend, the aftermath in Cleveland and one of the great American sports heroes of the last half century. In the meantime, though, I thought you might enjoy a look at this week’s special edition of Sports Illustrated … with my story on Stan The Man Musial.

35 Comments on “Stan The Man”

  1. 1: Disco said at 1:09 pm on July 27th, 2010:

    Really looking forward to reading the article.

    But I HATE the double issue. I want my SI every week!

  2. 2: Jim Haas said at 1:15 pm on July 27th, 2010:

    Loved Stan the Man growing up. Not a big fan of SI, but I’ll probably have to break down and buy that issue. Looking at the cover, I wonder how in heck anybody could run in those pants.

  3. 3: odessasteps magazine said at 1:43 pm on July 27th, 2010:

    love the juxtaposition of classic stan and FANTASY FOOTBALL PREVIEW.

  4. 4: cardsrul said at 2:17 pm on July 27th, 2010:

    Stan will always be The Man. Even Albert says so.

  5. 5: cardsrul said at 2:21 pm on July 27th, 2010:

    And btw Joe, thanks for your bon mots on Stan, Gibby, and Albert. If I didn’t know better, I’d swear you were a Cardinals fan.

  6. 6: Flash flood kills 1 in Danville North Capitol Street said at 2:30 pm on July 27th, 2010:

    [...] Joe Posnanski » Blog Archive » Stan The Man [...]

  7. 7: Mike in Hawaii(ABR) said at 2:38 pm on July 27th, 2010:

    Wow, Joe, I always love the “Where are they now?” issues. I only wish my local Borders still sold Sports Illustrated.

  8. 8: Nate said at 2:41 pm on July 27th, 2010:

    My sincere hope is that Stan Musual agrees to let Joe write the book about him. Maybe this is a start.

    I have really been enjoying the content of this blog lately. I just moved to Paraguay, and Joe’s writing makes me miss baseball even more.

  9. 9: Mikey said at 2:58 pm on July 27th, 2010:

    When does this drop online? Can’t wait to read it.

  10. 10: Jason Dixon said at 3:02 pm on July 27th, 2010:

    Nate, a Poznanski book on Musial? That would be excellent. Then I could tell all my St Louis friends, “Don’t say Kansas City (via Cleveland) never did anything nice for you”.

  11. 11: Bobby A said at 3:20 pm on July 27th, 2010:

    What a tease ;-)

  12. 12: Matt said at 3:20 pm on July 27th, 2010:

    re: 9. It does seem to be in the SI vault already if you search for it there.

  13. 13: Watch out for watch men North Capitol Street said at 3:45 pm on July 27th, 2010:

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  14. 14: Senate hearing on Lockerbie bomber postponed North Capitol Street said at 3:52 pm on July 27th, 2010:

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  15. 15: Kevin in STL said at 4:39 pm on July 27th, 2010:

    Stan was and is a wonderful human being, and I’m afraid it may take his passing for the world at large to realize that he was as good as anyone…not that he’d spend a second worrying about it or promoting himself.

    Additionally, what a gorgeous uniform!

  16. 16: David in NYC said at 4:52 pm on July 27th, 2010:

    Wonderful, marvelous — one of my favorite writes on one of my all-time favorite players.

    But why no linky thing?

  17. 17: Dan said at 5:12 pm on July 27th, 2010:

    Look at that skinny guy…what would he have done with some steroids? Oh, I guess we know–ARod.

  18. 18: stretch said at 7:51 pm on July 27th, 2010:

    I love those uniforms. I’d like to see the Cardinals wear them once a year.

    And it was an absolute crime that Stan had to be added to the all century team by Selig. Should have been voted in easily.

  19. 19: mjm said at 9:29 pm on July 27th, 2010:

    Let’s stir the pot. Best #6? Musial or Russell?

  20. 20: Mike in TX said at 9:30 pm on July 27th, 2010:

    “If I didn’t know better, I’d swear you were a Cardinals fan.”

    Poz a Cardinals fan?? Say it ain’t so, Joe. Say it ain’t so.

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  22. 22: the not jason whitlock said at 1:40 am on July 28th, 2010:

    Just a note not a single Freed Negro would be allowed admission to the Power and Light District wearing pants as baggy as coverboy Stan the Man.

    If I wasn’t such a fat ass, I’d roll off the couch and write a book about it before Albom got his Oreo-by-way-of-Oprah hands on the story.

  23. 23: astorian said at 5:19 am on July 28th, 2010:

    #19- what’s so tragic about Stan being an also-ran in the voting?

    I KNOW Stan is one of the all-time greats, but as it is, the fans picked Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, Ted Williams and Willie Mays (in that order) as their top four outfielders. Do any of those selections really outrage you?

  24. 24: morgoo said at 5:49 am on July 28th, 2010:

    Joe, you could easily fit in the pushing 60 year old crowd. You are a memory reflecting machine.

    First cognitive baseball memory. Impatiently waiting for Cardinal announcer Harry Carey to say “holy cow” on the radio, and always with my father rambling on about Stan the Man.

    Still love baseball by radio. I honestly, and not rubbing it in, but there were some serious ball players in the late 50s early 60s. Who was the best center fielder? Mick or Willie? Take an extra base on Stan the Man……death wish.

  25. 25: Paper Lions said at 6:07 am on July 28th, 2010:

    Someone still pays Selena Roberts to make up stories? At least they put it on the cover to prevent unsuspecting people from thinking that the contents might reflect actual events.

  26. 26: Men’s Dress Shirts – Understanding the Role of Seasons said at 7:02 am on July 28th, 2010:

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  27. 27: David in NYC said at 10:49 am on July 28th, 2010:

    @astorian #24 –

    It’s not the top 4 who were the issue. It’s that (a) the All-Century team had 9 outfielders, and none of them was Musial, and (b) 2 who were in the top 9 were Pete Rose and Junior. Kinda hard to make a case that Rose was a better player than Musial by any measure (except longevity) or that Griffey’s 10-year career at the time was better than Musial’s full career*.

    *Through 1998, Junior had 350 HRs, 1569 hits, 1018 RBI, 940 runs, .300 BA, and an OPS+ of 150. In Musial’s full career, he had roughly twice as much of everything (except HRs; he had 475), and a career OPS+ of 159 which includes his declining years. Griffey’s current career OPS+ is 135 and dropping.

    So, yes, it was an absolute crime that Musial was not on the All-Century team.

  28. 28: Bill C. said at 10:54 am on July 28th, 2010:

    David @ 28…How is Griffey’s OPS+ still dropping in retirement?

  29. 29: Local man sought in car scam North Capitol Street said at 12:00 pm on July 28th, 2010:

    [...] Joe Posnanski » Blog Archive » Stan The Man [...]

  30. 30: Ken Raining said at 4:03 pm on July 28th, 2010:

    I honestly thought the tag line to the article said “What moron baseball can learn…” at first glance.

  31. 31: Understanding the reasons for dog attacks said at 5:06 am on July 29th, 2010:

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  32. 32: Mikey said at 6:33 am on July 29th, 2010:

    Beautiful piece. Superb.

    Joe, forgive me if my memory is wrong but are you sure that Musial threw out a first pitch at the ASG last year? My recollection of it is that he delivered the ball to President Obama, who then threw the first pitch.

    This Richard Justice story from last year seems to confirm: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/bb/6529660.html

  33. 33: Notorious: 188 – A Questionable Doctor – 12:00-01:00PM : Jumping Anaconda said at 6:57 am on July 29th, 2010:

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  34. 34: Chris M said at 12:08 pm on July 30th, 2010:

    I’m way, way too young to remember Stan the Man as a player, but his has long been one of my favorite baseball encyclopedia (and now BB-reference) pages. There’s something so…symmetrical about it. 3630 hits (divided evenly between home and away), 475 homers, 1,949 runs and 1,951 RBI, even the way his power develops 7 seasons in, and then fades 7 seasons out from the end.

    Speaking of that last one, take a look at Musial’s year-by-year HR totals: his first 6 seasons he’s between 10 and 19 HRs, then becomes a consistent 30 HR hitter, and then his last 7 years he drops back into that mid-teens HR guy. Is there any doubt that if he’d put up that statline in the 90′s and 2000′s, he’d have immediately been labeled a steroid guy?

  35. 35: Adam said at 9:29 am on August 1st, 2010:

    Awesome story! I didn’t want it to end. Such a class act, Stan the Man.

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