RetroSimba

(Updated July 25, 2020)

Mel Ott, the left-handed Giants slugger who five times led the National League in home runs during the 1930s, was one of the boyhood favorites of Stan Musial.

Musial, in turn, was one of the boyhood idols of Dodgers pitcher Don Drysdale.

When Musial surpassed Ott as the NL career leader in RBI by hitting a two-run home run against Drysdale on July 25, 1962, at St. Louis, it was a feat with special meaning for the Cardinals standout.

Musial broke Ott’s NL RBI record of 1,860.

In 2020, Hank Aaron is the major-league career leader in RBI at 2,297. Aaron also is the all-time NL leader at 2,202. Barry Bonds rates second in career NL RBI (1,996), 45 ahead of Musial (1,951).

Musial, 41, had a splendid season for the Cardinals in 1962. He was batting .351 entering the game against Drysdale and the Dodgers at Busch Stadium. “Small wonder that the Polish boy from Donora, Pa., earns more than most bank presidents,” the Los Angeles Times noted.

A winner of his last seven decisions, Drysdale entered the game with a 17-4 record and 2.90 ERA.

In the sixth inning, the Dodgers led, 2-0, when Musial faced Drysdale with Bill White on first. Drysdale’s first pitch to Musial was a fastball, low and away. Musial swung and launched a drive that bounced off the right-field light tower, about 85 feet above the playing field, the Associated Press reported. The ball ricocheted back onto the field and was retrieved by umpire Ed Vargo, who gave it to Cardinals trainer Bob Bauman for safekeeping. Boxscore

“Not many balls have been hit harder off me,” Drysdale told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “If the light tower hadn’t stopped the ball, they’d have a tough time measuring the distance. The ball would have gone right through Hurricane Esther.”

The two RBI gave Musial 1,862, moving him ahead of Ott (who had driven in his last run in 1946) for the all-time NL lead.

In his book “Stan Musial: The Man’s Own Story,” Musial said, “Ottie, one of my early idols, was a class guy as well as a great player and I’m glad I had the chance to play against him. I liked his mannerisms and his manners.”

Drysdale congratulated Musial in the Cardinals clubhouse and told reporters Musial was his boyhood idol. Drysdale was 5 years old when Musial got his first major-league RBI in his debut game on Sept. 17, 1941.

“We didn’t have big-league baseball in California when I was growing up,” Drysdale said to the Post-Dispatch. “So I’d pick up the paper and look at the box scores. If Stan didn’t get at least one hit, I was unhappy.”

Replied Musial: “I’m glad I broke the record against a tough pitcher.”

Musial said Drysdale “has a real good sinker, his control is all right and he can strike out a man when he has to.”

Drysdale, like Musial, was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Musial batted .324 (22-for-68) against Drysdale, but the hit that gave him the career NL RBI lead was his lone career home run off the dominating Dodger.