On the first swing of his first at-bat as a grandfather, Stan Musial had fans and teammates shouting, “Oh, baby!”
A few hours after his first grandchild was born, Musial, 42, hit the first pitch he saw from Cubs starter Glen Hobbie for a two-run home run atop the pavilion roof in right field at Busch Stadium I in St. Louis.
Sharon Musial, wife of Stan’s son, Dick, gave birth to a son, Jeffrey, on the morning of Sept. 10, 1963, at Fort Riley Kan., where Dick, 23, was stationed as an Army lieutenant.
Musial and his wife, Lil, had waited until 1:30 a.m. on Sept. 10 before heading to bed.
In his book “Stan Musial: The Man’s Own Story” (1964, Doubleday), Musial wrote: “Lil and I awakened with a start at exactly the same time _ 4:40 a.m. _ and got up, troubled. As she brewed coffee, I paced the floor. Suddenly, the phone rang. Son Dick was calling from Fort Riley, Kan. Sharon had given birth to a boy. When? Just two minutes after Lil and I woke up.”
In a story headlined “Grandpa Musial Shuffles to Plate _ Celebrates by Swatting Homer,” The Sporting News reported, “The Man took a nap later in the morning so he could be better rested for the night game coming up.”
When he arrived at the ballpark, Musial wrote, he handed out cigars in the clubhouse. The Cardinals were honoring former St. Louis-area major leaguers that night and the old-timers gave Musial a ribbing.
“Hey, Gramp, you belong with us,” retired outfielders Joe Medwick and Terry Moore said to Musial.
With a laugh, Musial replied, “Next year.”
Musial, batting third and playing left field, came up in the first inning with Dick Groat on first and one out. He hit Hobbie’s first pitch for his 11th home run of the season and 474th of his 22-year big-league career. The homer came fewer than 16 hours after the grandchild was born.
Wrote the Associated Press: “The remarkable Stan Musial set another major league record: Most home runs by a new grandfather, 1.”
Wrote Musial: “That one was for Jeffrey Stanton Musial.”
Musial’s home run overshadowed the performance that night of Bob Gibson, who hit a three-run homer off Hobbie and pitched a six-hit shutout in the Cardinals’ 8-0 victory, their 13th win in 14 games. Boxscore
Gibson and Musial were two of six future Hall of Fame members who played in the game. The Cubs started the other four: right fielder Lou Brock, left fielder Billy Williams, third baseman Ron Santo and first baseman Ernie Banks.
Previously: How Bing Devine helped Stan Musial plan retirement
Leave a Reply