RetroSimba

Snapshots from Stan Musial’s last game, Sept. 29, 1963, when the Reds played the Cardinals at St. Louis:

Mass and McMahon

Musial attended Mass that Sunday morning at St. Raphael the Archangel Catholic Church near his St. Louis home. He drove to the ballpark with his friend, actor Horace McMahon, who was visiting from Connecticut, The Sporting News reported. McMahon had received an Emmy nomination for his role as a detective in the TV show “Naked City.” Musial was godfather to McMahon’s son.

Visit with Ducky

After parking his steel blue Cadillac, Musial entered the ballpark at 10:50 a.m. One of the first to greet him in the clubhouse was Joe Medwick, a slugger for the Cardinals from 1932-40. “Fellows,” Musial said to the reporters on scene, “this is the guy I replaced as regular left fielder 22 years ago.”

Salute to Shannon

When Cardinals outfielders Gary Kolb, 23, and Mike Shannon, 24, walked by, Musial asked them to stop and sit with him. With Kolb on one side of the retiring legend and Shannon on the other, Musial said to reporters, “And these are my protégés who’ll replace me next year.”

Sharp tune-up

Entering the field wearing the familiar No. 6 on his jersey, Musial went directly to the batting cage. Bill White stepped aside for Musial, who took his swings against Lloyd Merritt, a St. Louis native who pitched for the Cardinals in 1957. Musial hit Merritt’s last batting-practice toss onto the pavilion roof in right field.

Reds rooters

When he left the cage, Musial was greeted by Reds veterans Joe Nuxhall and Frank Robinson and rookie Pete Rose. Nuxhall and Robinson brought baseballs for Musial to sign. Rose shook hands with Musial and wished him well.

Diamonds are forever

During ceremonies before the game, Ken Boyer, the Cardinals’ captain, presented Musial with a gift from his teammates: a ring with six diamonds shaped in the number 6. In his book “Stan Musial: The Man’s Own Story,” Musial said, “Of all the gifts I’ve been given at one time or another, I believe I cherish most the ring … that was presented by my 1963 teammates. My world championship rings had been stolen from my house several years earlier.”

Feeling the strain

Musial opened the game in left field. In his 22-year Cardinals career, Musial played 929 games in left, the most of the three outfield positions. “My legs were wobbly from emotion and exhaustion as I trotted to the outfield to start my last game,” Musial said.

At-bat interruption

Facing Jim Maloney, a 23-game winner in 1963, Musial struck out on three pitches in the first inning. Musial didn’t swing at the first pitch. Umpire Al Barlick took the ball from catcher Johnny Edwards’ glove and gave it to Musial, who trotted over to a box seat and handed the ball to Sid Keener, director of the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Musial fouled off the next pitch and watched a curve snap in for strike three. Said Musial: “As I returned to the dugout, trainer Bob Bauman growled, ‘You weren’t bearing down up there.’ ”

No no-hitter

Maloney struck out six of the first 10 batters. When Musial came up in the fourth, the Cardinals were hitless. “I crouched low, trying to forget all else except the giant pitcher and the ball he fired so fast,” Musial said. With the count 1-and-1, Musial swung at a fastball, low and inside, and drilled it to the right of Rose at second base for a single.

The final swing

With Curt Flood at second in a scoreless game, Musial batted against Maloney in the sixth. Shadows covered the batting area. On a 2-and-1 pitch, Maloney threw a curve. “I picked up the spin of the ball in time,” Musial said. “My wrists whipped the bat down and in.” Musial grounded a RBI-single to right, his 3,630th hit.

Kolb relieves

Manager Johnny Keane lifted Musial for a pinch-runner, Kolb. It was the ninth time Kolb had been used as a pinch-runner for Musial, 42, in 1963. Kolb scored in the inning on a sacrifice fly by Charlie James, giving St. Louis a 2-0 lead. In the clubhouse, Musial told reporters, “I feel pretty good. Everyone was pulling for a home run, but I’m a singles hitter, so it seemed appropriate that I should go out with a pair of ’em.”

Classy warriors

After being replaced by a pinch-hitter in the eighth, Maloney went to the Cardinals clubhouse to congratulate Musial. When Musial saw Maloney enter, he said aloud, “Here’s a real tough guy. He had me worried.” Said Maloney to reporters: “I was glad to see him go out hitting.”

That’s a winner

The Cardinals won, 3-2, in 14 innings. Boxscore The Cardinals had won by the same score in Musial’s first game on Sept. 17, 1941. Like his finale, Musial had two hits in his debut game.

Holy cow

After saying more farewells, Musial did a post-game interview with Harry Caray for radio station KMOX. Musial told Caray that Warren Spahn was the best pitcher he faced in his career and Willie Mays was the best all-around player.

Celebration

At 7:45 p.m., nine hours after he had arrived, Musial left the ballpark, stopped home briefly and went with his family to a party in his honor at the restaurant he owned with business partner Biggie Garagnani. Among those attending the party were U.S. senator Stuart Symington, Missouri governor John Dalton and St. Louis mayor Raymond Tucker.

The next day, Musial and his wife, Lil, took a flight to New York to attend the World Series. Musial, dressed in a suit and with Joe DiMaggio at his side, threw the ceremonial first pitch on Oct. 2 before Game 1 between the Dodgers and Yankees. From there, the Musials went to Fort Riley, Kan., to get their first look at their first grandchild, Jeff, who was born Sept. 10.

Previously: Stan Musial and the Cardinals’ most iconic moments