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Ever since Stan Musial became the first big-league player to hit five home runs in a doubleheader, only one other has matched the feat and no one has surpassed it.

On May 2, 1954, Musial hit three home runs in the Cardinals’ 10-6 victory in Game 1 and clubbed two more in Game 2, a 9-7 victory for the Giants at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.

Eighteen years later, on Aug. 1, 1972, Padres first baseman Nate Colbert, a St. Louis native who began his pro career in the Cardinals’ farm system, hit five home runs off five different pitchers in a doubleheader against the Braves at Atlanta.

Musial is the only left-handed batter to achieve the feat in the majors. Colbert is the only right-handed batter to do the same.

Although sluggers such as Roger Maris, Hank Aaron, Mark McGwire and Barry Bonds have broken single-season and career home run records in the years since Musial hit five home runs in a doubleheader, the record likely will continue to endure because of the degree of difficulty and because the number of doubleheaders played each season has decreased significantly.

For instance, in 2001, when he hit a single-season record 73 home runs for the Giants, Bonds didn’t play in both games of any doubleheader.

Move over, Babe

Maris came close to matching Musial’s feat.

In 1961, when he surpassed Babe Ruth by hitting 61 home runs for the Yankees, Maris played in both games of 23 doubleheaders. On July 25 that season, he hit four home runs in a doubleheader against the White Sox at Yankee Stadium. Maris hit two homers in Game 1 and two in Game 2. In his last at-bat of Game 2, with a chance to match Musial’s record, Maris grounded out to second base.

When Ruth hit 60 home runs for the 1927 Yankees, the most he had in a doubleheader were three against the Red Sox at Boston on Sept. 6. Ruth played in both games of a doubleheader 18 times that season. He also hit three home runs in a doubleheader, all in Game 1, on May 21, 1930, versus the Athletics at Philadelphia.

Jolting the Giants

In 1954, Musial hit more home runs (12) and had more RBI (27) versus the Giants than he did against any other team. He batted .338 against them that year.

Musial’s five home runs in the May 2, 1954, doubleheader came off three pitchers: left-hander Johnny Antonelli and right-handers Jim Hearn and Hoyt Wilhelm (who, like Musial, would be elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame).

Musial hit well against all three throughout his career. Here’s a look:

_ vs. Antonelli, 11 home runs, .302 batting average.

_ vs. Hearn, 4 home runs, .326 batting average.

_ vs. Wilhelm, 4 home runs, .333 batting average.

5 for No. 6

In Game 1, Musial hit two home runs off Antonelli, with the bases empty in the third and one on in the fifth, and a three-run shot off Hearn in the eighth, breaking a 6-6 tie. Here is how The Sporting News described each:

_ Home run #1: “Swinging like a golfer with arms close to his body, Stan lifted a low pitch inside the strike zone onto the right field roof at Busch Stadium.”

_ Home run #2: Musial “socked a slow curve to the top of the 40-foot pavilion.”

_ Home run #3: Musial hit “a slider and the ball … reached the roof.”

It was the first time Musial hit three home runs in a big-league game. Boxscore

In Game 2, Musial hit both home runs off Wilhelm, with one on in the fifth and none on in the seventh. The Sporting News report:

_ Home run #4: Musial “hammered a slow curve clear out of the park onto Grand Boulevard.”

_ Home run #5: Musial “whacked a knuckler out on the streetcar tracks, this one farther toward right-center.”

In his book “Stan Musial: The Man’s Own Story,” Musial said of that fifth home run, “I’m especially proud that it was hit off a knuckleball. Not just any old knuckleball _ and they’re all pretty tough _ but a great knuckler’s, Wilhelm’s.”

Musial almost had a sixth home run that Sunday afternoon. In the third inning of Game 2, he “sent a tremendous drive to dead center, where it was caught by Willie Mays some 410 feet away and just 15 feet from the bleacher wall,” The Sporting News wrote.

In his book, Musial wrote of that long fly out, “The wind that day blew toward left field. If it had blown toward right, I believe I would have had two three-homer games the same afternoon.”

In his last at-bat of Game 2, facing right-hander Larry Jansen, a pitcher he hit .289 against in his career with four home runs, Musial admitted he was swinging for a home run. Instead, he popped out to first base. “It was high, inside _ a bad pitch,” Musial said to The Sporting News. Boxscore

Musial, batting third and playing right field in both games, was 4-for-4 with six RBI, three runs scored and a walk in the opener. He was 2-for-4 with three RBI, three runs scored and a walk in the second game.

Musial’s totals for the doubleheader: 6-for-8, five home runs, nine RBI, six runs scored, two walks.

“In the clubhouse afterward,” Musial said, “manager Eddie Stanky, who had been coaching third base, told reporters I not only had smiled, but actually had laughed as I trotted around the bases after that fifth homer. You know, I just couldn’t believe I’d hit five homers in one day _ and that no one else had.”

Previously: How Stan Musial got his fourth 5-hit game in one season

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Like a scene from the movie “The Natural,” Stan Musial achieved one of baseball’s rarest hitting feats with flair.

Shedding the bandages from his ailing wrists, Musial took just five swings in the Cardinals’ game against the Braves at Boston on Sept. 22, 1948.

Each swing produced a hit.

It was Musial’s fourth five-hit game of the season. No major-league player had done that in 26 years. Only two have done it since.

Joining Musial as the only big-league players with four five-hit games in a season: Willie Keeler (1897 Orioles), Ty Cobb (1922 Tigers), Tony Gwynn (1993 Padres) and Ichiro Suzuki (2004 Mariners).

Musial had jammed his left wrist making a diving catch at Brooklyn on Sept. 17, 1948. The next day, he was hit on the right hand, near the wrist, by a pitch.

With his wrists taped, Musial remained in the lineup as the Cardinals pursued the National League-leading Braves.

A win over the Cardinals on Sept. 22 would clinch for the Braves their first pennant in 34 years. The Braves started their ace, left-hander Warren Spahn.

Going for broke

When Musial arrived at the Boston ballpark that day, he noticed the wind was blowing out toward right field, favoring a left-handed batter.

St. Louis writer Bob Broeg approached Musial at the batting cage and said, “A great day for the hitters.”

“Yeah, but I can’t hit like this,” Musial responded.

In his book “Stan Musial: The Man’s Own Story,” Musial said, “I held up the wrists with the flesh-colored tape. Angrily, I ripped it off.”

Without the tape to restrict him, Musial wanted to be able to snap his wrists, no matter how painful, and try to take advantage of the favoring wind and the short carry (319 feet) to the right-field bleachers.

Musial’s first two hits that day came against Spahn.

In the first inning, Musial singled to left. He said he punched the ball in that direction “to minimize wrist strain.”

In the third, Musial lined the ball over the head of left fielder Mike McCormick for a double.

Musial batted in the fourth against right-hander Red Barrett, who had been a teammate on the 1946 Cardinals.

Said Musial: “He tried to fool me with a 2-and-0 changeup, but I saw it coming and said to myself, ‘To hell with the wrists.’ ”

Musial pulled the pitch over the right-field wall for a two-run home run, his 38th of the season.

Swing away

In the sixth, Musial singled off left-hander Clyde Shoun. Musial said he was “entirely aware” Cobb had been the last player to achieve four five-hit games in a season.

“I wanted that fifth hit,” he said.

In the eighth. Musial got his chance against Al Lyons.

The first two pitches from the right-hander missed the strike zone. Musial didn’t want a walk.

“I made up my mind, with the Cardinals far ahead (8-2), that I’d swing at anything close to the plate _ wrists be hanged,” Musial said.

“The next pitch was a bit outside, but I jerked it around … It bounced in the hole between first and second and got through. Saving the sore wrists as much as possible, I had hit safely five times by taking the absolute minimum number of swings _ just five.” Boxscore

All four of Musial’s five-hit games in 1948 came away from home.

“If I could have played the 1948 season on the road, I might have hit .400 and ripped the record book apart,” Musial said.

Instead, Musial batted .376 overall _ .415 on the road and .334 at home.

Here is a look at his other five-hit games in 1948:

_ April 30, 1948, at Cincinnati: Musial hit a home run, two doubles and two singles off four right-handers in the Cardinals’ 13-7 victory over the Reds. The homer, a two-run shot, was off starter Howie Fox. Musial batted .447 (21-for-47) at Crosley Field in 1948. Boxscore

_ May 19, 1948, at Brooklyn: Musial singled twice off right-hander Rex Barney, tripled against right-hander Erv Palica and had a single and double off left-hander Preacher Roe in the Cardinals’ 14-7 victory over the Dodgers. Musial batted .522 (24-for-46) at Ebbets Field in 1948. Boxscore

_ June 22, 1948, at Boston: Musial had five singles, four off right-handed starter Bill Voiselle and another against Shoun that snapped a 2-2 tie in the ninth inning, in the Cardinals’ 5-2 triumph over the Braves. Musial hit .467 (21-for-45) at Braves Field in 1948. Boxscore

In his 22-year big-league career with the Cardinals, Musial had eight five-hit games. In addition to the four in 1948, the others were:

_  July 21, 1943, versus the Giants, at St. Louis. It was his only five-hit game at home.

_ Sept. 19, 1946, at Boston. Former Cardinals ace Mort Cooper started for the Braves.

_ Sept. 3, 1947, at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

_ Sept. 27, 1962, two months before his 42nd birthday, at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. The fifth hit was a single off former teammate Stu Miller.

Previously: How Stan Musial turned in a great comeback year at 41

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