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How Stan Musial went to bat for Robert Kennedy

May 4, 2018 by retrosimba

Seeking help in the heartland in his bid to win the Democratic presidential nomination in 1968, Senator Robert F. Kennedy of New York turned to a family friend, Stan Musial of the Cardinals.

On April 24, 1968, Musial was selected to lead National Sportsmen for Kennedy, a committee of sports figures recruited to boost the national candidacy of the younger brother of the late President John F. Kennedy.

Though Musial disliked controversy, and usually took every precaution to avoid getting embroiled in the kind of conflict politics naturally created, he waded with eyes wide open into the tumultuous 1968 presidential campaign because of his loyalty to the Kennedys.

Ties that bind

The relationship between Musial and the Kennedys began in Milwaukee in September 1959. Musial, still a prominent player at 38, was with the Cardinals for a series with the Braves. Massachusetts Senator John F. Kennedy, 42, was in town, campaigning for the 1960 Democratic presidential nomination. “I was standing in front of the hotel, waiting for the bus for the game,” Musial told The Sporting News, “and a man came up to me and said, ‘You are Stan Musial and I’m glad to meet you. I’m Jack Kennedy.’ Of course I knew him. Then he said, ‘You’re too old to play ball and I’m too young to be president, but maybe we’ll fool ’em.’ ”

In 1960, when John Kennedy ran for president as the Democratic nominee against Republican Vice President Richard Nixon, Musial was part of the first National Sportsmen for Kennedy committee. Among those joining Musial on the 1960 committee were baseball’s Hank Aaron, Orlando Cepeda, Joe DiMaggio, Whitey Herzog and Willie Mays; football’s Sam Huff and Johnny Unitas; and basketball’s Bob Cousy.

Kennedy won the election and named his brother, Robert, to the position of Attorney General.

President Kennedy met with Musial at the 1962 All-Star Game in Washington, D.C. The next day, Senator Stuart Symington of Missouri arranged for Musial, wife Lillian and daughter Janet to receive a VIP tour of the nation’s capital.

While at the Department of Justice, the Musials were greeted by Attorney General Kennedy, who asked whether they wanted to go to the White House and visit the president. Though Musial didn’t want special favors, Robert Kennedy insisted on arranging the White House meeting, and the Musials were brought to the Oval Office to see President Kennedy.

A few days later, on July 26, 1962, a letter from Attorney General Kennedy arrived for Musial at his St. Louis restaurant. Robert Kennedy wrote, “Dear Stan, many thanks for your nice note. It was good to see you and your family when you were in Washington and I am glad you enjoyed the tour of the White House and your meeting with the president.”

Two years later, in February 1964, Attorney General Kennedy and his wife Ethel attended the swearing in ceremony for Musial at the White House when the retired ballplayer was named by President Lyndon Johnson to lead the nation’s physical fitness program.

Two months after that, on April 17, 1964, with Musial at his side, Attorney General Kennedy threw the ceremonial first pitch at the Red Sox home opener in Boston.

Open competition

By March 1968, President Johnson’s popularity waned because of the United States involvement in the war in Vietnam. On March 16, Senator Robert Kennedy announced he would seek the Democratic presidential nomination. Two weeks later, President Johnson declared he wouldn’t seek re-election.

With the president out of the running, the race for the Democratic nomination centered on Kennedy, Vice President Hubert Humphrey and Minnesota Senator Eugene McCarthy. The winning candidate would need to show strength in the remaining state primaries.

Kennedy first focused on the May 7 primary in Indiana, a state considered especially challenging for an East Coast liberal.

With an eye toward boosting his appeal among Midwesterners, Kennedy tapped Musial to lead the committee of sports figures who would campaign for him. In addition to his sterling reputation, Musial also was the senior vice president of the defending World Series champion Cardinals.

Among those joining Musial on the 1968 National Sportsmen for Kennedy committee were Hank Aaron, basketball’s Bill Russell and football’s Gale Sayers, Herb Adderley and Paul Hornung.

Help with Hoosiers

On May 2, 1968, Musial played a visible role in joining Robert and Ethel Kennedy on the campaign trail in the northern Indiana towns of Elkhart and Mishawaka. An article in the next day’s St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported, “Musial perched on the back of Kennedy’s open automobile along with Mrs. Kennedy in a motorcade through Elkhart and Mishawaka.”

The sight of Musial stumping for Kennedy helped to counter the work of celebrities such as actor Paul Newman, who campaigned for McCarthy in Indiana.

Kennedy won the Indiana primary and followed that with victories in primaries in Nebraska, South Dakota, Washington, D.C., and California.

On June 5, hours after he won the California primary, Kennedy, like his brother five years earlier, was shot by an assassin. He died on June 6 at age 42.

The Democrats nominated Humphrey but he lost the election to Richard Nixon.

Previously: Stan Musial shared a special bond with JFK

Previously: While nation mourned RFK, Cards reluctantly played

 

Posted in Executives | 2 Comments »

The story of why Hawks took flight from St. Louis

May 1, 2018 by retrosimba

The St. Louis Hawks were a first-place NBA team in 1968, but they were also-rans in the hearts of hometown sports fans.

On May 3, 1968, club owner Ben Kerner sold the Hawks to a group that moved them to Atlanta. The departure occurred 10 years after the franchise won its only NBA championship in 1958.

Though the Hawks were Western Division champions in 1968, finishing the regular season with a 56-26 record, their average home attendance was 6,288. Struggling to attract customers to St. Louis’ Kiel Auditorium, the Hawks played six of their home games in Miami during the 1967-68 season.

In 1955, when the Hawks relocated from Milwaukee, the baseball Cardinals were the only other major professional sports franchise in St. Louis. By 1968, the Cardinals and Hawks had been joined in St. Louis by the NFL Cardinals, the NHL Blues and the Stars of the North American Soccer League.

The baseball Cardinals were longtime kings in St. Louis, and the football Cardinals, as well as the Blues, who joined the NHL in 1967, surpassed the Hawks in popularity.

“Things have been going downhill slowly,” Kerner said to the Associated Press. “Since 1960, when the football Cardinals came here, people instead of buying eight season tickets from us split it four and four. The same thing happened again with hockey.”

Money ball

After beating the Boston Celtics in the 1958 NBA Finals, the Hawks had their peak home attendance years in the next three seasons, averaging 8,548 in 1958-59, 8,409 in 1959-60 and 8,561 in 1960-61, according to the Association for Professional Basketball Research.

The baseball Cardinals and the football Cardinals benefitted from the 1966 opening of Busch Memorial Stadium in downtown St. Louis. The Blues, who reached the Stanley Cup Finals in their debut season, played at St. Louis Arena.

“The Hawks, it developed, could stand everything except competition for the sports buck,” Bob Broeg wrote in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Coached by Richie Guerin and bolstered by standout players such as Zelmo Beatty, Lenny Wilkens, Joe Caldwell, Bill Bridges, Paul Silas and Lou Hudson, the Hawks opened the 1967-68 season by winning 16 of their first 17 games, but ticket sales remained flat.

“When your team starts off with a 16-1 record and you have a hard time drawing crowds at home, you have to wonder,” Kerner said.

Facing the San Francisco Warriors in the first round of the playoffs, the Hawks played the first two games at St. Louis, drawing crowds of 5,018 and 5,810 to Kiel Auditorium, according to the Post-Dispatch. With the best-of-seven series tied at 2-2, Game 5 was played at St. Louis’ Washington University and attracted slightly more than 4,000.

“The crowds at the playoff games were very discouraging,” Kerner said. “This certainly was a factor in my decision to sell the club.”

Fast break

The Warriors, featuring players such as Rudy LaRusso, Nate Thurmond and Jeff Mullins, upset the favored Hawks, winning four of six games in their playoff series. Soon after, Kerner was approached by an Atlanta group, led by real estate developer Thomas Cousins and former Georgia governor Carl Sanders.

“Negotiations progressed rapidly,” Kerner said.

Cousins told the Atlanta Constitution a deal was reached quickly “because there were other cities who would have jumped in had we sat back.”

Kerner sold the Hawks for about $3.5 million, the Post-Dispatch reported.

“The attendance for the last four or five years has not been good,” Kerner said. “It appears that the interest is not there. If you have a product that people don’t want, you can’t make them buy it.”

Kerner said he tried to find a St. Louis group to purchase the Hawks, but didn’t find any.

Wrote Broeg: “Public apathy was apparent. The man was justified in selling, though it’s too bad he couldn’t have given St. Louisans one more chance or, because he’d become wealthy here, been willing to take a little less to keep it here.”

New South

Guerin told the Atlanta Constitution he was eager to coach in Atlanta because the city was “very progressive, fast-growing and, equally, fast-developing.”

“The only thing about the sale that I’m a little down about is the fact I’m parting company with such a fine man as Mr. Kerner,” Guerin said. “It has been more than just a coach-owner relationship between the two of us. Mr. Kerner is a man for whom I have the greatest respect.”

The Hawks became the third major professional sports franchise to come to Atlanta since 1965, joining the baseball Braves and the NFL Falcons.

In 1968-69, their first season in Atlanta, the Hawks played at Alexander Memorial Coliseum on the Georgia Tech campus and averaged 4,474 per home game.

The Hawks never have won a NBA championship since moving to Atlanta. St. Louis never has gotten a NBA franchise since the Hawks departed, though they did have the Spirits of the American Basketball Association from 1974-76.

Posted in Executives | 9 Comments »

Switching sides: Dizzy Dean versus the Cardinals

April 28, 2018 by retrosimba

(Updated Nov. 25, 2024)

When the Cardinals saw Dizzy Dean for the first time in the 1938 regular season, he looked a lot different to them. He was wearing the uniform of the Cubs instead of the Cardinals, he was throwing sidearm instead of overhand, and his pitches were slow instead of fast.

What remained familiar, however, was his result.

On April 24, 1938, in his first appearance at Chicago’s Wrigley Field as a member of the Cubs, Dean faced the team that traded him and pitched a shutout against the Cardinals.

Relying exclusively on off-speed pitches, or, “his dipsy-do stuff,” as the Chicago Tribune described it, because of a damaged right arm, Dean limited the Cardinals to four hits and two walks in a 5-0 Cubs victory. Dean also produced a single and scored twice.

Pitching on a Sunday afternoon before 34,520 spectators, including Cardinals owner Sam Breadon, Dean “caused clouds of gloom to gather over the Cardinals” with his performance, the St. Louis Star-Times reported.

Slow and steady

With an intimidating fastball, Dean was the ace of the Cardinals’ Gashouse Gang teams of the 1930s, leading National League pitchers in strikeouts four years in a row (1932-35) and posting win totals of 30 (1934), 28 (1935) and 24 (1936) in his peak seasons.

His career skidded off course in 1937, however, when he suffered a toe injury in the All-Star Game. Rushed back into the Cardinals’ lineup before the injury healed, Dean altered his delivery to compensate for pain in his toe and damaged his arm.

The Cardinals traded him to the Cubs on April 16, 1938, three days before the season opened. On April 20, Dean made his first regular-season appearance for the Cubs, starting against the Reds at Cincinnati, and got the win, yielding two runs over six innings in a 10-4 Chicago victory.

Before his second start, against the Cardinals, Dean and catcher Gabby Hartnett devised a plan for how to pitch to them. “Gabby knows them better than I do,” Dean told United Press. “All I had to do was put the ball where he said.”

Throwing sidearm, Dean “mixed a fast curve with a slow curve and a fadeaway knuckler curve that threw the Cardinals’ batters off stride,” home plate umpire Larry Goetz told the Star-Times.

Dean threw 92 pitches and, because “he didn’t have a fastball,” relied on “changing pace on a half-speed delivery,” The Sporting News reported.

The Cardinals “dug in at the plate and swung from their heels,” according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “In so doing, they helped to beat themselves.”

Said Cardinals manager Frankie Frisch: “We were too eager. We swung too hard.”

Right stuff

The Cardinals’ hits were a pair of doubles by Terry Moore and a single each by Enos Slaughter and pitcher Max Macon.

Twice, the Cardinals had two runners on the bases, but Dean escaped unscathed.

In the second inning, with Johnny Mize on third, Moore on second and two outs, Dean got Mickey Owen to fly out to left on a 3-and-2 pitch.

In the sixth, Dean retired the first two batters before Slaughter singled and Pepper Martin walked. With Mize, a power threat, at the plate, Cubs manager Charlie Grimm had Charlie Root loosen in the bullpen.

Pitching knuckle-curves away from Mize, Dean worked the count to 1-and-2. His next pitch, described by the Post-Dispatch as a “firecracker curve,” was his fastest. Mize swung at it and popped out to third.

After retiring Mize for the last out in the ninth, Dean was swarmed by teammates. “They whacked him on the back, shook his hands and jostled him into a daze,” the Tribune reported. Hartnett and shortstop Tony Lazzeri wanted to lift Dean onto their shoulders and carry him off the field, the Star-Times observed, but Dean shook them off. Boxscore

Smart guy

Dean finished his gem in one hour, 38 minutes.

“One of the smartest pitched games I have ever seen,” said Goetz. “His control was his best asset.”

When the final was posted on the scoreboard at Sportsman’s Park in St. Louis, where 11,041 had gathered to watch the Browns play the White Sox, the crowd roared its approval in support of Dean.

Surrounded by reporters and photographers in the Wrigley Field locker room, Dean said, “I’m sure glad to get over that one. That was the game I was really worried about.”

About 5,000 fans waited in a runway outside the clubhouse to applaud Dean. “Police had to be summoned to make a path for the great man to leave the park,” the Post-Dispatch reported.

Though Dean said his arm was fine, it wasn’t. He didn’t pitch from May 4 through July 16 because of arm soreness. When he did pitch, he was effective. Dean produced a 7-1 record and 1.81 ERA in 13 appearances for the 1938 Cubs, who won the National League pennant. He started Game 2 of the World Series against the Yankees, but was the losing pitcher.

Dean, who pitched for the Cubs from 1938-41, went on to make eight career appearances against the Cardinals, but the shutout he pitched was his only win against them. Dean’s career record versus the Cardinals: 1-4 with a 5.58 ERA.

Though Dean’s pitching skills diminished while with the Cubs, his competitiveness never waned.

In the Book “Voices From Cooperstown,” Cubs second baseman Billy Herman told of the time during spring training with the Cubs when Dean used “sleight of hand” with two coins to win several bottles of rare whiskey in a bar bet.

“He kept one bottle and gave the rest away,” Herman said. “He never even wanted them. He just wanted to win. That was Diz. Cheat you on the golf course, tee them up in the rough, he’d do anything in the world _ just to win. He’d cheat you out of 50 cents in a card game and then take you out and spend $100 on you. Didn’t care about money _ he just wanted to win.”

Posted in Games, Opponents, Pitchers | 3 Comments »

Dodgers, Cardinals discussed deal for Duke Snider

April 24, 2018 by retrosimba

(Updated July 22, 2020)

Knowing Duke Snider wasn’t enamored with the new home of the Dodgers, the Cardinals made a bid to acquire him, but the price was deemed too high.

On April 25, 1958, the Cardinals played the Dodgers in Los Angeles for the first time in the regular season. The Dodgers left Brooklyn after 1957 and relocated to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum while waiting for Dodger Stadium to be built.

Snider, a left-handed pull hitter who thrived at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, was frustrated by the dimensions of the Coliseum. The distance from home plate to the fence in right-center was 440 feet and it was 390 feet from home plate to straightaway right. Snider found drives hit to right that would have been home runs at Ebbets Field were outs at the Coliseum.

The Coliseum was much friendlier to right-handed pull hitters, with a distance of 251 feet down the line from home plate to the left field fence. Though a screen stretching 42 feet high and 140 feet long was erected along the left field wall, hitters reached the seats with routine fly balls.

Musial as mentor

Snider, the Dodgers’ highest-paid player at $42,000, was batting .231 with one home run when the Cardinals arrived in Los Angeles for the first time in 1958. A gimpy left knee was bothering him and he was being booed by hometown crowds who expected the outfielder to hit with the kind of power he displayed in Brooklyn.

When asked about his knee, Snider replied to the Los Angeles Times, “It hurts like the dickens.”

Asked about the booing, Snider said, “I’m used to it and I expect it when I’m not going good. I’d boo, too. I’m supposed to be a hitter, a long ball hitter. When I don’t hit, the fans certainly are entitled to boo.”

Before the opening game of the series with the Cardinals, Snider and his St. Louis counterpart, left-handed hitter Stan Musial, met at the batting cage, and Musial tried to console him. In his book “Stan Musial: The Man’s Own Story,” Musial recalled the conversation. “You can’t let this thing throw you,” Musial told Snider. “You can’t beat a park like this, so join it.”

In the game that night, Musial practiced what he preached. He produced a double and three singles in four at-bats against a left-hander, Fred Kipp, and raised his batting average for the season to .533 in nine games.

Snider was 0-for-4, but the Dodgers won, 5-3, Boxscore

In the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Bob Broeg wrote, “If the Cardinals can’t win with Stan Musial hitting as though he had invented the game, what’s going to happen to the Redbirds when the man cools off to _ oh, say, a simple .400?”

High stakes

The game, however, was overshadowed by Broeg’s Post-Dispatch exclusive, reporting how the Cardinals discussed with the Dodgers a proposed trade involving Snider.

According to Broeg, Dodgers general manager Buzzie Bavasi offered Snider to the Cardinals for third baseman Ken Boyer and outfielder Wally Moon. Though Cardinals general manager Bing Devine wanted Snider, whose power stroke was suited for St. Louis’ ballpark, he thought Bavasi was asking too much in return.

Cardinals manager Fred Hutchinson said, “Sure, we’d like to have Snider. He’s not hitting in this heartbreak park (the Coliseum), but he’d rattle that fence at Busch Stadium. Still, he’s damaged goods _ with that operated-on left knee _ and we wouldn’t give Boyer for him, let alone both Boyer and Moon. Besides, (at 31) he’s nearly five years older than Kenny.”

Asked by the Los Angeles Times about the Post-Dispatch scoop on the proposed Snider deal, Bavasi said, “Somebody’s been smoking the wrong stuff.”

According to the Times, Bavasi said he and Devine were being facetious when they talked about a deal involving Snider, Boyer and Moon. The Times said Devine wanted Snider, “but realizes that the chances of getting him are as remote as northeastern Nepal.”

Devine continued to shop for a left-handed hitter and admitted discussing an offer with the Reds for either of their catchers, Ed Bailey or Smoky Burgess.

The Sporting News, meanwhile, acknowledged the Cardinals’ interest in Snider was sincere, telling its readers, “The Cardinals appeared unwilling to give up Boyer, Moon and others as requested by Los Angeles for Duke Snider.”

Snider snapped out of his slump and batted .312 for the 1958 Dodgers, but his 15 home runs were far below the 40 or more he hit in each of the previous five seasons. Musial, 37, hit .337 in 1958, placing third in the National League behind Richie Ashburn of the Phillies (.350) and Willie Mays of the Giants (.347).

After the 1958 season, the Cardinals traded Moon and pitcher Phil Paine to the Dodgers for outfielder Gino Cimoli.

Seven years later, in March 1965, Joe Becker, who joined the Cardinals’ coaching staff after serving as a Dodgers coach, said the Cardinals in 1958 tried to trade Ken Boyer and pitcher Larry Jackson to the Dodgers for Duke Snider and pitcher Roger Craig, but the deal fell through, the Dayton Daily News reported.

Posted in Games, Hitters, Opponents | 3 Comments »

How Cardinals helped former foe Pete Mikkelsen

April 21, 2018 by retrosimba

Pete Mikkelsen pitched against the Cardinals in a World Series and, four years later, helped them return to another while revitalizing his career.

On April 22, 1968, in a trade involving four pitchers, the Cubs sent Mikkelsen and Dave Dowling to the Cardinals for Jack Lamabe and Ron Piche.

Mikkelsen, who was a rookie for the Yankees in 1964 when they played the Cardinals in the World Series, appeared in five games for the 1968 Cardinals, who won the National League pennant and advanced to the World Series against the Tigers.

Though Mikkelsen spent most of the 1968 season with the Cardinals’ minor-league Tulsa Oilers affiliate, it turned around his career. Placed in the starting rotation by Tulsa manager Warren Spahn, Mikkelsen developed an effective palmball, a pitch that helped him return to the major leagues in 1969 with the Dodgers and launched him into a successful rebirth as a reliever.

Turnaround in Tulsa

After posting a 7-4 record with 12 saves for the American League champion Yankees in 1964, Mikkelsen appeared in four games for them against the Cardinals in the World Series. He was the losing pitcher in Game 5, yielding a three-run home run to Tim McCarver in the 10th inning. Boxscore

Traded by the Yankees to the Pirates for pitcher Bob Friend in December 1965, Mikkelsen, a right-hander, made 71 appearances for Pittsburgh in 1966 and was 9-8 with 14 saves. In May 1967, Mikkelsen injured his back in a car accident, lost his effectiveness and was claimed on waivers by the Cubs in August.

Mikkelsen opened the 1968 season as a Cubs reliever, but allowed home runs in each of his first three appearances and fell out of favor with manager Leo Durocher.

When the Cardinals acquired him, they assigned Mikkelsen, 28, to Tulsa. On May 5, he made his first start in three years and pitched a five-hit shutout. After posting a 6-2 record and 1.36 ERA for Tulsa, Mikkelsen was promoted to the Cardinals on June 10, 1968.

Short stay

The Cardinals wanted Mikkelsen for their bullpen. He made his Cardinals debut on June 12, 1968, against the Braves in Atlanta and pitched 1.2 scoreless innings in relief of starter Nelson Briles. Boxscore

Mikkelsen’s most impressive outing for the Cardinals came on June 23, 1968, in the first game of a doubleheader against the Braves at St. Louis. Briles started, faced five batters and was lifted without recording an out. Mikkelsen relieved and pitched eight innings, allowing one unearned run and three hits. He also committed two errors. “The fans cheered derisively for Mikkelsen when he fielded a ball cleanly,” the Post-Dispatch reported. Said Mikkelsen: “I never had been cheered by so many people just for making a catch.” Boxscore

When pitcher Dick Hughes came off the disabled list on June 30, the Cardinals returned Mikkelsen to Tulsa, even though he’d yielded only two earned runs in 16 innings (1.12 ERA).

Championship caliber

Back with the Oilers, Mikkelsen was returned to the starting rotation by Spahn. Using the palmball, Mikkelsen pitched like an ace. “I do not have the greatest fastball and I do not have the great curve,” Mikkelsen told the Los Angeles Times. “I have to have something different … My palmball really started doing things.”

Mikkelsen finished with a 16-4 record and 1.91 ERA for Tulsa. He had three shutouts among his 12 complete games. Tulsa won the Pacific Coast League title and Spahn credited Mikkelsen and outfielder Gary Geiger for supplying leadership, The Sporting News reported.

“Mikkelsen has certainly earned another major-league opportunity,” Spahn said.

In October 1968, the Cardinals traded Mikkelsen to the Dodgers for pitcher Jim Ellis. Two Dodgers right-handed relievers, Mudcat Grant and Jack Billingham, were taken by the Expos in the expansion draft and Mikkelsen was acquired to help fill those gaps.

“God didn’t mean for me to be a star,” Mikkelsen said. “I guess He just meant for me to pitch. I am resigned to that fact now. I thought it wasn’t so a few years ago.”

Mikkelsen spent four years (1969-72) with the Dodgers and was 24-17 with 20 saves. In nine big-league seasons, Mikkelsen was 45-40 with 48 saves.

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Stan Musial, Ty Cobb: A San Francisco treat

April 18, 2018 by retrosimba

(Updated April 22, 2020)

Displaying mutual respect, Ty Cobb and Stan Musial met on the field before the first regular-season game between the Giants and Cardinals in San Francisco.

On April 22, 1958, the Cardinals played at Seals Stadium for the first time since the Giants moved from New York.

Cobb, 71, a resident of Atherton, Calif., went to the game to see Musial, 37, who was in the lineup for his first West Coast regular-season game.

Like Musial, Cobb batted left-handed. Cobb played for 24 years (1905-28) in the American League and retired as baseball’s career hits leader. Cobb and Musial rank first and second all-time in career hits among left-handed batters. The top four in career hits among all batters are switch-hitter Pete Rose (4,256), Cobb (4,189), right-handed Hank Aaron (3,771) and Musial (3,630).

Cobb, dressed in coat and hat and described by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch as “tall and sharp-eyed,” went onto the field during pre-game warmups and chatted with Musial. Their conversation continued in the dugout before Cobb took a seat in the stands to watch the game.

Musial, batting third and playing first base, produced a double and two singles in five at-bats, scored twice and drove in a run. Cobb admired how Musial scored from second on Gene Green’s line-drive single to left.

In comments published by The Sporting News, Cobb said of Musial, “He showed me that his legs are still good. That’s the life of a ballplayer _ his legs. I’ve always contended Joe DiMaggio could have lasted five years longer had he used his legs more in the winter.

“Musial’s speed impressed me,” Cobb said. “Too many long ball hitters today think they’re paid only to hit homers. Musial always hits his share of them, but he also fields and runs the bases. Stan is of the stripe who played in my time. There are too few of them today.”

Drawing a crowd

Musial and his road roommate, Del Ennis, sparked St. Louis to a 7-5 victory in the first Cardinals regular-season game at San Francisco. Ennis, a left fielder who batted cleanup, hit a two-run home run against Giants starter Johnny Antonelli in the first inning and a RBI-single off Al Worthington in the seventh.

The game drew a near sellout crowd of 22,786 to Seals Stadium (capacity 22,900) on a Tuesday night, and many were there to see Musial. “San Franciscans began to line up as early as noon for the 4,000 unreserved seats,” the Post-Dispatch reported. “Approximately 1,000 reportedly were turned away when the general admission and bleacher tickets were exhausted.”

Among retired Cardinals players who visited the clubhouse were Taylor Douthit and Tommy Glaviano. Musial and a former teammate, Hank Sauer of the Giants, posed together for photographers before the game. Both wore uniforms with the No. 6.

“Musial got by far the largest hand of the night when he batted,” the Post-Dispatch reported.

According to the San Francisco Examiner, the fans cheered for Musial “just as lustily as they applauded their own Willie Mays. The crowd enjoyed Musial and gave him repeated ovations, even during batting practice.”

Said Musial: “I never thought I’d play long enough to be in the majors when the big leagues went to the Coast, but it’s quite a thrill. Personally, I’ll miss New York _ wish we could go there, too.”

Opposite field swing

With the wind blowing in from right field to home plate, Musial decided not to try pulling pitches. His singles were hit to center and his double, which produced a run against Mike McCormick, was slashed along the left-field line.

In his book “Stan Musial: The Man’s Own Story,” Musial said of Seals Stadium, “I found that the trade winds made it tough (to bat) for a left-hander … and served as an anchor on drives smashed to right.”

Willie Mays and Orlando Cepeda each had three hits for San Francisco, but the Giants stranded 13 base runners. Boxscore

After winning the series opener, the Cardinals lost the next two games when the Giants came from behind in the ninth innings of both.

In two seasons at Seals Stadium before the Giants moved to Candlestick Park in 1960, Musial batted .294, with 20 hits and 11 walks in 20 games.

Posted in Games, Hitters, Opponents | 4 Comments »

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