Musial's first sport was gymnastics, not baseball.Musial's childhood nickname was Stashu, the Polish diminutive for Stanislaus. He was born in Donora, a mill town outside of Pittsburgh, and was the fifth of six children of a Polish immigrant steelworker and his Czech-born wife.Here are 10 fascinating facts about 'Stan the Man': 19 at age 92 in Ladue, Mo., than just longevity and his trademark corkscrew stance at the plate, which an opposing coach once likened to 'a kid peeking around the corner to see if the cops are coming.' Musial, as teammate Joe Garagiola once described him, was 'a saint with money,' a remarkably pleasant superstar who cracked droll jokes in the locker room and admitted to being embarrassed about being, for a time, the National League's highest-paid player. In 1969, Musial was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in a landslide, getting votes on 93.2 percent of the ballots.ĭo you rootfor the underdog in sports? Join the Discussionīut there was more to Musial, who died on Jan.

300 mark 17 times in his career, won seven National League batting titles and three Most Valuable Player awards. And throughout an athletic career that spanned nearly a quarter-century, he was one of the most feared hitters in the game, a lefty famed for his ferocious line drives. After all, Musial lasted an astonishing 22 years in the majors, all with the Cardinals. As Time noted, it wouldn't have been that big of a surprise.

Stanley musial