September 21, 1941: Stan Musial enjoys one of his ‘finest days’ in Cardinals call-up

At the start of the 1941 season, 20-year-old Stan Musial was playing at the Class-C level of the minors. By the end of the season, he was playing for the St. Louis Cardinals. He was thrust into a starting role after his mid-September call-up and helped the Cardinals contend for first place with the Brooklyn Dodgers. His outstanding performance against the Chicago Cubs in the first game of a doubleheader on September 21, together with his all-around play in the second game, made for one of many red-letter days in his career. In his 1977 autobiography co-written with sportswriter Bob Broeg, Musial said about that doubleheader, “I enjoyed one of the finest days I’d ever have in the majors.”1

For Musial, 1941 was a transition year. He had originally been signed by the Cardinals as a 17-year-old pitcher in 1938 and spent his first three seasons as a pitcher with Class-D teams. He became a full-time outfielder for the first time in 1941. As an outfielder with Class-C Springfield of the Western Association, he wasted no time in proving he could hit, as he batted .379 with 26 home runs in 87 games.

Musial’s performance with Springfield earned him a promotion on July 22 to Rochester of the International League, one of two highest-level minor-league affiliates in the Cardinals’ organization. He continued to hit well, batting .326 in 54 games.

With the Cardinals only 1½ games out of first place, Musial was promoted on September 15 by GM Branch Rickey to help fill a void in the outfield created by Enos Slaughter’s injury in August.

Manager Billy Southworth didn’t waste any time using Musial. He was in the lineup of the second game of a doubleheader against the Boston Braves on September 17, since Southworth needed a left-handed hitter in the lineup. Musial was impressive during his first three starts, going 6-for-11 with three RBIs.

After a pinch-hit appearance against the Cubs on September 20, Musial was back in the starting lineup for a doubleheader the next day.

A crowd of 26,210 attended the Sunday twin bill at Sportsman’s Park. In the first game, Southworth went with lefty Ernie White as his starter. In only his second major-league season, White had a 17-6 record coming into the game. Cubs manager Jimmie Wilson countered with veteran right-hander Claude Passeau, a 1941 All-Star selection with a current 14-14 record.

The Cardinals got on the scoreboard first with two runs in the bottom of the second. After Estel Crabtree walked and Walker Cooper singled, Marty Marion’s single scored Crabtree. White bunted safely, moving Cooper to third and Marion to second. Cooper scored on Jimmy Brown’s grounder that forced an out at second.2

St. Louis struck again in the third inning. Johnny Hopp led off with an infield single but was erased at second on a groundball force out by Walter Sessi. In his second at-bat, Musial’s double advanced Sessi to third. Crabtree’s fly ball scored Sessi for a 3-0 lead.

White had faced only nine batters before starting the fourth inning, yielding only a first-inning leadoff single to Stan Hack, who was later retired on a double play. Hack delivered another leadoff single in the fourth. After he stole second, Barney Olsen’s single sent him to third. Lou Novikoff’s double tied the score, 3-3, when a relay throw from second baseman Frank Crespi went into the dugout, allowing Novikoff to also score, following Hack and Olsen.3

The Cardinals broke the tie in the fifth inning. Hopp singled and advanced to third on Musial’s second hit of the game. With two outs, Hopp stole home on a play that was hotly contested by the Cubs.4 Musial stole second on the same play but was stranded on Crabtree’s out.

In the sixth inning, Hack led off with a single for the third time. Novikoff followed with a groundball to Brown that was overthrown to first. Bill Nicholson walked to load the bases. Lou Stringer’s double scored Hack and Novikoff. With runners on second and third, Ira Hutchinson relieved White and prevented further scoring, as Clyde McCullough popped out to shortstop Marion.5 The Cubs took the lead, 5-4.

The Cardinals stymied a Cubs opportunity to score again in the seventh. Bobby Sturgeon led off with a double against Bill Crouch, who had relieved Hutchinson. Passeau laid down a sacrifice bunt, and first baseman Hopp threw late to third in an attempt to put out Sturgeon. Hack’s groundout forced Passeau at second. Charlie Gilbert, pinch-hitting for Olsen, struck out on a play in which the Cubs attempted a double steal. But Sturgeon was thrown out at home on an exchange between shortstop Marion and catcher Cooper.6

In the Cardinals’ half of the seventh, three doubles yielded only one run to tie the score, 5-5. With Passeau still on the mound, Hopp led off the inning with a double, but was thrown out at third on a fielder’s choice. Musial delivered his second double of the game, moving Sessi to third. Crabtree’s double scored Sessi. After Passeau walked Crespi to load the bases, Cubs manager Wilson went to the bullpen for Ken Raffensberger, who was successful in shutting down the rally.

In addition to Musial’s offensive display, he made a running catch of Stringer’s line drive in the eighth.7

But it was Musial’s daring sprint in the ninth that won the game for the Cardinals. With one out in the ninth, he singled, his fourth straight safety. Crabtree’s groundout to second advanced Musial one base. With two outs, Wilson ordered an intentional walk to Crespi. The next batter, Coaker Triplett, swung hard on a pitch from Raffensberger and squibbed a weak groundball in front of the plate. Cubs catcher McCullough fielded the ball and threw to first base for an out that should have ended the game. But umpire Lee Ballanfant signaled that Triplett was safe. First baseman Babe Dahlgrenbegan to argue with Ballanfant, while McCullough headed down the line to lend vocal support. Noticing that home plate was not covered, Musial, who had taken off from second on the groundball, never broke stride at third and raced home ahead of Dahlgren’s rushed attempt to throw him out.8 Upon Musial’s return to the dugout, Southworth turned to one of coaches and said, “That kid was born to play baseball.”9

Musial collected four of the Cardinals’ 14 hits. Crouch got his third win of the season, while Raffensberger took the loss.

In the second game of the doubleheader, Musial’s defensive plays were instrumental in shutting out the Cubs, 7-0. Playing right field, he raced a long way to prevent a fly ball from turning into a double in the third inning. In the fifth, Musial fielded Hack’s single and threw Olsen out at the plate. Musial wasn’t finished yet in the field, as he made a somersaulting catch of Emil Kush’s line drive in right-center in the eighth inning. Cardinals fans gave Musial a rousing hand at his next turn at bat.10 Musial recorded two hits, with one coming on a successful bunt, for a combined 6-for-10 day at the plate.

Musial’s all-around play prompted Cubs manager Wilson to proclaim, “Nobody can be that good.”11

The Cardinals ended the season 2½ games behind Brooklyn. But it was no fault of Musial’s. In 12 games, he slashed .426/.449/.574, with four doubles, one home run, and seven RBIs. It was an early indicator of the type of impact he would have during his 22 years with the Cardinals.

Musial was convinced his play at the end of the 1941 season was a significant factor in his making the Cardinals squad coming out of spring training the next year. He said in his autobiography, “Because of my spectacular climb from Class C to the majors the previous year, I was the rookie most talked about in spring training, but frankly I was a lemon in the Grapefruit League.” He was referring to his concern that he had not hit the ball hard in spring games.12

Yet Musial proved the Cardinals’ front-office decision to put him on the major-league roster in 1942 was correct. As the primary starter in left field, he finished second on the team, behind Slaughter, in batting average (.315), home runs (10), and RBIs (72). The Cardinals won the pennant with 106 wins and defeated the New York Yankees in five games in the World Series.

Sources

In addition to the sources listed in the Notes, the author consulted:

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SLN/SLN194109211.shtml.

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1941/B09211SLN1941.htm.

“Stan Musial Leaves for Rochester as Club Ponders Seven Game Lead,” Springfield (Missouri) Leader and Press, July 22, 1941: 6.

Hassett, Don. “Kurowski, Musial Due to Join Cards Today,” Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, September 15, 1941: 18.

Notes

1 Stan Musial and Bob Broeg, The Man Stan Musial … Then and Now (St. Louis: Bethany Press, 1977), 67.

2 Martin Haley, “Birds Trail by Only One Game,” St. Louis Globe-Democrat, September 22, 1941: 8B.

3 Haley.

4 Haley.

5 Haley.

6 Haley. It should be noted that the account of the seventh inning in the newspaper differs from the play-by-play account in Baseball-Reference, which records Sturgeon being thrown out at home on Hack’s groundball. The newspaper account describes Sturgeon’s out at home as coming an attempted steal as Gilbert struck out.

7 Haley.

8 Musial and Broeg, 68.

9 Jerry Lansche, Stan the Man Musial: Born to Be a Ballplayer (Dallas: Taylor Publishing Company, 1994), 26.

10 Haley.

11 Musial and Broeg, 68.

12 Musial and Broeg, 71