May 26, 1957: Stan Musial’s eighth career grand slam not good enough to beat Reds

“How good was Stan Musial? He was good enough to take your breath away.” — Vin Scully, on-air radio broadcast (1989)1

Early in the 1957 season, the St. Louis Cardinals were off to a sluggish start. But their star first baseman, Stan Musial, at 36 years old and playing in his 16th season, was on his way to breaking the National League record for consecutive games played and winning his seventh and final NL batting title. His average never dipped below .329 the entire season as he finished with a .351 mark. He also might have won his fourth Most Valuable Player Award if not for a 23-year-old Milwaukee Braves outfielder named Henry Aaron.

The attendance was 17,782 on a Sunday afternoon in late May as the Cardinals and Redlegs played the final game of a four-game series at Crosley Field. Cincinnati entered the contest leading the National League with a 23-12 record, while the Cardinals were 15-17, 6½ games back in fifth place. This was the seventh meeting of the season between the teams. They split the first six games.

Looking for their third win in a row and a chance to take the four-game series, the Cardinals sent Murry Dickson to the mound. The 40-year-old, battling a sore arm, came into the game with a 0-2 record and a 7.43 ERA. Before the season he had slipped and fallen on an icy sidewalk, straining his right shoulder. He tried to pitch through the injury but eventually went on the disabled list near the end of July and stayed there in what would turn out to be his last season with St. Louis.2

Starting for Cincinnati was Hal Jeffcoat. The 32-year-old former outfielder entered the game with a 2-2 record and a 2.89 ERA. Jeffcoat, who debuted with the Chicago Cubs in 1948, spent the first six years of his career as an everyday center fielder. The Cubs converted him to a pitcher in 1954. Jeffcoat appeared in 93 games as a reliever for Chicago before being traded to the Redlegs for Hobie Landrith, before the start of the 1956 season.

St. Louis took the early lead when Ken Boyer led off the second inning with a double and was chased home on a two-out single off the bat of Eddie Kasko. Musial’s solo home run in the top of the third, his seventh of the season, made it 2-0, Cardinals. Musial’s 359th career homer tied him with Johnny Mize for eighth place on the all-time list.3 Dickson, who escaped a bases-loaded jam in the first inning, was holding up until Cincinnati’s George Crowe belted a three-run home run in the bottom of the third that gave the Redlegs a 3-2 lead.

In the fourth inning, Cincinnati made it 4-2 when Roy McMillan lined a double to right and Johnny Temple doubled him home one out later. Dickson settled down, retiring five in a row before Don Hoak led off the Redlegs’ sixth inning with a double and later scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Temple for a 5-2 lead. Before a game earlier in the series, Temple was looking for a batting tip and asked Musial to “take a look at me at the plate.” When Temple reached first after a walk, Musial looked at him and said, “There’s nothing wrong with you. You’re batting .299. Who do you think you are – Stan Musial?”4

The Redlegs chased Dickson from the game in the bottom of the seventh inning after Gus Bell led off with a single and Frank Robinson reached safely on a throwing error by Cardinals second baseman Don Blasingame. Cardinals manager Fred Hutchinson brought in Lloyd Merritt to replace Dickson. Merritt was making his 10th relief appearance. He would go on to lead the Cardinals’ staff with 44 relief appearances in his only season at the major-league level.5 Merritt got Crowe to hit into a 3-6 fielder’s choice with Bell advancing to third. Ed Bailey followed with a sacrifice fly that scored Bell, giving the Redlegs a 6-2 lead. Merritt walked Hoak before getting McMillan on a foul pop to Musial at first to end the inning.

In the top of the eighth inning, Jeffcoat – who had allowed only one hit since Musial’s home run in the third inning – seemed to be in total control with a comfortable four-run lead. He got Kasko on a fly out to right field to open the inning. Del Ennis pinch-hit for Merritt and doubled to center field. Blasingame then reached safely on a fielding error by Cincinnati second baseman Temple. Jeffcoat, maybe a bit rattled for the first time in the game, hit the next batter, Al Dark, to load the bases and set the stage for The Man. Musial did not disappoint as he took Jeffcoat deep to right for his eighth career grand slam and a 6-6 tie. Musial’s home run, number 360 for his career, broke the tie with Mize and moved him all alone into eighth place, just one back of Joe DiMaggio.6

Hutchinson called on Herm Wehmeier to pitch the bottom of the eighth. Wehmeier who was the Opening Day starter for St. Louis, threw a brilliant game earlier in the month at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn where he started and completed 12 innings, getting a no-decision in a game the Cardinals went on to win in 16 innings. But he faltered in his next three starts, allowing 25 hits, 22 runs (17 earned), 10 walks, and 5 home runs in 16⅔ innings pitched and was now being used primarily as a reliever.

According to legendary St. Louis sportswriter Bob Broeg, “Wehmeier immediately served a low let-up to rival Hal Jeffcoat, who was converted from the outfield because he couldn’t hit high fastballs.”7 Jeffcoat deposited the ball deep over Crosley Field’s center-field wall for the winning run in a 7-6 win for Cincinnati. Jeffcoat became the first major-league pitcher in the modern era to allow a grand slam and then hit a go-ahead home run in the same inning. Through the 2024 season, Madison Bumgarner was the only other pitcher to match that feat when he did it in 2016 with the San Francisco Giants.8

Jeffcoat retired the Cardinals in order in the top of the ninth inning to earn the complete-game win and improve his record to 3-2. When Jeffcoat learned he was being traded from the Cubs to Cincinnati in November 1955 for Hobie Landrith, he seriously considered retiring from baseball. A few days later he changed his mind and the deal was finalized.9 It was only fitting that Jeffcoat retired Landrith for the final out.

Despite the disappointing loss, Musial once again showed why he was one of the greatest hitters of all time. It was the 30th time in his career that he hit multiple home runs in a game. He smashed his eighth career grand slam, and he drove in five of the Cardinals’ six runs.

Stan the Man’s performance wasn’t good enough on this day, but he was still “good enough to take your breath away.”  

Sources

In addition to the sources shown in the Notes, the author used Retrosheet.org and Baseball-Reference.com.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CIN/CIN195705260.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1957/B05260CIN1957.htm

Photo credit: Stan Musial, SABR-Rucker Archive.

Notes

1 “Vin Scully Quotes,” Baseball Almanac, https://www.baseball-almanac.com/quotes/vin_scully_quotes.shtml, accessed December 17, 2024.

2 Warren Corbett, “Murry Dickson,” SABR BioProject, https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/murry-dickson/, accessed December 17, 2024.

3 “Stan Ties DiMag for No. 7 Spot on All-Time HR Table,” The Sporting News, June 5, 1957: 8.

4 “Who Do You Think You Are – Musial? Stan Told Temple,” The Sporting News, June 5, 1957: 24.

5 Gregory H. Wolf, “Lloyd Merritt,” SABR BioProject, https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/lloyd-merritt/, accessed December 17, 2024.

6 “Stan Ties DiMag for No. 7 Spot on All-Time HR Table.”

7 Bob Broeg, “Cards Collect Quick Dividend on Hutch’s ‘Shakewell’ System,” The Sporting News, June 5, 1957: 8.

8 Michael Wagaman (Associated Press), “Giants Finally Get Some Offense in 10-7 Win Over Mets,” August 18, 2016, https://apnews.com/7f5582a0e7534c6a88ff5e552cec64aa, accessed December 17, 2024.

9 Tom Swope, “Hal Jeffcoat Balks at Trade, Then Decides to Join Reds,” The Sporting News, December 7, 1955: 21.