September 23, 1941: Stan Musial smashes first career home run for Cardinals

After he turned heads with 12 hits in his first 22 major-league at-bats as a late-season call-up to the St. Louis Cardinals in 1941, rookie Stan Musial achieved a career milestone in front of family and friends at Pittsburgh’s Forbes Field on September 23.1 The 20-year-old native of nearby Donora, Pennsylvania, hit the first of his 475 big-league home runs in a 9-0 Cardinals victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Musial, who signed with the Cardinals as a left-handed pitcher from Donora High School in 1938, struggled with control in his first professional season with Class-D Williamson (West Virginia). He walked 80 batters, struck out 66, and finished with a won-lost record of 6-6.2 In his second season with Williamson, Musial increased his strikeout total to 86 but walked 85. In 1940 Musial was sent to Class-D Daytona Beach, where manager Dickey Kerr gave Musial outfield shifts when he saw how good a hitter Musial was.3

A shoulder injury on a dive for a fly ball in August 1940 all but ended Musial’s pitching career. When Musial arrived at Double-A Columbus (Ohio) in 1941, manager Burt Shotton noticed Musial did not appear loose when he warmed up.4 In his autobiography, Musial quoted Shotton as saying, “[T]here’s something wrong with your arm. At least, I know you’re not throwing hard enough to pitch here. I think you CAN make it as a hitter. I’m going to send you to another camp with the recommendation that you be tried as an outfielder.”5 

Musial was sent to Albany, Georgia, and later Columbus, Georgia, where Cardinals veterans Terry Moore6 and Johnny Mize both blasted long home runs against him.7 While in Georgia, Musial met with Class-C Springfield (Missouri) player-manager Ollie Vanek, who along with business manager Andy French had to persuade Stan’s father, Lucasz, to let him sign with St. Louis. Musial had one question for Vanek: “Will you give me a chance with your ball club?”8

Vanek agreed, and the rest was history. In 87 games with Springfield, Musial hit .379 with 26 homers and 94 RBIs.9 In July the Cardinals’ general manager, Branch Rickey, asked Vanek if Musial was ready for Double-A Rochester, and Vanek said yes. In 54 games with Rochester, Musial batted .326. Rickey, impressed with Musial when he saw him play that July, decided to promote Musial to the Cardinals in September.10

On the morning of September 23, 1941, the Cardinals were 94-53 and in second place, 1½ games behind the Brooklyn Dodgers. Manager Billy Southworth’s team dropped the first game of a doubleheader that day, 4-0. Pittsburgh lefty Ken Heintzelman pitched nine innings and allowed six hits. It was a frustrating game for the Cardinals, who made five errors and had only one baserunner reach third. Musial, batting fifth and playing right field, was hitless in four at-bats.11

Max Lanier took the mound for St. Louis in the second game. The left-hander had a record of 9-8 with a 3.01 ERA. Lanier looked to build off his last game, a 3-2 complete-game victory over the Boston Braves in Musial’s major-league debut on September 17.

Opposing Lanier was right-hander Truett “Rip” Sewell, with a record of 14 wins and 16 losses. Sewell, who later became famous for throwing the “eephus” pitch to Ted Williams in the 1946 All Star Game,12 had most recently thrown 1 1/3 innings in relief of Johnny Lanning on September 18 against the Brooklyn Dodgers. While Sewell blew the save, the Pirates came back to defeat the Dodgers.13 This was Sewell’s first win since September 4, when he pitched five shutout innings in a 4-0 victory over the Cincinnati Reds.

The Cardinals scored the first run against Pittsburgh when Jimmy Brown led off with a triple to the deepest part of left field and came home on Terry Moore’s groundout.14 Musial, hitless in his four at-bats against Heintzelman earlier in the day, reached on an infield single to first base, but later overran second base on Estel Crabtree’s single and was thrown out for the third out of the inning.15

St. Louis scored three runs in the fourth inning. Musial led off with a walk and advanced to third on Crabtree’s second single of the game. Frank Crespi grounded into a fielder’s choice to rookie shortstop Billy Cox, who planned to turn the double play until he heard someone shout “Home!”16 Cox, though, threw too late to catcher Vinnie Smith and Musial scored.

Marty Marion laid down a sacrifice bunt and reached safely when third baseman Frankie Gustine made a wild throw to second. Crabtree scored.17 With one out, Pirates second baseman Stu Martin handled a grounder hit by Lanier and threw to first baseman Elbie Fletcher, nabbing Lanier as Crespi broke for home. Fletcher, who tried to pick Marion off second,18 threw to Cox, who threw home to Smith. The throw beat Crespi, but Smith dropped the ball and Crespi was safe. The Cardinals were now up by four runs.19    

St. Louis sent seven batters to the plate in the fourth and Musial got another at-bat the next half-inning. With Moore at first, Musial crushed a line drive well over the short right-field wall for his first major-league home run.20 A Donora man caught the ball in the stands and exchanged it for another baseball as a souvenir.21

Left-hander Joe Sullivan relieved Sewell in the top of the sixth. With two outs in the seventh, Moore reached on Gustine’s second throwing error of the day. Musial singled for his third and final hit of the game. Crabtree put the game out of reach with a three-run homer to deep right field.22

Not only did Musial shine at the plate. He also made a fine catch in the ninth inning to help Lanier finish off the shutout.23 It was Lanier’s 10th and final win of the 1941 season. After the game, when the entire clubhouse was nearly vacated, Musial introduced his father, Lucasz, to manager Southworth and coaches Mike González and Buzzy Wares.24

Western Pennsylvania was proud to see one of its own succeed at such a high level of competition. The headline in the Pittsburgh Press after the game was “Local Boy Makes Good … with the Cardinals.”25 The story by Edward F. Balinger of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “Donora Boy Stars,” highlighted Musial’s rise from the minor leagues to the Cardinals and his home run.26

According to Musial, the city of Donora was mighty proud of him. Forbes Field celebrated Stan Musial Day two days after his first home run. For the first time since Bob Coulson played for Cincinnati in the 1908 National League season, a man from Donora took the field in the big leagues. Musial later claimed that grade-school classes were canceled in celebration of his hometown debut.27

St. Louis finished the season with 97 wins, second behind the 100-win Dodgers. For Musial, his abbreviated 1941 season was the start of a brilliant career that ended with him as the Cardinals’ all-time franchise leader in hits, home runs, total bases, and games played.

Sources

The author accessed Retrosheet.org and Baseball-Reference.com for pertinent information including box scores, play-by-play, and other statistical data. He also consulted player biographies in the SABR BioProject.

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1941/B09232PIT1941.htm

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/PIT/PIT194109232.shtml

Photo credit: Stan Musial, Trading Card Database.

Notes  

1 Jack Sher, “The Stan Musial No One Knows.” Sport, March 1949: 66.

2 Sher, 64.

3 Stan Musial and Bob Broeg, Stan Musial: “The Man’s” Own Story, as Told to Bob Broeg (Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, 1964), 31-32.

4 Musial and Broeg, 37.

5 Musial and Broeg, 37-38.

6 During the final regular-season road trip, Musial recounted this home run with Moore on the train. Moore was surprised he was talking to the pitcher that gave up those big home runs: “‘It can’t be,’ Moore blurted, ‘you’re not that kid lefthander.’ Moore called to Mize, the big soft-spoken Georgian known as the ‘Big Cat,’ and said. ‘Hey, John, you won’t believe this! Musial is the lefthander who threw us those long home-run balls at Columbus this spring.” George Vecsey, Stan Musial: An American Life, (New York: Random House Publishing Group, 2012), 87.

7 Musial and Broeg, 38.

8 Sher, 65.

9 Musial and Broeg, 42.

10 Sher, 66.

11 J. Roy Stockton, “Musial Gets Home Run in No. 2; Heintzelman Scatters 6 Hits,” St. Louis Post Dispatch, September 23, 1941: 1B.

12 Associated Press, “Rip Sewell, ‘Eephus Ball’ Pitcher for Pittsburgh Pirates, Dies at 82,” New York Times, September 5, 1989: B6.

13 Edward F. Balinger, “Pirates Beat Dodgers in Wild Tilt, 6-5; Arguments Mark Bitter Battle; Durocher Chased by Magerkurth Late in Game.” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, September 19, 1941: 18.

14 Lester Biederman, “Cardinals Need Miracle to Win Flag: Split with Pirates Enables Dodgers to Keep 1½ Game Lead,” Pittsburgh Press, September 24, 1941: 22.

15 W. Vernon Tietjen, “Cardinals Lead Pirates in Second Contest After Losing Opener, 4-0; Birds Two Games Behind,” St. Louis Star-Times, September 23, 1941: 13.

16 Biederman, “Cardinals Need Miracle to Win Flag.”

17 Biederman.

18 Tietjen.

19 Crespi, according to Biederman in the Pittsburgh Press, kicked the ball out of Smith’s glove.

20 Biederman, “Cardinals Need Miracle to Win Flag: Split with Pirates Enables Dodgers to Keep 1½ Game Lead.”

21 Musial and Broeg, 51.

22 Tietjen.

23 Lester Biederman, “Local Boy Makes Good … With the Cardinals,” Pittsburgh Press, September 24, 1941: 22.

24 Bob Broeg, The Man Stan: Musial, Then and Now (St. Louis: Bethany Press, 1977), 69.

25 “Local Boy Makes Good … With the Cardinals.”

26 Edward F. Balinger, “Cards Lose Ground, Split with Pirates,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, September 24, 1941: 16.

27 Musial and Broeg, 51.