Stan Musial and the World Series

Whitey Kurowski, Marty Marion, Stan Musial, and Ray Sanders get together during the 1944 World Series against the St. Louis Browns. (SABR-Rucker Archive)

 

Stan Musial was involved in 13 World Series with the St. Louis Cardinals as a player, member of the front office, and later as the team’s senior ambassador – Mr. Cardinal. The 13 World Series, of which the Cardinals won eight, were spread out over eight different decades, making his affiliation with the Cardinals one of the longest with a single team in baseball history.

Musial played in four World Series before the age of 26. Given that he had already won two National League batting titles and cemented his position as one of the National League’s best players, it seemed certain that he and the Cardinals would continue to make frequent appearances in the World Series. Testament to how difficult it is to win a pennant and how nothing should be taken for granted, the 1946 fall classic was Musial’s last as a player in his 22-year Hall of Fame career in which he batted .331, hit 475 home runs, and drove in 1,951 runs.

In his first full season, 1942, Musial hit .315 with 32 doubles, 10 triples, 10 home runs, and 72 RBIs to help the Cardinals capture their first National League pennant and advance to the World Series for the first time since the Gas House Gang defeated the Detroit Tigers in the 1934 World Series.

1942 WORLD SERIES

The World Series was a matchup between two teams that won more than 100 games. The Cardinals, who trailed the National League-leading Brooklyn Dodgers by 10 games on August 5, rallied down the stretch – winning 43 of their last 51 games – to finish with a record of 106-48 (with two ties), two games ahead of the Dodgers.1 The Cardinals’ 106 victories remain the franchise record.

In Game One at Sportsman’s Park III, the Yankees’ Red Ruffing, threw 7 2/3 innings of no-hit ball before giving up a single to center fielder Terry Moore. Entering the bottom of the ninth, the Yankees led 7-0. Musial fouled out to lead off the bottom of the ninth before the Cardinals mounted an improbable comeback that fell just short. They scored four runs and had the bases loaded when he came to bat once more, representing the winning run. He hit a grounder to first baseman Buddy Hassett, who tossed the ball to reliever Spud Chandler for the game’s final out. Despite being angered at his own performance, going 0-for-4 and making two outs in the bottom of the ninth, “Musial took heart at the late-inning rally, believing more than ever that the Yankees were beatable.”2 In fact, the Cardinals’ ninth-inning near comeback “showed the Yankees that they were indeed, a worthy contender.”3

In Game Two, the Cardinals led 3-0 into the eighth inning only to see it evaporate on a run-scoring single by Joe DiMaggio and a two-run homer to deep right field by Charlie Keller.

In the bottom of the eighth, Enos Slaughter hit a two-out double and Musial followed with an RBI single to center. Musial’s first hit of the Series gave the Cardinals a 4-3 lead, which held up and evened the Series at a game each. Musial finished the day 1-for-4.

October 2 was a travel day for the two teams as the Series shifted to Yankee Stadium. The next day, a World Series-record crowd of 69,123 filled the ballpark for the pivotal Game Three.

According to Musial biographer James Giglio, Musial admitted to feeling numb on the occasion of his first visit to Yankee Stadium, “not only because he was a twenty-one-year-old only one season removed from Class C ball. The three-tiered stadium created an enormous obstacle for left fielders because of the haze of cigarette smoke and the shadows created by the October sun, which blanketed left field, making it difficult to see batted balls.”4

Game Three was a matchup between injury-plagued left-hander Ernie White, who was 7-5 with a 2.52 ERA in 1942 following a 17-win season in 1941. The Yankees countered with the right-handed Chandler, who went 16-5 with a 2.38 ERA during the regular season, and earned the save in Game One.

Ernie White scattered six hits and struck out six, tossing a shutout to outduel Chandler, who gave up only three hits and one run over eight innings. The Cardinals manufactured a run in the third on a walk, a bunt single, a sacrifice, and a groundout, and added an unearned run in the ninth to win 2-0. Musial finished the day 1-for-3, with a fourth-inning single to center. He was also intentionally walked in the top of the ninth with runners on second and third with nobody out.

Another World Series attendance record was established when 69,902 fans packed Yankee Stadium for Game Four, a matchup between Mort Cooper, who was making his second start of the Series, and right-handed rookie Hank Borowy, who was 15-4 with a 2.52 ERA during the regular season for the Yankees.

The Yankees took a first-inning lead and held it until the fourth inning when the Cardinals exploded for six runs.

Musial led off with a bunt single to the left side of the infield. A single and a walk followed, with Whitey Kurowski singling to give the Cardinals a 2-1 lead. Marty Marion walked to reload the bases before Mort Cooper hit a two-run bloop single to right field that ended the day for starter Borowy. Atley Donald came on in relief.

In the sixth, the Yankees scored five runs and tied it, 6-6,.the big blow Keller’s three-run homer.

The Cardinals scored two runs in the top of the seventh to regain the lead. Musial, who drew a walk, scored the second run of the inning on a fly out to center by Marion. The Cardinals added an insurance run in the ninth and won 9-6, taking a three-games-to-one lead. Musial finished the day 2-for-3 with one RBI and two walks, including an intentional pass in the top of the eighth.

Game Five was a low-scoring back-and-forth affair that stood 2-2 until the top of the ninth, when Whitey Kurowski hit a two-run homer to put the Cardinals ahead 4-2, and ultimately secured the World Series title. Musial was 0-for-4 in the series-clinching game.

As a batter, Musial didn’t have a great Series. He was 4-for-18 (.222), with a double, a Series-leading four walks that gave him an OPS of .364, and two runs batted in. The Cardinals players’ share for winning the World Series was $6,192.50, which easily surpassed the $4,250 salary Musial received during his rookie year.6

Musial ranked the Cardinals’ victory among his greatest sports moments. In an interview later in life he pointed to the five-game triumph as one of his biggest thrills. “Well, I guess winning the World Series as a rookie (1942). Beating the Yankees.”7 He also included his induction into the Hall of Fame and the first time he put on a Cardinals uniform.

After the Series, Musial, accompanied by his parents, returned to his home in Donora, Pennsylvania, where he worked part-time as a clerk in his father-in-law’s grocery store.8 Giglio recounted Musial’s farewell to his teammates at New York’s Pennsylvania Station: “Musial said his final good-byes to teammates who were heading back to St. Louis. (Marty) Marion remembered him ‘crying like a baby, shaking hands with everyone.’”9 This may have been in part due to the escalation of World War II and the uncertainty surrounding which players would be in the armed forces or would return to the Cardinals for the 1943 season.

1943 WORLD SERIES

In 1943, with many stars off serving in World War II, “Musial established himself as the premier player in the National League if not the whole game.”10 He led the league in games played (157), plate appearances (701), batting (.357), slugging (.562), on-base percentage (.425), on-base plus slugging percentage, or OPS (.988), hits (220), doubles (48), triples (20), total bases (347), and WAR (9.5).11 Not surprisingly, Musial won the first of his three Most Valuable Player awards and a second consecutive trip to the fall classic.

The Series was a rematch between the Cardinals and Yankees. The Cardinals were runaway winners in the National League, finishing with a record of 105-49, 18 games ahead of the second-place Cincinnati Reds. The Yankees won the pennant with a record of 98-56 and finished 13½ games ahead of the Washington Senators. Both teams were missing key players in their lineups who were away on military service. Given the results of the 1942 Series and the fact that the Cardinals had the finest pitching in the National League – Howie Pollet, Max Lanier, and Mort Cooper ranked one-two-three in the league in ERA at 1.75, 1.90 and 2.30 respectively12 –the Cardinals were favored to repeat as World Series champions.

The Yankees took Game One, 4-2, behind the pitching of 1943 American League MVP Spud Chandler (20-4, 1.64 ERA, 20 complete games). Joe Gordon homered for the Yankees, who scored the winning run on a wild pitch in the bottom of the sixth. Musial went 1-for-4, hitting a single to right in the eighth inning.

The next day the Cardinals evened the Series with a 4-3 victory. Mort Cooper pitched a complete game, backed by Marion’s third-inning solo home run and a two-run homer by Sanders. Musial was again 1-for-4; he led off the fourth with a single to center and scored on Kurowski’s single to center.

Because of wartime travel restrictions, Game Three was also played in New York. The Cardinals took a 2-0 lead in the top of the fourth. Musial led off with a single to left and went to third on a one-out double by Kurowski. After an intentional walk to Sanders, Danny Litwhiler singled to left, scoring Musial and Kurowski.

The Cardinals managed only one hit the rest of the way and made four errors as the Yankees scored three unearned runs. Musial finished 1-for-3 with a walk.

After a two-day break the Series resumed on October 10 at Sportsman’s Park. The Yankees took a commanding three-games-to-one lead with a 2-1 victory. Musial collected two hits without hitting the ball out of the infield. He lined out to second in the first inning, had a one-out bunt single in the fourth inning, grounded out to second in the sixth inning, and had a one-out infield single to third in the eighth.

The Series ended the next day when Chandler pitched his second complete game in a week, a 2-0 shutout. Dickey was the hitting hero with a sixth-inning two-run homer. Musial went 0-for-3 with a walk.

Musial finished the Series with a .278 batting average (5-for-18). He had no extra-base hits or RBIs and drew two walks. His performance was not what Cardinal fans had come to expect during the 1943 season. After the Series Musial often said that the Yankees “deserved to win” because they “played better ball” and “had the better pitching.”13 The reality that every game was close and could have gone either way was testament to Musial’s graciousness.

1944 WORLD SERIES

Musial helped the Cardinals win a third consecutive pennant with a season that was very similar to his MVP year of 1943. He hit .347 and led the National League in hits (197), doubles (51), on-base percentage (.440), slugging percentage (.549), OPS (.990), and WAR (8.9).14

The Series was an all-St. Louis affair as the city’s second-class citizens, the Browns, won their first and only American League pennant.15

Both teams played at Sportsman’s Park. The Browns owned the ballpark until they moved to Baltimore in 1953; the Cardinals were a tenant. In the opener, on Wednesday, October 4, a crowd of 33,242 watched right-handed “Sunday pitcher” Denny Galehouse, who was just 9-10 with a 3.12 ERA during the regular season, outduel Mort Cooper.16

Galehouse scattered seven hits on his way to a 2-1 complete-game victory. He lost his bid for a shutout in the ninth inning when the Cardinals scored their only run on a fly ball by Ken O’Dea, pinch-hitting for relief pitcher Blix Donnelly. The difference in the game was a fourth-inning, two-run homer by first baseman George McQuinn. Musial went 1-for-3. He singled to center in the first inning and laid down a sacrifice bunt in the third that advanced baserunners to second and third, only to be stranded.

The Cardinals evened the series with a 3-2, 11-inning Game Two victory that saw one of the greatest defensive plays in World Series history.17

Sanders led off the bottom of the 11th with a with a single to center and was sacrificed to second by Kurowski. O’Dea, pinch-hitting for the second consecutive game, singled to center to drive in the winning run. Musial was 1-for-5. His only hit was an eighth-inning leadoff single to center.

The two teams switched dugouts for Game Three, with the Browns assuming the role of the home team. The game was a matchup between a pair of 17-game winners. The Browns chased rookie Ted Wilks when they scored four in the fourth and added two insurance runs in the seventh to beat the Cardinals 6-2. Musial was held to one hit, a single to right field in the top of the third, in four trips to the plate. The Browns’ Jack Kramer threw a complete game, scattering seven hits and striking out 10.

The Cardinals tied the Series again with a 5-1 Game Four victory. Musial was their hitting star, going 3-for-4 with two runs scored and two RBIs on his only World Series home run, to right field in the first inning off Sig Jakucki.

The pivotal fifth game was a rematch between Game One starters Mort Cooper and Galehouse. Both starters went the distance, with Cooper tossing a 2-0 shutout to give the Cardinals a three-games-to-two lead, on solo home runs by Sanders and Danny Litwhiler. Although he didn’t factor into the scoring, Musial was 1-for-3 with a first-inning walk and a two-out double in the third.

The Series ended on October 9 when Max Lanier limited the Browns to one run in 5 1/3 innings and Wilks atoned for his Game Three struggles with 3 2/3 no-hit innings. Musial went 0-for-4 in the Cardinals’ 3-1 victory.

While still below the performance Cardinal fans had come to expect from him, the 1944 World Series was Musial’s best from a statistical perspective. He hit .304 (7-for-23) with two doubles, a home run, two RBIs, and a .552 slugging percentage.

The Cardinals’ and Musial’s run of three consecutive trips to the World Series came to an end in 1945. Probably not coincidentally, Musial was inducted into the Navy in January of that year.18

With Musial out of the lineup, the Cardinals fell to second place in the National League. The team still finished with an admirable record of 95-59, three games behind the pennant-winning Chicago Cubs. Given Musial’s combined WAR of 44.1 in five full seasons between 1943 and 1948 (an average WAR of 8.8) his presence might have pushed the Cardinals to a fourth consecutive pennant in 1945.

1946 WORLD SERIES

Musial was discharged from the Navy in March 1946 and immediately rejoined the Cardinals. Enjoying one of the best years of his career, he led the National League in games played (156), plate appearances (702), at-bats (624), runs scored (124), hits (228), doubles (50), triples (20), batting average (.365), slugging percentage (.587), OPS (1.021), total bases (366), WAR (9.3), and oWAR (9.6).19 He drove in 103 runs in the first of 10 seasons in which he had 100 or more RBIs. For his efforts he earned his second NL MVP award.

With Musial and many of his Cardinals teammates back in the lineup, the Cardinals returned to the top of the National League standings with a record of 98-58, narrowly edging the Brooklyn Dodgers by two games and earning their fourth trip to the World Series in five years.20

In the American League, the Boston Red Sox finally got over the hump and won the pennant going away, 104-50, 12 games ahead of the Detroit Tigers.

The much-anticipated Series offered a matchup between two of the game’s biggest stars at the prime of their careers. Ted Williams, the Red Sox left fielder, who had missed the 1943, ’44, and ’45 seasons while serving in the US Navy and Marine Corps, made a triumphant return with an MVP season of his own.21

Before the Series there was a great deal of discussion as to who was the better hitter. Dodgers manager Leo Durocher said, “Musial is two to one a better hitter. You can pitch to Williams, crowd him and keep the ball on the handle. Williams can hit to only one field. Musial can hit to all fields and you can’t fool him. Williams has only one advantage. He has more power and power worries you. You are afraid to make one mistake. But I’ll take Musial any day – and what is more, I’m not comparing dispositions.”22

Game One featured a pair of 20-game winners as starting pitchers, Howie Pollet (21-10, 2.10 ERA) against Boston’s Tex Hughson (20-11 2.75).

The Red Sox held a 1-0 lead until the bottom of the sixth, when Red Schoendienst, Musial’s roommate, reached on a one-out weak roller to shortstop. He advanced to second when Moore grounded out to second. Musial tied the game with a double to right.

Tied 2-2 after nine innings, the game was decided in the 10th when Rudy York hit a two-out home run to left. 3-2, Red Sox. Musial came to the plate with a man on second and one out in the bottom of the inning and grounded out, finishing the game 1-for-5.

Game Two saw Harry Brecheen outpitch Mickey Harris, with a four-hit shutout. He helped his own cause at the plate. After Del Rice led off the bottom of the third with a double to left field, Brecheen singled to right to give the Cardinals a 1-0 lead. In the bottom of the fifth, with Rice again on base, Brecheen bunted and reached second on a bad throw on a force play. Moore’s single brought Rice home with the game’s second run, and Musial’s force-play grounder scored Brecheen, making it 3-0, the game’s final score. Musial finished 0-for-4 with an RBI.

At Fenway Park, Dave Ferriss (25-6, 3.25 ERA) tossed a 4-0 shutout, beating Murry Dickson. York, the hitting hero in Game One, hit a three-run home run to left field in the bottom of the first to give the Red Sox all the runs they needed.

Musial was 1-for-3 with a first-inning walk. He then stole second before being picked off by Ferriss as he tried to steal third.23 Musial’s hit was a two-out triple in the ninth. Slaughter struck out to end the game, stranding Musial at third.

The Cardinals scored 12 runs on a World Series record-tying 20 hits in Game Four. The final score was 12-3. Cardinals right-hander Red Munger surrendered nine hits but yielded only one earned run. Musial was 1-for-5 with a walk, one run scored, and a two-run third-inning double that scored Schoendienst and Moore.

Pollet failed to get out of the first inning in Game Five. Down 1-0 and with just one out and two runners on base, Al Brazle came on in relief. Joe Dobson started for Boston. The Cardinals tied the score in the second when Harry Walker doubled to left field, driving in Joe Garagiola. In the bottom of the second, the Red Sox’ Don Gutteridge drove in Roy Partee to give the Red Sox a 2-1 lead. Boston added one more run in the sixth and three in the seventh.

Down 6-1, the Cardinals made one last effort to get back into the game in the ninth. Musial led off with a walk and later scored on Walker’s two-run single, but the scoring ended. 6-3 victors, the Red Sox led three games to two.

Musial was 1-for-3 with a walk. His lone hit was a two-out double to center in the sixth inning.

The series resumed in St. Louis with a Game Six rematch of Game Two starters Harris and Brecheen. The Cardinals scored three runs in the bottom of the third inning. After they scored their first run, Musial kept the inning going with an infield single that moved Schoendienst to third. RBI singles by Kurowski and Slaughter followed. The Cardinals held a 3-0 lead. The game ended with a 4-1 Cardinals victory. Musial was 1-for-4 with one run scored.

One thing about Game Seven of the World Series is that it is often close. Of the 40 winner-take-all World Series contests, 15 have been decided by a single run.24 Game Seven of the 1946 World Series was one of those 15 instances.

The Red Sox scored once in the top of the first, and the Cardinals tied the score in the second. They took a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the fifth when pitcher Dickson hit an RBI double and Schoendienst followed with an RBI single.

In the Red Sox eighth, Dom DiMaggio hit a two-run double to right to tie the game at 3-3. In the process of legging out the double. DiMaggio pulled a hamstring. With Williams due to hit, the Red Sox’ Leon Culberson ran for DiMaggio – a move that would play a huge role in what transpired in the bottom of the inning. Williams, who was playing hurt, ended the inning with a pop fly to second base.25

The events in the bottom of the eighth included one of the most analyzed plays in baseball history – the “mad dash” by Enos Slaughter, who singled and then scored the go-ahead run from first base on a two-out base hit to center by Harry Walker. Did Johnny Pesky “hold the ball” and fail to throw home in time to get Slaughter? Should Walker’s hit have been scored a double (as it was) or a single? The indisputable fact was that the Cardinals took a 4-3 lead and, though Boston batters led off the ninth with back-to-back singles, they could not get the tying run home.26

Musial finished the Series 6-for-27 with four walks, and four RBIs. His MVP counterpart, Williams, finished 5-for-25 with five walks and one RBI.

The 1946 World Series turned out to Musial’s last appearance in the postseason as a player. Who would have thought that possible at the time, considering that the 26-year-old had already played in four World Series?

Reflecting back on the 1946 season and World Series, Musial considered it one of “the best years of our lives.”27 Shortly after the Series, Musial decided to move to St. Louis from his hometown of Donora. He said, “I think it’s wise for a baseball player to make his home where he’s made his reputation. I always worried about my baseball career, about getting hurt, and I wanted a business to fall back on.”

Summary of Musial’s World Series Playing Career

Despite winning three of the four World Series he appeared in, Musial’s Series statistics were far off his career performance. In his 23 World Series games, he hit just .256 (22-for-86) with 7 doubles, a triple, one home run, and 8 RBIs. His .742 OPS in 99 plate appearances was more than 200 points lower than his career OPS of .976.

Joseph Stanton, a Musial biographer, addressed the discrepancy between Musial’s regular-season statistics and his World Series performances. “He always found it difficult to hit in championship games when white-shirted spectators crowed into the center field seats. … Musial’s knack for seeing and interpreting the emergence of the ball out of the pitcher’s hand was one of the keys to his greatness as a hitter. With that edge compromised he tended to underperform in World Series contests.”28 This, coupled with the fact that he was facing superior pitchers, may explain the difference.

Musial’s home and away splits in World Series competition support Stanton’s claim. In 14 World Series games at Sportsman’s Park, Musial hit .241 (13-for-54) with 4 doubles, 1 home run, 5 RBIs, 5 bases on balls, and 4 strikeouts. In nine World Series games contested on the road, Musial hit .281 (9-for-32) with 3 doubles, 1 triple, 7 bases on balls, and no strikeouts.

Defensively, Musial was a solid World Series performer. In 96 total chances at three different positions (left field, right field, and first base) he made only one error, a miscue in right field in Game Five of the 1944 World Series that did not factor into the scoring. He finished his World Series career with a .990 fielding percentage.

For the remainder of Musial’s career, the Cardinals finished no higher than second place (five times) in the National League.

When he announced his retirement in August of 1963, Musial declared that he would “like to go out on a winner,” noting, “Our 1942 club was farther behind and won. … I’ve dreamed for a long time of playing in one more World Series. I think we still have a chance to do it.”29 Despite winning 19 of 20 from August 30 to September 15 to pull within one game of the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Cardinals were 2-8 over their final 10 games and finished six games behind, ending Musial’s hope of returning to the fall classic.

The final Cardinals game of the season, which took place in St. Louis, was a grand farewell party for Musial. The pregame festivities included numerous speakers, including Commissioner Ford Frick, who bestowed tributes on Musial. Teammate Ken Boyer presented Musial with a ring from the players with the number 6, Musial’s jersey number, set in diamonds, “a gift Stan especially appreciated because his World Series rings from the 1940s had been stolen from his home several years before.”30

1964 WORLD SERIES

After retiring, Musial moved into the Cardinals front office as a team vice president, but primarily in a public-relations role. The Cardinals won the pennant in 1964 with a record of 93-69, one game ahead of the Cincinnati Reds and Philadelphia Phillies.

The Cardinals faced a familiar World Series foe, the Yankees, pennant winners by one game over the Chicago White Sox. Led by Boyer, the Cardinals defeated the Yankees in seven games to capture their first World Series title in 18 years.

After the Cardinals’ victory, Musial was often asked if he regretted retiring after the 1963 season. With typical modesty, he noted that had he not retired, the Cardinals would not have acquired Lou Brock, and claimed that a 1964 Cardinals team with a Musial instead of a Brock would not have won the World Series.31 While the answer was effective at fending off the frequently asked question, “there must have been some moments in which he thought about how satisfying it would have been to have been on the field for one more championship season.”32

On January 23, 1967, Musial was named the Cardinals’ general manager. Once he remarked, “I have a darn good job, but please don’t ask me what I do.”33 This gave some the impression that he may not have been comfortable in his new role.

The Cardinals won the 1967 pennant with a 101-60 record, an 18½-game improvement over 1966, and advanced to World Series against the Boston Red Sox – a rematch of the 1946 Series, Musial’s last as a player.

1967 WORLD SERIES

Just as in 1946, the Cardinals defeated the Red Sox four games to three, the Cardinals’ fifth World Series title during Musial’s tenure with the team. Despite the team’s success, Musial resigned as general manager on December 5, less than a year after accepting the job. He remains the only general manager of a team that won the World Series in his only year on the job.

When asked what the difference in the Series was after the Cardinals’ Game Seven victory, Musial praised the manager, his former teammate and longtime roommate Red Schoendienst. “If there was a turning point in the Series,” Musial said, “it was in Red pitching Gibson on Sunday so he would be ready if there was a seventh game.”34 Right-hander Bob Gibson won three games to capture his second World Series MVP Award.

Musial’s departure from the general manager position came as a surprise to fans and the press. He later provided plausible reasons for his “retirement,” including the sudden death of his business partner Biggie Garagnani, which Stan said required him to devote more of hist time to their restaurant.35

The media did not completely buy Musial’s explanation and there were rumors of a rift in the front office. The Sporting News reported that “emerging differences came to a head involving Musial over the distribution of World Series tickets.” Those close to Musial seemed to agree that the supposed conflict over the releasing of too many World Series tickets was not the actual reason for his departure. More likely, Augie Busch, the team owner, probably told Musial, who enjoyed the public-relations part of the job, that he needed to master the paperwork, baseball law, and other intricacies of the position.36 No longer the team’s general manager, Musial remained Mr. Cardinal, the team’s senior ambassador for the remainder of his life.

MR. CARDINAL AND THE WORLD SERIES

The Cardinals played in seven more World Series during the remainder of Musial’s lifelong tenure as Mr. Cardinal, winning three and losing four.

On August 4, 1968, a statue of Musial was erected outside Busch Memorial Stadium. That year the Cardinals repeated as pennant winners, their first repeat since they won three in a row in 1942-1944. Many out-of-towners attending the World Series against the Detroit Tigers got their first look at the statue of Musial with its inscription, “Here stands baseball’s perfect warrior; here stands baseball’s perfect knight.”37 The Tigers rallied from a three-games-to-one deficit to win the Series in seven games, denying the Cardinals back-to-back World Series titles.

The Cardinals appeared in three World Series in the 1980s. The first was in 1982, when Musial was approaching his 62nd birthday. The Cardinals beat the Milwaukee Brewers in seven games. The team gave Musial a World Series ring.

The Cardinals won pennants in 1985, 1987, and 2004, but lost all three World Series. They extracted some level of revenge for 1968 by defeating the Tigers in five games in 2006. As the Cardinals’ senior ambassador, Musial earned a seventh World Series ring.

On January 15, 2011, already suffering from Alzheimer’s, Musial was awarded the Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the country, by President Barack Obama.38 That season the Cardinals made their final appearance in the World Series during Musial’s lifetime. The Cardinals beat the Texas Rangers in seven games, capturing the franchise’s 11th title – the eighth during Musial’s affiliation with the team. As in 1982 and 2006, the Cardinals awarded Musial a World Series ring.

Musial died on January 13, 2013, from complications associated with his battle with Alzheimer’s. He was 92 years old.

PAUL HOFMANN has been a SABR member since 2002. He has contributed to more than 25 SABR publications and co-edited The 1883 Philadelphia Athletics: American Association Champions. Paul is currently the assistant vice provost for international affairs at the University of Louisville and teaches in the College of Management at National Changhua University of Education in Taiwan. A native of Detroit, Paul is an avid baseball card collector and lifelong Detroit Tigers fan. He currently resides in Lakeville, Minnesota.

 

SOURCES

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author relied on Baseball-reference.com, Retrosheet.org, and Baseball-Almanac.com.

 

NOTES

1 1942 World Series. Retrieved on September 11, 2023, from www.baseball-almanac.com/ws/yr1942ws.shtml.

2 James N. Giglio, Musial: From Stash to Stan the Man (Columbia; University of Missouri Press, 2001), 78.

3 1942 World Series.

4 Giglio, 78-79.

5 Giglio, 79. Multiple players have had two hits in one inning in a World Series game. Babe Ruth was the first to achieve this feat, in Game Four of the 1926 World Series between the Yankees and Cardinals. As of 2025, J.D. Martinez of the Boston Red Sox was the last player to have two hits in one inning during a World Series game. He did it in Game Four of the 2018 World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

6 Giglio, 80.

7 Mark Malinowski, “Biofile Stan Musial Interview.” Retrieved on December 3, 2024, from https://mrbiofile.com/2024/01/04/biofile-stan-musial-interview.

8 Malinowski.

9 “The Kids,” Time, October 12, 1942: 77-79, as cited by Giglio. 77-79.

10 Jan Finkel, “Stan Musial,” SABR BioProject. https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/stan-musial/

11 OPS and WAR did not exist at the time and are retrospectively calculated.

12 Howie Pollet missed the 1943 World Series after leaving the team in August to serve in the military, and did not qualify for the ERA title.

13 Joseph Stanton, Stan Musial: A Biography (Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 2007), 38.

14 Surprisingly, Musial finished fourth in the MVP voting. The award went to teammate Marty Marion, whose play at shortstop was instrumental in the Cardinals winning the pennant going away. The Cardinals finished with a record of 105-49, 14½ games ahead of the second-place Pittsburgh Pirates.

15 “The undisputed underdog, the Brownies barely managed to win the league championship on the last day of the season. The Browns captured the pennant by wining only 89 games for a winning percentage of .578, the lowest for an American League champion to that point.” Giglio, 92. One year later the Detroit Tigers won the 1945 American League pennant with a winning percentage of .575.

16 Galehouse, who had earned a deferment for military service was working six days a week at the Goodyear Aircraft plant in Akron, Ohio. From mid-May until the end of the season, Galehouse would leave Akron after his Saturday shift, travel all night by train to wherever the Browns were playing, pitch the first game of the Sunday doubleheader, then immediately returned to Akron and put in another six-day week at the factory before repeating the process the following weekend. Glenn Stout, “Denny Galehouse,” SABR BioProject, retrieved on September 14, 2024, from https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/denny-galehouse/.

17 “In the 11th inning, with George McQuinn on second, [Mark] Christman laid a bunt down the third-base line that [reliever] Donnelly fielded with his bare hand and tossed to third to get the runner. The play was heralded as the defensive play of the World Series and one of the better defensive plays in World Series history.” Greg Omoth, “Blix Donnelly,” SABR BioProject, retrieved on July 13, 2024, from https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/blix-donnelly/.

18 For a good summary of Musial’s 1945 season in military service, see “Stan Musial,” Gary Bedingfield’s Baseball in Wartime, retrieved on May 15, 2024 from https://www.baseballinwartime.com/player_biographies/musial_stan.htm.

19 oWAR measures a player’s offensive achievements.

20 In 1946 the Cardinals and the Brooklyn Dodgers finished the regular season tied for first place. The winner was decided by a best-of-three playoff. The Cardinals won, two games to none, and advanced to the World Series. All statistics were included in the regular season.

21 The 27-year-old two-time batting champion (1941 and 1942), hit .346 with 38 home runs and 123 RBIs while leading the American League in runs scored (142), bases on balls (156), on-base percentage (.497), slugging average (.667), OPS (1.164), and total bases (343). There have been few World Series that rivaled the star power of the 1946 fall classic.

22 Stan Baumgartner, “Stan Musial a Better Hitter Than Williams – Durocher,” The Sporting News, October 9, 1946: 25.

23 Musial had 7 stolen bases and 9 caught-stealing during the 1946 season.

24 “A Brief History: Here’s Every World Series Game 7,” retrieved on August 17, 2024, from https://www.mlb.com/news/history-of-world-series-game-7-c39984458?msockid=014d8d273707667a354299cb36ff6727.

25 Williams played the Series with a severely bruised elbow, sustained when he was hit by a pitch during an exhibition game staged to keep Red Sox players in shape as they awaited the resolution of Cardinals-Dodgers playoff.

26 For a summary of the game, see Gregory H. Wolf’s article for SABR’s Games Project at https://sabr.org/gamesproj/game/october-15-1946-countrys-mad-dash-enos-slaughter-scores-winning-run-for-cardinals-in-game-7/.

27 Giglio, 143.

28 Stanton, 39-40.

29 Stanton, 103.

30 Stanton, 105.

31 Stanton, 111.

32 Stan Musial as told to Bob Broeg, The Man’s Own Story (New York: Doubleday, 1964), 229-230.

33 Jan Finkel.

34 Lowell Reidenbaugh, “Gibson, Cards – Second to None,” The Sporting News. October 14, 1967: 5.

35 Stanton, 119.

36 Giglio, 287.

37 Bob Addie, “Addie’s Atoms,” The Sporting News, October 19, 1968: 14.

38 Basketball legend Bill Russell also received a Medal of Freedom that day.