Stan Musial: Home Run Champ

Over the course of his long and illustrious big league career, Stan Musial led the league in just about every batting category except home runs. But he did win a homer title in the Class C Western Association in 1941. although he was with the Springfield Cardinals of that league for only 12 weeks of the 18-week season, his 26 homers stood up to the end to give “The Man,” who was just a 20-year old at the time, the league crown.

Musial had been a pitcher in Class D for three years but had hurt his arm late in the 1940 season. Still, his potential as a hitter had not gone unnoticed, and he was promoted to Springfield, Missouri, for 1941. There he was managed by Ollie Vanek, a minor league veteran who had first recommended that the Cardinals sign the Donora, Pennsylvania, youngster in 1937, when Vanek was managing the St. Louis farm in nearby Monessen in the Penn State League.

Vanek’s confidence was quickly rewarded, as young Musial was an immediate sensation with Springfield. The home field, White City Park, had a short right field line, about 300 feet, and the wall cut straight across toward center, making the power alley a cozy 340 feet away. In Stan’s first practice at White City Park, he lofted three straight pitches over the fence and smiled at the prospects ahead. The kid had hit just one home run in each of his three previous pro seasons, but that would change in the Western Association.

His best effort of Opening Day was a double off the wall, but he also showed the other talents that would help carry him to the NL MVP award just two years down the road. Playing right field he made a diving try at a sinking liner and turned the sure hit into a force out. Later in the game he caught the opposition flatfooted with a daring dash to third base on a routine ground out to the hot corner.

His first Springfield home run was in inside-the-parker on May 4, a 440-foot drive to the flagpole in deepest center that Musial legged out with relative ease. The victimized pitcher was lefthander Conklin Meriwether, one of the six WA southpaws that Musial would reach for round-trippers. Two days later he hit two in one game, both over th right field fence, to beat St. Joseph, 4-3. The gopher balls were served up by righthander Clifford Stebe, a product of St. Louis’ Cleveland High School. Musial would wind up with four homers off of Stebe, making him Stan’s favorite WA pigeon. On May 8, St. Louis general manager Branch Rickey was in town, and Stan really showed his stuff. His first hit was a triple, after which he tried to steal home. He was out on a close call, causing Vanek to give the umpire a loud lecture on eyesight. Stan then tied the game with a homer in the eighth inning and won it, 3-2, with an RBI single in the 12th. Mr. Rickey would remember Mr. Musial.

Mr. Musial’s name was being pronounced “MU-shal,” and Stan would not get around to correcting that until the following spring at the big Cardinals’ training camp. But whatever way you said it, the youngster was the best player in the WA.

Stan’s biggest game as a Springfield Cardinal came on May 29 when he hit three homers and drove home six runs against the Topeka Owls (see box score below). Lillian Musial, Stan’s wife, had brought their infant son to the park that night, but she missed the man’s slugging because of the necessity to change diapers frequently. By the end of that homestand, Springfield led the WA with a 33-6 record, and Musial led the league in hits, double, triples, homers, runs scored, RBIs, and in batting with a .444 average.

By the end of June he was still leading in most everything, and pitchers were walking him regularly. This led to a mild slump in early July, and Stan dropped below .400 on the Fourth. But he snapped out of his skid in mid-month, poling homers against the Hutchinson Pirates on July 15 and 17. The next day he delighted the largest Springfield crowd of the season (5,000 at a “Frisco Night” gathering of railroad employees) with a blast over the fence and onto Boonville Avenue. The next night he whacked a drive to deep left center against young Ed Lopat of the Salina Millers and raced around the bases with his fourth inside-the-park home run of the year. It would be his last four-bagger for Springfield.

Musial was promoted to Rochester on July 21, leaving Springfield with league-leading totals of 26 homers, 94 RBIs, 132 hits, 257 total bases, and a .379 average. He would be passed in all categories but homers and average by the end of the season, but he would not have enough at bats to qualify for the batting title. Still, no one could oust him for the home run title. Musial has certainly been helped by the friendly configuration of White City Park, and 17 of his homers had come at home. But they were not all cheap shots by any means. At least three of them went clear across the 80-foot-wide street on the fly. and one homer he hit in Topeka was described as the longest in the history of the local park. Howie Moss, who had started the season in Class D, but moved up to Fort Smith in time to play 103 games, finished second in the WA in HRs with 24.

Stan continued his fine work with Rochester. Installed in right field and the number-two slot in the order, he homered in his second game with the Red Wings. He also homered in his first Rochester home game. Though he finished with only 3 HRs in 54 IL games, he was called up to the parent club in St. Louis after the final Red Wing game on September 13. With the big Cardinals, Musial whacked out a nifty .426 average in 12 games, including a home run off of Rip Sewell in Pittsburgh for a flock of family and friends who came up from Donora to see the event. The Man was on his way to stardom.

Meanwhile, Springfield had a date with disaster. The Cardinals had been leading Joplin Miners by 7 games when Musial left. Star pitcher Blix Donnelly ran his record to 18-1 at one point, and Musial’s replacement Henry Redmond, sent down from Decatur, chipped in with an outstanding .381 effort. Buy without Musial the lead shrunk dramatically. The season came down to the final Labor Day weekend with Springfield leading Joplin by two and one-half games with three head-to-head doubleheaders remaining. Donnelly won the first game of the Saturday twinbill to finish the year with a 28-6 record and put the Cards just one win away from the pennant. But the Miners swept the next five games to capture the flag.

Springfield would doubtlessly have won with ease if they could have kept Home Run King Stan Musial all season.

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