July 21, 1943: Stan Musial records his first career 5-hit game

The St. Louis Cardinals defeated the New York Giants, 3-1, in the first game of a doubleheader on Wednesday afternoon, July 21, 1943, at Sportsman’s Park III in St. Louis. Martin J. Haley of the St. Louis Globe-Democrat noted the attendance: “The day’s activities were attended by 5,755 paid customers, 668 military men, 165 blood donors, 2,138 boys and 288 girls.”1

“The Cardinals made only three hits while winning the first game for recruit George Munger who got the mound assignment in place of Mort Cooper,” Haley wrote.2 The Giants’ Rube Fischer got the loss, the winning hit a two-run double in the bottom of the second by shortstop Marty Marion.

The second game of the twin bill was the polar opposite of the first game as the two teams combined for 29 hits and 20 runs, and the Cardinals completed the sweep with a 14-6 victory. “Victims of the Card fury in the nightcap were Cliff Melton, Bill Sayles, Harry Feldman, Van Mungo and Hugh East  – in that disorder,” noted the New York Daily News.3

Howie Krist, in his fifth major-league season, was the St. Louis starting pitcher. Krist, who was 13-3 (league-leading .833 winning percentage) in 1942. He entered this game with a record of 6-3 and a 3.68 ERA. Cliff Melton, a seven-year veteran, started for the Giants. He had a record of 4-4 with a 3.35 ERA.

The Giants took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on a single by Joe Medwick and a triple off the bat of player-manager Mel Ott. In the Cardinals’ half of the first, Cardinals, Lou Klein and Harry Walker both singled, putting runners at first and second for Stan Musial.4

Musial, a native of Donora, Pennsylvania, was in just his third season of major-league baseball. He entered the day’s second game with a .331 batting average, which was helped by a 22-game hitting streak that began on May 16 and ended on June 5.

Musial singled, scoring Klein and sending Walker to third. A fly ball by Walker Cooper (brother of Cardinals pitcher Mort Cooper) scored Walker. Musial stole second base and Ray Sanders’ two-out single scored Musial as the inning ended with the Cardinals leading 3-1.

With one out in the bottom of the second inning, pitcher Krist singled and went to second base on a sacrifice by Klein. Walker’s single advanced Krist to third base and Musial followed with his second single of the game to drive in Krist, making the score 4-1, Cardinals.

Neither team scored for the next inning and a half. Musial came to bat in the fourth inning with two outs. In his third plate appearance of the day, he stroked a double to left field that brought home Klein who had walked. “Despite the lopsidedness of the score, the nightcap was a close tussle half the way,” the New York Daily News observed.5

The Giants sent eight men to the plate in the top of the fifth inning and scored three runs. Consecutive doubles by pitcher Bill Sayles, Johnny Rucker, and Mickey Witek gave them two runs. Murry Dickson replaced Krist on the mound and retired the first two batters he faced. He then gave up a single to Buster Maynard that scored Witek. The inning ended with the Cardinals ahead 5-4.

The Cardinals exploded for nine runs in the bottom of the inning. Whitey Kurowski drew a leadoff walk from Sayles and went to second base on a single by Johnny Hopp. Harry Feldman replaced Sayles and gave up a single to Ray Sanders that scored Kurowski and sent Hopp to second base. Debs Garms, pinch-hitting for Marty Marion, singled to score Hopp and send Sanders to third base. Sanders scored when Dickson singled. Garms went to third.

Van Mungo replaced Feldman on the mound for the Giants, and he induced Klein to ground into a force out at second base as Garms scored the fourth Cardinals run of the inning. After Harry Walker grounded out, Musial tripled (his fourth hit of the game), driving in Klein. Doubles by Cooper and Kurowski scored the Cardinals’ sixth and seventh runs of the inning.

Hopp was hit by a pitch. Sanders singled to right, scoring Kurowski, and Hopp tallied when right fielder Ott booted Sanders’ hit. Debs Garms walked, but pitcher Dickson’s fly out ended the inning with the Cardinals holding a 14-4 advantage.

Dick Bartell, pinch-hitting for Mungo, walked with one out in the Giants’ sixth inning. A single by Rucker sent Bartell to second, and he scored on a hit by Witek with Rucker motoring around to third base. Joe Medwick’s groundout scored Rucker and the inning ended with the Giants trailing by eight runs, 14-6.

Neither team scored again. Musial came to bat twice more. In the sixth inning, he doubled for his fifth hit of the game in five at-bats. Musial came to bat for the last time in the bottom of the eighth inning, in search of his sixth hit and maybe a home run that would complete the batting cycle for him.

However, Hugh East, the fifth and final pitcher of the game for the Giants, was able to do something that Cliff Melton, Bill Sayles, Harry Feldman, and Van Mungo had all failed to do, keep Musial off the basepaths. Musial popped up to Giants shortstop Billy Jurges.

Haley summarized: “Twelve of the Cards’ 19 hits were delivered by three men. Stanley Musial gathered five straight, including two doubles and a triple in six times at bat; Harry Walker had four singles and Sanders three more.”6

This was Musial’s first five-hit game. He and the Cardinals hoped it would not be the last.7

The 1943 campaign turned out to be the first great season of Musial’s playing career. He led the National League in batting average (.357), games played (156), plate appearances (701), hits (228), doubles (50), triples (20), on-base percentage (.425), slugging percentage (.562), and total bases (347). He also won the first of his three Most Valuable Player awards.

Sources

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

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SLN/SLN194307212.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1943/B07212SLN1943.htm

Photo credit: Stan Musial, SABR-Rucker Archive.

Notes

1 Martin J. Haley, “Musial Paces 19-Hit Attack in Nightcap,” St. Louis Globe-Democrat, July 22, 1943: 19.

2 Haley.

3 Dick McCann, “Cardinals Blast Giants in 2d, 14-6, After Winning, 3-1,” New York Daily News, July 22, 1943: 48.   

4 Musial was 0-for-4 in the first game.

5 McCann.

6 Haley.

7 Musial had five hits in one game eight times in all, including four times in 1948. After this game, he also had five-hit games on September 19, 1946; September 3, 1947; April 30, 1948; May 19, 1948; June 22, 1948; September 22, 1948; and September 27, 1962.