I was away from my blog when I got news that Stan Musial passed away, so I didn’t get to comment on it. By now, everyone knows the impressive, but still underrated, career of Musial and how he was a gentleman on and off the field; one of the last true ambassadors of the game, so I won’t get into that.

What I do want to say is that I became a huge Musial fan during my middle schools years (90-91). Why? I had obviously never seen him play nor was I from, or ever visited, St. Louis. So what made me become a fan? This book:

I checked this book out during the 6th grade and read it at least a half dozen times that year. I was obsessed with it. Obsessed with his story, his gaudy stats, the way he carried himself, and most of all, his stance. We were both lefties in the box. I modeled my stance after his for a short while. Then I became a Griffey fan, or fanatic really. Another lefty that I could idolize and actually see play. Musial became my favorite old time player; Griffey my current present-day player (Marty Barrett’s career was unfortunately coming to a close). Then my 6th grade brain noticed something:

Stan Musial, born November 21st in Donora, PA

Ken Griffey Jr., born November 21st in Donora, PA

ANNNNND if you take Griffey’s Seattle number (24) and add the digits, it equals Musial’s number (6).

It was destiny that I loved these two guys.

Anyways, that is sort of how I became a Musial guy.

As luck would have it, somewhere around 91-92 (I forget the exact time), there was a card show in Saratoga Springs, NY that was going to have Griffey, Musial, and Yaz signing autographs.

!!!

Two of my all-time favs at one show plus one of my dad’s childhood heros (Yaz)? We booked a hotel and planned our trip. Unfortunately, about 3 weeks before the show, it was announced Griffey backed out to play in some All-Star game in Japan. Weak sauce! But, I still got to see The Man. We ended up purchasing this vintage mini Musial model bat for a song and had him sign it in gold ink. It is still one of my most prized possessions.

I sold a lot of my cards right around the time I went to college so that I could go college. This sadly included a really nice 1953 Bowman Color Musial. Man, I still wish I had that card. Someday I’ll pick up another copy. There were a handful of cards I kept and three of them were Musials. Here they are:

1958 Topps #476

1959 Topps #470

1962 Topps #317

These cards have been with me since the early 90s and I doubt that I will ever part with them.  The ’58 All Star card is one of my all-time favorite cards. The colors just blow me away every time I look at it.

Here’s to you, Stan!

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