One of my biggest baseball thrills was watching Stan
take batting practice. I've been able to see a number of great
hitters practice over the years--Willie
Mays, Hank Aaron,
Ken Griffey Jr.,
Tony Gwynn, and even
Mark McGwire in 1998
and 1999 -- but Stan was the best! (Though both Barry
Bonds and Albert
Pujols are making strong cases) Stan consistently smacked
line drives and connected with the sweet spot in batting practice;
at least, I sure don't remember him topping any or popping any
up, and this was in the "twilight" of his career.
A member of world championship teams in 1942,
1944, and 1946,
no other Cardinal holds as many records
as Stan--not even close. Fortunately, major league baseball had
the foresight to have a special panel vote in 5 more players after
the fan vote for the All Century
Team, which was announced at the beginning of the 1999 World
Series. It would have been a real travesty had Stan been left
off the list!
Naturally, Stan Musial was my boyhood hero, and these
pages are dedicated to him--a truly great baseball player and
a truly great man.
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