5th oldest living HOFer....Stan Musial

[Archive]

Posted By: Ted Zanidakis

Stan "The Man" Musial is one of the oldest living BALLPLAYER in the HOF.....he will be 87 this November.


1st nationally issued card.....1947 Bond Bread





The only permanent hi-graded card in my collection happens to be of Stan Musial






And, for the young members on this forum, Musial had quite an unorthodox batting stance that no other
batter had, and it proved to be very effective.

Lifetime BA = .331......with 475 HR's......he easily could have hit 500+ HR's, but that wasn't his style.

Except for one day in Brooklyn, when the NY sports media was critical of his hitting power. So, he shut
them up....with his bat....as, he hit 5-HR's playing in a double-header that day at Ebbetts Field.

TED Z

[Archive]

Posted By: Anthony

according to wikipedia, the oldest HOF player is Bobby Doerr. Born 4.7.18
Stan was born 11.21.20

Feller and Irvin are older too.

[Archive]

Posted By: Joseph J.

Bob Feller is older and so is Bobby Doerr, but NOBODY will ever be more underrated
than The Man

[Archive]

Posted By: Dan McHugh IV

both Doerr,Feller and Irvin are older, as I have found out just recently as i am on a quest to obtain IN PERSON each HOFer's auto on their RC! it is quite a task I just started on Hall of Fame weekend with Feller and Irvin but I'm lovin' it right now. I'll be flying from CT to MO at the end of Oct. to attend the show where Musial will be signing, I know its a litle out of my way but I'm not to sure how long I'll have to get his auto and thats if he even comes around the tri-state area.
Also, I have a question: on the 1947 Bond Bread as I just won one off Ebay, do they all have rounded corners?I ask because the won I won didn't,
plmk,
Dan

[Archive]

Posted By: dennis

dan there's a search function on the main page type in" bond bread rounded corners" and you'll get a lot of past posts on these.

[Archive]

Posted By: Steve Dawson

Also, Lee MacPhail is the oldest living HOF enshrinee, having been born Oct 25, 1917.


Steve

[Archive]

Posted By: nbrazil

Dan - interesting collecting venture. Mind if i ask how far you are into "completing" your set? thanks

[Archive]

Posted By: Ted Zanidakis

I did qualify this...."ballplayer"....Lee McPhail (the oldest HOFer)....did he actually play BB ?

OK, I stand corrected......so, let's make this thread a show and tell of one the greatest BB players I saw play the game......Stan Musial

DAN McHUGH IV

The ROUND cornered 1947 BB cards are the originals....the SQUARE ones were printed some years later, but no one in the hobby seems
to have any real knowledge on these (at least not yet).

TED Z

[Archive]

Posted By: Ricky Y

Ted and others who actually saw him play... I was not born yet when Stan the Man played...is there anyone from the 70's era to current that you can compare him to in terms of his hitting style and approach? I have only seen some brief film of his hitting in action and but his style always looked unique to me.

Ricky Yo

[Archive]

Posted By: Ted Zanidakis

Off the top of my head I cannot come up with anyone. His batting stance was unique.

In terms of style....mybe Tony Gwynn who mainly went for average and not power.

TED Z

[Archive]

Posted By: Ed Ivey

Does Stan still sign? It was great seeing him play the harmonica at a show in Denver (1994). Still have the ball he signed for me on my desk.

[Archive]

Posted By: Ted Zanidakis

The 1947 Bond Bread set also includes the 1st card of Yogi Berra.....I have all 44 Baseball players in this set and there are more 1st
cards that are the true "rookie" cards (rather than the Bowman's or the Leaf's). Some more notable rookie cards in this set are.......

Jackie Robinson....Ralph Kiner....Gil Hodges....Bobby Thomson


TED Z

[Archive]

Posted By: Steve

Oldest or not, Stan is also a great guy in addition to a legendary ballplayer. I had the chance to chat with him briefly at one of the recent Nationals and it is so nice to see such a happy person. Lou Brock was the same way, maybe even nicer... My slightly off topic opinion

[Archive]

Posted By: gary Nuchereno

He had many great years as a buffalo bisonhttp://s57.photobucket.com/albums/g238/gnuchee/

[Archive]

Posted By: gary Nuchereno

sorry I am attempting to post a pic of Stan Musial that I have in a Buffalo uniform, with no luck

[Archive]

Posted By: gary nuchereno

still trying


http://s57.photobucket.com/albums/g238/gnuchee/?action=view&curre

[Archive]

Posted By: Anonymous

Can anyone tell me why Stan did not appear in so many major card sets (early Topps, some Bowman)? Was he holding out for more $$$?

Howard

[Archive]

Posted By: robert adams jr

On this date , 1936 , 17 year old Bob Feller struck out 17 in a complete game 2 hitter ! STUNNING !

[Archive]

Posted By: Dan McHugh IV

nbrazil- Just to clarify things I am only collecting Baseball PLAYER HOFers,along the way I might pick up a negro-leaguer, manager or two but its Mainly just the Players for now.To make things easier on me I have split up my HOFer checklist into 2 categories 1)Any HOFer with a Rookie Pre-1948 and 2)Any with a Rookie Post-1948.
For the Pre-1948 HOFers here is where I currently stand:
Rookie's= 31/126
Auto's= 25/126
Game-Used Cards= 11/126

For the Post-1948 HOFers:
Rookies= 32/76
Auto's= 19/73
Games Used cards= 21/73

and for my new current project of getting each living HOFers Auto I only have Feller, Irvin and Perry.I have about 15 in upcoming signings that I would like to have by years end. Thanks guys for your interest,
Dan

[Archive]

Posted By: Gilbert Maines

Everybody always knew that Ted Williams was better than Musial, but I always found Musial far more exciting a hitter. He really didn't hit way more triples and doubles than Williams, he just hit more. And he didn't really hit way less singles and home runs than Williams, he just hit less. Musial was a ferocious line drive hitter that uncurled from a corkscrew batting stance like a whip.

Musial did not hit a lot more home runs and singles than Medwick, he just hit more. He may have hit more triples too, but I think that Medwick gets the nod in doubles. They had similar production, but I never saw Medwick play, so I really can not compare them.

Edited to add:

So far, Pujols is hitting like these guys.

[Archive]

Posted By: Brett

I thought Stan Musial wouldnt sign anything unless you were willing to fork out $75 ?

[Archive]

Posted By: Anonymous

Howard
We had Musial at a card show we put on in Dallas, Texas in the mid 1980's (I have forgotten the year). Anyway someone asked him that very question and he replied that they did not want to pay him anymore than they paid anyone else (which, by the way, was very little) so after 1953 he never signed with any of the companies until late in 1958 when he signed with Topps. That came straight from Musial's mouth.

[Archive]

Posted By: Gilbert Maines

By today's standards that may seem a bit callous, however, this is pre-Flood. That is, ballplayers got jobs in the winter to make ends meet.

[Archive]

Posted By: Anonymous

Thanks, Wayne. It's nice that Stan was so candid. Do you have any idea how little these guys were paid by the card companies?

[Archive]

Posted By: Ted Zanidakis

HOWARD

I once had a conversation with Ted Williams about his BB cards and he told me that Fleer initially offered him $500 to portray
him in their 1959 set. But, after Topps and Fleer got into a bidding war over this, Fleer prevailed and paid Williams $5000.

I also talked to Del Ennis on this same subject and he said he was paid less than $50 and a bunch of his BB cards. So, it had
something to do with how big a star you were back then.

TED Z

[Archive]

Posted By: Marc S.

in terms of compensation even by the 1970s.



Also -- I have a 1977 Topps contract for Schmidt as well -- and he wasn't getting lots more money by then, despite being a bonafide star in Philadelpiha at the time, on track to his Hall of Fame career.

[Archive]

Posted By: Mike

It's unfortunate that Musial didn't sign with any card companies for most of the 50's. His inclusion into those sets would have made for some great cards.

Here's my painted version of what a 1950 Bowman Stan Musial should have looked liked.

[Archive]

Posted By: JK

Here you go Gary:

[Archive]

Posted By: Paul S

I believe Musial's stance was sometimes referred to as "peek-a-boo" because of the way he had his body slighty turned away from the pitcher but had his head turned back toward him.

[Archive]

Posted By: John H.

Someone already mentioned Pujols but I would add Frank Thomas, during his peak years, as a hitter somewhat similar to Stan the Man. The Big Hurt in his prime was probably more like Williams, though, as Thomas was and is a very selective hitter.

Vladimir Guerrero has Musial-like numbers except he doesn't walk quite as much.

John

[Archive]

Posted By: Ted Zanidakis

Stan's last major issue card till 1959.

TED Z

[Archive]

Posted By: peter chao

Ted,

Nice '53 Color Bowman Musial, my favorite Stan Musial card.

Peter C.

[Archive]

Posted By: Ted Zanidakis

Well, there is a very interesting pattern in the BB card sets primarily issued during the 1950's, that Stan Musial and Ted Williams
appeared in.
Wayne Grove mentioned in an earlier post here regarding Musial's absence in many sets....that Musial.."replied that they did not
want to pay him anymore than they paid anyone else".

My guess in many instances, is that "anyone else" was Ted Williams......this is somewhat implied in their alternate appearance in
many of the following sets.


MUSIAL and WILLIAMS together.....

1947 Homogenized Bond Bread
1949 Leaf
1951 Wheaties
1952 Wheaties
1952 Berk Ross
1958 Topps (All Star)....1st Topps card, (Triple Printed in last series)


MUSIAL only......

1948 Bowman
1949 Bowman
1951 Berk Ross
1952 Bowman
1953 Bowman

1959 Topps
1960 Topps
1961 Topps
1962 Topps
1963 Topps


WILLIAMS only......

1950 Bowman
1951 Bowman
1954 Bowman

1954 Topps (#1 card & last card)
1955 Topps
1955 Topps Double-Header
1956 Topps
1956 Topps Hocus Focus
1957 Topps (#1 card)
1958 Topps (#1 card & All Star card)

1959 Fleer
1960 Fleer
1961 Fleer


TED Z

[Archive]

Posted By: peter chao

Ted,

Are you saying that Ted Williams insisted that he be paid the most? Or, that Stan Musial wanted to be paid the most?

Peter C.

[Archive]

Posted By: Anonymous

Actually, when Musial hit 5 home runs in a doubleheader, it was not in Brooklyn and it was not at Ebbets Field. It was against the New York Giants, and it was at Busch Stadium.

[Archive]

Posted By: S Gross

I beleive this is a ture story (or at least a good one):

When Musial was asked what he thought of Williams' numberous and complex theories on hitting, he simply replied: "I see the ball, and I hit the ball."

[Archive]

Posted By: John H.

Peter C.,

Ted seems to be saying that Stan wanted more money than Williams was getting. Not exactly the type of thing that you would expect from a classy guy like Musial.

John