Yankee4Life

Updated to 1-24 ...Championship game Sunday. No other choice for me but to pull for the AFC in this. I'd like to see the Jets beat the Colts and the Vikings beat the Saints. New Orleans should only host a Super Bowl. They should never be in one. ...Wow, what a night I had last night. Slept over eight hours straight. Haven't done that in months. I compare that feat to hitting for the cycle. ...Went to go see Extraordinary Measures yesterday at the local cineplex. Let's just say this movie was not my choice to go and see especially when there was a Jackie Chan movie being shown at the same time. ...Fair warning to everyone in here. Watching the previews of coming attractions before the movie began I saw that there is going to be a movie coming out about Valentine's Day that looks like it is going to suck. You can always tell a women's movie when you see it. ...Final thing about movies. I told my wife we have to go to matinees from now on because of being on a fixed budget. With the price of movies combined with all the drinks and popcorn that you got to get it can get expensive. ...Another Bin Laden threat. What the hell, why can't they find this guy after all this time? And when they do find him, there's going to be more trouble. ...Just curious here. Every so often when you get e-mails that you didn't want, at the end of it sometimes it has an option to unsubscribe from it. Is it actually worth unsubscribing? Or doesn't it matter because they'll keep on sending it anyway? I keep getting one from some "Online Poker tournament" and I'm trying to stop it. Little do these people know I have no idea how to play Poker. ...Still no word as of yet about the future of Tom Cable. I'm watching this as close as I monitor news about the Yankees. ...Kind of disappointed that Jerry Hairston didn't remain with the Yankees. I was really impressed with his versatility. ...You watch the Mariners in the off season try to improve themselves with the moves they made and then you see another team like the Orioles who just bring back retreads like Miguel Tejada. ...I'm still holding out hope that Johnny Damon comes back to the Yankees. While Nick Johnson is a good on-base guy, he does not have Damon's speed and you do need some speed in the lineup. ...How lucky are the Angels? They just traded Gary Matthews, Jr. ...How stupid are the Mets? They just acquired Gary Matthews, Jr. ...Congratulations to Grant Desme, who left the Oakland Athletics to pursue a career in the priesthood. That's something you don't see happening a lot. Dominus vobiscum Mr. Desme and best of luck.

At least we agree on that.

Bob Lemon The easygoing Lemon learned to pitch in the major leagues and went on to become one of the most successful righthanders of the post-WWII period. He was enshrined in the Hall of Fame in 1976. In two trials as a third baseman before the war he failed to stick with the Indians because of his mediocre hitting. He showed a strong arm in the field, but his throws had a natural sinking effect. Upon his return to Cleveland after three years in the Navy, he turned to pitching at age twenty-six. Cleveland won the 1948 pennant, as Feller, Lemon, and rookie Gene Bearden combined for 59 wins. Lemon, at 20-14, led the AL in shutouts (10), complete games (20), and innings pitched (294). On June 30, he threw a no-hitter to top the Tigers 2-0. In the World Series, he picked up two wins (1.65 ERA) as the Indians defeated the Braves. Lemon became the leader of the outstanding Indians pitching staffs of the 1950s that also included Feller, Early Wynn, Mike Garcia, and later Herb Score. In a remarkably consistent nine-year stretch (1948-56), Lemon won 20 or more games seven times. He missed the magic number only in 1951 with 17 victories and 1955 when his 18 wins topped the league. A workhorse, he led in complete games five times and innings pitched four. TSN named him the Outstanding AL Pitcher three times (1948, 50, 54). The 1954 Indians set an AL record with 111 victories (in 154 games) as Lemon led the pitching staff with a 23-7 mark. He opened the World Series against the Giants and took a 2-2 tie into the tenth inning before giving up a three-run home run to pinch hitter Dusty Rhodes. When the Indians lost the next two, manager Al Lopez brought Lemon back on two days' rest, but he was shelled early as the Giants swept the Series. Lemon's money pitch was his sinking fastball. He led the AL in strikeouts with 170 in 1950, but he was most effective when opposing batters were beating the ball into the dirt. Always slightly wild, his season bases on balls and strikeout marks were usually similar, as were his career bases totals of 1,251 walks and 1,277 strikeouts. Lemon was considered to be one of the best-hitting pitchers of his time and was often used as a pinch hitter, totaling 31 hits in 109 pinch-hit appearances (.284). His 37 home runs lifetime is just one behind Wes Ferrell's record for pitchers, and his 7 HR in 1949 ties him for second on the pitchers' season list.

Sam Rice One of baseball's greatest singles hitters, Rice fell only 13 hits shy of 3,000. In 20 ML seasons, he never hit below .293 and averaged .322. Although he lacked power (21 of his 34 career home runs were hit inside the park), he met every other requirement for stardom. At bat, he usually made contact, averaging only one strikeout in every 34 at-bats. On the bases, he was fast and intelligent, leading the AL with 63 stolen bases in 1920. In the outfield, he was swift and had an excellent arm. His most famous play was on defense. In Game Three of the 1925 WS, he raced full-tilt after Pirate Earl Smith's drive, leaped and backhanded it. He and the ball disappeared into the stands, but when Rice emerged with the ball in his glove, the umpire called Smith out. Had he really caught the ball? He refused to say but left a sealed letter at the Hall of Fame to be opened after his death. In it, he'd written: "At no time did I lose possession of the ball." Rice joined the Senators as a pitcher in 1915 but by the next season was moved to right field. A lefthanded hitter, he stood nearly erect in the batter's box, crowding the plate. Although his speed helped him to 497 career two-base hits and the AL lead in triples in 1923, his forte was the slap single. Of his 2,987 career hits, 2,272 went for one base. With a good batting eye he added 709 walks, and he scored 1,515 runs in his career. In 1924, when the Senators won the World Championship, Rice led the AL in hits with 216 and had a 31-game hitting streak. The next year, for Washington's second pennant winner, he amassed 227 hits and batted a career-high .350. He led the AL with 216 hits in 1926. All told, he topped 200 hits seven times.

Not where I live Jim. The Times-Union went out of business in 1997.

I was a paperboy back then and I delivered the evening papers around here and I recall running to work every day just to read about the latest Yankee game. I got to ignore all the crap going on and just concentrated on the won-loss record.

No Jim, I never did.

Next up is The Best Team Money Could Buy: The Turmoil and Triumph of the 1977 New York Yankees. It was written by Steve Jacobson and can be found on Amazon right here. I like to put a picture of the book that I just finished reading in here just to show you what it looks like but I can not do it for this book. This is an old book, printed in 1978 and it has been out of print for many years. But you still can pick this up although you won't be getting a brand new copy. While this book chronicles the daily happenings of the 1977 Yankee team, this book can be enjoyed by non-Yankee fans as well as Yankee fans. The Yankee fan will read about the problems this team had but will be happy at the end of the book because they ended up winning the World Series that year. The non-Yankee fan will enjoy this book because they'll be laughing at the Yankees because of their behavior from Spring training all the way up to the sixth game of the Fall Classic. Other notable things: ...This book brought back a lot of memories for me. This was the first Yankee team that I saw win a World Series. ...I could remember when all this was going on and wondering to myself why the hell are these guys doing this? All I wanted them to do was win. ...Anyone that buys this book will see that a lot of the problems on the '77 team were because of Billy Martin. At that time I did not realize it but I do now. Martin was defiant, belligerent, argumentative, rude, paranoid, dishonest, untrustworthy, alcoholic and a liar to just about everyone. And I am sure there are some traits about him that I am forgetting to mention. Martin was a good manager when the game was going on but Martin as a man was no damn good. ...There was jealousy over Reggie Jackson's huge contract and that was a major cause of all the strife. ...Not one of the major players of the '77 season ended up looking good in this book. Not Reggie Jackson or Graig Nettles or Billy Martin or Thurman Munson or George Steinbrenner. Each of these people were petty and childish and by reading this book you'll see why. ...Many times Mickey Rivers was unmotivated because he wanted more money. I lost count halfway in the book when he said he wanted to be traded. ...The incident in Boston in June of that year with Jackson being pulled from the game during a pitching change is covered very well. ...Just when you think things were starting to calm down for this team and a few pages went by, a new "crisis" came up that got everyone in a tizzy again. It became more and more ridiculous. ...Again, the only reason why I re-read this book was because I liked the ending of it.

Next up is Yankee for Life: My 40-Year Journey in Pinstripes by Bobby Murcer and Glen Waggoner. This book can be found on Amazon right here. This book details the baseball life and times of Bobby Murcer, from his callup to the Yankees in 1965 to his retirement in 1983. It's a typical ballplayers memoir book that mostly a Yankee fan would care to spend the time reading. Murcer is not shy about his allegiances to the Yanks and he goes on to explain to the reader his disappointment of being traded away to the Giants at the end of the 1974 season. But what everyone would admire about Murcer, Yankee fan or not, is how he dealt with the news of his brain cancer and how he and his family handled it. That's detailed in this book too. To me, this is what made this book stand out. Other things: ...I just love the name of this book. Can't put my finger on why though. ...Something that I put out of my memory about the 1977 season about Ron Guidry was brought back to me while reading this book. It seems that before the '77 season began, the Yankees worked out a trade with Toronto to acquire Bill Singer for Guidry. But the Blue Jays front office nixed the trade at the last minute. Why? Because Singer was already on the cover of their media guide, which was already printed. So the Yankees had Guidry start in 1977 and the rest is history. And as you can see by what transpired here, the Blue Jays have been making stupid decisions ever since they entered the American League, a tradition that has continued to this day. ...In 1980, Bobby Murcer had a baseball school in Florida. It lasted only one year. But it did produce one player that made it to the major leagues, catcher Mike Stanley. ...Suzyn Waldman was a Broadway singer in her younger years before she became an announcer.

Grab this one too before MLB sees it. Babe Ruth color pictures. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODnVutu-xrk

My first contribution to YouTube, the Babe hitting a long home run in the 1927 Season mod. The ballpark used here is Sean's League Park in Cleveland.

Updated to 1-17 ...Hard for me to imagine that the New Orleans Saints are going to the Championship game. ...In previous years when New Orleans fans wanted to see a decent football team they'd head out to the Superdome on Sundays to watch the other teams trounce their Saints. Now this year's team looks practically unstoppable. ...It is people like Gilbert Arenas that makes me not care at all about the National Basketball Association. I hope he gets exactly what is coming to him. ...Could it be? Was Oakland owner Al Davis right about Lane Kiffin? Sure seems so after the screwing Kiffin gave Tennessee this week after he bolted from there and took off to Southern California. ...And I'll say again. Tom Cable deserves to return. ...Am I the only Oakland Raider fan on this website? ...Will someone tell me how the hell Aroldis Chapman signed with the Reds, the major league leaders in running a cheap and half ass organization? ...Ironic that I just finished reading a book about Roberto Clemente (see this thread right here) that another earthquake hits Latin America. ...If there is one thing that anyone can take out of reading that book about Clemente was his immense pride for his homeland and the people there. He loved Puerto Rico as much as Puerto Rico loved him. ...I am going to have to be completely overwhelmed for me to go out and get 2K10 when it is released. First of all I don't like 2K sports. I think the way they do things is terrible and I honestly do not see them improving on 2k9 at all. But of course, I could be mistaken.

The plane went down into shark infested waters.

Charlie Keller The talent-laden Yankees kept the lefthanded slugger in Newark (International League) the season after he was the league batting champion and TSN Minor League Player of the Year for 1937. A place was made for him in 1939, and he hit .334 with the first of six Yankee pennant winners for which he would play. Through of his career, Keller was a feared slugger and a competent fielder. In his rookie season he hit .334 with 11 home runs and 83 RBI in 111 games. He topped his splendid major league debut by crushing three homers and batting .438 as the Yankees swept four games from the Cincinnati Reds in the World Series. He was a five-time All-Star and reached highs of 33 HR and 122 RBI in 1941. He led the AL in walks with 106 in both 1940 and 1943. Keller 's career was interrupted for maritime service in WWII. He had chronic back problems which eventually relegated him to pinch hitting, and he led the league in that department (9-for-38) in 1951, his final full season. Keller coached for the Yankees before retiring to rural Maryland to run a horse farm. His brother Hal caught briefly for the Senators and spent over 20 years as a front-office man for the Senators, Rangers, and Mariners. His son, Charlie Jr., led the Eastern League in hitting with a .349 average before being sidelined by the same congenital back problem that had plagued his father. In a 13-season career, Keller was a .286 hitter with 189 home runs and 760 RBI in 1170 games. A five-time All-Star selection, he compiled a career .410 on base percentage and a .518 slugging average for a combined .928 OPS. In his four World Series appearances, he batted .306 with five home runs, and 18 RBI in 19 games. Following his retirement as a player, Keller founded Yankeeland Farm and had a successful career as a horse breeder – pacers and trotters – near his hometown of Middletown, Maryland. He named many of his horses after the franchises he played for: Fresh Yankee, Handsome Yankee, Yankee Slugger and Guy Yankee. He also benefited by owning syndicated shares of several stallions, which entitled him to free stud fees.

Hiram Bithorn On September 30, 1941, Bithorn was drafted by the Chicago Cubs and debuted in the Major Leagues on April 15, 1942, making history as the first Puerto Rican to play in the Major Leagues. Only 9-14 as a Cub rookie in 1942, the burly righthander blossomed to 18-12 the next year, fourth in the NL in wins. He led the league in shutouts (7) and posted a 2.60 ERA. He spent the next two seasons in military service, ballooning to 225. In 1946 he pitched mostly in relief with sporadic success. Sold to the Pirates, who released him in spring training, he pitched two innings for the White Sox in 1947 before a sore arm ended his ML career. In four seasons, Bithorn had a 34-31 record with 185 strikeouts, a 3.16 ERA, 30 complete games, eight shutouts, five saves, and 509 innings pitched in 105 games (53 as a starter). Bithorn tried a comeback a few years later in the Mexican winter league. But on December 30, 1951, at age 35, he was shot by a police officer in Mexico. He died later in a hospital. Initially, the officer claimed that Bithorn was violent and also claimed that Bithorn had said he was part of a "Communist cell," but eventually this argument was debunked and the officer was sent to prison for Bithorn's murder.

Next up in this thread is Clemente: The Passion and Grace of Baseball's Last Hero by David Maraniss. This book can be found on Amazon right here. This was a perfect baseball book for me. I knew a little about the subject of the book but after I was finished with the book I knew so much more. I actually saw Clemente play on TV when I was a little kid. I have some memories of him as I look back at that time. Each time he walked up to home plate he would twist his neck around like he had a kink in it. I recall he had a great arm, which the announcers would say every time a ball was hit to right field. I recall he played for one of the top teams of the early 70's. And I recall the date of his tragic death in 1972 because the plane he was on was too heavy. So, that doesn't say much of what I knew about Clemente. For anyone who wants to know about Roberto Clemente, this book is for you. Notable tidbits: ...The Dodgers originally signed Clemente with the sole purpose of keeping him away from the New York Giants because they did not want to see a Willie Mays and Roberto Clemente outfield. ...Clemente was a bonus baby and he had to remain on the Dodger roster for one year for the Dodgers to keep him. That was the rules. If he got sent down to the Dodger minor league clubs during his first year the Dodgers would risk losing him to the Rule 5 draft. And that's exactly what happened. The Dodgers tried to hide Clemente in Montreal in 1954 but at the end of the season the last place Pittsburgh Pirates picked him up for a $4,000 posting fee. Just imagine for a minute if you will what kind of a team the pitching rich Dodger teams of the 1960's would have had if they had Clemente there. ...In 1955 the Pirates had two sets of brothers on their team, Gene and George Freese and John and Eddie O'Brien. The O'Brien's by the way were identical twins. ...The events leading up to his death were both unfortunate and also completely avoidable. On December 22, 1972 there was an earthquake in Nicaragua. Clemente, hearing of this, wanted to help out. He organized a relief effort in Puerto Rico. People donated food, clothing and medical supplies. The trouble is the planes that were delivering these things to the people in Nicargua were stopped by the Somoza dictatorship at the airport and all the supplies were taken. None of the donated food or clothing or medical supplies got to the people that needed it because Somoza's people took it first. Clemente, learning of this, was furious. This is the reason why he boarded the plane on New Year's Eve 1972. To make sure this did not happen again. ...Clemente asked two other major league players to join him on this trip to Nicaragua. Orlando Cepeda couldn't go because he was trying to get himself into shape to play somewhere in 1973. Manny Sanguillen was asked to go but he couldn't either. He was still playing winter ball and could not get away. ...The plane that Clemente left on that day was a bad one but he did not know it. It was a DC-7 and it had more than its share of problems. Besides the plane being overloaded by 4,000 pounds, the plane needed a new engine. Among other things. And since it was New Year's Eve, there were no Flight Standards inspectors around because no one was assigned to surveillance that weekend. That's why Clemente's flight was permitted to leave with these errors because no one was there to stop it. ...Clemente's body was never found.

A big thank you to bhutsell who posted this link in the shoutbox. Deadball Era Video. Grab this son of a gun before MLB whines and crys. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wz8CC-kwtU&feature=player_embedded

Hurry up if you want to see this one Yankee fans before MLB finds out and gets rid of it.

I noticed the same thing Spungo. The first day you came back you came in this thread and asked something like if anyone had any questions about uniforms or Photoshop questions for you. I took off for a few hours and came back and I saw the post was gone and I didn't understand it. Let me know if there are any further questions about this. Whatever it was it has to be a mistake and I'll find out what the heck happened here. Trues himself was curious about this too. Correction. It is a big deal. I don't want you to think that anything is starting all over again. You're welcome here and I want to go more than halfway to make you feel like it. You said nothing wrong in that post of yours. I mean you were just re-introducing yourself in here and I don't get what happened.

Next up is a book called A Legend in the Making: The New York Yankees in 1939 by Richard J. Tofel. This book can be found at Amazon right here. Yes, this is another book about a specific year in the history of the Yankees but it tells so much more. Just check out this statistic listing the league titles and world titles at the beginning of the 1936 season: TEAM.............LEAGUE TITLES............WORLD SERIES TITLES Philadelphia Athletics...........8..............5 Boston Red Sox...................5..............5 New York Giants..................10.............4 New York Yankees.................7..............4 St. Louis Cardinals..............5..............3 Chicago Cubs.....................8..............2 As you see, the World Series titles at that time were very very close. But look at the same standings at the end of the 1939 Season: TEAM.............LEAGUE TITLES.............WORLD SERIES TITLES New York Giants.........12.....................4 New York Yankees........11.....................8 Philadelphia Athletics...8.....................5 Boston Red Sox...........5.....................5 St. Louis Cardinals......5.....................3 Chicago Cubs.............9.....................2 This book details the time period when the Yankees first made their move into becoming the dynasty that they are known for this very day. This book was full of interesting facts, among them were: ...When Jacob Ruppert first bought the Yankees in 1914 he wanted to rename the team the Knickerbockers after his beer but was dissuaded by local newspaper editors. ...Obviously this book covers the final playing days of Lou Gehrig. There was an interesting observation made by Joe Dimaggio about Gehrig during spring training in 1939. He saw Gehrig swing and miss at 19 pitches in a row -all fastballs. He saw his timing was off but at that time no one knew what was wrong. ...This book also touched on what was going on in 1939. There was a college fad going on at that time where the students would swallow live goldfish. The record for swallowing goldfish in one sitting was 89. I'm getting sick right now thinking of this. ...The Yankees had a pitcher named Wes Ferrell. He was a hot headed guy. One time he got so mad in the dugout he started beating himself up and his teammates had to pry him off of himself. ...Gehrig's number was the first number retired by the Yankees by the way. Not Ruth. In fact, George Selkirk, who replaced Ruth in right field in 1935, was also given Ruth's number 3. He was still wearing it in 1939. ...In 1939 the Yankees played 25 double headers. ...By 1938, the three New York teams were the only teams that did not have their games on the radio. Larry McPhail changed all that by airing Dodger games in 1938. ...In fact, a man named Arch McDonald was the first broadcaster for the Yankees. He broadcast both Yankee and Giant games in 1939 because both teams never played home games on the same day. This guy must have been busy. ...Radio did make the owners wary. They thought it would keep fans away. That's why in 1940 the Senators discontinued radio broadcasts of their home games. ...The first two games of the 1939 World Series took a total of three hours to complete. BOTH games. Game one took 93 minutes to play and game two took 87 minutes to play. Try that with FOX these days.

Updated to 1-10 ...8 degrees outside right now. I'm mentioning this because I'm going to have to go out in this today. My wife's birthday was yesterday so we are going out to dinner. I wonder if she realizes how cold it is? ...She spent the afternoon yesterday watching some of her favorite movies. Hairspray and Rent. Both were Musicals. Both sucked. Never watch them. I ran upstairs after the first five minutes of the first movie because I couldn't take it. ...I'm no Cowboy fan but all the same, thanks for knocking off the Eagles in the playoff round last night. ...Today, I am a Ravens fan for at least a few hours. ...Enjoy your retirement Randy Johnson. I just wish you would have done something in your Yankee years for us to look back on and smile at. ...One thing we were talking about in the shoutbox this week that still bares mentioning. If Andre Dawson got in the Hall of Fame with his stats, why didn't Dwight Evans? Look at their stats side by side and you'll see what I mean. ...Well, the Raiders had another lousy season. Who are they going to blame this time? ...I still wouldn't mind if Johnny Damon came back. Maybe he realizes now that Bora$ has overpriced him. ...I also would like one more pitcher. Wang can not be counted out here either. ...Think warm thoughts. Spring training is one month and eight days away. That's when the pitchers and catchers report.

Whitey Ford They called Ford "The Chairman of the Board" for good reason. He was for more than a decade the star pitcher of a team that operated with corporate efficiency, and his intelligence and confidence were on display whenever he was on the mound. In contrast to pitchers who dominated hitters with overpowering physical abilities, the 5'10" 180-lb lefthander controlled games with his mastery of the mental aspects of pitching and pinpoint control. Batters had to deal with his assortment of pitches: He mixed splendid changeups, marvelous curves, and a good fastball. He had one of the league's best pickoff moves, and he was an excellent fielder. And, like most successful businessmen, he was at his best when the pressure was greatest. His most eye-catching statistics are his consistently low ERAs and his high winning percentage. In 11 of 16 seasons he was under a 3.00 ERA, and his worst was 3.24. His .690 winning percentage ranks third all-time and first among modern pitchers with 200 or more wins. Of course, he benefited from strong Yankee bat support, defense, and relief pitching, but his winning percentage was usually higher than the team's. He allowed an average of only 10.94 baserunners per nine innings and posted 45 career shutouts, including eight 1-0 victories. After joining the Yankees in mid-season 1950, he won nine straight before a home run by Philadelphia's Sam Chapman gave him his only loss. In the WS, he pitched 8-2/3 innings without allowing an earned run to win the fourth game of a Yankee sweep. He spent 1951 and 1952 in the service, but returned to post 18-6 and 16-8 marks in 1953 and 1954. His 18-7 record in 1955 tied him for most AL wins. He led in complete games (18) and was second in ERA (2.63). TSN named him to its annual ML all-star team. In the final month of the season, he pitched consecutive one-hitters. The following year he was even better, going 19-6, to lead the AL in winning percentage and ERA (2.47). Again he was named to the TSN all-star team. He won his second ERA crown in 1958 (2.01). Through 1960, Yankee manager Casey Stengel limited Ford's starts, often resting him at least four days between appearances, and aiming him for more frequent use against better teams. In 1961 new manager Ralph Houk put him in a regular four-man rotation, and Ford led the AL in starts (39) and innings pitched (283) and earned the Cy Young Award with a 25-4 record, leading the ML in wins and percentage. Two years later, he again led in wins, percentage, starts, and innings pitched, with a 24-7 mark. At the time there was only a single Cy Young award for both leagues. Sandy Koufax won for 1963, but Ford was voted the top AL pitcher by TSN. They opposed each other in both the first and fourth games of the '63 WS, with Koufax winning both times. In Game Four Ford lost a two-hitter on an unearned run. The Yankees won 11 pennants in Ford's years with them. He ranks first all-time in WS wins (10), losses (8, games and games started (22), innings pitched, hits, bases on balls, and strikeouts. In the 1960, '61, and '62 Series, he pitched 33 consecutive scorelesss innings, breaking Babe Ruth's WS record of 29-2/3. A fun-loving native New Yorker, Whitey formed a curious odd couple with Oklahoman Mickey Mantle. The two were a familiar duo in the Big Apple's nightclubs. They were inducted into the Hall of Fame together in 1974.

Stan Musial Few players in the history of baseball have matched the accomplishments and consistency of Stan Musial. Even fewer so engendered the admiration and affection of fans, not only at home but in every ballpark on the circuit, as did this Polish-American from a steel-mill town in Pennsylvania. Signed as a pitcher when he was seventeen, Musial was 15-8 in two seasons with Williamson, West Virginia, but the scouting report filed on the young southpaw recommended his release because he was wild and inconsistent. Despite the report, he was sent to Daytona Beach as a pitcher for the 1940 season and, under the tutelage of former White Sox great Dickie Kerr, he compiled an 18-5 record. Kerr, who often had as few as 15 players on his roster, also played Musial in the outfield. Stan responded by batting .352. Late in the season, he made a diving catch in the outfield, crashing on his left shoulder, and the consequent injury finished him as a pitcher. Musial was convinced by Kerr to remain in baseball as an outfielder. The next year he ripped through Class C and the International League before hitting .426 in a September call-up with the Cardinals. That was the beginning of a love affair with St. Louis that would keep Musial a Cardinal for 22 seasons, a team record. After his playing days he served as general manager, and senior vice president of the Cardinals for more than 25 years. The lefthanded-hitting Musial had good speed and was famous for his compressed, closed batting crouch, from which he appeared to be peering at the pitcher around a corner. He won his first NL batting title in his second full year and led the NL in hits six times, doubles eight times, triples five times, runs five times, while winning five more batting titles. Preacher Roe claimed to have the best way to pitch Musial: "I throw him four wide ones and then I try to pick him off first base." Although not initially expected to be a long-ball hitter, Musial developed his power without increasing strikeouts, and averaged 31 home runs per season from 1948 to 1957. Musial once told Roger Kahn that he hit so well because he always knew what the pitch was by seeing the rotation of the ball as it approached the plate. When he retired, Musial owned or shared 29 NL records, 17 ML records, 9 All-Star records, including most home runs (6), and almost every Cardinals career offensive record. In 1956 TSN named Musial its first Player of the Decade. For one who played so long, Musial was unbelievably consistent. He smacked 1,815 hits at home and the same number on the road. He scored 1,949 runs and drove in 1,951. He batted .310 or better 16 straight seasons and added a .330 season just short of his 42nd birthday. Over 21 full seasons he averaged a remarkable 172 hits, 92 runs scored, 92 RBI, 34 doubles, and 23 home runs per year. His best offensive season was 1948, when he hit a career-high .376 and missed the NL Triple Crown by a single homer. That year he led the NL in batting average, slugging, hits, doubles, triples, runs, and RBI. On May 2, 1954, he set a ML record with five home runs in a doubleheader. And on July 12, 1955 his 12th-inning home run won the All-Star Game for the NL. Brooklyn fans labeled him "Stan the Man" for the havoc he wreaked on Dodger pitching every time he came to Ebbets Field. Musial rarely experienced long slumps; he put together strong starts, solid mid-seasons, and great finishes. He hit .323 or better in every month of the season, with September-October his best stretches. He was also the first man to play more than 1,000 games each at two positions. Immediately following Musial's retirement as an active player in 1964, President Johnson named him director of the National Council on Physical Fitness. For a single season, 1967, Musial was St. Louis's general manager. With Musial's longtime roommate and close friend Red Schoendienst as field manager, the Cardinals romped to a pennant and beat the Red Sox in the World Series. On or off the field he wore a smile and meant it. Although he obviously did not always agree with umpires or managers, he did not argue calls or tactical moves. He made time for his family, fans, church, and civic organizations. A bronze statue stands in front of Busch Stadium in St. Louis as a permanent tribute to the greatest Cardinal, Stan the Man. And in 1972 he achieved the unique distinction of becoming the first foreigner to receive the Polish government's Merited Champions Medal, their highest sports award.