The news stories on Stan Musial's death today brought back memories of following his career. Brother Don, Ed Pollak and I drove to Chicago in the fall of 1948 and saw the Yankees play the White Sox and the next day watched the Cardinals beat the Cubs in Wrigley Field. Harry "The Cat" Brecheen was the winning pitcher. I remember Musial's "corkscrew" stance at the plate and his hitting line drives over the 2nd baseman. Other Cardinals in the lineup were Enos Slaughter, Joe Medwick, Red Schoendiest, Marty Marion and Joe Garagiola. I was in St. Louis for a Civic Service Training session in the spring of 1962 when the Cardinals came home from spring training. There was a "Welcome Home" event at an auditorium which I attended as well as going out to old Sportsman Park and seeing them beat the New York Mets. It was the 2nd game that the Mets played during that 1st year of their existence. According to my diary, Musial got 3 hits in that 11-6 victory. Musial retired in 1963 and I recall having eaten at his Restaurant on more than one occasion. We saw several games at the old Busch Stadium during its existence and in late May 2006, Elaine and I drove down and saw the Cardinals beat the Astros. The Statue of "Stan the Man" stands just outside the New Busch Stadium. He was a real "Credit" to the game of Baseball.
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