Stan Musial and Earl Weaver Remembered
On a day I saw baseball great Willie Mays speak at a program honoring the current World Champion San Francisco Giants, news came that two baseball Hall of Famers, first manager Earl Weaver, and then Stan “The Man” Musial had died.
Weaver managed some great Baltimore Orioles teams including the (1969-1971) vintage which won three straight pennants but stumbled as favorites in two of those World Series. In 1970, in a World Series considered a tossup and without home advantage, Weaver’s Orioles beat the Cincinnati Reds in five games. Earl won another pennant with the 1979 Orioles but again with home advantage and as the favorite, Weaver’s Orioles lost the World Series. The Orioles also won divisional titles under Weaver in 1973 and 1974 losing the ALCS to the eventual World Champion Oakland A’s.
Stan Musial was “The Man:” a wonderful man and among the greatest of the great as a player. His plaque in Cooperstown reads “holds many National League records” because they could not come close to listing all of them. Growing up, I heard Stan held the record for holding the most records.
Musial’s career and some of his records and legacy got lost as he retired in 1963. Stan’s last hit, number 3630, then a National League record (1815 hits at home, 1815 hits on the road), went past the 1963 rookie of the year, Pete Rose, who would break Musial’s record 18 years later, just after a baseball strike ended.
Less than two months after Stan’s last game, John F. Kennedy, for whom Musial campaigned in 1960, was assassinated. Soon, new kinds of records and “setting records for records” was happening with the Beatles.
Musial’s baseball achievements were incredible and his class was overwhelming. I saw Stan once at a conference in 1997, honoring Jackie Robinson 50 years after he broke the “color barrier” in baseball. Stan was holding “court” and had mentioned he played with Ken Griffey’s father, the grandfather of Ken Griffey Jr. I suddenly thought of the clear line that sent National League control east from St. Louis (the Cards won four pennants in Stan’s first five full seasons and made a run in 1941 after Musial was brought up from the minors) to Brooklyn (six pennants and two excruciating near misses) in the ten seasons Jackie Robinson played. I never got the chance to ask Stan about that as a loud, no nothing, blurted out a foolish comment and Stan was on his way.
History, and what a great history, is what Stan Musial is about.
Stan Musial
Earl Weaver
Andy B Sports 
Some nice recollections on your part. I took a picture with Elrod Hendricks and his family in spring training 1988. I will never forget Tommie Agee’s daughter(sorry not to know her name) move the audience to tears with her words at her dad’s funeral in 2001.
I know the other great Agee catch in #3 1969 WS was vs Paul Blair. Not sure if that preceded or came after his “grab” vs Hendricks. Thanks for your comments.
Wow! Great shot of “Stan the Man” at the Polo Grounds, a.k.a. the “Harlem Horseshoe,” where just about every sport was played except polo. Earl Weaver was one great manager who always played for the “big inning.” I was fortunate to see his only world championship ballclub on a pleasant evening in September of 1970 at the original Yankee Stadium along with my late father and my closest friend from elementry school.(Though by this time we were just about to start our second year of junior high.) My only memory of the game is my Dad(who played varsity baseball in high school,) remarking what what a nice swing Oriole catcher Elrod Hendricks(who I believe has also passed away,) has after he lined a single to right field. Hendricks is most known for being robbed of a certain extra-base hit by an incredible catch my the Mets’ Tommie Agee(also deceased,) in game three of the World Series the previous year (1969.)