from a friend on Stan the Man to all of you

Dear Friends,

I thought I would share the videos below with you if you haven't already seen them.

In my estimation we will never again see the kind of athlete that Stan Musial was. Not just because of what he could do in the field of play, but because of what he did *off* the field of play as well.

He exuded excellence, honesty, integrity, grace and decency. He was, to me, what Midwestern values are all about.

I never saw him play, but boy I miss him already. I watched most of the funeral Mass. (Cardinal Dolan was a con-celebrant)

I have to say I was more than a little sad on Saturday (the day of the funeral). I shed more than a few tears.

Because this kind of man, a man from the greatest generation of Americans, we will rarely - *if ever* - see again.

CK


Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him (and Lil).


"Take a look, fans. Take a good, long look. Remember the swing and the stance. We won't see his like again."  Harry Caray, September 1963 - Stan's last at-bat.


http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=25574499&topic_id=40773316&c_id=stl  (excerpts from the eulogy)

http://www.sportsgrid.com/mlb/bob-costas-eulogy-stan-musial/  (unedited version - 19 minutes)

Stan the Man Funeral

http://fox2now.com/on-air/live-streaming-2/#ooid=52ajFoNDp7X38rxOJP9ahebCVlc_yITm

http://fox2now.com/2013/01/26/st-louis-says-goodbye-to-stan-musial/

I missed it/am missing it, but here are some links.

Stan Musial

Father Z brought to my attention the death of Stan Musial. Fr. Z's comments are worth reading. Here is my addition to honour this great sportsman.

http://wdtprs.com/blog/2013/01/stan-the-man-r-i-p/#comment-386801

My great-uncle, who played on the St. Louis Browns, was the scout who discovered Musial and brought him to the majors. As a child, I kept a scrap-book of his career, including a signed photograph he sent me as a little fan. I have no idea where that scrap-book is .

My family is a die-hard Cardinal family, one side being from St. Louis, plus the baseball connection. I have read 0ne biography, and my great-uncle is mentioned in it.

God bless him. He was a gentleman and showed us how sport should be played…in respect for all on the field, off the field, and to the best of one’s natural ability.

In these days of doping and rude behaviour, I honour Musial as “The Man”, an example for us all of the morality and skills which should inspire youth.

PS I had a phenomenal baseball card collection and was the only kid in the neighbourhood to have both Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris cards in 1960. I gave the collection to my youngest brother a long time ago…I was a bit of a tom-boy and passed on the collection when I was getting my pink princess phone and being a real girl.

And here is a snippet form the on line Bleacher Report: Stan Musial finished his career with 3,630 hits. As pointed out by ESPN's Trey Wingo, Musial had 1,815 hits at home and 1,815 hits on the road. The ridiculous number of hits throughout Musial's career puts him fourth on the all-time hits list. Pete Rose, Ty Cobb and Hank Aaron are the only players to have more hits than Musial.

While he ranked fourth in hits, Musial finished his career ninth in at-bats. That shows just how impressive Musial was with his at-bats. He finished his career with a great batting average of .331.