Yet another reason why he's "The Man"

Yesterday, 90-year-old Stan Musial traveled from St. Louis to Washington, D.C. to receive the nation's highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom. I'm willing to wager Musial is the only one of this year's fifteen recipients to take out a full-page ad in his local newspaper thanking "everyone who played a role in the successful 'Stand for Stan' campaign." I can't be 100% positive because I only live here . . . did any of you see an ad from Maya Angelou? How about Yo-Yo Ma? Anyone in Germany see anything from Chancellor Angela Merkel by any chance?

It's also likely he was the only recipient to have had a grassroots campaign organized to lobby the White House on his behalf. But then again few celebrities in history have had the kind of relationship with a region than Stan Musial has had with St. Louis. And that's somehow fitting: an underrated city wedded to one of baseball's quietest superstars. Musial's friend Bob Costas, who began his broadcasting career with KMOX in St. Louis, said it best in Joe Posnanski's must-read Sports Illustrated article:  "Stan Musial didn't hit in 56 straight games. He didn't hit .400 for a season. He didn't get 4,000 hits. He didn't hit 500 home runs. He didn't hit a home run in his last at bat, just a single. He didn't marry Marilyn Monroe; he married his high school sweetheart. His excellence was a quiet excellence."

Sportscardforum.com

What he did do was make 20 All-Star appearances, win 3 NL MVPs and 3 World Series titles. Had he hit one more home run in 1948 he would today be the only man in baseball history to have led his league in batting, runs, hits, doubles, triples, homers and RBIs in the same year. He never struck out more than 46 times in a season. But that's what made him great, not what makes him special.

What makes him special? A small sampling . . .

• In 1958, he was the first player in National League history to make $100,000 in a season. In 1959, he had the worst year of his career, hitting .225 in an injury-marred campaign. He then went to Cardinals management and asked for a pay cut.
• He's been married for 70 years to his high school sweetheart.
• He played for 22 seasons and was never thrown out of a game.

For the rest, you'll have to read the article. I get choked up every time I do.

SHK