Stan Musial

Stan Musial uncoiled from his famous corkscrew batting stance and hit line drives for 22 big-league seasons. The outfielder-first baseman from Donora, Pennsylvania, spent his entire major league career with the St. Louis Cardinals and remains a beloved figure in his adopted hometown. Musial won seven batting titles and accumulated 3,630 hits. He famously retired with 1,815 hits at home and 1,815 hits on the road, a nod to his amazing consistency. The left-handed batter won three National League MVP awards and earned his spot on 24 All-Star teams, tying him with Willie Mays and Henry Aaron for most in the game's history.

Fans of the Brooklyn Dodgers gave Musial his memorable nickname. The son of Lukasz and Mary Musial routinely clobbered Brooklyn pitching. "Here comes the man," the crowd chanted as Musial strode to the plate at Ebbets Field one afternoon in 1946. The episode made it into the newspapers and soon enough all of baseball knew No. 6 for the Cardinals as "Stan the Man."

This book is a collaborative effort of 34 members of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) and celebrates one of baseball's greatest players.