Musial, Stanley Frank

Musial, Stanley Frank (myo͞oˈzēəl), 1920–2013, American baseball player, b. Donora, Pa. At 17 he signed with the St. Louis Cardinals of the National League. After three years in the minor leagues, he joined (1941) the Cardinals, playing outfielder and first base for the team for the rest of his career. One of the game's great hitters, “Stan the Man” won the National League batting championship seven times (1943, 1946, 1948, 1950–52, 1957) and the league's Most Valuable Player award three times (1943, 1946, 1948). In 1963 he retired with a lifetime batting average of .331. He hit 475 career home runs and for many years held the National League record for base hits (3,630) until it was broken (1981) by Pete Rose. He was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1969.