The Fans & Stan

St. Louis had never heard the sad sound before. Last week, after watching First Baseman Stan ("The Man") Musial go hitless in four times at bat, after watching him make two errors and boot away a game with the Dodgers, 5-3, Busch Field bleacherites finally blew up. They booed the best Cardinal of them all.

Even St. Louis' hard-case fans were not that angry at Stan. But watching The Man fumble like a Pittsburgh infielder trying for a double play was the final indignity. After many a loyal but losing season, Redbird fans are fed up. They managed to stomach the trade two years ago of their old favorite, Enos Slaughter. They made only a routine beef when General Manager Frank Lane got rid of such bright hopes as Outfielder Bill Virdon (now batting .311 for Pittsburgh), Pitcher Brooks Lawrence (who has won 16, lost 7 for Cincinnati) and Southpaw Harvey Haddix (who has won 11, lost 5 for Philadelphia). They even managed to sit still for the trading of Infielder Red Schoendienst (who is hitting .319 for the Giants).* All this, they were told, was going to buy them a pennant--this year. Still they are limping along in fourth place, and it hurts so much that the fans are impatient even with their old friend and favorite, Musial.

All the Records. Time was when Stan would have been forgiven his rare errors. Just the week before, a lusty double had bought him the National League record for extra-base hits (1,072). long held by the Giants' Mel Ott. And he is so close to so many other marks that before they hang a plaque with his name on it in the Hall of Fame, The Man will surely stand no less than third in the league in all eight offensive departments: runs scored, hits, doubles, triples, home runs, RBIs, total bases and extra-base hits. For all his recent lapse, he has never been a slouch on defense.

Musial has brightened big-league ball for 15 years. And baseball has been as good to the onetime southpaw pitcher who learned how to spin a left-handed curve on the grimy sandlots of Donora, Pa. For one thing, it kept him out of the zinc mills; even better, for the last five years the Cards have paid him $80,000 a season. Trading shrewdly on his reputation, he now owns half of a successful St. Louis restaurant (Stan Musial and Biggie's), is a bank director and has a piece of half a dozen other well-paying businesses.

When the Going Was Good. But baseball is still Stan's life, and he intends to stick around as long as he feels his playing is paying its way. He is now pushing 36, and when Manager Fred Hutchinson moved him from right field to first base early this season, he spoke not a word of complaint. He figures he is still nimble enough on his feet, but he knows, too, that sooner or later every man slows down. "Besides," says he, "first base is a nice place to visit with people." He chats amiably with opposing runners, horns in on their conversations with their coaches. "You get more company there than in the outfield."

Company or no, though, nothing comes as easy now as it did when Stan and the Cards were a young club. "It was easier to play ball in the old days," he explains. "If we dropped a game it wasn't a matter to worry about, to cause everybody to start pressing. We knew that in the long run we were going to end on top. We had it."

As Stan Musial sees it, he has a couple of good seasons left in his long, record-rich career. As soon as he decides he no longer has it, he will quit. If boos from the stands egg management into beating him to the gun, it will be St. Louis' loss, not Stan's.

* Red wants to form a team of Cardinal cast-offs--Bill Virdon, Jackie Brandt, Pete Whisenant, Joe Frazier, Alex Grammas, Solly Hemus, Bill Sarni, Haddix, Lawrence and, of course, Schoendienst--to play the present Cards. Proceeds to go to charity.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.