George Vecsey
When baseball fans voted on the top twenty-five players of the twentieth century in 1999, Stan Musial didnâ€™t make the cut. This glaring omissionâ€”later rectified by a panel of expertsâ€”raised an important question: How could a first-ballot Hall of Famer, widely considered one of the greatest hitters in baseball history, still rank as the most underrated athlete of all time?,In ,Stan Musial,, veteran sports journalist George Vecsey finally gives this twenty-time All-Star and St. Louis Cardinals icon the kind of prestigious biographical treatment previously afforded to his more celebrated contemporaries Ted Williams and Joe DiMaggio. More than just a chronological recounting of the events of Musialâ€™s life, this is the definitive portrait of one of the gameâ€™s best-loved but most unappreciated legends, told through the remembrances of those who played beside, worked with, and covered â€œStan the Manâ€ over the course of his nearly seventy years in the national spotlight.,Stan Musial never married a starlet. He didnâ€™t die young, live too hard, or squander his talent. There were no legendary displays of temper or moodiness. He was merely the most consistent superstar of his era, a scarily gifted batsman who compiled 3,630 career hits (1,815 at home and 1,815 on the road), won three World Series titles, and retired in 1963 in possession of seventeen major-league records. Away from the diamond, he proved a savvy businessman and a model of humility and graciousness toward his many fans in St. Louis and around the world. From Keith Hernandezâ€™s boyhood memories of Musial leaving tickets for him when the Cardinals were in San Francisco to the little-known story of Musialâ€™s friendship with novelist James Michenerâ€”and their mutual association with Pope John Paul IIâ€”Vecsey weaves an intimate oral history around one of the great gentlemen of baseballâ€™s Greatest Generation. ,There may never be another Stan the Man, a fact that future Hall of Famer Albert Pujolsâ€”reluctantly nicknamed â€œEl Hombreâ€ in Musialâ€™s honorâ€”is quick to acknowledge. But thanks to this long-overdue reappraisal, even those who took his greatness for granted will learn to appreciate him all over again.
Sports,Baseball,Sports,Sports,Biography,Nonfiction,History,Biography Memoir,Audiobook,North American Hi...,American History
Stan Musial: An American Life