Baseball in Wartime - Stan Musial

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Stan Musial

Date and Place of Birth: November 21, 1920 Donora, Pennsylvania

Died: January 19, 2013 Ladue, Missouri
Baseball Experience: Major League
Position: Outfield
Rank: Seaman Second Class
Military Unit: US Navy
Area Served: Pacific Theater of Operations

Good news for Bainbridge Naval Training Center baseball fans was the appearance of Stan Musial, former St. Louis Cardinals' slugger, who reported as the Commodores held their first outdoor workout of the season today.

Associated Press March 17, 1945

Stanley F “Stan” Musial was born on November 21, 1920, in Donora, Pennsylvania. He started his professional career as a pitcher with Williamson in 1938, and went to Daytona Beach in 1940, where a shoulder injury prompted a move to the outfield. He moved up to Springfield of the Western Association in 1941 and played 12 games for the Cardinals before the year was out.

Musial batted .357 to win the National League batting title and MVP award in 1943. During the winter months of 1943-1944, Musial, along with Danny Litwhiler, Hank Borowy, Dixie Walker and Frankie Frisch, was part of a USO sponsored group that traveled to Alaska and the Aleutian Islands entertaining troops.

When it became obvious that Musial would be inducted, Pete Reiser tried to convince him to sign up with the Army. That way, Reiser could get Musial to Fort Riley where he could play with the service team. "I told Pete, 'Naw, I'm going into the Navy'," he explained to author Frederick Turner. "I just liked the Navy for some reason - the water and all. You know where a lot of those guys wound up who were at Fort Riley? At the Battle of the Bulge."

In 1944, Musial was 23 years old and batted .347 to guide the Cardinals to the World Series. He

passed his Naval physical examination in June 1944 and reported for induction on January 23, 1945. Musial was assigned to Bainbridge Naval Training Center in Maryland on March 17, and played for the Bainbridge NTC Commodores baseball team. The Commodores line-up included Lum Harris, Dick Wakefield, Thurman Tucker, Stan Spence and Dick Sisler, and Musial credits his time at Bainbridge with helping him develop as a power hitter, stating that he altered his stance to pull the ball so he could hit more home runs to entertain the servicemen.

In June 1945, he was assigned to Special Services and sent to Hawaii. Attached to a ship launch unit at Pearl Harbor, he ran a launch out to battle-damaged ships that came in, ferrying personnel back to port. Three or four afternoons a week he played baseball for the Ship Repair Unit in the 14th Naval District League. "Ten thousand every game," he recalled. "You know, there were so many men around Hawaii, goddamn thousands and thousands of guys, so this was good diversion for them." In August 1945, he even resurrected his pitching career, blanking an Army all-star team with a four-hitter in a game at Maui.

In the fall of 1945, Musial's father fell seriously ill at home in Donora. Stan was granted emergency leave orders to visit home. After his father recovered he was assigned duty in Philadelphia and back at Bainbridge .

Musial was discharged from the Navy on March 15, 1946, and promptly returned to the Cardinals. He enjoyed an MVP season batting .365 with 103 RBIs. At the time of his retirement in 1963, Musial held 17 major league, 29 National League, and 9 All-Star game records. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility in 1969.

Stan Musial, aged 92, passed away at his home in Ladue, Missourie, surrounded by his family.

Created January 13, 2007. Updated January 21, 2013.

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