Stan Musial 1920 - 2013

There's really nothing that I could write about Stan that hasn't already been written, spoken or otherwise conveyed by others.  In fact, all any of us really have are our first-hand accounts and stories.

I never met Stan Musial (Myoo-see-uhl), but like most Cardinals fans had a deep appreciation for everything that he means to not only Cardinals nation, but to all of baseball, its history, and the city of St. Louis.  I shared some of my thoughts about Stan's visitation on a recent podcast on the Seamheads network here.

I was out of town when I heard the news, and I cried in front of strangers when I read that Stan had passed.  Given that, I didn't get the chance to make it down to his statue until a few days later.  It was quite moving, and incredible to read the letters, cards, and notes that fans had written to him and left at the foot of the perfect knight.  The hats, pictures, balls, jerseys, and other items fans had left there was quite a sight to behold.

The Musial statue at Busch Stadium last week

On a somewhat related note, the folks that I work with in real life have a holiday party every year, and we always have it in January.  This past weekend was this year's party, and much to my surprise, my director (my boss's boss's boss) was in town from L.A. to come to this party.  As it turns out, he isn't a big baseball fan.  To put it lightly.  He didn't know who Stan Musial was.  (Cue the overlooked comments)

So, in order to rectify this problem, I told him that I was going to email him once a week, and drop Stan Musial knowledge on him.  Whether the 24 All-Star game thing, or the half of the hits on the road/half at home thing, I'm going to send him info once a week for the rest of 2013.  What I'm expecting is to educate him, sure, but also to learn a lot myself.

I was at Busch Stadium on October 2, 2010 when we all stood for Stan, in an (eventually) successful effort to help propel Stan Musial into the white house to be honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest honor that can be bestowed upon a civilian in the United States.  But it was this past week, standing in line to pay final respects as I walked past his casket, when I truly felt that I had the chance to Stand for Stan.