H A L L   O F   F A M E   I N D U C T E E S

Stan Musial · Elected 1967
First Base, St. Louis Maroons · 1951-1959

For the first decade of UL history, especially the first six seasons, Stan the Man was the best hitter in the game.  Between 1951 and 1956, playing for the St. Louis Maroons (whom Stan would spend his entire UL career with), he put up some unbelievable numbers.  Through 1964, he owned the 6th, 8th, 10th and 20th best OPS seasons of all time.  In 1951, ’53, ’54, ’55 and ’56, Stan was voted to the All-UL team (in 1956, as a RF), and he won a Gold Glove in ’51.  1954 was his peak in terms of silverware (although he hit slightly better in 1952 and 1956), as he won his only MVP with an amazing .331/.414/.608, with 38 homers, 124 RBIs and, for good measure, a dozen stolen bases.

To say that Musial was a great hitter would be something of an understatement, even compared to his fellow Hall of Fame hopefuls, Musial is a class apart.  Stan’s .944 career OPS is better than any single season mark that Gene Woodling or Minnie Minoso put up (bar one).  Musial put up four seasons with an OPS over 1.000, which is one more than Woodling, Minoso, Ralph Kiner, Gus Zernial and Jackie Robinson combined.  Musial slugged over .600 three times, which only Kiner equalled, and he only twice.  Indeed, Ralph Kiner is his only serious competition for the title of best retired hitter in UL history.

There are some problems with Musial’s candidacy though.  Critics may point to having only nine UL seasons under his belt, underwhelming career totals (248 homers, 1437 hits) and a lack of silverware. Yet Musial played as many complete seasons as any candidate, posting seven seasons with at least 140 games, which compares favorably to Kiner (seven), Woodling (six), Minoso (five) and Robinson (two).  While he lacks fragmentary seasons at the beginning or end of his career to solidify his HOF credentials, in terms of quality seasons, Stan the Man is a surely a worthy addition to the Hall.  (Doug Aiton)
  

AWARDS & ACCOLADES
Hall of Fame (1967)
All-Decade Team (1951-60)
Most Valuable Player (1954), All-UL Team (1951, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956), Gold Glove Award (1951)
Home Run Champion (1955), RBI Champion (1954), OPS Champion (1954)
6-time Batter of the Month, 9-time Player of the Week