Stan Musial might be (next to Eddie Mathews) the most underrated member of the Hall of Fame and it's not because Musial does not get recognized.It is more because as great as Musial was, he was always overshadowed a bit by his American League contemporary Ted Williams.
I would go as far as to say that looking at the total career of Musial that you might be able to place him as high as the top five of all time as a hitter.
Musial's power started a little later and ended a bit earlier than he would have wished, but from 1948-57, Musial hit under 27 homers only once, so this was not exactly a slap hitter.
Musial played from 1941 -1963 and then after retiring was involved in building the Cardinal powerhouse of the mid to late 1960s.
Musial also was hurt by spending his career away from the East Coast media where the largest media resides.
Stan Musial was always known as a class act, but more importantly, swung one classy bat.
Musial was 92.
Former Orioles manager Earl Weaver passed away on an Oriole cruise at the age of 82.
Weaver won four American League pennants and the 1970 World Championship as the manager in Baltimore and was known for his adage of winning with pitching, defense, and the three-run homer.
Weaver was far ahead of his time using statistics of batter vs pitcher performances, platoon systems, and his hatred of "little ball", all things that are taken for granted in today's game.
I loved the story in the link above about Weaver needing his index cards with the situational stats long before you and I can have them with the push of a button, but the reflection on former catcher Earl Williams brought back a personal memory.
Earl Williams was a power-hitting backstop in Atlanta and Williams had smacked 61 homers in his first two years in the game and at 24 looked to have many years ahead of him after the Orioles acquired him in 1973 in a deal that sent Davey Johnson among others to the Braves.
My grandfather could not stand Williams, thought he was lazy, and struck out too much.
Two disappointing years later, Williams was gone and by 29, he was gone from the game.
If you couldn't succeed under Earl Weaver, who could you succeed under?
Earl Weaver was a pioneer, putting players in a situation to succeed.
Sounds like a simple concept, but in baseball and the business world, one that is often forgotten.
I am late in this, but I did want to mention the passing of actor Jack Klugman, who passed away the day before Christmas at the age of 90.
Klugman was most noted for his portrayal of Oscar Madison on the TV classic The Odd Couple, but Klugman also had some roles in some terrific Twilight Zones as a pool hustler and starred in Quincy in the late '70s.
The Odd Couple has always been one of my favorite shows and it has one memory to me in particular.
The YouTube below was watched one night while I was living at home and after the show ended, my brother and I went to bed, and then after a few minutes,I whacked him in the head with a newspaper.
I imagine in the dark without notice, he was pretty shocked!
He screamed out and I quickly covered his mouth, so he didn't wake our parents up!
A classic show and one talented actor in Jack Klugman.
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