Editing Stan Musial (section)

====1960–1963====
Based on his 1959 performance, Musial accepted a pay cut in [[1960 St. Louis Cardinals season|1960]] from his previous $100,000 salary to $80,000.<ref>[[#Vec11|Vecsey 2011]]: 230</ref> He was eager to prove that his mediocre performance was the result of improper physical conditioning, and he enlisted the help of Walter Eberhardt, [[Saint Louis University]]'s director of physical education.<ref>[[#Mus64|Musial and Broeg 1964]]: 211</ref> In June 1960, newspaper articles began speculating that Musial would soon retire, yet he finished the season with a .275 batting average.<ref name=stats1/><ref>[[#Lan94|Lansche 1994]]: 171</ref> He addressed the speculation in September, confirming that he would play again in [[1961 St. Louis Cardinals season|1961]]. His .288 batting average that season reaffirmed his decision.<ref name=stats1/><ref>[[#Lan94|Lansche 1994]]: 173</ref> In 1962, Musial posted a .330 batting average, good for third in the batting race, with 19 homers and 82&nbsp;RBI. As a pinch-hitter, he had 14 base hits in 19 at-bats (.737).<ref>[[#Bro81|Broeg 1981]]: 167</ref> Along the way, he established new NL career marks for hits and RBI.<ref>{{cite web|last=Schwartz|first=Larry|title=Stan The Man becomes NL's all-time hits leader|website=[[ESPN]]|date=November 19, 2003|url=http://a.espncdn.com/classic/s/moment010519musialhitrecord.html|access-date=December 14, 2020}}</ref> That same year on July 8, the 41-year-old Musial became the oldest player ever to hit three home runs in one game.<ref>{{cite news|last=Hummel|first=Rick|title=Stan Musial's career through the years|newspaper=[[St. Louis Post-Dispatch]]|date=January 19, 2013|url=https://www.stltoday.com/sports/baseball/professional/stan-musials-career-through-the-years/article_0965847f-f3f8-593c-95bb-c698fad6c25e.html|access-date=December 14, 2020|archive-date=May 28, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200528202841/https://www.stltoday.com/sports/baseball/professional/stan-musials-career-through-the-years/article_0965847f-f3f8-593c-95bb-c698fad6c25e.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

{{MLBBioRet
|Image  = CardsRetired6.PNG
|Align = right
|Image_alt=A depiction of Stan Musial's number six, with the number six colored red against a dark green background, similar to how it appeared on the outfield wall of Busch Stadium in the late 2000s.
|Name   = Stan Musial
|Number = 6
|Team   = St. Louis Cardinals
|Year   = 1963
}}

The Cardinals began [[1963 St. Louis Cardinals season|1963]] by winning 10 of their first 15 games, as Musial posted a .237 batting average.<ref>[[#Lan94|Lansche 1994]]: 190</ref> He set a new major league record for career extra-base hits on May 8 and improved his batting average to .277 by the end of the month.<ref name="Lansche191">[[#Lan94|Lansche 1994]]: 191</ref> Making his 20th All-Star appearance<ref name="sportsdatallc.com"/> and 24th All-Star Game appearance on July 9, 1963, he pinch-hit in the fifth inning.<ref name=Lansche191/> Asked by general manager [[Bing Devine]] on July 26 what his plans were, Musial said that he would retire at season's end.<ref>[[#Lan94|Lansche 1994]]: 191–192</ref> He waited until the Cardinals team picnic on August 12 to publicly announce his decision, hopeful he could retire on a winning note.<ref>[[#Lan94|Lansche 1994]]: 192</ref>

Musial became a grandfather for the first time in the early hours of September 10; later that day, he hit a home run in his first at-bat.<ref name="Lansche193">[[#Lan94|Lansche 1994]]: 193</ref> After sweeping a doubleheader on September 15, the Cardinals had won 19 of their last 20 games, and were one game behind the Los Angeles Dodgers.<ref name=Lansche193/> The Dodgers then swept the Cardinals in a three-game series in St. Louis and clinched the NL pennant on September 25.<ref name=autogenerated1>[[#Lan94|Lansche 1994]]: 193–194</ref> Musial's last game, on September 29, 1963, was preceded by an hour-long retirement ceremony.<ref name="Lansche196">[[#Lan94|Lansche 1994]]: 196</ref> Speakers at the event included baseball commissioner [[Ford Frick]], Cardinals broadcaster [[Harry Caray]], and Cardinals owner Gussie Busch, who announced that Musial's uniform number "6" would be [[List of Major League Baseball retired numbers|retired]] by the team.<ref name=Lansche196/> During the game, Musial recorded a single in the fourth inning, then hit a single to right field that scored teammate [[Curt Flood]] in the sixth.<ref name=Lansche197/> Cardinals manager [[Johnny Keane]] brought in [[Gary Kolb]] as a pinch-runner for Musial, bringing his major league career to an end.<ref name=Lansche197/> Just as he had recorded two base hits in his major league debut, Musial finished his last game with two hits, as well.<ref name=Lansche197/> Musial finished with the all-time National League hits record<ref>{{cite web|title= Musial, Stan|publisher=[[National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum]]|url=https://baseballhall.org/hall-of-famers/musial-stan|access-date=December 10, 2021}}</ref> and second to only [[Ty Cobb]] on the all-time Major League list. Musial's last career hit was out of reach of Cincinnati Reds second baseman [[Pete Rose]], who would go on to break Cobb's record to become baseball's all-time hit king.<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Jaffe|first=Jay|title=Stan Musial by the numbers|magazine=[[Sports Illustrated]]|date=January 20, 2013|url=https://www.si.com/mlb/2013/01/20/stan-musial-by-the-numbers|access-date=March 14, 2022}}</ref>

{{Quote box
|quote="All Musial represents is more than two decades of sustained excellence and complete decency as a human being."
|source=—Broadcaster [[Bob Costas]], on Musial<ref name=espnclassic/>
|align=right
|width=27%
|style=padding:8px
}}

At the time of his retirement, Musial held or shared 17 major league records, 29 NL records, and nine All-Star Game records.<ref>[[#Eis99|Eisenbath 1999]]: 251</ref> Among those records, he ranked as the major league career leader in extra-base hits (1,377) and [[total bases]] (6,134).<ref name="Lansche197">[[#Lan94|Lansche 1994]]: 197</ref> He also held NL career marks in categories such as [[List of Major League Baseball hit records|hits (3,630)]], games played (3,026), [[List of Major League Baseball doubles records|doubles (725)]], and [[List of Major League Baseball runs batted in records|RBI (1,951)]].<ref name=Lansche197/> He finished his career with [[List of Major League Baseball career home run leaders|475 home runs]] despite never having led the NL in the category.<ref name=Lansche197/> Jerry Lansche speculates Musial would likely have become the second player, after [[Babe Ruth]], with 2,000 RBI, and would have exceeded 500 career home runs had he not served in the military.<ref name="bullock2004">{{cite book | title=Playing for Their Nation: Baseball and the American Military during World War II | publisher=University of Nebraska Press | author=Bullock, Steven R. | page=128 | year=2004 | isbn=0-8032-1337-9}}</ref> His lowest full season RBI output before the war was 72 (in 1942) and as he needed only 49 RBI to reach 2,000 for his full career, he certainly would have exceeded 2,000 RBI by playing without injury in 1945. His home run production is a different story and it is highly unlikely he would have reached 500. He did not hit more than 13 home runs in any season before he entered the navy and did not hit as many as 25 (the number he would have needed to become a 500 career homer club member) until 1948, 3 years after returning to baseball from World War II. Amazingly, his career hit total was exactly evenly split between 1,815 hits at home and 1,815 hits on the road. Steven R. Bullock speculates that it is possible that without military service Musial might have continued playing to attempt to exceed [[Ty Cobb]]'s career hit record of 4,191.{{r|bullock2004}} Musial recorded 8 five-hit games and 59 four-hit games in his 22-year MLB career. He had two 3-home run games, on May 2, 1954 and July 8, 1962.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://retrosheet.org/boxesetc/M/PX_musis101.htm|title=Top Performances for Stan Musial|publisher=[[Retrosheet]]|access-date=September 25, 2022}}</ref>
As a pinch-hitter, he recorded a .276 batting average (37-for-134) in that role in his career.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://baseball-reference.com/players/m/musiast01-bat.shtml|title=Stan Musial Situational Batting Data at Baseball Reference|website=baseball-reference.com|accessdate= January 27, 2024}}</ref>

He was the first major league player to appear in more than 1,000 games at two different positions, registering 1,896 games in the outfield and 1,016 at first base.<ref>[[#Lan94|Lansche 1994]]: 198</ref> Since Musial's retirement in 1963, [[Tony Gwynn]] has been the only player to finish his career with a higher [[List of Major League Baseball career batting average leaders|lifetime batting average]]. Hank Aaron has been the only player to surpass his record of [[List of Major League Baseball career total bases leaders|6,134 total bases]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Career Leaders & Records for Total Bases|website=Baseball-Reference.com|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/TB_career.shtml|access-date=December 6, 2021}}</ref>

In Musial's 3,026 major league appearances, he was never ejected from a game.<ref name="Lansche 1994: 14">[[#Lan94|Lansche 1994]]: 14</ref> Speaking about his quiet reputation within the sport's history, sportscaster [[Bob Costas]] said, "He didn't [[Ted Williams|hit a homer in his last at-bat]]; he hit a single. He didn't [[Joe DiMaggio|hit in 56 straight games]]. He married his high school sweetheart and stayed married to her. ... All Musial represents is more than two decades of sustained excellence and complete decency as a human being."<ref name="espnclassic">{{cite web |last=Schwartz |first=Larry |title=Musial was gentleman killer |url=https://www.espn.com/classic/biography/s/Musial_Stan.html |year=2007 |website=[[ESPN]] |access-date=November 24, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110712093843/http://espn.go.com/classic/biography/s/Musial_Stan.html |archive-date=July 12, 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref>