Editing Stan Musial (section)

====1946–1949====
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|quote="Every time Stan came up they chanted, 'Here comes the man!'"
|source=—Cardinals traveling secretary Leo Ward relates Dodger fans' nickname for Musial to sportswriter Bob Broeg<ref name=Lansche75/>
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Rejoining the Cardinals under new manager [[Eddie Dyer]], Musial posted a .388 batting average by the middle of May 1946.<ref>[[#Lan94|Lansche 1994]]: 69, 72</ref> He also became close friends with new teammate [[Red Schoendienst]], who had joined the Cardinals during Musial's absence in 1945.<ref>[[#Gig01|Giglio 2001]]: 123</ref> During the season, Musial (who was under contract to the Cardinals for $13,500 in 1946) was offered a five-year, $125,000 contract, plus a $50,000 bonus, to join the Mexican League.<ref>[[#Mus64|Musial and Broeg 1964]]: 90</ref> He declined the offer, and after manager Dyer spoke to club owner [[Sam Breadon]], Musial was given a $5,000 raise later in 1946.<ref>[[#Lan94|Lansche 1994]]: 73</ref>

It was also during the 1946 season that Musial acquired his nickname of '''Stan the Man'''.<ref name="Lansche75">[[#Lan94|Lansche 1994]]: 75</ref> During the June 23 game against the Dodgers at [[Ebbets Field]], ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch'' sportswriter [[Bob Broeg]] heard Dodger fans chanting whenever Musial came to bat, but could not understand the words.<ref name=Lansche75/><ref>{{cite web |title=The 1946 St. Louis Cardinals Regular Season Game Log |url=http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1946/VSLN01946.htm |publisher=[[Retrosheet]] |access-date=May 31, 2009}}</ref> Later that day over dinner, Broeg asked Cardinals traveling secretary Leo Ward if he had understood what the Dodger fans had been chanting.<ref name=Lansche75/> Ward said, "Every time Stan came up they chanted, 'Here comes the man!'" "'That man,' you mean", Broeg said. "No, ''the'' man", replied Ward.<ref name=Lansche75/> Broeg mentioned this story in his ''Post-Dispatch'' column, and Musial was thereafter known as Stan "The Man".<ref name=Lansche75/>

[[File:Stan Musial.png|thumb|left|upright|Musial on the cover of ''[[Baseball Digest]]'', September 1948]]
In June 1946, Dyer began to use Musial as a [[first baseman]].<ref>[[#Mus64|Musial and Broeg 1964]]: 91–92</ref> The Cardinals finished the season tied with the Dodgers,<ref>[[#Lan94|Lansche 1994]]: 77</ref> prompting a [[1946 National League tie-breaker series|three-game playoff]] for the pennant. Musial's Game&nbsp;1 triple and Game&nbsp;2 double contributed to the Cardinals' two-games-to-none series victory.<ref>[[#Lan94|Lansche 1994]]: 78–79</ref> Facing the [[Boston Red Sox]], the Cardinals won the [[1946 World Series]] four games to three,<ref>[[#Sch90|Schoor 1990]]: 204</ref> as Musial had six hits and four RBI.<ref>[[#Sch90|Schoor 1990]]: 207, 405</ref> He batted .365 for the season and won his second NL MVP Award, receiving 22 out of a possible 24 first-place votes, finishing ahead of Brooklyn's [[Dixie Walker]] (.319 batting average).<ref>[[#Lan94|Lansche 1994]]: 84</ref>

Musial began the [[1947 St. Louis Cardinals season|1947 season]] by hitting .146 in April.<ref>[[#Lan94|Lansche 1994]]: 90</ref> On May 9, team doctor Dr. Robert Hyland confirmed a previous diagnosis of [[appendicitis]], while discovering that Musial was concurrently suffering from [[tonsillitis]].<ref>[[#Lan94|Lansche 1994]]: 89</ref> He received treatment, but did not have either his appendix or tonsils surgically removed until after the season ended.<ref>[[#Lan94|Lansche 1994]]: 89, 93</ref> Despite his health woes, he finished the year with a batting average of .312.<ref>[[#Bro81|Broeg 1981]]: 116</ref>

Fully recovered from his ailments, Musial recorded his 1,000th career hit on April 25, [[1948 St. Louis Cardinals season|1948]].<ref>[[#Lan94|Lansche 1994]]: 93–94</ref> After a May 7 ''[[St. Louis Globe-Democrat]]'' article criticized baseball players for appearing in [[Tobacco advertising|cigarette advertisements]], he made a personal decision to never again appear in such ads.<ref>[[#Lan94|Lansche 1994]]: 94</ref> By June 24, his batting average was .408, prompting Brooklyn pitcher [[Preacher Roe]] to comically announce his new method for retiring Musial: "Walk him on four pitches and [[Pickoff|pick him off]] [[first base|first]]."<ref>[[#Lan94|Lansche 1994]]: 95–96</ref> Given a mid-season pay raise by new Cardinals owner [[Robert E. Hannegan]] for his outstanding performance, Musial hit a home run in the All-Star Game.<ref>[[#Lan94|Lansche 1994]]: 96</ref> On September 22, he registered five hits in a game for the fourth time in the season, tying a mark set by [[Ty Cobb]] in 1922.<ref>[[#Lan94|Lansche 1994]]: 97</ref>

{{Quote box
|quote="He missed tying for the top in homers by one rained out home run. If it had counted, he would have won the Triple Crown that year...and in addition have been the ''only'' player of this century to lead the league in runs, hits, double, triples, and slugging percentage. What a year!"
|source=—Sportswriter Bob Broeg, on Musial's 1948 season<ref>{{cite web |last=Goold |first=Derrick |title=The search for The Man's lost homer |url=http://www.stltoday.com/sports/baseball/professional/birdland/article_f4410375-cde4-5c41-87ee-91a9b680f2f2.html |date=April 2, 2008 |newspaper=[[St. Louis Post-Dispatch]] |access-date=September 11, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120825155102/http://www.stltoday.com/sports/baseball/professional/birdland/article_f4410375-cde4-5c41-87ee-91a9b680f2f2.html |archive-date=August 25, 2012 |url-status=live }}</ref>
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Musial finished the 1948 season leading the major leagues in batting average (.376), hits (230), doubles (46), triples (18), total bases (429), and slugging percentage (.702).<ref name="Gig167">[[#Gig01|Giglio 2001]]: 167</ref> Winning the NL batting title by a 43-point margin, with an on-base percentage lead of 27 points and a 138-point slugging percentage margin—the latter being the largest gap since [[Rogers Hornsby]]'s 1925 season—Musial became the first player to win three NL MVP awards.<ref name=Gig167/> If a home run he hit during a [[rainout (sports)|rained out]] game had been counted in his season totals, he would have won the [[Major League Baseball Triple Crown|Triple Crown]] by leading the NL in batting average, home runs, and runs batted in.<ref name=Gig167/><ref>[[#Bro81|Broeg 1981]]: 121</ref>

Anticipating life after his baseball career, Musial began the first of several business partnerships with Julius "Biggie" Garagnani in January 1949, opening "Stan Musial & Biggie's" restaurant.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=That Man |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,933898-6,00.html |date=September 5, 1949 |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|TIME]] |access-date=August 9, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081205061930/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,933898-6,00.html |archive-date=December 5, 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>[[#Lan94|Lansche 1994]]: 101</ref> He approached the [[1949 St. Louis Cardinals season|1949 season]] with the intent to try to hit more home runs, stating he had hit 39 the previous season "without trying".<ref name="Gig174">[[#Gig01|Giglio 2001]]: 174</ref> His new focus on hitting for power backfired, as pitchers began using the outside part of the plate to induce him to ground out to the first or [[second base]]man.<ref name=Gig174/> Musial soon stopped focusing on hitting home runs and resumed his consistent offensive production by the end of May.<ref name=Gig174/> He received his sixth consecutive All-Star player selection and finished the season leading the NL in hits (207) while playing in every game.<ref>[[#Gig01|Giglio 2001]]: 180</ref> However, the Cardinals, with 96 wins, finished one game behind the Dodgers.<ref>[[#Gig01|Giglio 2001]]: 179</ref>

In the late 1940s, when baseball was slowly becoming [[Racial integration|integrated]], Musial—along with his roommate Red Schoendienst—would be lauded by newcomers such as Dodgers' pitcher [[Don Newcombe]] for their tolerance. "They never...had the need to sit in the dugout and call a black guy a bunch of names", Newcombe said, "because he was trying to change the game and make it what it should have been in the first place, a game for all people."<ref name="TimesObit" />