Editing Stan Musial (section)

====1955–1959====
Musial made his 12th NL All-Star appearance in [[1955 St. Louis Cardinals season|1955]] as a reserve player, when Cincinnati's [[Ted Kluszewski]] outpolled him by 150,000 votes to get on the starting lineup at first base.<ref>[[#Lan94|Lansche 1994]]: 136</ref> Musial entered the game as a pinch hitter in the fourth inning, and played left field as the game entered extra innings.<ref name="Lansche137">[[#Lan94|Lansche 1994]]: 137</ref> Leading off the bottom of the 12th, he hit a home run to give the NL a 6–5 victory.<ref name=Lansche137/>

[[File:Stan Musial - St. Louis Cardinals - 1957.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Musial in 1957|alt=Portrait of Musial in a Cardinals uniform]]

The [[1956 St. Louis Cardinals season|1956 season]] marked another milestone for Musial, when he broke [[Mel Ott]]'s NL record for extra-base hits on August 12.<ref>[[#Mus64|Musial and Broeg 1964]]: 180</ref> Earlier that season, Cardinals general manager [[Frank Lane|"Trader Frank" Lane]] began negotiations to trade him for Philadelphia pitcher [[Robin Roberts (baseball)|Robin Roberts]].<ref>[[#Lan94|Lansche 1994]]: 141–143</ref> When Cardinals owner Gussie Busch learned of the possible move, he made it clear that Musial was not available for any trade.<ref>[[#Lan94|Lansche 1994]]: 143</ref> Instead, Lane dealt Musial's close friend Schoendienst to the New York Giants; an upset Musial made no immediate comment to the press.<ref>[[#Lan94|Lansche 1994]]: 143–144</ref>

On June 11, [[1957 St. Louis Cardinals season|1957]], Musial tied the NL record for consecutive games played with his 822nd, a streak that began on the last day of the 1951 season.<ref>[[#Lan94|Lansche 1994]]: 147–148</ref> Despite [[ballot stuffing]] by Cincinnati Reds fans, he was selected and played in the All-Star Game held at Sportsman's Park.<ref>[[#Lan94|Lansche 1994]]: 149</ref> When he overextended his swing while batting during a game on August 23, Musial fractured a bone in his left shoulder socket and tore muscles over his [[Clavicle|collarbone]].<ref name="Lansche151">[[#Lan94|Lansche 1994]]: 151</ref> He was unable to play again until September 8, ending his [[Major League Baseball consecutive games played streaks|consecutive games-played streak]] at 895.<ref name=Lansche151/> He finished 1957 as ''[[Sports Illustrated]]''{{'}}s "[[Sportsman of the Year]]".<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://vault.si.com/vault/1957/12/23/for-1957-the-editors-of-sports-illustrated-choose-stan-musial |title=For 1957 The Editors of Sports Illustrated Choose Stan Musial |last=O'Neil |first=Paul |date=December 23, 1957 |magazine=[[Sports Illustrated]]}}</ref>

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|quote="Line drive! Into left field! Hit number three thousand! A run has scored! Musial around first, on his way to second with a double. Holy Cow! He came through!"
|source=—[[Harry Caray]]'s radio play-by-play call of Musial's 3,000th major league hit<ref>[[#Gig01|Giglio 2001]]: 207</ref>
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Musial signed one of the first $100,000 contracts in NL history on January 29, 1958. (According to Baseball Almanac, Hank Greenberg was the first with Pittsburgh in 1947.)<ref>[[#Lan94|Lansche 1994]]: 155</ref> He quickly demonstrated a return on the investment by sharing with Willie Mays the inaugural (and for the only time in Musial's career) [[MLB Player of the Month|NL Player of the Month]] in May (no such award was given in April until 1969) batting .374, with 4 HR, and 16 RBI. Also that month, as he was approaching the 3,000-hit milestone in his major league career, he expressed a desire to record the hit in St. Louis.<ref>[[#Lan94|Lansche 1994]]: 156–157</ref> He ultimately reached the mark with a pinch-hit, sixth inning RBI double at Chicago's [[Wrigley Field]] on May 13.<ref>[[#Rei93|Reidenbaugh 1993]]: 214</ref><ref>[[#Lan94|Lansche 1994]]: 157–158</ref> The eighth major league player to reach 3,000 hits, and the first to reach the milestone with an extra-base hit, Musial was greeted at [[St. Louis Union Station]] that evening by roughly 1,000&nbsp;fans.<ref>[[#Lan94|Lansche 1994]]: 158–159</ref> Finishing the season in sixth place, the Cardinals embarked on an exhibition tour of Japan, winning 14 of 16&nbsp;games against top players from the [[Central League|Central]] and [[Pacific League|Pacific]] Japanese Leagues.<ref>[[#Lan94|Lansche 1994]]: 162–163</ref>

Taking a new approach to preparation for the [[1959 St. Louis Cardinals season|1959 season]], Musial was given permission to report late to spring training so that he might conserve his energy for the duration of the year.<ref>[[#Lan94|Lansche 1994]]: 165–166</ref> Musial, at {{convert|6|ft|cm}} tall, had maintained a weight of around {{convert|175|lb|kg}} throughout his career. He reported to spring training approximately {{convert|10|lb|kg}} overweight and in substandard physical condition.<ref>[[#Gig01|Giglio 2001]]: 213</ref><ref name="Lansche166">[[#Lan94|Lansche 1994]]: 166</ref> He began the season with one hit in 15 at-bats.<ref name=Lansche166/> Despite his early offensive struggles, he single-handedly spoiled potential no-hitters on April 16 and 19.<ref name=Lansche166/> A game-winning home run on May 7 made him the first major league player ever with 400 home runs and 3,000 hits.<ref name=Lansche166/> As he continued to hit at a relatively low pace, his playing time was limited by Cardinals manager Solly Hemus at various points during the season.<ref>[[#Lan94|Lansche 1994]]: 167</ref> Seeking more revenue for the players' pension fund, Major League Baseball held two All-Star games in a season for the first time through 1962.<ref name="Lansche168">[[#Lan94|Lansche 1994]]: 168</ref> Musial made his 16th All-Star appearance (16th season)<ref name="sportsdatallc.com">Sportsdata. Midsummer Classics: Celebrating MLB's All-Star Game. "There were two games a year from 1959 to 1962" ... "all players who were named to the AL or NL roster were credited with one appearance per season". Retrieved April 10, 2015 [http://www.sportsdatallc.com/2012/07/09/midsummer-classics-celebrating-mlbs-all-star-game] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150330031638/http://www.sportsdatallc.com/2012/07/09/midsummer-classics-celebrating-mlbs-all-star-game/ |date=March 30, 2015 }}</ref> and pinch-hit in both contests, flying out in the July 7 game and drawing a walk in the August 3 game.<ref name=Lansche168/> He finished the season with 115 regular game appearances, a .255 batting average, 37 runs, and a slugging percentage of .428.<ref name=stats1/>

During the 1959 season, [[John F. Kennedy]] approached Musial about supporting Kennedy's [[1960 elections|campaign for President]], citing their close ages. Musial campaigned for Kennedy later that year and became a supporter of the Democratic Party.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://blog.aarp.org/2013/01/20/stan-musial-10-fascinating-facts-about-stan-the-man/|title=Musial campaigns for Kennedy|date=January 20, 2013|access-date=October 10, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150602091632/http://blog.aarp.org/2013/01/20/stan-musial-10-fascinating-facts-about-stan-the-man/|archive-date=June 2, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>

On June 30, 1959, Musial was the batter in one of the oddest plays in baseball history. In a game between the Cardinals and [[Chicago Cubs]], he was at the plate with a count of 3–1. [[Bob Anderson (baseball)|Bob Anderson's]] next pitch was errant, evading catcher [[Sammy Taylor (baseball)|Sammy Taylor]] and rolling all the way to the backstop. Umpire [[Vic Delmore]] called ball four, even as Anderson and Taylor contended that Musial had [[foul tip]]ped the ball. Because the ball was still in play and Delmore was embroiled in an argument with the catcher and pitcher, Musial kept running in attempt to make second base. Seeing that Musial was trying for second, [[Alvin Dark]] ran to the backstop to retrieve the ball. The ball wound up in the hands of field announcer [[Pat Pieper]], but Dark ended up getting it back anyway. Absentmindedly, however, Delmore pulled out a new ball and gave it to Taylor. Anderson finally noticed that Musial was trying for second, took the new ball, and threw it to second baseman [[Tony Taylor (baseball)|Tony Taylor]]. Anderson's throw flew over Taylor's head into the outfield. Dark, at the same time that Anderson threw the new ball, threw the original ball to shortstop [[Ernie Banks]]. Musial did not see Dark's throw and only noticed Anderson's ball fly over the second baseman's head, so he tried to go to third base. On his way there, he was tagged by Banks, and after a delay he was ruled out.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=tTtSAAAAIBAJ&pg=4767,261477&dq=bob+anderson+stan+musial&hl=en |title=Musial Is First in History Put Out By 2 Baseballs! |access-date=October 10, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181025205640/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=tTtSAAAAIBAJ&sjid=_3YDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4767,261477&dq=bob+anderson+stan+musial&hl=en |archive-date=October 25, 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref>