[Eugene Church]

Glory Hallelujah, EC is so blessed.

"Wit, Quips and Quotes From the Diamond Minds"

My new book "Strange But True Baseball Stories" by Furman Bisher, great Atlanta Journal-Constitution sports editor, is outstanding. I just finished the book and loved it. Most of the stories were obscure and I had never heard them before. A few were known, but still had a little twist to them that I was not aware of.

As you know Stan "The Man" Musial is my all-time favorite athlete. I first "watched him on the radio", listening to Harry Caray when he was the voice of the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1950s on KMOX. Yes, it would fade in and out as I listened as teenager in Mobile, Alabama. I fell in love with the Redbirds, Stan "The Man" and Harry.

Excerpt From "Strange But True Baseball Stories"

IMMORTAL BY ACCIDENT
By the time he was nineteen years old, Stan Musial was playing his third season of professional baseball as a pitcher for the Daytona Beach Islanders in the Class D Florida State League. Stan was a wild lefthander his first two seasons, but he apparently somewhat found his control and by early August he had won 17 games.

Then dawned what seemed to be the darkest day of Musial's life. His manager Dickie Kerr discovered that Musial was also an effective hitter and used him in the outfield many times when he wasn't pitching. On August 11, 1940 Musial was playing center field for the Islanders. He had pitched the night before. With two outs, a batter hit a sinking liner to center. Musial made a run at the ball and made a shoestring catcher, hit the ground and did a somersault. Musial injured his shoulder severely making the catch. He had terrible pain in his left shoulder. He pitched two days later and beat Sanford 5-4, but it was his last victory of the season. Finally the pain went away, but he was a pitcher with a bad arm. His situation was hopeless. Musial was married and expecting his first child. He asked Kerr, "Don't you think I ought to go home and find a job in the mills and forget baseball." Kerr told his young player, "Not yet, Stan."

Kerr told Musial that he was a good enough hitter to succeed even if his pitching arm didn't improve. To help the young player, to whom he had taken good liking, Kerr invited Musial and his wife to live with him until the baby was born.

The Musials moved in with the Kerrs. When the baby was born, the grateful young couple named him Richard Kerr Musial. Although the pain soon disappeared in Musial's shoulder, full strength never did return. By the end of the season, he could throw well enough to play the outfield. When Musial's batting average rose to .311 by season's end, he was invited to the parent Cardinals' biggest minor league camp in the spring. He was still listed as a pitcher, but they soon realized that he could no longer compete as a pitcher because of the bad arm.

One day the head of the Cardinal organization, Branch Rickey, one of the most respected judges of baseball talent, came out to watch the farm teams play and saw him. After watching Musial bat just one time, Rickey exclaimed, "That man's not a pitcher, He's a hitter."

Long story short - before that season ended - Musial was playing with the Cardinals. He batted .379 in Springfield, Missouri and .326 in Rochester. During the last weeks of the major league season he batted an amazing .426 for the St. Louis Cardinals.

And now you know whole story. Some of basball's most exciting discoveries have been made by "accident". Had it not been for that tumble he took on the night of August 14, 1940, one of sports greatest hitters might never have been found.

At best, Musial would have just been a pretty fair minor league pitcher. Most likely EC would have never heard of him.

"And now, you know the Rest of the Story."

Thanks to radio commentator Paul Harvey for that great line.
And thanks to Furman Bisher for that wonderful story about EC's beloved Stan "The Man" Musial.