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On the TUNNEYSIDE of
SPORTS February 4, 2013 #422 Up next...Without an asterisk!
After further
review...Now that the NFL season has concluded with Super Bowl XLVII, the
NHL season finally underway, and we're smack-dab in the middle of an NBA
season, let's talk baseball! This month each MLB T*E*A*M will send its
pitchers and catchers to spring training with the balance of their squads
reporting in early March, a notable exception being Yankees third baseman
Alex Rodriguez. A-Rod is currently rehabbing hip surgery performed last
month.
What may also keep
A-Rod away from his hot-corner spot is the recent allegation of his use
of performance enhancing drugs. He is suspected of using PEDs in 2009 and
2012. PEDs played a major role in the 2013 Baseball Hall of Fame
balloting, which denied entry to Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, Rafael
Palmeiro, and Roger Clemens. Some have suggested an asterisk (*) be
placed next to those names, if any were ever to be elected.
No asterisk will ever
be required for Stan Musial. "Stan the Man" was elected in his
first year of eligibility in 1969. He got the nod from 93.2% of voting
members. Some wondered whom the other 6.8% were watching in the two
decades Musial played. Many in those days treasured that quality they used
to call "class". Stan the Man was class personified. He played
in 3,026 games in his MLB career (about as many games as Joe DiMaggio and
Johnny Pesky combined) and never got thrown out of a game. Never.
Musial played his
entire career with the St. Louis Cardinals. His character stood tall. In
1952 against their rivals the Brooklyn Dodgers, Musial hit a grand slam
in the ninth inning to win the game. As he rounded the bases, one of the
umpires was gesturing for "time"; a ball had rolled on to the
field just before that pitch. When the home plate umpire disallowed the
homer, Stan said, "Well, there's nothing that can be done about
it". He then stepped into the batter's box and hit a triple off the
center field wall, to score three runs and win the game.
Sportscaster Bob Costas
observed, "He didn't hit a homer in his last at-bat; he hit a
single. He didn't hit in 56 straight games (as did DiMaggio). He stayed
married to his high school sweetheart. All Musial represents is more than
two decades of sustained excellence and complete decency as a human
being". Musial died last month of natural causes at
92. He will be missed.
What legacy will you
leave?
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