At the 1962 All-Star baseball game in Washington, D.C., President John F. Kennedy threw out the first pitch.
When he greeted outfielder Stan Musial of the St. Louis Cardinals, he said, “A couple years ago, they told me I was too young to be president, and you were too old to be playing baseball. But we fooled them.”
What a thrill it must have been to sit in the stands that day. Those who were there witnessed the talents of some truly big names in the sport. Aside from Musial, you would have seen Roberto Clemente, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Orlando Cepeda, Bill Mazeroski, Jim Bunning, Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, Dick Groat, Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle.
Let’s zero in on Stan “the Man” Musial. He was a great player but also a sterling example of men of Polish ancestry who made it big in American baseball.
One admirer wrote, “This Hall of Famer played his entire career for the St. Louis Cardinals (22 years), and when he retired, he had more batting records, including a career .331 batting average with seven batting titles, than any player in history besides Babe Ruth.”
In response to the question, “How good was Stan Musial?” the late veteran sportscaster Vin Scully said, “He was good enough to take your breath away.”
Musial’s birthplace was Donora, Penn. His Polish immigrant father, Lukasz, arrived in the U.S. in 1910 at the age of 16. Stan is best known and remembered in St. Louis, Mo., where he signed a contract with the Cardinals in 1938.
Every biography of this unforgettable American athlete stresses his appealing personality and sterling character. He may well be the finest gentleman the sport ever produced, a humble and generous man, devoted to his faith and family and, from whom endless, quiet acts of kindness poured out naturally.
Bob Costas, in a moving eulogy for Stan, noted his good-naturedness, graciousness and boundless integrity.
Because of Stan, Costas said, “We understood that it’s more important to be appreciated than glorified, to be respected than to be celebrated, to be understood and loved than to be idolized, and that friendship is more important than fame.” When integration finally came to Major League Baseball, Stan could not have been more welcoming to Black players. Atlanta’s Hank Aaron said, “I didn’t just like Stan Musial. I wanted to be Stan Musial.”
Stan took pride in his Polish heritage, but he was just as proud of the fact that America gave him and so many other Polish immigrants the opportunity to excel and succeed.
A young Polish American named Robert W. Kopek won a Reader’s Digest essay contest in the 1950s. Part of it went like this:
I am proud that I am a Pole, and for good reasons. My Polish ancestry entitles me to a share in a history that is rich in God-fearing heroes and heroines who have championed the cause of liberty, peace and freedom; of honesty and justice; of equality and brotherhood. Yes, I am proud I am a Pole, for a good Pole has every right and reason to be a good American.
Thank you, Poland, for giving us the Musial family. May we never forget what a fantastic example of sterling character that Stan the Man was.
Lawrence W. Reed, a resident of Newnan, is president emeritus of the Foundation for Economic Education. His most recent book is “Was Jesus a Socialist?” He can be reached at lreed@fee.org.