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| − | '''Stan "the Man" Musial''' (was a professional baseball player who spent all of his career with the [[St. Louis Cardinals]], playing in 24 All-Star games during his 22-year career. He was one of the greatest hitters ever, rivaling Ted Williams and Babe Ruth. Musial had an unusual batting style that resembled a corkscrew as he unwound to hit the ball. | + | '''Stan "the Man" Musial''' was a professional baseball player who spent all of his career with the [[St. Louis Cardinals]], playing in 24 All-Star games during his 22-year career. He was one of the greatest hitters ever, rivaling Ted Williams and Babe Ruth. Musial had an unusual batting style that resembled a corkscrew as he unwound to hit the ball. |
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| − | He said he would gauge the speed of the ball thrown by the pitcher in its first 30 feet, and based on his memorization of the different speeds used by that pitcher Musial could predict whether the ball was a fastball, curve or slider. Then he could estimate how the ball would move as it approached the plate. | + | He would supposedly gauge the speed of the ball thrown by the pitcher in its first 30 feet, and based on his memorization of the different speeds used by that pitcher Musial could predict whether the ball was a fastball, curve or slider. Then he could estimate how the ball would move as it approached the plate. |
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| | A devout Catholic, Musial was married for 72 years.<ref>http://www.news-journalonline.com/article/20130119/SPORTS/130119692?Title=Stan-Musial-who-had-major-Daytona-Beach-connections-dead-at-92</ref> | | A devout Catholic, Musial was married for 72 years.<ref>http://www.news-journalonline.com/article/20130119/SPORTS/130119692?Title=Stan-Musial-who-had-major-Daytona-Beach-connections-dead-at-92</ref> |
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| | A shoulder injury cut short Musial's pitching career, but the misfortune turned out to be an enormous benefit to him and to the baseball world. | | A shoulder injury cut short Musial's pitching career, but the misfortune turned out to be an enormous benefit to him and to the baseball world. |
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| | + | == Hitting style == |
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| | + | Unlike Williams, Musial often hit to the opposite field. Indeed, he said that the first four to five years, he "didn't pull the ball." Musial explained further: |
| | + | {{cquote|My theory was relax, concentrate and don't hit the ball to center field. After about five years, I started pulling the ball. The toughest thing about hitting is trying to pull that outside pitch. That's where everybody makes outs now, trying to pull that pitch. After five years, I got more confidence. I was hitting .350 or whatever and started pulling the ball and hitting it out, so pulling the ball is a tough thing to do.}}<ref>http://www.sportingnews.com/mlb/story/2009-07-10/talking-hitting-stan-musial-and-tony-gwynn</ref> |
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| | == References == | | == References == |