MUSIAL SCORES UPSIDE DOWNAs the ball bounces off ome plate, Stan Musial is scoring with his feet in the air after crashing into Cincinati catcher Hobie Landrith in fifth inning of game at Busch Stadium tonight. Waiting to call play is umpire Jocko Conlan. Musial scored from third after Landrith threw to Roy McMillan in attempt to get Ray Jablonski, who was going from first to second. McMillan returned the ball to Landrith, but he dropped it after Musial crashed into him. DATE: 7-6-1954 ORIGINAL or REPRINT: Type 3 - Second or later-generation photo, printed from a duplicate negative or wire photo process, within about 2 years of when it was shot TEAM: St. Louis Cardinals SUBJECTS: Stan Musial, Hobie Landrith, Jocko Conlan APPROXIMATE SIZE: 10"x8-1/8" NUMBER OF PHOTOS: 1 COMMENTS / CONDITION: This is one of a large accumulation of vintage sports photographs, slides and negatives that we will be listing over the coming months. Wear on these, if any, is mostly confined to minor corner and edge wear, but see scans for further details including condition. We do not deal in stock images or modern reprints, and all scans shown are of the actual vintage photograph, slide or negative being sold. If you have any questions about a particular piece, please ask before the auction ends. BIO: Stanley Frank Musial (Stan the Man) was born in 1920 in Donora, PA and died in 2013 in Ladue, MO. He played major league baseball from 1941 to 1963 as outfielder for the St. Louis Cardinals, appeared in the 1942, 1943, 1944 and 1946 World Series, was selected 20 times as an All-Star, and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1969. He was named the National League's Most Valuable Player three times. He also was selected for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team in 1999. Musial once said, "I consciously memorized the speed at which every pitcher in the league threw his fastball, curve, and slider; then, I'd pick up the speed of the ball in the first thirty feet of its flight and knew how it would move once it had crossed the plate." It was fans of the Dodgers who gave him his nickname. Musial loved to hit in Ebbets Field and after several amazing hitting performances there, Brooklyn fans would see him come to bat, and say, "Uh-oh, here comes the man again. The man is back!" St. Louis sportswriter Bob Broeg picked up on this and said to the fans, "You mean THAT man?" and they said, "No, THE Man." Musial was "Stan the Man" from that point on. Generally, respectful Brooklyn fans did not boo him at Ebbets Field. Like many American baseball players of his era, Musial spent part of his career serving in World War II, missing the 1945 season to serve as a seaman first class in the United States Navy from January 1945 to March 1946. Musial played in 24 All-Star games tying him with Henry Aaron for most all-time. The Cardinals retired his uniform number '6' at the end of the 1963 season. He was a fan favorite for his reputation, both on the field and off, as a gentleman. In Musial's 3,026 ML games, he was never once ejected from a game. Umpire Tom Gorman said, "The bigger the guy, the less he argues. You never heard a word out of Stan Musial...." Musial also served one year as general manager of the Cardinals. After the 1966 season, Musial succeeded Bob Howsam as GM and the 1967 Cardinals promptly won 101 games, the NL pennant, and the 1967 World Series title. Musial then stepped down at the end of the season and was succeeded by Bing Devine. A statue of Musial was erected outside of Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri in 1968, and was dedicated after a Sunday afternoon loss to the Cubs on August 4, 1968. The statue was moved from its original location outside the old Busch Stadium (1966–2005) to the front of the new Busch Stadium for the first season in 2006. The statue has always been a popular place to meet friends at the stadium, and a small tradition among fans has been to climb the statue after the Cards' World Series wins in 1982 and 2006. It is inscribed with a quote from former baseball commissioner Ford Frick: "Here stands baseball's perfect warrior. Here stands baseball's perfect knight." Following his retirement Musial has been a successful businessman and restaurateur, and remains a popular figure in the St. Louis area. When asked why he always seemed so happy, he remarked, "If you had a .331 lifetime batting average, you'd be happy all the time, too!" In 1985, he opened and operated Inn at Grand Glaize at the Lake of the Ozarks, Mo. In 1989, he was inducted into the St. Louis Walk of Fame. In 1999 Musial ranked tenth on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players.[25] Musial was also honored as one of 30 players selected to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team, added by a special committee after finishing eleventh in fan voting among outfielders.[26] The surprise at his high esteem among baseball critics and omission from fan-voted all-time teams are a reflection of his rather understated demeanor. Indeed, it was Musial's characteristic modesty, in addition to the fact that he played his entire career for a midwestern ballclub, that allowed his legacy to fall behind those of his contemporaries such as Ted Williams and Joe DiMaggio. In 2000, Musial was inducted into the Hall of Famous Missourians, and a bronze bust depicting him is on permanent display in the rotunda of the Missouri State Capitol. Hobert Neal Landrith was born in 1930 in Decatur, IL and died in 2023 in Sunnyvale, CA. He went to college at Michigan State University. He played major league baseball from 1950 to 1963 as catcher for the Cincinnati Reds, Chicago Cubs, St. Louis Cardinals, San Francisco Giants, New York Mets, Baltimore Orioles and the Washington Senators. His 14 year major league career totals show that he appeared in 772 games behind the plate, fielding at a .983 percentage, and had a .233 career batting average with 34 home runs. In Where Have You Gone, Vince DiMaggio? Edward Kiersh wrote of Hobie, "At every stop, he was a hitless wonder who became the manager's right hand man, and he stayed in the majors fourteen years. When he retired in 1963 he turned down several coaching offers and used his charm and personality in public relations and later as director of sales for 45 Volkswagen dealeships in Northern California." John Bertrand Conlan was born in 1899 in Chicago, IL and died in 1989 in Scottsdale, AZ. He played major league baseball from 1934 to 1935 as outfielder for the Chicago White Sox, and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974. In 1935, Conlan was presented with an unusual opportunity. During a game against the St. Louis Browns, umpire Red Ormsby fell ill due to the heat. In those days, only two umpires covered typical regular-season games, and a player with a reputation for honesty might be pressed into service if one umpire became incapacitated. Conlan was asked to fill in, and took to it well. The following year Conlan made the transition from player to umpire complete, beginning in the minor leagues. Conlan umpired in the National League from 1941 to 1965, officiating in five World Series (1945, 1950, 1954, 1957 and 1961) and six All-Star Games (1943, 1947, 1950, 1953, 1958 and 1962). He also umpired in the playoff series to decide the NL's regular-season champions in 1951, 1959 and 1962. He was the home plate umpire when Gil Hodges hit four home runs on August 31, 1950; he also umpired in the April 30, 1961 game in which Willie Mays hit four home runs. He retired after the 1964 season, but returned to work as a substitute umpire for 17 games in 1965. Conlan was known for several trademarks: Instead of a regular dress tie like most umpires of the day wore, Conlan wore a natty bow tie for his career. Conlan was also known for making "out" calls with his left hand, instead of his right. Finally, Conlan was the last National League umpire allowed to wear the outside chest protector, instead of the inside protector that all other NL umpires were using by then. Conlan's name was mentioned several times in a fictitious baseball game celebrated in the 1962 song "The Los Angeles Dodgers," recorded by Danny Kaye. The song only referred to Conlan by his last name, with the presumption that the listener would know he was referring to the famous umpire. His son John Bertrand Conlan served as a U.S. Representative from Arizona from 1973 to 1977. SKU: XP12050
Item: XP12050
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