Stan Musial.

Stan Musial. Stan Musial, born in 1920, American baseball player and general manager. In his 22 seasons (1941-44; 1946-63) Musial set more records than any previous player in major league history. Stanley Frank Musial was born in Donora, Pennsylvania. He began his baseball career in 1938 as a minor league pitcher, but arm injuries forced him to switch to playing in the outfield and at first base. Musial made it to the big leagues in 1942 and quickly became a feared left-handed hitter, known for his consistency and distinctive batting stance. Stan "The Man" Musial played his entire major league career with the St. Louis Cardinals. At his retirement in 1963 he held major league records for extra-base hits (1,377) and total bases (6,134). He also held National League records for hits (3,630), runs scored (1,949), runs batted in (1,951), total number of games played (3,026), consecutive games played (895), and times at bat (10,972). Musial won the most valuable player (MVP) award three times (1943, 1946, 1948) and was league batting champion seven times (1943, 1946, 1948, 1950-52, 1957). For 16 consecutive years he achieved a batting average of over .300, retiring with a lifetime average of .331. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1969. Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.