Outside of the Gateway Arch and Busch Stadium itself, there aren’t many St. Louis monuments as recognizable as the Stan Musial statue. Now a familiar meeting place for Cardinals fans, the statue was dedicated on August 4, 1968, as part of a daylong celebration of Musial’s incredible career.
The $35,000 monument was paid for through a fundraising drive led by the St. Louis chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA). Approximately $30,000 was raised at a special retirement dinner hosted for The Man in October 1963, in which 1,400 guests paid from $20 to $50 each.[1] An additional $2,000 was donated by the BBWAA chapter, and the KMOX radio station gifted an additional $5,000.[2]
When they raised the money, St. Louis’s baseball writers initially envisioned a statue that featured Musial signing a scorecard for a young fan.
“Stan the Man liked the symbolism better than he did the thought of an individual honor – modest fellow, you know – but costs and freedom of artistic expression prevailed,” wrote St. Louis Post-Dispatch sports editor Bob Broeg. “So it’s in his improbable stance, more or less, that famed No. 6 will look down upon the ages.[3]
“I like to think of the statue as a symbol of sportsmanship and great freedom of opportunity,” Musial said.[4]
The statue was unveiled to the public after an afternoon Cardinals-Cubs game in which Cubs right fielder Al Spangler hit a ninth-inning home run to end Bob Gibson’s 12-game win streak.
Prior to the game, the 1941 Cardinals – the team that welcomed Musial for his major-league debut and saw him hit his first career home run – were invited to a brunch in Cardinals chairman August A. Busch Jr.’s ballpark dining room. Each former player was presented a Cardinals wristwatch featuring his name on the dial.[5]
The players then went down to the field, where broadcaster Harry Caray introduced them to the Busch Stadium crowd as each player took the field at their former position. Musial was the only former player to don his old uniform, and when he was announced to take right field, he raced out to the position and pretended to chase down a fly ball.[6] The scene prompted Musial’s grandson, 4-year-old Jeffrey Musial, to ask his grandmother, “Is Stan Musial going to play today?”[7]
After the game, an estimated 20,000 of the 47,445 in attendance stayed for the statue unveiling.[8] Musial’s mother, Mary, and his wife, Lil, pulled the strings that dropped the statue’s cover and revealed the 10-foot, 5-inch statue and its 8 ½-foot marble pedestal.[9]
“Today I feel like I’m 18 feet tall,” Musial said,[10] looking over his shoulder at the statue, which he referred to as the “stash-ue”[11] (“Stash” is a Polish version of the name “Stanley” and was a common nickname for Musial).
Created by sculptor Carl Mose, a former teacher at Washington University who worked on the piece for three years, the statue featured Musial in his famous corkscrew batting stance. Its base featured “MUSIAL” in large letters. The only other inscription used former baseball commissioner Ford Frick’s famous quote envisioning what Musial’s inevitable Hall of Fame plaque should say: “Here stands baseball’s perfect warrior; here stands baseball’s perfect knight.”[12]
Commissioner William D. Eckert spoke at the unveiling, as did Frick. Also in attendance were Johnny Mize, Walker Cooper, Enos Slaughter, Lon Warneke, Coaker Triplett, Ernie White, Ira Hutchinson, Howie Pollet, Harry Gumbert, Howie Krist, Gus Mancuso, Don Padgett, Marty Marion, Johnny Beazley, Frank Crespi, Eddie Lake, and Erv Dusak.[13]
“Stan indicated that he never forgets the fans. This statue will assure that we’ll never forget him,” said Jack Buck in his role as master of ceremonies.[14]
As part of the ceremony, St. Louis mayor Alfonso J. Cervantes presented a model of the Arch and a key to the city to Musial’s mother.[15]
“I want to thank everyone – for my mother and the Musial family – for making me a Cardinal forever,” Musial said as he fought back tears near the conclusion of his speech.[16]
“Fortunately, behind the bronze and the stone is a man of heart and great integrity,” Frick said. “If the time comes when people are so blasé that they don’t look for a Musial glove under a boy’s pillow or a Musial bat at the side of the bed, then something will be lost from life.”[17]
After the game, Musial hosted his former teammates and friends at a party at his restaurant.[18]
Almost 40 years later, when the Cardinals opened Busch Stadium III in 2006, the statue was moved to a new location outside the stadium. As the Post-Dispatch described the statue’s new location, “The sight of Stan Musial’s familiar stance provided a bit of comfort. We may not have embraced the aesthetics of Carl Mose’s bronze statue (heck, even the man himself wasn’t that crazy about it). But as a meeting place, or as a cultural reference point, it became our true north. Today’s dedication of the statue at its new site, at the Spruce Street entrance, reassures us that The Man will continue to show the way.”[19]
Want stories like this sent directly to your inbox? Submit your email address below!
[1] John J. Archibald, “Musial Statue Unveiling Draws Baseball Notables,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 4, 1968.
[2] John J. Archibald, “Musial Statue Unveiling Draws Baseball Notables,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 4, 1968.
[3] Bob Broeg, “Unforgettable First and Last Days for ‘Perfect Knight,’” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 4, 1968.
[4] Neal Russo, “Statue Dedicated, Stan ‘Redbird Forever,’” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 5, 1968.
[5] Bob Broeg, “Win for Gibby Would Have Given Stan Perfect Day,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 6, 1968.
[6] Neal Russo, “Statue Dedicated, Stan ‘Redbird Forever,’” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 5, 1968.
[7] Neal Russo, “Statue Dedicated, Stan ‘Redbird Forever,’” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 5, 1968.
[8] Neal Russo, “Statue Dedicated, Stan ‘Redbird Forever,’” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 5, 1968.
[9] Neal Russo, “Statue Dedicated, Stan ‘Redbird Forever,’” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 5, 1968.
[10] Neal Russo, “Statue Dedicated, Stan ‘Redbird Forever,’” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 5, 1968.
[11] Neal Russo, “Statue Dedicated, Stan ‘Redbird Forever,’” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 5, 1968.
[12] Neal Russo, “Statue Dedicated, Stan ‘Redbird Forever,’” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 5, 1968.
[13] John J. Archibald, “Musial Statue Unveiling Draws Baseball Notables,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 4, 1968.
[14] Neal Russo, “Statue Dedicated, Stan ‘Redbird Forever,’” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 5, 1968.
[15] Neal Russo, “Statue Dedicated, Stan ‘Redbird Forever,’” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 5, 1968.
[16] Neal Russo, “Statue Dedicated, Stan ‘Redbird Forever,’” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 5, 1968.
[17] Neal Russo, “Statue Dedicated, Stan ‘Redbird Forever,’” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 5, 1968.
[18] Bob Broeg, “Win for Gibby Would Have Given Stan Perfect Day,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 6, 1968.
[19] “Dedicated to The Man,” St. Louis Post Dispatch, April 10, 2006.