Stan Musial (55 page)

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Authors: George Vecsey

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41 | HOMETOWN

  
1
 “Stan included her in things”: Verna Duda, interview, Mar. 2009.

  
2
 While Stan was still playing: Roger Kahn, interview, Mar. 4, 2010.

  
3
 “She had a hard life”: Tom Ashley, interview, Feb. 2009.

  
4
 Whenever the Cardinals played: Bob Broeg, interview, ESPN, Nov. 29, 2000.

  
5
 “We would see him”: Edward S. Musial, interview, Jun. 2, 2009.

  
6
 In 1965, Musial had a ranch: Stewart,
Stan the Man
, 165.

  
7
 erratic behavior: Giglio,
Musial
, 296.

  
8
 Stan would also return: Ed Musial, interview, ESPN, Dec. 18, 2000.

  
9
 Then he shuttled around: Statistics courtesy of John Hall.

  
10
 Ed did work with Stan: Giglio,
Musial
, 289–90.

11
 “I went the other way”: Ed Musial, interview, ESPN, Dec. 18, 2000.

12
 Stan remained loyal: Stewart,
Stan the Man
, 212.

13
 “Maybe it is characteristic”: Dr. Charles Stacey, interview, May 12, 2009.

14
 “I passed to Pope”: Bimbo Cecconi, tour of Donora, Mar. 2009.

42 | STANLEY GOES TO A REUNION

  
1
 Tom Ashley, interview.

43 | THE POLISH CONNECTION

  
1
 “They liked being out somewhere”: Tom Ashley, interview, 2009.

  
2
 “As a boy I had nothing”: Anne Morris, “Passing of a Man of Letters,”
Austin American-Statesman
, Oct. 17, 1997.

  
3
 It took an army: Herman Silverman,
Michener and Me
(Philadelphia: Running Press, 1999), 29, 32.

  
4
 “Jim and I were signing”: Tom Wheatley, “Musial Admired,”
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
, Feb. 13, 1996.

  
5
 “I’m a Democrat”: Kahn, “Of Galahad and Quests That Failed.”

  
6
 “The relationship between Dad and Stan”: Helen P. Nelson, interview, Jun. 29, 2009.

  
7
 “She corrected him”: James A. Michener,
Pilgrimage: A Memoir of Poland and Rome
(Emmaus, Penn.: Rodale, 1990), 71–72.

  
8
 “Mr. P. was relentless”: Email from Karen Wessel Fox, Oct. 7, 2009.

  
9
 “I don’t think Polish jokes”: Kahn, “Of Galahad and Quests That Failed.”

10
 Ed Piszek went: Michener,
Pilgrimage
, 76.

11
 “The clock was ticking”: Christine Schiavo, “Personal Words Mark Funeral for Mrs. Paul’s Mogul,”
Philadelphia Inquirer
, Apr. 4, 2004.

12
 Christenson had met: Larry Christenson, interview, Jan. 6, 2009.

13
 “But that was explained”: Michener,
Pilgrimage
, 17.

14
 Musial met some Polish relatives: Ibid., 32.

15
 A staggering portion: Lech Walesa, “Excerpts from Debate Between Lech Walesa and Alfred Miodowicz, Nov. 30, 1988,”
Making the History of 1989
,
http://chnm.gmu.edu/1989/items/show/540
.

16
 Musial and the rest: Michener,
Pilgrimage
, 35.

17
 Michener greeted the pope: Ibid., 85.

18
 “Three courses served by a nun”: Ibid., 86.

19
 “I’m entitled to be here”: Ibid., 89.

20
 “I watched Stan interact”: Jim Murray, interview, Jan. 20, 2009.

21
 Like many people: Larry Christenson, interview, Jun. 26, 2009.

22
 “Grasping my hand”: Michener,
Pilgrimage
, 93.

23
 “When I saw Musial”: Richard L. Thornburgh, interview, Jan. 7, 2009.

24
 intrigue was taking place: Christenson, Murray, Thornburgh interviews.

25
 “Stan could have been”: Jim Murray, interview, Jan. 20, 2009.

26
 Musial was so identified: Pat Henry, interview, Dec. 3, 2010.

27
 Musial retained his bond: Maureen Dowd, “For Bush, a Polish Welcome Without Fervor,”
New York Times
, Jul. 11, 1989.

28
 In 1990, Stan and Lil: Giglio,
Musial
, 300.

29
 The friendship between Musial and Michener: Hunter,
TV One-on-One
.

30
 McEwen wrote he had received: Tom McEwen, “Mr. Michener’s Tour of Tampa,”
Tampa Tribune
, Feb. 9, 2008.

31
 “I took the bouquet”: Tom McEwen, “A Sports Night to Remember with Stan the Man,”
Tampa Tribune
, Jul. 25, 2009.

32
 After turning ninety: Frank Eltman, “James Michener Remembered by Friends, Colleagues at Manhattan Memorial,” Associated Press, Nov. 18, 1997.

33
 Musial described him: Stephanie Simon, “Famous Novelist James A. Michener Dies at Age 90,”
Los Angeles Times
, Oct. 17, 1997.

34
 Fifteen months later: Patricia Rice, “Area Basked in Pope’s Visit,”
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
, Apr. 3, 2005.

35
 Edward Piszek later went through: Schiavo, “Personal Words Mark Funeral.”

36
 “They remained friends”: Helen P. Nelson, interview, Jun. 29, 2009.

44 | THE FACE IN THE CROWD

  
1
 George Vecsey, “Mantle’s Teammates Say Goodbye,”
New York Times
, Aug. 16, 1995; Bob Costas, interview, Nov. 18, 2008; Tom Wheatley, “Farewell to the Mick; Mantle Dead at 63: ‘A Yankee Forever,’ ”
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
, Aug. 14, 1995.

  
2
 Few people in the church knew: Jane Leavy,
The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle and the End of America’s Childhood
(New York: HarperCollins, 2010), 56.

  
3
 The two players had something else: Leavy,
The Last Boy
, 38.

45 | STANLEY’S STATUES

  
1
 Ten feet five inches tall: Neal Russo, “Smiles, Kisses and Tears at Musial Statue Unveiling,”
Sporting News
, Aug. 17, 1968.

  
2
 “I saw the sculptor”: Kahn, “Of Galahad and Quests That Failed.”

  
3
 “great, great honor”:
Halls of Fame: Stan Musial
.

  
4
 “I’ll say this, Jeannie”: Broeg,
The Man, Stan
, 240.

46 | MORE FUNERALS

  
1
 “I wish I could have gotten”: Tom Wheatley, “Musial Admired by Those Whom Musial Admires,”
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
, Feb. 13, 1996.

  
2
 “You have a feeling”: Fay Vincent, interview, Dec. 30, 2008.

  
3
 For many years, the Clipper: Nick Nicolosi, interview, 2008.

  
4
 “You know, Joe and I”: Garagiola,
It’s Anybody’s Ballgame
, 94.

  
5
 “The headline in the newspaper”: Buck,
“That’s a Winner,”
82.

  
6
 Actually, headlines in the
Post-Dispatch:
Bill Smith, “Musial Cries ‘Foul’ on Garagiolas’ Suit,”
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
, Apr. 19, 1986; Joe Mannies, “Business Splits Old Friends,”
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
, Apr. 27, 1986.

  
7
 The suit was filed: Giglio,
Musial
, 292–95.

  
8
 “It was no coincidence”: Buck,
“That’s a Winner,”
82.

  
9
 The Cardinals’ staff learned: Bill Madden, “Musial Tosses Gutter Ball Over Garagiola Split,”
Daily News
, Oct. 26, 2006.

10
 In July 1996: James N. Giglio, “Prelude to Greatness: Stanley Musial and the Springfield Cardinals of 1941,”
Missouri Historical Review
, July 1996, 429–52.

11
 It was a fairly: Email from James N. Giglio to Scott Lehotsky, Mar. 5, 2004.

12
 One shunned acquaintance: William Bottonari, interview, Nov. 12, 2008.

13
 “Stan would sit”: Bob Costas, interview, Nov. 18, 2008.

14
 “We’ve learned a lot”:
The Legend of Stan the Man Musial
.

15
 Gerry and Tom Ashley: Tom Ashley, interviews.

16
 Musial then told: Roger Kahn, interview, Mar. 4, 2010.

17
 “I quit while I still”: Kahn, “Of Galahad and Quests That Failed.”

18
 Dublin for the Irish Derby: James Hackett, interview, May 12, 2009.

19
 Torre also went: Joe Torre, interview, Jul. 9, 2009.

20
 Stanley would almost always show up: Mickey McTague, interview, 2010; Bob Broeg, “The One-Man Band Played On and On,”
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
, Apr. 14, 1996.

21
 “Stan would sign”: Larry Christenson, interview, Jan. 6, 2009.

22
 Another constant in Stan’s life: Gerry Ashley, interview.

23
 For a very long time: John McGuire, interview, 2009.

24
 Most days, Stanley and Zitzmann: Dick Zitzmann, interview, Dec. 17, 2008.

25
 “Stan told me”: Hunter,
TV One-on-One
.

26
 “Well, I’m hanging in there”: Warren Mayes, “Stan the Man Still a St. Louis Icon at 81,” Associated Press, Aug. 17, 2002.

27
 Williams, DiMaggio and Stan: Dave Newhouse, “Musial’s Secretary: Stan’s Still the Man in Baseball,”
Oakland Tribune
, Apr. 4, 2004.

28
 “I’ve always liked him”: Monte Irvin, interview, Dec. 5, 2008.

29
 “No, this is Ted’s day”: Montville,
Ted Williams
, 372–73.

30
 As the mourners left the church: Ben Cramer,
Joe DiMaggio
, 511.

31
 In his mid-eighties: Gerry Ashley, interview.

32
 “Back in the day”: Gerry Ashley, email, Dec. 28, 2009.

47 | UPSTAGED AGAIN

  
1
 “It was cold”: Albert Pujols, interview, 2009.

  
2
 Musial and Pujols seemed: Bernie Miklasz, “It’s Hard to Find Words to Describe Cards Star,”
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
, Apr. 12, 2009.

  
3
 Their mutual admiration cut: Rick Hummel, “Albert and the Man,”
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
, Jul. 15, 2009.

  
4
 “The whole dynamic changed”: Dick Zitzmann, interview, 2010.

  
5
 “Mom and I were worried”: Gerry Ashley, interview, 2009.

  
6
 Feeling the rush of time: Derrick Goold, “Meet the Man: La Russa Spread the Word of Musial,”
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
, Mar. 20, 2010.

  
7
 Often they were photographed: George Vecsey, “For Musial, a Birthday and a Medal,”
New York Times
, Nov. 20, 2010.

  
8
 “The day we started”: Ron Watermon, interview, Nov. 18, 2010.

  
9
 DeWitt and everybody else: William O. DeWitt Jr., interview, Nov. 18, 2010.

EPILOGUE | HERE HE COMES NOW

  
1
 Lunch with Jim Hackett, John McGuire, Larry L. Thompson, Missouri Athletic Club, 2009.

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