Came across something pretty cool

[Matthewbritton]

A while back my mom let me have her baseball she got signed by Musial when she was a kid. I took a closer look at the ball and noticed it had a Spalding stamp on it. I began to investigate the ball it turns out it is an official national league ball from prior to 1969. Sweet.

Well this week while my wife and I are visiting my folks, I found another ball in much better shape from the same era. While the Musial ball is browned some, this ball is a nice shade of white. It does have bat marks, but it is still in decent shape. My mom said she or her brother must have gotten it at one of the multiple Cards spring training games they attended when they were kids. And, she doesn't mind if I take this ball with me either. Pretty cool to have two national league GU'ed balls from before 1969, and that one is signed by one of the greatest, Stan Musial.

 

[chaplain11]

Pretty cool story. Congrats on the sweet signautre of one of the true greats of the game.

Dewayne

 

[bigwallastyle]

Nice. I have a Musial pic that I had signed when I was like 5 or something (around the mid 70's.) It is framed and hanging on my wall. It is weird to think of him as the second best Cardinal of all time now.

Tom

 

[Matthewbritton]

Nice. I have a Musial pic that I had signed when I was like 5 or something (around the mid 70's.) It is framed and hanging on my wall. It is weird to think of him as the second best Cardinal of all time now.

Tom

That's quite a statement seeing as the person who has taken his play still has half to a third of his career left! Albert is amazing, no doubt.

 

[chieftazmisty]

Congrats
Nice find from your Mom,s
Something to really hold onto.

Stan the Man is still the greatest Cardinal of all times

Chief

 

[bigwallastyle]

Check out Pujols' #'s at about the 1/2 way point.

Tom

He's played 10 seasons now. Here is how they stack up:

Musial Pujols
Games Played 3026 1486
Hits 3630 1816
2B 726 408
HR 475 387
RBI 1951 1176
Runs 1949 1126
Walks 1599 871
AVG .331 .332
OBP .419 .426
OPS .976 1.051

It is pretty incredible really. Assuming Pujols' age is correct, he could realistically put the same #'s (or close) up for at least 4 more year (when he turns 34). If that happens, he easily passes Stan in HR's, is within 250 RBI's and runs (at 125 per year on average) is within 300 or so BB's, and about 150doubles away as well: AT THE AGE OF 35. Really incredible when you think about it. Considering that Stan the Man is widely regarded as one of the top 5 or 10 hitters ever, Pujols will be the best Cardinal ever if he plays until he's 40. And, if he can put up 50% of his #'s from age 35 to 40, he becomes one of the top players ever with about 650 HR's, 2100 RBI's, 2000 runs, 3100 or so hits, 1600 BB's; etc. Pretty formidiable numbers. If you project out those 50% numbers and he is able to play until 43 or 44 like Hank Aaron and Musial, he is in the all time top two or three.

That's quite a statement seeing as the person who has taken his play still has half to a third of his career left! Albert is amazing, no doubt.

 

[Matthewbritton]

Check out Pujols' #'s at about the 1/2 way point.

Tom

He's played 10 seasons now. Here is how they stack up:

Musial Pujols
Games Played 3026 1486
Hits 3630 1816
2B 726 408
HR 475 387
RBI 1951 1176
Runs 1949 1126
Walks 1599 871
AVG .331 .332
OBP .419 .426
OPS .976 1.051

It is pretty incredible really. Assuming Pujols' age is correct, he could realistically put the same #'s (or close) up for at least 4 more year (when he turns 34). If that happens, he easily passes Stan in HR's, is within 250 RBI's and runs (at 125 per year on average) is within 300 or so BB's, and about 150doubles away as well: AT THE AGE OF 35. Really incredible when you think about it. Considering that Stan the Man is widely regarded as one of the top 5 or 10 hitters ever, Pujols will be the best Cardinal ever if he plays until he's 40. And, if he can put up 50% of his #'s from age 35 to 40, he becomes one of the top players ever with about 650 HR's, 2100 RBI's, 2000 runs, 3100 or so hits, 1600 BB's; etc. Pretty formidiable numbers. If you project out those 50% numbers and he is able to play until 43 or 44 like Hank Aaron and Musial, he is in the all time top two or three.

Really nice. My favorite part though was when you said, "assuming Pujols' age is correct." This made me laugh. But the numbers don't lie, he's the greatest.

 

[seawolf17]

True, but it is a different era. You'd expect Albert to outpace Musial's numbers, especially in the power stats.

 

[tglg]

If it wouldn't have been for his Navy Service during WWII, Stan would have become a 500 Home Run Club member. But I am sure if you asked Stan, he would gladly not have those homers given the opportunity to serve this Great Nation.

I think they will someday share that title, but sometimes, even as good as the latest version of something is, nothing tops the original. When Stan passes, it will be a very sad day for Cardinal Nation. But Pujols is a stud, and I hope he stays a Cardinal his entire career, so they will both be legendary Cardinals.

 

[Matthewbritton]

How did this turn into a Cards lovefest?!?!?! I'm a Cub fan as my father is, his father is, and my grandfather's father before him. My mother married a Cub fan, and though she'll never ever admit it, she is a Cubs fan now.

More than anything though, I am a fan of the game. I'm glad to have Musial on a ball and would take any Cardinal player autograph at any time. Between the lines I'll root for the Cubs until the day I die, but I love seeing good baseball. Unfortunately, the Cards play good baseball way more than my team does :-0

 

[tglg]

Darn, I was hoping that since you didn't like it turning into a Cards love fest, that maybe you would part with a Musial. Guess not, LOL. Congrats though on two really nice pieces for your collection.

 

[Matthewbritton]

Darn, I was hoping that since you didn't like it turning into a Cards love fest, that maybe you would part with a Musial. Guess not, LOL. Congrats though on two really nice pieces for your collection.

Thanks! Definitely worth a try!