A Sad Day for Baseball: The Passing of Two Legends

Both Weaver and Musial were legends for their clubs. Weaver managed the Orioles for 17 years, winning four pennants and one World Series championship. Weaver was in many ways a generation ahead of his time in strategy, eschewing the small-ball tactic many of his contemporaries in favor of the three-run homer. He was very good in balancing defense and offense, often playing marginal defenders in the early innings to get a lead, then bringing in his good defenders to help defend.

And of course, Weaver's tirades are the stuff of legend.

(Very NSFW)

Stan "The Man" Musial was by far the best player in St Louis Cardinal history. He holds the franchise records in just about every meaningful offensive counting stat category, including Runs, Hits, Doubles, Triples, Home Runs, RBIs, Walks, etc. He won three NL MVPs, appeared in 24 All-Star Games in his 22 seasons,* ranks 3rd All-Time in doubles, 9th in Runs, 2nd in Total Bases, 4th in Hits. In other words, one of the best players ever to play the game of baseball.

Two legends, one who played in St. Louis his entire career, the other who managed his entire career for a club who once made its home in St. Louis. One played 22 seasons in the majors, the other who never played in the majors. Their temperaments were wildly different, but both were beloved by their fans and respected throughout the game.

*During the early 1960s, there were two All-Star Games a season.