DOWNTOWN — He had 1,815 drives inside a St. Louis ballpark, so it’s only fitting that Stan “The Man” Musial would finally have one outside a ballpark in St. Louis.

As part of “Stan Musial Day” at Busch Stadium on Sunday, the Cardinals will rename a ribbon of road outside the 2-year-old downtown ballpark for their Hall of Famer and Mr. Cardinal. The street will be called, of course, “Stan Musial Drive.”

It is, after all, exactly what made him The Man — 3,630 drives for base hits in his career.

Renaming part of Eighth Street in downtown St. Louis for Musial is just one of the dedications that will happen Sunday in a ceremony before that afternoon’s game. The Cardinals will also dedicate ”Stan Musial Plaza”, the refurbished area under the Musial Bridge and around the Stan Musial statue that includes bricks from the Musial family tree and those purchased by fans in the latest brickpaver program.

Here’s how the Cardinals describe the purposeful layout of the plaza:

The “Musial Plaza” features a beautifully designed walkway with brick and granite pavers that pay tribute to Musial. The center section of the plaza features a giant granite baseball with Stan’s famous signature inlaid on the “sweet spot” On the top of the baseball are granite pavers signifying many of Stan’s career achievements and the bottom of the baseball features Musial’s family tree. In addition, there are 3,630 personalized pavers that equate to the total number of hits in Stan’s brilliant career (one half are on one side of the plaza, representing his hits at home, and the other half are on the other side, representing his hits on the road).

This past week marked the 50th anniversary of Musial’s 3,000th career hit – making him the only member of the 3,000-hit club that collect it as a pinch-hitter. It is also the 60th anniversary of his 1948 MVP, which came after the season he nearly pulled off the unparalleled feat of leading the National League in every major statistical category, including and beyond the Triple Crown stats. (He came a home run short, as you’ve read about before.) 

There are other festivities planned for Musial. The city will proclaim it, officially, “Stan Musial Day”. The first 25,000 fans age 16 and under in attendance will get replicas of the Stan Musial statue. And, Cardinals president Bill DeWitt III said the team had requested permission to put No. 6 on all of three bases for the game.

Musial joins a handful of other St. Louis icons and sports figures to get addressed with the honor of a street. According to an article by Post-Dispatch news scribe and fellow Maneater alum Jake Wagman, here are the others ’round town:  

- Brett Hull Way, named this year for hockey star: Clark Avenue between 14th and 16th streets downtown.

- Dick Weber Lane, named in 2005 for bowling great: Seventh Street near Bowling Hall of Fame.

- Congressman William L. Clay Sr. Drive, named in 2002 for veteran lawmaker: Clara Avenue in the West End.

- Jack Buck Way, named in 2002 for broadcaster: Seventh Street near the old Busch Stadium.

- Josephine Baker Boulevard, named in 1998 for entertainer: formerly Channing Avenue near St. Louis University.

- Leonor K. Sullivan Boulevard, named in 1983 for congresswoman: on the riverfront near the Arch, formerly Wharf Street.

- James “Cool Papa” Bell Avenue, named in 1983 for Negro league baseball star: in the JeffVanderLou neighborhood between MLK Drive and Jefferson Avenue.

- Dick Gregory Place, named in 1976 for comedian, activist: between Market Street and MLK Drive in the Ville area.

- Redd Foxx Lane, named in 1973 for comedian: between Grand Boulevard and Vandeventer Avenue.

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