Torre’s Tales of “The Man”
DOWNTOWN — When Joe Torre arrived in St. Louis as a new Cardinal and rising star, he’d get a phone call late in the afternoon asking if he and his wife would like to grab dinner with a teammate. Torre never said no.
You just don’t turn down The Man.
Torre arrived in the majors just as Stan Musial was finishing his Hall of Fame career, though the two became friends when Torre became a Cardinal, and have remained so throughout the years. Musial often visited Torre during spring training, even darting down to Florida for one day a couple years ago — just to nosh with Torre when he was manager of the New York Yankees. In the first edition of Wednesday’s Post-Dispatch, there was a note about Torre recounting his lunch with Musial on Tuesday. (News trimmed the note from later editions, so I’ll paste it here.)
The Man wouldn’t let the manager pick up the check:
IT’S ON ‘THE MAN’
Dodgers manager Joe Torre said he tried to pick up the check for his meal in St. Louis on Tuesday, but some man wouldn’t let him. That man was “The Man,” Stan Musial. Torre lunched with Musial and talked about many things, including Brooklyn. “He asked me, ‘You were born in Brooklyn, right?’” Torre said. ” ‘I used to like to hit in Brooklyn.’”
Torre said the Musials would often bring the Torres out for dinner when Torre was a player for the Cardinals. “What a lovely, lovely, lovely man,” Torre said.
That wasn’t the only story Torre told about Musial. As he often does entertaining the media with stories from his time with and against Bob Gibson, Torre had his Musial stories all lined up and ready to go for the visit to St. Louis. When Musial was an older player, he used a lighter, thinner bat, but, as Torre said, “still had this small hitting area right along the barrel.”
So deft with the bat, the bruises from contact with the ball would all be clustered right along the sweet spot of the bat. Never too close to the handle. Never ever too close to the top of the bat. It was with a swift crack of his bat that Musial delivered another, um, swift crack that Torre recalled Wednesday. Post-Dispatch writer Drew Schmenner, our Hummel Intern for the summer, takes over from here:
***
By Drew Schmenner
Playing the role of bard, Dodgers manager Joe Torre regaled the media before Wednesday’s game.
Torre was asked to retell a tale from a game between the Milwaukee Braves and Cardinals in St. Louis in the early 1960s.
Torre was catching for Braves pitcher Warren Spahn. Stan Musial was persistent at the plate for the Cardinals.
“Spahnie had some trouble getting out Stan like a lot of pitchers did,” Torre recalled.
Torre called for a breaking ball. Spahn nodded but decided to drop down and throw it sidearmed.
“Stan never budged,” Torre said, “which means that’s not a good sign for the pitcher. He it a line drive back, and it hit Warren in a very vulnerable spot.”
(DG Note: Spahn, Torre told us Tuesday, never wore a cup because his high leg kick made one so uncomfortable and difficult to, well, keep in place.)
Spahn lay down, got up, threw Musial out at first and lay down again. Musial checked on Spahn after the play.
“(Stan) went by and said, ‘Are you all right, old folks?’ and just continued on running back to the dugout,” Torre said.
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Derrick Goold said he was going to Mizzou for capital-J journalism, but after growing up in the Time Zone Baseball Forgot he was really drawn to MU sitting between two major-league cities. Goold joined the Post-Dispatch in 2001 after working for The Times-Picayune and Rocky Mountain News, covering sports from LSU to NHL and every level of baseball in between. 
Love to hear Stan the Man stories… keep ‘em coming! DG, do you think Stan will be honored in any way before the 2009 All-Star game? He more than deserves it. I’m thinking of how Ted Williams was honored several years back… it’d be nice to see Stosh get that same type of recognition.
Stan Musial simply can NOT be talked about too much… he remains–after 45 years– a major Force behind the “Cardinal Nation”, and one of the more underrated players of The Game.
I agree, Stan the Man is a Cardinal Icon as well as a GREAT MLB ambassader. He needs to be honored at the ALL STAR game in any fashion that he can handle. Time is passing these opportunities by. Lets make this event a nostalgic one for all the nation to see. It seems to me that Stan was always overshadowed by the Dimagio’s and the Williams in the 40’s and later Mantle and Mays in the 50’s era. Even today we see the GOLDEN AGE series on FSN and Stan does not get the attention you see these guys get.
when stan was finishing up his career i was a pre teen baseball fanatic. i played all day and listened all night. if the conditions were just right you could pick up dodger games occasionally. stan was pure baseball talent. i think you could have played him anywhere and he would have been outstanding. when we played our pick up games, i always wanted to be stan the man. he should be honored at the all star game as he was an all star’s all star.
Derrick - More, More, More!! These stories are absolutely great. And I definitively echo the ‘honor Stan the Man’ idea at the All-Star game. He should be the centerpiece of the pre-game. Keep up the good work.
DG: Thanks again for another great story with insight into the ballplayer we paid the ultimate compliment to: “THE MAN”.
When I don my Musial jersey I do so with undying pride. Stan is loved by us all not only for his great accomplishments on the diamond but also for the great man he was off it. Check the record books, Stan’s name litters every page yet the national media seems to constantly overlook this. Lets take our AllStar game in St Louis as an opportunity to show the whole world what a treasure we have here in St. Louis! DG keep the stories coming, Cardinal Nation can never hear enough about our most beloved hero!!!
I like Roger in Tahoo was about 13 when The Man hung um up. My family went to see him in Milwaukee. He doubled and was lifted for a pinch runner. Not because he couldn’t run but to give the fans an opportunity to express their appreciation. And boy did they.
After the game when he came out of the players entrance we were all there hoping to get an autograph. He respectfully declined and we were all dejected. My sister was 11 and very small and walked up to him and said “We came all this way just to see you.” He smiled down at her and said “ok, I’ll give one autograph.” She got the only from him one that day.
I wish there were more men playing the game today with the spirit The Man exhibited everyday.
What was that “Stan the Man” story about when the Cardinals played the Cubs and Leo Durocher was the Cub’s manager, I believe ? Durocher was going crazy saying goofy stuff, and all Musial had to do was to say one sentence and it shut him up completely… what was that line ?
It was funny as Durocher could be such an #%%. Durocher said after all, that “nice guys finish last,” as justification for his antics.
Unfourtanely I never had the privilige to see Stan the Man play, but I love getting the chance to hear these stories. I agree Stan should be honored at the AS game in ST. Louis next year. Why was he not honored at Yankee Stadium this season? Great post, DG.