"I consciously memorized the speed at which every pitcher in the league threw his fastball, curve, and slider; then, I'd pick up the speed of the ball in the first thirty feet of its flight and knew how it would move once it had crossed the plate."

"I have a darn good job, but please don't ask me what I do." Source: Sports Illustrated (June 20, 1998)

"I love to play this game of baseball - I love putting on this uniform." Source: Sport Magazine's All-Time All Stars (Tom Murray, 1963)

"I never realized that batting a little ball around could cause so much commotion. I now know how (Charles) Lindbergh must have felt when he returned from St. Louis." Source: Wrigley Field Press Conference (May 13, 1958)

"I started to crouch because that way I could guard the plate better, and I always wanted to hit .300 in the big leagues." Source: Sportscentury Biography (ESPN, Larry Schwartz)

On an All-Star Team, I vote for players of one kind-those I enjoy watching the most when the ball is hit or pitched in their direction." Source: Los Angeles Times (March 30, 1971)

"The first principle of contract negotiations is don't remind them of what you did in the past - tell them what you're going to do in the future." Source: Widely Attributed

"The key to hitting for high average is to relax, concentrate, and don't hit the fly ball to center field." Source: 50th Anniversary Hall of Fame Yearbook (1989)

"The one unbreakable rule about hitting is this: if a batter hits well with his own particular stance and swing, think twice - or more - before suggesting a change." Source: The Mutual Baseball Almanac (Kahn & Helfer, 1954)

"There is no one correct way to bat, and so of course there is no one correct stance for it." Source: The Mutual Baseball Almanac (Kahn & Helfer, 1954)

"There was never a day when I was as good as Joe DiMaggio at his best. Joe was the best, the very best I ever saw."

"When a pitcher's throwing a spitball, don't worry and don't complain, just hit the dry side like I do."

"You wait for a strike, then you knock the shit out of it."

"A couple years ago they told me I was too young to be president and you were too old to be playing baseball. But we fooled them." - President John F. Kennedy at the 1962 All Star Game

"An outfield composed of (Ty) Cobb, (Tris) Speaker and (Babe) Ruth, even with Ruth, lacks the combined power of (Joe) DiMaggio, (Stan) Musial and (Ted) Williams." - Connie Mack

"He could have hit .300 with a fountain pen." - Joe Garagiola

"He didn't hit a homer in his last at-bat; he hit a single. He didn't hit in 56 straight games. He married his high school sweetheart and stayed married to her, never married a Marilyn Monroe. He didn't play with the sheer joy and style that goes alongside Willie Mays' name. None of those easy things are there to associate with Stan Musial. All Musial represents is more than two decades of sustained excellence and complete decency as a human being." - Sportscaster Bob Costas in ESPN SportsCentury (ESPN)

"How good was Stan Musial? He was good enough to take your breath away." - Broadcaster Vin Scully

"In baseball, there is something electrifying about the big leagues. I had read so much about (Stan) Musial, (Ted) Williams and (Jackie) Robinson. I had put those guys on a pedestal. They were something special. I really thought they put their pants on different, rather than one leg at a time." - Hank Aaron

"I throw him four wide ones then try to pick him off first base." - Preacher Roe

"I've had pretty good success with Stan (Musial) by throwing him my best pitch and backing up third." - Carl Erskine

"Once (Stan) Musial timed your fastball, your infielders were in jeopardy." - Warren Spahn

"Sometimes I sit in my den at home and read stories about myself. Kids used to save whole scrapbooks on me. They get tired of them and mail them to me. I'll go in there and read them, and you know what? They might as well be about (Stan) Musial and (Joe) DiMaggio, it's like reading about somebody else." - Mickey Mantle

"The man I marvel at is the one that's in there day after day, and night after night and still puts the figures on the board. I'm talking about Pete Rose, Stan Musial, the real stars. Believe me, especially the way we travel today, flying all night with a game the next night and then the next afternoon, if you can play one-hundred and sixty-two games, you're a man." - Sparky Anderson

"They can talk about Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb and Rogers Hornsby and Lou Gehrig and Joe DiMaggio and Stan Musial and all the rest, but I'm sure not one of them could hold cards and spades to (Ted) Williams in his sheer knowledge of hitting. He studied hitting the way a broker studies the stock market, and could spot at a glance mistakes that others couldn't see in a week." - Carl Yastrzemski

"When you're a kid, what fun the game is! You grab a bat and glove and ball, that's it. I know what Ted Williams and Stan Musial meant when they said it got tougher to get in shape every year." - Eddie Mathews

The Tycoon by Ogden Nash

The business life of Mr. Musial
is, to say the least, unusual.
First base, outfield, restaurant, bank,
All are home to Stanley Frank.
One moment, slugger of lethal liners,
The next, mine host to hungry diners,
And, between the slugging and the greeting,
To the bank for a directors' meeting.
Yet no one grudges success to Stan,
Good citizen and family man,
Though I would love to have his job —
One half tycoon, one half Ty Cobb.

Source: Life (September 5, 1955)

Quotes From & About Stan Musial