Baseball great Stan Musial, 92, of natural causes:
Where does one start when talking about the incredible career Musial enjoyed? He collected 3,630 career hits, which ranks fourth on the all-time list and first for a player who spent his entire career with one team. And just to drive home how remarkably consistent Musial was throughout his entire career, he divided those hits evenly with 1,815 coming at home and the other 1,815 on the road.
If that's not the single coolest stat that has ever existed in baseball's grand history, I don't know what is.
He also hit 475 home runs and compiled a batting line of .331/.417/.559, which shows he wasn't just a one-dimensional hitter. In fact, he was, without question, a magician with the bat who rarely failed to make contact — he never struckout more than 46 times in a single season — and could tailor his approach to any situation and consistently produce results. It's because of those skills and his versatility that I will tell any time there's a debate about who the greatest all-around hitter in the game was, Musial has to be included, if not placed on top of the list.
And he wasn't a doper, either.
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Another death in the world of baseball: Earl Weaver, former manager of the Baltimore Orioles, 82:
A hot-tempered bantam who screamed curses at umpires and sometimes at his own players, Earl Weaver made the Baltimore Orioles into a baseball powerhouse during his 17 years as manager._____
He was infamous for his explosive diatribes, which got him thrown out of almost 100 games, and for nervously smoking cigarettes throughout games, but no one could deny that the “Earl of Baltimore” was one of the greatest managers in baseball history.
Orioles officials announced that Mr. Weaver died Friday while on a team-sponsored Caribbean cruise with many of his former players. He was 82. The cause of death was not immediately disclosed.
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