Baseball: Attaboy, Gramps!

A lot of ballplayers have their grandparents rooting for them. It will not be long before Stanley Frank Musial can spot his grandchildren in the stands. At 42, the St. Louis Cardinal outfielder is the oldest active player in the major leagues; he has a 23-year-old son (who plans a career in business or the Army instead of baseball) and a daughter-in-law who is expecting a baby in August. But Stan the Man is not quite ready for the rocking chair. Under the lights in St. Louis last week, Musial abruptly uncoiled from his corkscrew stance, stepped into a pitch thrown by the Dodgers’ Bob Miller, and cracked it into the Busch Stadium bleachers. I was his 465th home run, and together with 717 doubles and 175 triples, it gave him a lifetime total of 1,357 extra-base hits_breaking Babe Ruth’s alltime record. After 21 seasons in the majors, Musial holds or shares 55 records in all, including National League marks for most games played (2,923), most times at bat (10,699), most base hits (3,459), most total bases (6,021). He is a three-time Most Valuable Player, has played in 23 All-Star games, and his lifetime batting average (.333) is the best in the big leagues. Only the Hall of Fame awaits.