RIP Stan Musial

If that were true, you wouldn't have even brought him up and how he threw away legend status for money.

 

Please explain this theory further.

 

The two have nothing to do with each other. I can appreciate — hell, celebrate — what Pujols did while still saying he gave away his immortal status in St. Louis for more money.

I don't begrudge Pujols the money. Hell, I'd take it, too. I'm just saying he will never be on the same level in St. Louis as Musial.

 

I think he would have been on the same level if he stays in St. Louis, that's how great Pujols is.

 

I think what you're really saying is immortal status doesn't hinge on playing ability. Red Schoendienst and Dizzy Dean probably fall second and third among Cardinals legends because of their popularity and lasting impact on the franchise.

 

There was a stat in the MLB Network piece on Musial. He was a living Hall of Famer for 43 years, almost half his life. He was a Cardinal player for another 25 percent of his life. He lived his entire adult life in St. Louis. That kind of impact on one place just isn't going to happen anymore.
By way of contrast, there was a story in the Wall Street Journal's Mansions section Friday informing you that you could buy Barry Bonds' crib in Beverly Hills for only $25 million. PEDs aside, what fan is going to think Bonds was part of the same enterprise they are?

 

Stan Musial died today.
He was one of the best ever.

Who gives a damn about the pissing contests?

 

It's too soon to talk about legacy control!

 

Because, Rip, we must point out, apparently, that people who made their careers out of baseball didn't know anything about baseball.

 

He had nothing on Biggio.

 

Riptide, sad but true, upon one's death, you belong to the historians. So arguments start. Here's one thing that's interesting. By all accounts, Musial was a happy man the course of his very long life. Williams had an amazing life. But I'm not sure you'd call it a happy one.

 

Is that so hard to believe? We constantly are improving our understanding of all things. People who made their careers out of biology didn't properly understand biology until Charles Darwin came along.

Moreover, I abhor the concept of any two things being exactly equal with regards to a subjective judgment. You may like to tell people you like chocolate peanut butter ice cream and butter pecan ice cream the same amount, but that cannot be true because we are creatures of preference. It's intellectually dishonest to say Ted Williams and Stan Musial were exact equals.