Bob Broeg (1918–2005)

This is a primary source on Musial, written in the first person singular. No doubt embellished by Bob Broeg but with details that only Musial would know about. It sets the record straight. A modest and honest account of his remarkable career.

Did you know that Musial:
• once charged after a beanball pitcher? (page 57)
• was sometimes lifted for pinch hitters?(55)
• was once so nervous in the batter’s box that he swallowed his gum? (13)
• believed that good hitters are born, not made?
• was “relieved” to be drafted into World War II?(83)
• always lost weight in the offseason because of his anxiety about speaking appearances? (132)
• was not above haggling over his salary?
• was almost traded to the Phillies for Robin Roberts? (177)
• had 20-20 vision into his forties? (245)

He discusses the highs and lows of the St. Louis Cardinals and laments the losses of Johnny Mize and Walker Cooper to trades. The managers he played for, the stars he knew, the art and science of hitting. Personal reminiscenses and amusing anecdotes. His choices for a National League All-Star team during the years he played. Recommended to baseball fans, especially those partial to St. Louis.… (mais)

Bob Broeg (1918-2005) was a long-time sports columnist, reporter and editor for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. He was present for many of the key moments in sports history, especially St. Louis history. He was uniformly liked and respected as a fair and decent man, much like his hero Stan Musial. I remember enjoying his columns before he retired (I believe that was when Bernie Micklasz took his place in the local sports pages). He does have a lot of good stories here, mostly about St. Louis baseball or Mizzou football, but he covered a wide range of topics. He is also credited with giving Stan Musial his "Stan the Man" nickname. The more intriguing stories for me came toward the end of the book when he writes about more recent events which I remember. But it's all of interest.

It may be that the style that suited him for sports reporting and columns is ill-suited for writing a book such as this. Many of his observations were told in a disjointed, confusing manner, perhaps from jumping from topic to topic, assuming that the reader is familiar with references and people essential to the story. But in general, the book was satisfying to me; I like seeing a decent, self-effacing man whose main concern is to be fair, get his just recognition.… (mais)

A biography of baseball hall-of-fame player and manager Frank Frisch, the "pilot light" who ignited the St. Louis Cardinals "Gas House Gang" in the 1930s. Frisch, while a colorful character in his own right, was often outshone in that department by his contemporaries, and this book covers the players, managers and umps he crossed paths with as much as it does Frisch, some of the more prominent being John J. McGraw, Branch Rickey, Pepper Martin, Leo Durocher, Rogers Hornsby, Dizzy and Paul Dean, Johnny Mize and Casey Stengel. Frisch had a lifetime batting mark of .316 (brought down by his last few declining years), played in 50 World Series games, managed the Cardinals from 1933 to 1938 and won the 1934 Series. Broeg tells his story with some flair, although sometimes I found myself losing the track of a story and having to go back to figure out what was happening and who was doing it.… (mais)