TODAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY

May 13, 1958, Stan Musial of the St. Louis Cardinals collects his 3,000th hit when he delivers a pinch-hit double against Moe Drabowsky of the Chicago Cubs. Musial becomes the eighth major league player to reach the milestone the Cardinal's win the game 5-3.

This is the story of Stan Musial and his drive for 3,000 hits. His amazing streak of success in 1958.

1957 had seen "The Man" win his seventh and final batting title, so '58 seemed to hold more to come for the future Hall of Famer. The Cardinals began the season on the road at Chicago on April 15th, Musial going 1-for-5 in the loss. Little did anyone know that Musial was about to go on one of the longest sustained tears in his career, and one of the greatest quick starts in baseball history.

The opening five-game series with the Cubs saw Musial collect 10 hits; in a three-game series at San Francisco that followed, he went 7-for-11. In the first game of the next series - against the Dodgers - he went 4-for-4, raising his average to .553. Wrapping up the season-opening 13-game road trip with two contests in Cincinnati, Musial rapped out four more hits.

Coming home to St. Louis, Musial's bat stayed hot: on opening day he managed just a single hit, but over the next three days he collected 7 hits, including 4 doubles. On May 8th Musial was just 7 hits shy of the 3,000 mark, having collected an amazing 36 hits in the first 17 games of the season. He had a .529 batting average, having collected a hit in all 17 games.

Though the Cubs cooled him off on the 9th and 10th of May, collaring him at 0-for-7, he bounced back with two hits on the 11th, including his 5th home run. Three hits the next afternoon left Stan two hits from his goal with two games in Wrigley up next.

Cards manager Fred Hutchinson used his veteran in the first game on the 12th, with Stan posting his 2,999th career hit. It was a double and the red-hot Redbirds won their 5th straight. After the game Musial mentioned to coach Terry Moore that he hoped he would get the magical hit at home. Musial expressed that he hoped he would walk every time up the next day. Moore passed the conversation on to Hutchinson, who decided to hold Musial back a day.

The next afternoon, May 13th, the Cubs jumped out to an early lead as Stan watched from the bench. In the sixth inning with his team trailing 3-1 and a man on second, Hutchinson summoned Musial to pinch-hit for his pitcher. With two outs, and less than 6,000 fans in the park, Musial squared off against Moe Drabowsky. With two strikes on him Musial laced a breaking ball down the left field line, scoring the second Cardinal run.

Musial pulled into second base with a standup double, receiving a standing ovation from the sparse crowd. Just as Musial's first major league hit had been an RBI double, so was his 3,000th.

After the contest Hutchinson apologized to his star, but Musial would have none of it. He understood that he was needed to help his team come back, and they did - winning the game 5-3.

The milestone did nothing to stop Musial's torrid early pace in 1958. The following day back home in St. Louis he ripped three hits, including a homer, in the Cards seventh straight victory. 30,000 fans were on hand to honor their hero and cheer the streaking Cardinals.

Later in the month, Musial hit safely in 9 straight games, and he was above the .400 mark as late as June 11th. A special hitter, Musial had been tenacious in his quest for 3,000 hits.

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May 13, 1923 — Joe Sewell of the Cleveland Indians strikes out twice in one game for the first time in his career. Washington Senators rookie Cy Warmoth is the pitcher. In a 14-year career, Sewell will have only one other multiple strikeout game.

May 13, 1942 — At Braves Field Jim Tobin of the Boston Braves almost single-handedly beats the Chicago Cubs at Braves Field, 6 – 5, by pitching a five-hitter and hitting three consecutive home runs. Tobin, who hit a pinch homer the day before, becomes the only pitcher in modern history to collect three home runs in a game. His fourth at-bat results in a fly ball caught against the fence in left field.

May 13, 1958, Stan Musial of the St. Louis Cardinals collects his 3,000th hit when he delivers a pinch-hit double against Moe Drabowsky of the Chicago Cubs. Musial becomes the eighth major league player to reach the milestone.the Cardinal’s win the game 5-3.

May 13, 1958, Willie Mays and Daryl Spencer of the San Francisco Giants each hit two home runs and combine for 28 total bases in a 16-9 rout of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Mays’ five hits help the Giants set a modern day NL record of 50 total bases in a game.

May 13 , 1969 — Houston plays their first game outside the United States, a 10-3 pounding of the Montreal Expos at Parc Jarry. Doug Rader drives in three and Johnny Edwards produces two run-scoring singles against their new expansion foe. Donn Clendenon, who refused to accept a trade to Houston during the winter, goes 0-for-5.

May 13, 1976 — For the sixth consecutive game, George Brett collects at least three hits, batting an incredible .692 during the span. The Royals’ third baseman, who is 18-for-26 against the Orioles, Twins, and White Sox, raises his season’s batting average from .277 to .396 with his torrid pace at the plate.

May 13, 1980 — At Riverfront Stadium, Ray Knight of the Cincinnati Reds hits two home runs in the 5th inning – including a grand slam – to lead the Reds to a 15 – 4 rout of the New York Mets. Knight was in an 0-15 slump before the 5th inning.

May 13, 1980 Fred Lynn becomes the 13 Red Sox player to hit for the Cycle

May 13, 1993, One day before his 40th birthday, George Brett hits his 300th career home run, in the 6th inning of a 7 – 3 victory over the Cleveland Indians. joining Hank Aaron, Stan Musial, Carl Yastrzemski, Willie Mays, and Al Kaline as the only players with three hundred homers and three thousand hits. The Royals’ third baseman’s historic ball is picked up by a fan, who happens to be blind, on a veterans’ hospital outing.

May 13, 1995 – Frank Castillo allows 3 hits in 8 1/3 innings and Shawon Dunston hits a 3-run homer as the Chicago Cubs beat San Diego Padres‚ 5-0. Two of the Padre hits are by Tony Gwynn‚ who has hit .402 in his last 162 games stretching back to July 27‚ 1993. Wade Boggs has also hit .400 over 162 games in more than one season (June 1985- June 1986).

TRIVIA

TRIVIA: Stan Musial has an MLB record 12 career walk off homeruns. He shares that record with 5 others. Can you name them?

IF you think you know the answer and bonus points for how many respond with details and if you are right I will give you a shut out! No Googling!

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 ANSWER TO YESTERDAY’S TRIVIA