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Happy Birthday to two of the greatest players of all-time. Tomorrow Ken Griffey Jr. turns 36, and Stan Musial turns 85! Not only do they share the same birthday, but they’re both from the same town—Donora, PA. In fact, Musial and Griffey’s grandfather were high school teammates!

Stan the Man hit over .300 for 16 straight seasons. He was an all-star 20 times, and MVP three times (plus runner-up four times). Bob Costas said: “He didn't hit a homer in his last at-bat (like Ted Williams); he hit a single. He didn't hit in 56 straight games. He married his high school sweetheart and stayed married to her, never married a Marilyn Monroe (like Joe DiMaggio). He didn't play with the sheer joy and style that goes alongside Willie Mays' name. None of those easy things are there to associate with Stan Musial. All Musial represents is more than two decades of sustained excellence and complete decency as a human being.” Here’s Musial’s famous corkscrew stance (never worked for me!).

I was happy to see Griffey have his best season in a long time this year (.301/35/92). Griffey and Musial have a combined 1,011 home runs. Of course, Griffey Sr. was another great Donoran, a three-time all-star and a key member of the Big Red Machine.

Posted by edelfenbein at November 20, 2005 3:11 AM