You can’t go wrong with an APBA card from Stan the Man. This is an APBA 1953 reprint card of Stan Musial. That is, it is not from the set that was published two years after the APBA Company was founded. Rather this card comes from the set which was printed in 1985.
In 1953, Musial batted .337 with 30 homeruns for the Cardinals. In 157 games, he led the National League with 53 doubles and walked a league-leading 105 times which contributed to his .437 OBP which paced the league.
| Split | G | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | BA | OBP | SLG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1953 Totals | 157 | 698 | 593 | 127 | 200 | 53 | 9 | 30 | 113 | 3 | 105 | 32 | .337 | .437 | .609 |
Who doesn’t like five extra-base hit numbers? I know I do. Musial’s 30 homers sure help but his 53 doubles (not to mention nine triples) probably put him over the edge to give him five EBH numbers. All told, Stan has power numbers 1-4-5-6-6.
As good as that is, Musial’s hit numbers don’t stop. He also has a 55-7 and a 15-7 to help recreate his .337 batting average.
Lefty Musial has five 14s so replayers can see him trot to first 105 times as he did in real life. However, he shouldn’t strike out much in APBA. I count just one 13 on his card on the 24.
This gives Stan some unconventional results like 26-32 and 46-32. He should drive in a couple runs on sacrifice flies over a season. Putting the ball in play is usually a good thing as long as it’s not a double play. Speaking of which, Musial has no 24s. He has very few “bad” out result numbers.
On Musial’s 1953 card, he is rated simply as an OF-2. The year 1953 was the only one between 1946 and 1960 that he did not play at least one game at first base.
Musial was a 24-time All-Star and winner of three MVP awards. After all these years, he still ranks fourth all-time in hits, third in doubles and probably most important, second in total bases.
