Originally posted by The Godfather of FS:
I had two growing up, Stan "The Man" Musial and Bob Gibson. And I've been fortunate enough to meet both, and have a couple nice stories.
Back in the early 80's I was working for a St. Louis newspaper (single at the time), and was invited to attend a fancy new years eve party by a very well endowed former staffer (Nancy) now working for a pr firm. It was at the St. Louis Airport Hilton, and they were opening a Musial restaurant there that night, and lots of dignitaries were on hand. After the celebration, about 1AM, we went up to the private suite for an afterglow party, and there was Stan. I was like a kid in a candy store! I sat down next to him and talked for over two hours (he talked a little too!) Finally he said, I'm getting really tired and got up to leave, and stumbled a little bit (he was already up there in age and stiff from sitting so long). So a half hour letter we were back down in our room, and Nancy announced that's she has to call the local gossip reporter to feed him something, and she's going to tell him Stan was so drunk he stumbled to bed. I corrected her, but she didn't care and was still going to call. I protested and said if she did I was leaving right then (which was a major sacrifice for what was coming next!). No no avail, she called, and I got up and packed my stuff (I guess she figured she could entice me to stay). To this day, it is one of my proudest and sadest moments, I left! And, the gossip ran the tidbet, and Stan was upset, and I got none! But I still think I did the right thing, we don't have that many heros, and we should sacrifice for them. My two hours with Stan were memories of a lifetime, and he told me stories and jokes that were priceless. One quick story (well nothing is really quick with me). He told me, "I had a reporter ask me a few weeks ago what I would be hitting against today's pitchers. I said about .285. the reporter asked, are todays pitchers really that much better? no, i said, I', 73 now!" Speak of the devil...
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Albert Pujols requested Friday, via the St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Bernie Miklasz, that media and fans refrain from calling him "El Hombre."
Pujols believes it's disrespectful to Cardinals legend Stan Musial, who can often be seen by Albert's side during Opening Day festivities in St. Louis. "I don’t want to be called that," Pujols said. "There is one man that gets that respect, and that’s Stan Musial. He’s the Man. He’s the Man in St. Louis. And I know ‘El Hombre’ means ‘The Man’ in Spanish. But Stan is The Man. You can call me whatever else you want, but just don’t call me El Hombre."
Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch
