All things considered, Musial was quite ‘The Man’

Here’s hoping Punxsutawney Phil has a fantastic Saturday. This weather has been brutal enough.

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It’s always this time of year that the mind starts wandering toward baseball; Major League pitchers and catchers report to spring training in a few short weeks.

Being a Cardinals fan, the past week or so has been a time of reflection with the passing of Stan Musial.

I really wanted to pen a column about Musial last week, but instead, I preferred to do a lot more reading of what others had to say.

I was kind of surprised during sportscaster Bob Costas’ eulogy, that he discussed Mickey Mantle coming to St. Louis and staying with Costas and his family during his battle with alcohol.

Musial came to visit Mantle one evening during the stay. Costas said Mantle promised that he wouldn’t drink that night, and didn’t.

When the evening was over, and all the stories were told, Costas and Mantle were alone, when the late former Yankee great admitted his lifestyle had let so many down, compared to the standard Musial had set.

“Stan was a better player than me,” Mantle said, “because he was a better man than me.”

Mantle later died of liver cancer, from years of hitting the bottle. Costas had also spoken at Mantle’s funeral, which was under much different circumstances.

Costas noted that there was a roped-off section at the church, reserved for former players and managers.

“That’s when I looked up, in the back of the church,” said Costas, “and there was Stan, on the back row, by himself. That was Stan, never wanting to draw attention to himself.”

Being just a year old when he retired, I never saw Stan Musial play.

I know my dad did, having seen the likes of Musial and Marty Marion back in the ‘50s and old Sportsman’s Park.

But I, like all Cardinals fans, know the numbers:

• 22 years MLB service, all with the Cardinals;

• 24 All-Star Game selections (MLB held two All-Star Games a year, from 1958 to 1962);

•.331 lifetime average;

• 3,630 career hits (exactly half at home, half on the road);

• Seven batting titles;

• 475 homers;

• 1,951 RBI;

• Three-time MVP;

• Three world championships;

• Final hit, Sept. 29, 1963, a single to right field.

And I know there’s a huge monument built in his honor, which was at first placed at the old Busch Memorial Stadium, and has since been moved to the new ballpark.

I also know that, if any time I was separated from my party at Busch Stadium, it was a standing rule.

Meet at Stan the Man’s statue.

There will be plenty of means by which Musial will be honored.

Rest assured, the Cardinals will make 2013 a season-long celebration.

The ball club always made sure Stan was in the foreground. If Stan showed up, the club made sure the fans knew about it.

I was in St. Louis for the weekend in late September 2010, when the Cardinals were wrapping up the season at home against the Rockies.

That Saturday, the team held a “Stand For Stan”campaign in support of Musial receiving a Presidential Medal of Honor. Stan was driven around the ballpark to his adoring fans.

He stopped in front of both dugouts, passing Colorado’s bench first.

The first guy to greet him? None other than Todd Helton, who — like Musial — will someday be a Hall of Famer.

By the way, Musial did get that medal in February 2011, the highest honor that can be bestowed on a civilian in the United States.

There is a push to name the Cardinals’ playing field in his name. Of course, Musial would have never wanted that for himself. But the time has come, and “Stan Musial Field at Busch Stadium” sounds pretty darned good.

And fitting.

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A few weeks back, I lost interest in the NFL playoffs, after Baltimore knocked off Denver and Atlanta dispatched of Seattle.

However, this could be an intriguing Super Bowl.

This isn’t the same San Francisco team that went 0-1-1 against St. Louis, and this isn’t the Ravens club that struggled late in the regular season.

Vegas is making the 49ers lay 3.5 points as the favorite. Baltimore has been a road dog at Denver and at New England.

Sorry, but Colin Kaepernick isn’t Joe Montana, nor is he Steve Young. And while the Ravens’ offense can be vanilla at times, Joe Flacco and Ray Rice have been getting it done.

Taking Baltimore and the points …

Ravens 27, 49ers 23.