Stan the Man in 1953 (Wikipedia)
The Mets have experienced their fair share of Met Killers over the past 60 years. One was a Red Bird.
I was fortunate enough as a young boy to see a bit of the career of the great St Louis Cardinal Hall of Famer, Stan "the Man" Musial.
I loved reading his baseball card and admiring those stats!
What I saw on TV was when he was a 41 year old in 1962's Mets inaugural year and in his final season in 1963 at age 42.
When I look at his stats against the NY Mets, I can only think one thing:
What on earth would he have done if he was 31 years old instead of 41 when the Mets joined the NL.
In two years against the Mets, Musial, whose career started more than 2 decades earlier in 1941, did THIS:
101 plate appearances....a mere 5 strikeouts vs. 20 walks...6 HRs, 21 RBIs...and .405/.515/.684.
Let me repeat...
Over 40 years old, and .405/.515/.684!!!
Stan, who had 3,630 career hits, 726 doubles, and 1,377 extra base hits vs. just 699 career strikeouts, and a .331 career average and a .417 OBP, probably could have played until 50 if he saw that sort of Mets pitching more frequently.
Hey, it just wasn't the Mets he wiped the floor with at age 41 in 1962. He hit a legit .330!
The three-time MVP missed the 500 HR club due to missing all of the 1945 season in military service. He amazingly had no rust when he got back in 1946, as he racked up 228 hits.
He hit over .300 SEVENTEEN TIMES!
Oh, by the way, he was not just a 3-time MVP, he finished 2nd in MVP voting 4 times, too. And got MVP votes in 18 different seasons.
WHAT A PLAYER. HE RACKED UP 128.7 WAR!
Consider Stan by comparison to the Mets' Gold Standard, David Wright.
Wright accumulated 79 fewer WAR points than Musial. 58% fewer WAR for Wright than Musial accumulated.
Of course "the Man" was a Mets' Killer.
Why not? He killed everybody.
He was Stan the Man. And everyone knew it.
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