Cardinals History: Stan Musial rewrites the home run record books

The St. Louis Cardinals are fresh off of a doubleheader against the Cincinnati Reds. St. Louis emerged victorious in both tilts, and one standout was Masyn Winn, who rapped out a combined four hits in the two games. But that's small potatoes when compared with the historic accomplishment on May 2, 1954, of one of the greatest Cardinals of all time.

Stan Musial set a record on this date by hitting five home runs in one day.

The 33-year-old Stan Musial had cemented himself as among the top players in the game. Indeed, prior to Game 1 of the doubleheader at home against the New York Giants, a New York Post reporter asked Cardinals manager Eddie Stanky if Musial was the best player in baseball. Stanky responded with "You have just answered your own question." As the Cardinals entered their 15th game on the young season, Musial was batting a sterling .346 and owned three home runs on the season.

The first game had left-hander Johnny Antonelli taking the hill for the Giants. After some early trouble that saw the Cardinals take a 2-0 lead, Antonelli was getting into a groove, having retired five straight batters. With one out in the third inning, Musial strolled up to the plate and proceeded to knock a pitch onto the roof of the right field pavilion for a solo home run.

The Giants managed to claw back to take a 5-4 lead, but in the bottom of the fifth inning, with Antonelli still on the mound and Red Schoendienst on first base, Musial clobbered another pitch out to right, putting the Cardinals ahead 6-5.

With the score tied at six in the bottom of the eighth inning, the Giants were relying on former Cardinals right-hander Jim Hearn. Musial, unfazed by the change, slashed one down the right field line that just cleared the fence. The shot brought home Schoendienst and Wally Moon, making the score 9-6. The Cardinals would score one more run and earn the victory.

After Game 1, Cardinals veteran pitcher Al Brazle, who was credited with the win, told Musial that he would buy the slugger a beer if he hit three more home runs. The outfielder nearly delivered.

After walking in the first inning much to the chagrin of the home fans, Musial came around to score on a three-run double from Tom Alston, the first black player in Cardinals history. Musial just missed a home run in the third, hitting a fly ball to deep center that a young Willie Mays snagged on the warning track.

The Giants flooded the scoreboard with eight runs in the top of the fourth inning, claiming an 8-3 lead. But Musial wouldn't go quietly, as after a Schoendienst triple, Musial hit another moonshot to right field off of future Hall of Fame knuckleball pitcher Hoyt Wilhelm, narrowing the deficit to three. The next hitter, Ray Jablonski, hit a home run of his own to make it 8-6.

Musial's final home run of the day came in the bottom of the seventh. Wilhelm tossed a fluttering knuckler to the plate, and Musial dispatched it to the street beyond right field, striking a taxi. The driver stopped on the side of the road to pick up the ball.

Musial couldn't manage a sixth home run. Despite the crowd rooting him on as he led off the bottom of the ninth, Musial only managed to pop out to the first baseman. The next two batters were retired, and the Cardinals fell 9-7. An odd piece of trivia is that one of the fans at the stadium that day was Nate Colbert, who would hit five home runs in a doubleheader himself 18 years later.

Musial is a key piece of the Cardinals' unmatched history, and although the Cardinals only managed to split the doubleheader, it remains one of Musial's finest days as a ballplayer.