Saturday, June 1, 2013

Musial Takes the Mound

Musial's only big league pitching appearance took place on September 28, 1952. Safely in first place in the batting race, he was called in to pitch for a single batter in the first inning.

The opposing batter was Frank Baumholtz of the Chicago Cubs the runner-up in the batting race, who batted from the right side of the plate. Starter Harvey Haddix moved to right field and Hal Rice covered center while Musial pitched. After Baumholtz reached base, Haddix returned to the mound, Rice to left, and Musial to center for the remainder of the game.

Later in life, Baumholtz recalled that the play was a hot smash to third that should have been counted as a hit. Nonetheless, Musial captured his sixth NL batting crown with a .336 average.