July 24, 1949: Stan The Man Hits For The Cycle

     On July 24, 1949, just one day after a dramatic ninth inning comeback, the Cardinals poured one on the Dodgers at Ebbets Field with a 14-1 blowout, that was highlighted by Stan "The Man" Musial hitting for the cycle. The victory put the Birds into first place in the standings in what proved to be a true battle to the end. Musial tripled in the first off of Don Newcombe, singled in the third off of Paul Minner, and homered in the fifth off of Carl Erskine. Musial completed the feat in the seventh with a double off of Erskine, who then walked him in the ninth. Every other batter in the Cardinals starting lineup besides catcher Joe Garagiola produced a hit, even the pitcher Howie Pollet got in on the action.

     Musial had obtained his nickname "The Man" at Ebbets Field in '46, and he gave those Brooklynites good reason to call him that. In '48 and '49 alone, he hit .531 at Ebbets Field with 43 hits in 22 games. 11 of those hits were doubles, five were triples, and eight sailed past the fence. 37 of his 475 home runs came in front of Brooklyn fans before the team transferred to Los Angeles. The only other ballpark that Musial had more home run success at on the road was at the Polo Grounds that sat a little more than 15 miles due north from of the home of the Dodgers.

Check out the box score here: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/BRO/BRO194907240.shtml