August 1, 1957: Two Big Blasts For The Man Lifts The Birds To Victory

     On August 1, 1957, a four hit day that included two home runs by Stan Musial, and complete game effort by Sad Sam Jones led the Cardinals to an 8-0 victory over the New York Giants at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. Jones allowed just six hits in the contest, while the number six started the scoring off with a two run blast in the first, then connected with another two run shot in the sixth. he sprinkled in a couple singles between the home run heroics, as he helped the Cardinals win their sixth game in a row. Musial hit the showers after the sixth, with Jones in cruise control.

     Musial also surpassed Ty Cobb on the all-time extra base hits list in this game, by recording his 1,140th, which made him third on the list. Only Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth sat ahead of him on that list, with Ruth's 1,356 leading the way. Musial would end his career leading the category with 1,377 extra-base hits, which stands today as third on the all-time list. Hank Aaron holds the title with exactly 100 more extra base hits than Stan The Man.

     The 1957 Cardinals were the only club in the 50's that held the league lead after August 1st. Unfortunately, they fell off the pace down the stretch, and finished with 87 wins, which was good for second in the National League, eight games behind the Milwaukee Braves. With that said, there were many great games to celebrate during that campaign, which included the one that was played on that first day of August.

Check out box score here: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SLN/SLN195708010.shtml

I would like to note that according to baseball reference.com Cobb finished his career with 1,136 extra base hits, therefore, it is likely that Musial surpassed him before this contest was played. With that said, it is also likely that some numbers have been changed by official statisticians since. I am going off of what people read in the newspapers the following day, which is what I try to bring you daily. In baseball numbers are sacred, so there are many who have went to great lengths to make sure that they are correct. I tip my cap to them for that, but it also makes me want to yank my hair out when things don't line up. Luckily, I don't have much hair.