What'll it be, Mac, the Musial?

I found this set of glasses at a garage sale a couple weekends ago.

I picked up 2 of these "Stan Musial and Biggies" cocktail glasses.

Cardinals legend Stan Musial bought into Biggie Garagnani's steakhouse restaurant in 1949.  Surpringly, I could find a single image of it on the internet.

I believe that image is supposed to be the stylized heads of a baseball player and a chef, but to me, it just looks like a pair of...er...women's attributes.

At the same sale, I bought a set of 4 1967 World Series Cardinals glasses.  Stan had retired as a player in 1963, but was General Manager when the Cardinals won their 8th World Series against the Boston Red Sox and his name appears on the glass as well.

8MMusial

I've never been a big baseball fan, or any sports fan for that mater, but I can appreciate the tradition of the game and I've always thought I might have been a fan if I'd been born about 30 years earlier.  There's something about the early players that seems lost to the current generation.  Maybe I'm romanticizing a bit, but the players of the 50's and 60's seemed almost magical, setting record after record and maybe none more famous than the battle of '61 when New York Yankees teammates Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle fought for the home run record held by Babe Ruth.  Maris won by hitting his 61st home run in the final game of the regular season.

In 1961, baseball was being played by the St. Louis Cardinals at the old Sportsman's Park.  And though Stan Musial was nearing the end of his 23 year career (missing the 1945 season and part of the 1946 season while serving in the Navy), he was still the star of the team and worshipped by the fans in St. Louis.

Juxtaposing Musial was a new up and coming pitcher named Ray Sadecki.  After having won the Cardinals' Rookie of the Year for 1960, he was now a full-time starter and held much promise.

Among the 8mm films I bought at the estate sale in St. Louis Hills last fall, I found footage of the 1961 Baseball Cardinals at Sportman's Park.  Titled simply "1961 Stan Musial and Ray Sadecki" it features Stan (#6) and Ray (#37) warming up for a game.  In addition, you see other players milling about the field including #32 Ernie Broglio whose unfortunate footnote is being traded by the Cardinals for Lou Brock in 1964.  Later in the film, the game begins and you see Musial hit a triple.

In honor of the home opener here in St. Louis (although it looks like a rain-out), I offer the the 1961 St. Louis Cardinals.

This second film appears to be from another game.  I'm not sure who the Cardinals are playing here.  Maybe someone out there recognizes the other team.  The highlight of the reel is the footage of Sportsmen's Park and a home run by Stan Musial.  Also seen is the Anheuser-Busch neon eagle.  It now resides on Highway 40/61 in downtown St. Louis, still lighting the night and greeting visitors to St. Louis.

In one scene with Musial, you see a few other players standing behind the batting cage.  A couple uniform number, 21 and 10, are attributed to Curt Flood and Alex Grammas, while two others, 5 and 22 are a mystery as I can find no information on these numbers being used by the Cardinals in 1961.

Although he went on to pitch in the Cardinal-winning World Series of 1964, Ray Sadecki was a disappointment for the team and was eventually traded to the New York Giants in 1966.

In 1968, Stan Musial was inducted into the Baseball Hall of fame and in 2011, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.  Just last month, he was honored with a bridge in St. Louis.  The so-called Stan "the Span" opened February 9th, 2014.

You Snooze, You Lose...

All too often, I've been taught this lesson.  I can't count the number of times I've arrived at a garage sale, just to have the person immediately in front of me scarf up the good stuff.  Vintage beer signs, vintage toys, you name it.

Saturday I slept in.  People are opening later, I justified as I layed in bed enjoying an extra hour's sleep.  Finally crawling out of bed, I sat and had some breakfast, read the paper, waited for the kids to wake up to see if they wanted to go garage saling with me.

I left the house at 9:30.  Becker Road in South St. Louis County is generally a bounty of garage sales and that morning was no exception.  Looking around at one sale, nothing in particular was catching my eye until I saw these two:

Now, I'm not a baseball fan, or even a sports fan, but I do like vintage sports.  I think I would have been a fan 50 years ago or more.  Plus, the toy factor had me.  I could imagine some kid lining these guys up for an imaginary inning.  They were obviously flawed, one missing a bat, the other missing his arms, but I asked how much.  50 cents for both.  Then the seller said, "Yeah, I had three others in perfect condition, but someone bought them earlier."  Oh well, would have been nice I thought.  I bought these two and brought them home.  The kids have been playing with them since.

Tonight I did a little research.  These were made by Hartland Plastics from 1958 to 1962 and were sold in Woolworth's stores.  I also found out who these guys were.  The player in the Braves uniform is Hank Aaron.  In the Giants uniform is Willie Mays.  In mint condition, they sell for $300 a piece.  Even missing a bat, Hank draws $150.  I couldn't find an example where a player was missing their arms, but I'm guessing that seriously lowers the value.  There was a 25th anniversary reissue in 1988, however, I learned those are marked 25th anniversary on their belt buckles which these definitely do not have.  Also, the cream-colored jersey is a giveaway, the new ones being much whiter.

To think about those 3 that got away, I see dollar signs flying out the window.  I know, it's kind of a glass half empty/half full situation.  I paid 50 cents for the two, and I might be able to sell one for $150.  Not a bad profit.  But I can't help but think about the one (or 3) that got away.