Stan the Man and his hopeful successor.

To the left is a picture of the greatest St. Louis Cardinal of all time. In the nearly 110 years of this team, there have been great players for sure, but if you're asked about the Cardinals, anyone over 30 can tell you 1 name: Stan Musial. The Man played 22 seasons, from 1941 to 1963, was selected to an all-time record of 24 All-Star Games (tied with Willie Mays), was a 3-time National League MVP, and won 3 World Series titles, all in the Gateway City.



There were good players on the Cards before him, some great, some hall of famers (Rogers Hornsby, Dizzy Dean), and the same afterwards (Bob Gibson, Lou Brock, Ozzie Smith), but no one who really deserved to be in the same rarefied air. (This being written by a boy who grew up LOVING Ozzie Smith, but knows Stan the Man was more than just a nickname.)

Just yesterday, Stan was presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama, at the ripe old age of 90. (seen above seated next to another class act, Bill Russell) Stan held 17 MLB records upon his retirement, but more remarkable than that was that in 3026 appearances, he was never once ejected from a game.

In 1968, a statue of Musial was erected at Busch Stadium, with the following inscription:

"Here stands baseball's perfect warrior. Here stands baseball's perfect knight."

The greatest Cardinal of all time.

It would be nearly 40 years after Musial's retirement before a worthy successor would appear...

Albert Pujols debuted with the Cardinals on Opening Day 2001 (nearly 60 years since Musial debuted [2nd half of a doubleheader on Sept. 17th 1941]), hitting a Home Run and never looking back. Named an All-Star his first year, winning NL Rookie of the Year, Pujols just got better. In his 10 seasons with the Cardinals, he's a 9-time All-Star, 6-Time Silver Slugger, 2-Time Gold Glover at 1st (though he started off in the OF, and moved to 1st Base, much like Musial before him), and, like Musial, a 3-Time NL MVP. In 2004, he helped lead the Cardinals to the World Series, where the lost to the Red Sox (asterisk needed, as God was on Boston's side that season). In 2006, the NEW New Busch Stadium opened up [note: Sportsman's Park was later named Busch Stadium when the Busch family bought the Cardinals, and then Busch Stadium was opened in 1966, so the current Busch Stadium is the 3rd Cardinals Stadium to be called Busch] and Pujols was the first Cardinal to Homer in their new Stadium. That same year Albert lead them to their first World Series in 24 years. This was my 2nd time seeing them win it all, though I had also seen the losses in 1985, 1987, and, as mentioned above, in 2004.

Today the day after Stan received his Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Cardinals and Albert failed to agree on a new contract. This whole preamble has pretty much been to make the case that Albert Pujols is as instrumental to the Cardinals now as Stan Musial was then, if not more so. Give Albert whatever he wants, he's the best player in the world right now, and no less than Sports Illustrated named him MLB player of the Decade for the 2000s. He should be able to cement his legacy and join Stan the Man in the Hall of Fame as the Greatest life-long Cardinals of All-Time. Let #5's Jersey be retired alongside his predecessor #6, and all will be right in Redbird land.

If this doesn't happen, then it will be tragic. Horrible. Awful. Please don't make 2011 the last time we see Pujols in the Red and White...