On September 28, 1952, the last game of the year, Stan ‘The Man’ Musial, eventual Hall of Fame outfielder for the St Louis Cardinals and one of the greatest hitters ever in major league baseball, took the mound and pitched for the only time in his career, and he did so to only one batter, Ohio alumnus Frank Baumholtz, in a confrontation agreed upon before the game.
After beating Baumholtz of the Chicago Cubs to win his sixth batting title, Musial faced his adversary from the mound. Frankie was a left-handed hitter, but that day he batted right handed, the only time he ever did, ‘to even the playing field’. On the first pitch from Musial, Baumholtz hit a ball so hard that it ricocheted off the shin of third baseman Solly Hemus ending up in the left field corner. Baumholtz reached base on what was ruled an error. A gracious Musial maintained that it was as clean a hit as he ever saw.
Musial won the batting title that year with a .336 average. Baumholtz came in second with an average of .325.
Rest in peace Stan Musial.