Former Cardinals MVP, manager Marty Marion dies - ESPN

RIP: former Cardinals MVP, manager Marty Marion (age 93

Starting when Babe Ruth arrived and lasting 45 seasons, until Berra and Mantle got old, the Yankees were almost always the best team in baseball over any given 5-year period. But there was actually one period when the Cardinals held that distinction indisputably. In the five years from 1942 to 1946, the Cards got into the World Series four times and won three of them. In the first three years of that period they never won fewer than 105 games. The anchors of that team were their offensive star, Stan the Man, and their defensive wizard, shortstop Marty Marion.

Marion only batted .262 in his career, but you know he must have been a defensive superstar because he was the NL MVP in 1944, despite hitting .267 with 6 homers and an OPS below the league average! Despite his anemic offense, Marion pulled more votes than the great Stan Musial, who batted .347 and was one of the most beloved and respected players in the game. When people think you did more for a team than Stan Musial in his prime, well, by God, that means you can play some ball.