The 1984 Sports Illustrated“Sportsman of the Year Award” show was hosted by NFL / NFL broadcast great Merlin Olsen…..who introduced Stan The Man Musial to cover the candidates for the award from the world of MLB by a highlights review of Musial’s 1957 season…..for which he was selected by Sports Illustrated as the Sportsman of the Year…..as Stan the Man recalls how challenging it was to win the NL MVP in 1957 due to a shoulder injury he sustained during the season.
The 1984 MLB candidates for the Sportsman of the Year Award were Detroit Tigers manager Sparky Anderson and SS Alan Trammel….Kansas City Royals relief pitcher Dan Quisenberry…..the San Diego Padres outfielder Tony Gwynne…..and the New York Yankees outfielder Dave Winfield and first baseman Don Mattingly…..along with the Chicago Cubs team.
Stan Musial (November 21, 1920 – January 19, 2013), nicknamed Stan the Man, was an American baseball outfielder and first baseman….who spent 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) playing for the St. Louis Cardinals from 1941 to 1944 and 1946 to 1963…..and was widely considered to be one of the greatest and most consistent hitters in baseball history…..which allowed him to become a first-ballot inductee into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1969.
