stan musial is in my hall of famer collection

who's the man? stan musial was, and he's in my hall of famer collection with this card:

that is a 2002 topps team topps legends autograph. here's the back:

when looking for a musial autograph to add to this collection, i wanted to find as early an example as possible. for a short time, i had a 1998 donruss significant signatures card, but decided to go for this early topps release instead. it's more colorful, and it is a reprint of musial's very first topps card that was featured in the 1958 set. the reason i wanted an early example is that musial's signature deteriorated with age.  even though i was only looking for on card autographs, it was sad to see his largely illegible signature on so many stickers that have been added to cards posthumously.

i grew up listening to vin scully on the radio and tv tell stories of years and players past, and many times those stories involved stan musial. i believe i first learned of musial, however, when i was doing research regarding players who wore number 6 (as a steve garvey fan, i was interested in that number). my research began with the back of the 1978 topps team cards, and there was no cardinal listed with that number. i soon discovered that it had been musial's number, and that it was retired.

i learned more about musial through those stories that scully told, as well as reading about him in "the image of their greatness" and even through a couple of tidbits in books by joe garagiola and others. i also got to know about his achievements through the 1979 topps set, as he was listed on the backs of the all-time record holder cards for hits and rbi. musial was also the national league's all-time hits leader until pete rose passed him in 1981, an event i remember reading about at the time, as well as one that was documented on a 1982 topps card and a 1982 kmart card - both sets that i studied intently.

even today, musial is still in the top-ten all-time in categories such as games played, plate appearances, runs, hits, doubles, rbi, total bases, extra base hits, times on base, and intentional walks. and that's with missing a year in his prime to serve in the military during world war ii. he was, most definitely, the man.

here's my hall of famer collection as its been documented so far:

babe ruth - 2003 topps tribute world series edition world series tribute relic 351/425

honus wagner - 2001 topps tribute relic

tris speaker - 2011 topps tribute dual relic green parallel 53/75

eddie collins - 2002 topps tribute milestone materials relic

george sisler - 2004 topps tribute hall of fame tribute relic

dizzy dean - 2001 topps tribute relic

bob feller - 2001 topps archives certified autograph

jackie robinson - 2004 topps clubhouse collection clubhouse relic

ted williams - 1992 upper deck baseball heroes autograph 1067/2000

stan musial - 2002 topps team topps legends autograph

yogi berra - 1998 donruss signatures significant signatures 1640/2000

sandy koufax - 1998 donruss signatures significant signatures 1707/2000

roberto clemente - 2005 donruss greats hall of fame souvenirs relic

warren spahn - 1999 upper deck century legends epic signatures

mickey mantle - 2000 upper deck legends legendary game jerseys relic

willie mays - 1997 topps willie mays reprints certified autograph

al kaline - 2001 fleer greats of the game autograph

duke snider - 2003 upper deck sp authentic chirography hall of famers 144/250

bob gibson - 2001 fleer greats of the game autograph

hank aaron - 2004 topps originals 1979 topps all-time record holders rbi 03/32

frank robinson - 1995 upper deck autograph

don drysdale - 1993 nabisco all-star autographs

harmon killebrew - 2000 upper deck legends legendary signatures

pee wee reese - 2001 topps tribute relic

jim hunter - 1998 donruss signature series significant signatures 0736/2000

willie stargell - 2000 upper deck legends legendary signatures 

jim palmer - 2001 fleer greats of the game autograph

fergie jenkins - 2013 topps five star baseball autograph 154/333

gaylord perry - 2003 topps finest finest moments autograph

rollie fingers - 2018 topps archives signature series 1978 topps buyback 1/3

reggie jackson - 2018 topps tier one tier one talent autograph 19/60

steve carlton - 2018 topps five star career year autograph 43/45

mike schmidt - 2002 topps archives autoproof 1980 topps buyback 048/147

phil niekro - 2017 panini donruss recollection collection 1983 donruss buyback autograph 13/33

don sutton - 2001 fleer greats of the game autograph

carlton fisk - 1999 upper deck century legends epic signatures

tony perez - 2004 fleer national pastime 2002 fleer greats authentic autograph buyback 30/59

dave winfield - 2003 upper deck sp authentic chirography hall of famers 121/350

ozzie smith - 2019 topps finest finest origins autograph

gary carter - 1999 fleer sports illustrated greats of the game autograph collection

eddie murray - 2004 upper deck sp legendary cuts legendary sigs 45/50 

dennis eckersley - 2017 topps archives signature series 1984 topps buyback 47/99

paul molitor - 2016 topps museum collection archival autographs 021/125

bruce sutter - 2003 topps all-time fan favorites certified autograph

cal ripken jr - 2018 topps high tek portraitek autograph 32/75

jim rice - 2005 upper deck past time pennants past time signatures

andre dawson - 2000 fleer greats of the game autograph

bert blyleven - 2004 upper deck legends timeless teams autograph

greg maddux - 2018 topps luminaries masters of the mound autograph 13/15

pedro martinez - 2018 topps high tek portraitek autograph 09/60

ken griffey jr - 2003 upper deck game face autograph

tim raines - 2018 topps tribute tribute autograph green parallel 26/95

alan trammell - 2001 fleer greats of the game autograph

roy halladay - 2017 topps archives signature series 2004 topps buyback 15/23

pete rose* - 2018 panini flawless legendary signatures 15/25

barry bonds* - 2001 bowman heritage autographs

you can find the full list of hall of famers (and some not - yet) that i aim to include in this collection at my want list site.

*not currently a member of the hall of fame