Stan Musial hitchhikes home after being discharged from the Navy

BAINBRIDGE, Md., March 1 (AP) – Stan Musial, 1943 batting king and most valuable player in the National League, was discharged from the Navy today and immediately left the separation center for his Donora (Pa.) home via the hitch-hike route.

Musial said he was so anxious to get home and spend about a week there before rejoining the St. Louis Cardinals at St. Petersburg, Fla., that he couldn’t wait for a bus. So he hitched a ride to the trunk highway near Bainbridge and started flagging for home.

The Cardinal mainstay was in the Navy about 14 months and took his recruit training at Bainbridge. He played on the Bainbridge baseball team before being transferred to Hawaii. He arrived at Bainbridge for separation late Wednesday night and received his final papers today.

Musial boasts of four-year major league batting average of .344 and he picks the Cards to cop the 1946 flag in their circuit.

The New York Giants, Brooklyn Dodgers and Pittsburgh Pirates should give the Cards the toughest competition, he said.

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