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Family Man. Manager Stanky was on another happy road last winter: he made a good-will tour of the Cardinal farm chain from Ontario to Omaha. Gregarious and earnest, he loved every minute of it, even though it meant being away from his winter home in Mobile, Ala. A devout Catholic family man, Stanky would have preferred to spend the winter golfing or horseback riding with Dickie, or hanging around the house playing with his three children: Georgia Ann, 8%, Beverly Mary, 2%, and Michael Edward, nine months. Off the field, Stanky is a model of decorum, temperance and propriety. He never took a drink until he was 27, still drinks sparingly, smokes only an occasional pipe, watches his diet carefully. "I'm sometimes hard to live with at home," he says with a grin. His wife backs him up to a certain extent: "Only when he loses. Then we just cancel our plans for the evening."
Problems & Pros. How many games will the Cardinals lose this year? Stanky is too cagey to make many predictions: "We have a strong pennant contender, with the Giants, Dodgers and Phillies in the same category. If I have a problem, and I don't like to recognize problems, it's pitching." The Cardinals have two proven starters in Gerald Staley (19-13) and Cliff Chambers (14-12), and Stanky is counting heavily on Wilmer ("Vinegar Bend") Mizell, acclaimed as "the left-handed Dizzy Dean." Mizell, the Cardinals' clown, was the strike-out king last year of the Texas League, where his Houston record was 16-14. Stanky also intends to revive sore-armed Cloyd Boyer (2-5) and Joe Presko (7-4), along with veteran (33) George ("Red") Munger (4-6). For bullpen duty, and for off & on starts, he has two old (37) lefthanded standbys, lanky Alpha Brazle (6-5) and stringy Harry ("The Cat") Brecheen (8-4). Del Rice is the No. 1 catcher.
The outfield is solid enough with Musial, the National League's leading batter (.355), Slaughter (.281) and Wally Westlake (.266). In reserve: Harry ("Peanuts") Lowrey (.303) and Hal Rice (.254). The infield is not airtight, nor is it porous. Hulking (6 ft. 1 in., 230 Ibs.) Steve Bilko, up for his third try in the majors, is at first base, where his big bat may make up for his slow feet. Red Schoendienst, a slick-fielding switch-hitter (.289), is the second baseman as he has been for the past five years. Shortstop Solly Hemus, who hit .344 last year after taking over Marty Marion's job as a regular, is considered by Stanky to be "the most improved player on the team." Johnson, at third, is a former Yankee star with a rifle arm and a fair (.262) bat. This is essentially the same team (excluding Bilko) which finished third, 15½ games off the Giant pace last year. And where does Stanky fit in?