Ben Frederickson: Here's hoping Mays and Musial watched Thursday's game together

What is remarkable, though, is just how much they had in common.

Mays played 23 seasons between his Negro Leagues debut in 1948 and his final season with the Mets in 1973. He didn’t play in 1953 due to serving in the Army. He was a 42-year-old All-Star in his final season.

Musial played 22 seasons between his debut in 1941 and his final season in 1963. He didn’t play in 1945 due to serving in the Navy. He was a 42-year-old All-Star in his final season.

Mays played 3,005 games, which ranks ninth all time. Musial played 3,026, which is tied with Eddie Murray in the spot right ahead of Mays.

Mays and Musial, per research done by The New York Times, are two of the five players in MLB history to homer for the same team at the age of 20 and again at the age of 40. The other three are Ted Williams, Henry Aaron and George Brett.

Mays was a 24-time All-Star. Same for Musial. But they didn’t just go. They showed. Mays remains the all-time All-Star Game hits leader with 23. Musial had 20. No one else has even 15. Mays and Musial both made the All-Star team in each of their final 20 seasons.

Mays’ career produced an adjusted on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS+) of 155, meaning, if you buy the advanced statistic, he was a 55% better hitter than the league-average hitter during the course of his career. Musial’s OPS+ was 159.

Or, if you prefer the more traditional stats, check these out.

Mays through 12,545 plate appearances slugged .557. Musial through 12,721 plate appearances slugged .559.

Mays socked 1,326 extra-base hits during his career. Musial? 1,377.

In their 206 head-to-head games, Mays (1.017) and Musial (1.002) exited with nearly identical on-base plus slugging percentages. Mays hit 44 homers in games played against Musial’s Cardinals. Musial hit 47 in games played against Mays.

And then there’s this one, which could very well be the best one.

Mays and Musial, both universally respected for their grace and class along with their games, are believed to rank first and second all time in number of games played without a single ejection.