Two years earlier, Didrikson had qualified for five Olympic events, but rules at the time allowed female athletes to compete in just three events. At the Games, she won gold in the 80-meter hurdles and javelin (setting world records in both events) and won silver in the high jump. In qualifying, she also set a women’s record in the baseball throw.[1]

In the wake of her Olympic success, Didrikson toured with a basketball team called Babe Didrikson’s All-Americans. She then turned to baseball, training with Cardinals pitcher Burleigh Grimes in Hot Springs, Arkansas. There, she learned to throw a curveball, then traveled to Florida to pitch in the first inning at a couple of spring training games.

In promoting Didrikson’s appearance, Grimes declared that if she were a boy, she would be one of baseball’s top prospects. Instead, as a female athlete, Didrikson was the wonder of the athletic world.[2]

On March 20, Didrikson threw a scoreless inning in a spring training contest with the help of a triple play. Pitching for the Philadelphia Athletics against the Brooklyn Dodgers, she opened the inning by walking Danny Taylor on a full-count pitch, then hitting Johnny Frederick. Didrikson got out of the jam when she threw a curveball to Joe Stripp and he lined the ball to shortstop Dib Williams. Williams threw to second to double up Taylor and second baseman Rabbit Warstler threw to first base to catch Frederick off the bag.[3]

Two days later, Didrikson was on the mound for the Cardinals. This time, she wasn’t as successful, allowing three runs on four hits. Nonetheless, news accounts of the day pointed to a questionable call by the home-plate umpire that may have extended the inning.

“The Babe pitched only one round and deserved a better fate than she received as a hit followed what could have been a called third strike and the third out,” the St. Louis Globe-Democrat reported.[4]

“But for a questionable decision by the umpire, (Didrikson) would have escaped with a shutout,” the St. Louis Star and Times added.[5]

After recording the first out of the game, Didrikson allowed consecutive singles to Bill Cissell and Ed Morgan. Roy Johnson then grounded into a force-out at second, and Didrikson appeared primed to complete a scoreless inning. However, a curveball that appeared to be the third strike was instead called a ball. Taking advantage of the extra opportunity, Red Sox outfielder Moose Solters hit a two-run double, then scored on an RBI single by Rick Ferrell.[6]

If Didrikson was concerned about taking her first career loss, she didn’t have to worry long, as the Cardinals tied the score in the bottom of the first as Ripper Collins drew a bases-loaded walk and catcher Virgil Davis followed with a two-run single. An inning later, Joe Medwick hit a two-run single and Collins singled to drive another run home and give St. Louis a 6-3 lead.[7]

After the Cardinals scored another run in the fourth on Davis’s RBI single, the Red Sox rallied for four runs in the fifth inning to tie the score. The Cardinals answered in the sixth, however, when Red Sox outfielder Dusty Cooke misplayed a fly ball and allowed two runs to score.[8]

Dizzy Dean threw the final four innings to earn the win for the Cardinals, striking out four batters without allowing a hit.[9]

Led by Dean and his younger brother Paul Dean, the Cardinals went on to win the World Series that year, earning the moniker the “Gashouse Gang” for their colorful personalities and their no-holds-barred playing style. As if to prove how adventurous baseball could be in those days, this was the last paragraph of the Globe-Democrat’s story regarding Didrikson’s spring training game:

Scout Charley Barrett returned today from Havana, where he signed up three Cuban players and narrowly escaped with his life. Soldiers engaged in a little target practice while he was walking down the street last Monday night. The veteran ivory hunter dropped to the street while the shooting was going on. Two persons were killed during the fusillade.[10]

Didrikson’s athletic exploits soon took her to golf, where she drew her greatest fame. In 1938, she played in the Professional Golfers’ Association Los Angeles Open against men. In the 1940s, she won the U.S. Women’s Amateur and British Ladies Amateur tournaments and dominated both the Women’s Professional Golf Association and the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA), which she helped found. Between her amateur and professional victories, she won a total of 82 tournaments over her golfing career. She was inducted into the LPGA Hall of Fame in its inaugural class and the Associated Press named her its female athlete of the first half of the 20^th century in 1950. Forty-nine years later, it followed up and named her the female athlete of the entire 20^th century in 1999.

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[1] Larry Schwartz, “Didrikson was a woman ahead of her time,” ESPN, www.espn.com/sportscentury/features/00014147.html.

[2] “Grimes Believes Babe One Wonder Of Sports World,” Waco News-Tribune, March 15, 1934.

[3] “Didrikson Baffles Dodgers For Inning,” St. Louis Globe-Democrat, March 21, 1934.

[4] “Cardinals Corral 13 Hits and Hand Red Sox 9-to-7 Walloping,” St. Louis Globe-Democrat, March 23, 1934.

[5] “Frisch Plans To Extend Hurlers In Future Games,” St. Louis Star and Times, March 23, 1934.

[6] “Cardinals Corral 13 Hits and Hand Red Sox 9-to-7 Walloping,” St. Louis Globe-Democrat, March 23, 1934.

[7] “Cardinals Corral 13 Hits and Hand Red Sox 9-to-7 Walloping,” St. Louis Globe-Democrat, March 23, 1934.

[8] “Cardinals Corral 13 Hits and Hand Red Sox 9-to-7 Walloping,” St. Louis Globe-Democrat, March 23, 1934.

[9] “Cardinals Corral 13 Hits and Hand Red Sox 9-to-7 Walloping,” St. Louis Globe-Democrat, March 23, 1934.

[10] “Cardinals Corral 13 Hits and Hand Red Sox 9-to-7 Walloping,” St. Louis Globe-Democrat, March 23, 1934.

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The 1934 regular season was a breakout campaign for Dean, as he led the league with 30 wins, 195 strikeouts, and 26 complete games. In the final week of the season, he earned three wins to lift the Cardinals to the National League pennant. The Redbirds had trailed the New York Giants by as many as seven games on September 6, but a 21-7 record in the final week of the season propelled them past the defending National League champs.

Through the first six games of the World Series, the Cardinals and the American League champion Tigers had proven to be equals. Dean had taken the loss in Game 5 as Tigers right-hander Tommy Bridges held the Cardinals to one run and seven hits in a complete-game effort.

The following day, Dizzy’s younger brother Paul Dean outpitched Tigers ace Schoolboy Rowe, allowing three runs – one earned – in a 4-3 Cardinals win. That left Cardinals second baseman and manager Frankie Frisch with a decision to make regarding his starting pitcher for Game 7. He could either pitch Dizzy Dean again on one day’s rest or turn to left-hander Bill Hallahan, who had held the Tigers to two runs over 8 1/3 innings in Game 2.

Radio announcer France Laux recalled, “Finally Frisch said, ‘Hallahan, you start. Walker (left-hander Bill Walker), you’re in reserve.’ Just as he said that, the door opened, and here’s old Diz. He called Frisch ‘Franco.’ He said, ‘Franco, you know what the problem is? You’re going over the batting order, trying to decide who to pitch. You want to win, don’t you?’ He said, ‘There’s only one man to pitch, an’ here he is.’

“Frisch said, ‘Are you sure you’re able to go?’

“He said, ‘You let me pitch, an’ you won’t have any more problem.’

“Frisch said, ‘Okay, you start, and Hallahan, you’re in reserve.’”[1]

The Tigers countered with Elden Auker, a 23-year-old right-hander who had gone 15-7 during the regular season, then pitched all nine innings to earn the win in Detroit’s 10-4 Game 4 victory.

Before the game, Dean visited the Tigers bullpen and observed Auker as he warmed up.

“You don’t expect to get anyone out with that stuff, do you?” Dean asked.[2]

After both pitchers cruised through the first two innings, it was Dean who got the Cardinals’ offense sparked with a one-out double in the third. Pepper Martin followed with a single, and Jack Rothrock walked to load the bases ahead of Frisch. The 36-year-old Frisch came through with a bases-clearing double to give his team a 3-0 lead.

“That was a million-dollar hit to me,” Frisch said.[3]

Tigers catcher/manager Mickey Cochrane quickly turned to his bullpen, calling upon Rowe, who had earned the win in Game 2 but was outpitched by Paul Dean in Game 6 just one day earlier. After throwing all nine innings the previous day, Rowe had little left for Game 7. Joe Medwick grounded out for the second out of the inning, but Ripper Collins hit an RBI single and Bill DeLancey smacked an RBI double into right field to give the Cardinals a 5-0 lead and chase Rowe from the game.

With Elon Hogsett now in the game, Ernie Orsatti worked a walk and light-hitting shortstop Leo Durocher singled to load the bases for Dean.

“It’s all over, Mick,” Dean told Cochrane as he took his warm-up swings.

Dean bounced an infield single to third base that scored DeLancey, and Martin followed with a bases-loaded walk to extend St. Louis’s lead to 7-0. Finally, Bridges, the Tigers’ fourth pitcher of the inning, got a ground ball to end the inning.

Dean, meanwhile, continued to cruise. Detroit didn’t collect its first hit until Charlie Gehringer singled in the fourth. The Tigers finally threatened in the fifth when Hank Greenberg singled and Pete Fox followed with a one-out double. With two runners in scoring position, Dean struck out Bridges, then retired Jo-Jo White on a ground ball to Durocher to end the threat.

The most famous – or infamous – moment of the game took place in the sixth inning, when Medwick hit a two-out RBI triple. Medwick slid hard into the base, knocking Owen down in the process. After Owen landed on him, Medwick kicked at the Tigers third baseman, and the two players were soon wrestling in the dirt.

“I admit he slid hard. Joe always played hard. But it wasn’t a dirty slide,” Frisch wrote in his autobiography. “But Marvin Owen, the third baseman, thought Joe was carrying one of his spiked shoes too high as he slid, and perhaps accidentally or perhaps in retaliation, Owen took the high throw and came down on Joe’s leg harder than Joe thought was necessary. So Medwick kicked at Owen’s leg.”[4]

Collins followed with a single to center field, extending the Cardinals’ lead to 9-0. When the Cardinals took the field in the bottom half of the inning, however, the fans began to throw produce, cigar stubs, and empty soda bottles at Medwick in left field.[5]

Paul Gallico of the New York Daily News described the scene:

“I watched the crowd and Medwick, and the pelting missles (sic) through my field glasses, and it was a terrifying sight. Every face in the crowd, women and men was distorted with rage. Mouths were tore wide, open eyes glistened and shone in the sun. All fists were clenched. Medwick stood grinning with his hands on his hips, just out of range of the bottles. A green apple rolled to his feet, and he fielded that too.”[6]

The game was delayed as staff worked to clear the field of trash, and the public address announcer pleaded with fans to allow play to resume.

“I don’t know where they were getting all that stuff from,” Gehringer said. “It was like they were backing produce trucks up to the gate and supplying everyone.”[7]

Meanwhile, Medwick picked up an apple and began to play catch with Martin and Orsatti.

“Aw, it’s nothing, Joe. Don’t let it bother you,” Durocher said.

“Nothing, hell,” Medwick replied. “If you think that, you play left field and I’ll play shortstop.”[8]

Finally, commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis called Medwick, Owen, Frisch, and the umpires to his box on the third-base line.

“Mr. Owen, did Mr. Medwick attempt to kick you?” Landis asked.

“Yes, sir,” Owen answered.

“Is that true?” Landis then asked Medwick. “Did you attempt to kick Mr. Owen?”

“Yes, I did, sir,” answered Medwick.[9]

After determining that Owen had done nothing to prompt Medwick’s anger, Landis ordered the Cardinals slugger removed from the game. With 11 hits in the series, Medwick’s shot at tying the record of 12 was over.

“It’s a good thing Joe didn’t have a bat in his hands,” Frisch said. “He would have killed some of those fans.”[10]

“I was running to third base,” Medwick told the St. Louis Globe-Democrat after the game. “I saw Owen in front of the bag, and I slid in hard. Then the row followed. When Mr. Landis called me to him, he asked me if I had anything against Owen. I said ‘no.’ He asked Owen the same question, and he said ‘no.’ I offered to shake hands with Owen, but he refused. Mr. Landis then told me I was out of the game. That’s all there was to that, and I left.”[11]

After a 20-minute delay, the game was able to resume.

In the seventh inning, Durocher tripled and scored on an error and Rothrock hit an RBI double to make the score 11-0. It proved to be 10 runs more than Dean needed, even as he experimented with new pitches.

“Hey, Frank,” he shouted to Frisch late in the game. “If I’m as good as (Giants pitcher Carl Hubbell), I should be able to throw a screwball. Watch this.”[12]

Dean’s ensuing pitch sailed over DeLancey’s head.

“Bear down, dammit!” Frisch shouted.[13]

In the ninth inning, Gehringer and Billy Rogell each singled, but Dean struck out Greenberg for his fifth strikeout of the game. When Owen hit a ground ball to Durocher and the Cardinals’ shortstop flipped the ball to Frisch at second base for the force out, the Cardinals were world champions.

Dean had allowed just six hits over nine shutout innings, and every player in the Cardinals’ lineup had at least one hit. Together, Dizzy and his brother Paul Dean had earned all four of St. Louis’s World Series wins.

After the game, Dizzy celebrated with a rubber, inflatable tiger.

“Look at old Frankie Frisch over there,” he said. “He’s the best manager in both leagues. He knows more baseball than all them Tigers thrown together. Everything was just lovely today. I let them Tigers have a couple of base hits and then I throwed strikes at ‘em. Boy, there was nothing to it.”[14]

As champions, each of the Cardinals received $5,941 while the Tigers received $4,313.90.[15]

With tensions still high following Medwick’s dustup, the Cardinals received a police escort back to their hotel. There, Medwick and his roommate, pitcher Bill Hallahan, observed two men following them on the elevator and then down the hallway. They had barely gotten to their rooms when there was a knock on the door. It was the two men who had been following them.

“Which one of you is Joe Medwick?” one of them asked.

“He is,” Medwick said, pointing to Hallahan.

“I am not,” said a startled Hallahan. “He is.”

The men explained that they were plainclothes detectives assigned to protect Medwick until he left town.[16] Medwick ate dinner with the two detectives in his room that evening.[17]

“I never knew a city to take a World Series defeat so bitterly,” Frisch said. “Twenty-five years later, our center fielder, Ernie Orsatti, was in Detroit on a business trip and he registered at the Sheraton-Cadillac Hotel, where we were housed while playing the 1934 World Series. The desk clerk looked at the name on the register, then looked at Orsatti. He told Ernie he didn’t believe he could give him a room. Orsattie thought he was joking, but he wasn’t. Ernie had to go over the clerk’s head to get a room at the hotel.”[18]

While there was no love lost between Detroit’s fans and the Cardinals, the Tigers didn’t have any hard feelings for the Dean brothers.

“This Dizzy Dean they’re all talking about told the boys what he’s going to do to them, but after listening for a while, I kind of liked the kid,” outfielder Goose Goslin said. “There’s no real harm in him.”[19]

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[1] Peter Golenbock (2011), The Spirit of St. Louis: A History of the St. Louis Cardinals and Browns, HarperCollins Ebooks, Page 191.

[2] Doug Feldmann (2000), Dizzy and the Gas House Gang: The 1934 St. Louis Cardinals and Depression-Era Baseball, McFarland & Company, Inc.: Jefferson, N.C. and London, Page 165.

[3] Charles W. Dunkley “Cochrane’s Handshake Fills Frank’s Cup To Brim,” St. Louis Globe-Democrat, October 10, 1934.

[4] John Heidenry (2007), The Gashouse Gang: How Dizzy Dean, Leo Durocher, Branch Rickey, Pepper Martin, and Their Colorful, Come-From-Behind Ball Club Won the World Series, PublicAffairs: New York, Page 270.

[5] John Heidenry (2007), The Gashouse Gang: How Dizzy Dean, Leo Durocher, Branch Rickey, Pepper Martin, and Their Colorful, Come-From-Behind Ball Club Won the World Series, PublicAffairs: New York, Page 270.

[6] Paul Gallico, “Riot,” New York Daily News, October 10, 1934.

[7] John Heidenry (2007), The Gashouse Gang: How Dizzy Dean, Leo Durocher, Branch Rickey, Pepper Martin, and Their Colorful, Come-From-Behind Ball Club Won the World Series, PublicAffairs: New York, Page 271.

[8] John Heidenry (2007), The Gashouse Gang: How Dizzy Dean, Leo Durocher, Branch Rickey, Pepper Martin, and Their Colorful, Come-From-Behind Ball Club Won the World Series, PublicAffairs: New York, Page 271.

[9] Doug Feldmann (2000), Dizzy and the Gas House Gang: The 1934 St. Louis Cardinals and Depression-Era Baseball, McFarland & Company, Inc.: Jefferson, N.C. and London, Page 168.

[10] John Heidenry (2007), The Gashouse Gang: How Dizzy Dean, Leo Durocher, Branch Rickey, Pepper Martin, and Their Colorful, Come-From-Behind Ball Club Won the World Series, PublicAffairs: New York, Page 272.

[11] Martin J. Haley, “Cardinals Win Series as Fans Stage Riot,” St. Louis Globe-Democrat, October 10, 1934.

[12] Doug Feldmann (2000), Dizzy and the Gas House Gang: The 1934 St. Louis Cardinals and Depression-Era Baseball, McFarland & Company, Inc.: Jefferson, N.C. and London, Page 168.

[13] Doug Feldmann (2000), Dizzy and the Gas House Gang: The 1934 St. Louis Cardinals and Depression-Era Baseball, McFarland & Company, Inc.: Jefferson, N.C. and London, Page 168.

[14] Charles W. Dunkley “Cochrane’s Handshake Fills Frank’s Cup To Brim,” St. Louis Globe-Democrat, October 10, 1934.

[15] “Each Card Gets $5,821, Tiger $4,313,” New York Daily News, October 10, 1934.

[16] John Heidenry (2007), The Gashouse Gang: How Dizzy Dean, Leo Durocher, Branch Rickey, Pepper Martin, and Their Colorful, Come-From-Behind Ball Club Won the World Series, PublicAffairs: New York, Page 276.

[17] Doug Feldmann (2000), Dizzy and the Gas House Gang: The 1934 St. Louis Cardinals and Depression-Era Baseball, McFarland & Company, Inc.: Jefferson, N.C. and London, Page 170.

[18] Peter Golenbock (2011), The Spirit of St. Louis: A History of the St. Louis Cardinals and Browns, HarperCollins Ebooks, Page 194.

[19] Charles F. Faber (2014), The 1934 St. Louis Cardinals, Kindle Android Edition, Location 3536.

The post 1934 World Series Game 7: Dizzy Dean shuts out Detroit and Joe Medwick nearly sparks a riot first appeared on STLRedbirds.com.

The post August 5, 1931: Jim Bottomley collects six hits vs. the Pirates first appeared on STLRedbirds.com.

Rickey, who was notorious for paying his players pennies on the dollar compared to teams in larger markets such as New York, made the trade after Hafey held out of spring training for the second consecutive year. With young players such as Ripper Collins, Pepper Martin, and Joe Medwick emerging, Rickey could afford to sell off aging stars such as Hafey, secure in the knowledge that the next generation was waiting for its opportunity.

The Cardinals initially signed the California-born Hafey as a pitcher in 1922 and assigned him to Class C Fort Smith for the 1923 season. Hafey never reached the mound in a game, however. After witnessing Hafey’s proficiency in batting practice, the Cardinals moved him to the outfield, where he batted .285 with 16 home runs in his first pro season, then hit .360 for the Houston Buffaloes of the Texas League in 1924.

After a slow start to the 1925 season, Hafey was returned to the Cardinals’ farm system, but after Ray Blades was injured, Hafey returned for good and finished the year with a .302 batting average.

With Blades, Taylor Douthit, and Billy Southworth all hitting over .300, Hafey was limited to 78 games as the Cardinals won their first world championship in 1926. Playing for the injured Blades in the World Series, Hafey hit just .185 and may have already been feeling the effects of a sinus issue that required offseason surgery.

Despite a series of physical issues, Hafey emerged as one of the National League’s top hitters. In 1927, he hit .329 with a league-high .590 slugging percentage.

The following year, he became one of the few position players in the majors to wear glasses. From 1928 through 1930, he was a model of batting consistency, batting .337, .338, and .336, respectively, totaling at least 26 homers and 107 RBIs each season.

Hafey and the Cardinals struggled to agree on a contract prior to the 1931 season, and Hafey held out of spring training. When he finally signed a one-year contract for $12,500, Rickey informed the outfielder that he would not begin to draw his salary until he was deemed ready to play. That took approximately a month, resulting in the Cardinals deducting $2,500 of his salary and paying him $10,000 for the year.[2]

Despite (or, arguably, with the benefit of) his late start, Hafey won the National League batting title with a .3489 average, finishing just fractions of a point ahead of the Giants’ Bill Terry (.3486) and his teammate, Jim Bottomley (.3482). Hafey also hit 16 home runs and drove in 95 RBIs in 122 games.

Hafey and the 1931 Cardinals won their second world championship and fourth National League championship in six seasons, but Hafey hadn’t forgotten Rickey’s decision to dock his salary for the first month of the season. When the Cardinals offered him a contract of $12,500 for the 1932 season, the same base salary he had agreed to the previous season, he turned it down. He then turned out another offer for $13,000. Instead, he told the Cardinals he wanted a $15,000 contract, plus the $2,000 docked from his 1931 salary.[3] Throughout the spring, Hafey held firm with his contract demands, once again holding out of training camp.

This time, however, Rickey felt that he could afford to part ways with Hafey. Pepper Martin had hit .300 with seven homers, 75 RBIs, and 16 stolen bases in 1931 during his first extended look with the big-league club. Collins, meanwhile, had appeared in 89 games, primarily in place of the injured Bottomley at first base. He hit .348 with nine homers and 75 RBIs.

“(Manager Gabby) Street informed me he considered Collins was in line to become another Pepper Martin,” Rickey said. “That report was good enough for me. After conferring with President (Sam) Breadon, it was definitely decided to arrange a trade for Hafey.”[4]

Knowing that the Reds had previously expressed interest in Hafey, Rickey reached out to Cincinnati and let them know that the star outfielder was available in a trade.

“Two years ago, Weil asked us to place a price on Hafey,” Rickey said. “We informed him that we had no intention of disposing of Chick, but that if we ever found ourselves facing the situation where we cared to trade him, the Cincinnati club would receive the first call. We made good on this promise.”[5]

The St. Louis Star and Times reported that the Cardinals had also spoken with the Cubs about a possible trade; however, the Cubs named 13 players who were off-limits in a potential trade for Hafey, ultimately making a deal impossible.[6]

Once the trade with the Reds was announced, Rickey reached out to the St. Louis papers to defend the deal, including a verbose statement to the Star and Times.

“While this deal may not meet with the approval of our supporters here, I want it distinctly understood that this organization is not a one-man ball club and never has been,” Rickey said. “When we traded Rogers Hornsby to the New York Giants following the pennant conquest in 1926, we were bitterly criticized and assailed. Yet, we have won three pennants without the services of Hornsby. We have a player whom we consider far superior to Hornsby in Frankie Frisch.

“Then we disposed of Bob O’Farrell to the Giants one month after the 1928 season opened. The fans said: ‘They’re looney again!’ We have the greatest catcher in baseball in Jimmy Wilson. We weren’t wrong in those deals. Early last season, it was the opinion of President Breadon, Manager Street, and myself that we had one of the greatest prospects in baseball sitting on the bench and a center fielder who was slowing up. We traded Taylor Douthit to the Reds and sent Pepper Martin to center field on our club. Who will question our judgment on this transaction?

“Now, I am coming to Chick Hafey. We made every attempt to sign him at what we consider fair terms for the player. We offered him a contract calling for $13,000 – the highest salary any player who has been developed in our organization received. Hafey rejected our terms. He informed friends and others that he would retire from baseball unless we paid him $17,000. We would not pay him $17,000. Therefore, the next best move for us was to trade Hafey.”[7]

Rickey lamented Hafey’s lack of loyalty to Star and Times sports editor Sid Keener.

“In a way, I regret parting with Hafey,” Rickey said. “Do you remember back in 1923 when he joined us down in Florida? A gawky kid who was greener than grass. I took him in charge, worked with him, guided him, and prepped him carefully to make him a great ballplayer. I am not saying Hafey owed anything to this club. He made the hits at the plate and I realize I didn’t swing the bat for him. Nevertheless, it’s kind of tough in this business when a ball player loses all traces of loyalty. That’s what hurts me in trading Hafey.”[8]

Rickey’s media blitz appeared to work. Ed Wray of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch wrote, “For once, the sympathies of fans appear to be with the club. There are two reasons for this: One is that Hafey had become a chronic conscientious objector to any salary offered him; the other is that fans, while appreciating his hitting average, had little faith in Chick when he was called upon in a pinch.”[9]

Wray was referring to Hafey’s World Series struggles. Though he had helped the Cardinals capture the National League pennant in 1926, 1928, 1930, and 1931, he had just a .205 batting average in 24 World Series games.

For his part, Hafey welcomed the trade.

“I’ve always liked manager Dan Howley of Cincinnati, and I’m ready to go back and bear down,” Hafey said. “I haven’t heard from the club yet, but I’m all set.”[10]

Howley was equally pleased to welcome Hafey to a lineup that had ranked seventh in the eight-team National League in runs scored.

“I think it is a fine move,” he said. “With Hafey and (Babe) Herman in our outfield, we are sure to have much more power than we had last season and will win some of the games which we lost, so many by small scores, through a failure to hit. I honestly believe this deal, together with the trade made with Brooklyn some time ago, improves our chances very materially for a good finish in the approaching race.”[11]

Hafey hit .344 in 1932, but made just 279 plate appearances due to his late start to the season and a month-long bout with the flu. The following year, he hit .303 and appeared in Major League Baseball’s first All-Star Game.

After batting .293 in 140 games in 1934, Hafey was just 15 games into the 1935 season when he was struck with the flu. After briefly recovering only to suffer a relapse, Hafey returned home to California and missed the remainder of that season as well as the entirety of the 1936 campaign. By the time he returned in 1937 at age 34, he wasn’t the same hitter, batting .261 in 284 plate appearances.

Hafey retired with a .317 career batting average and 1,466 career hits in 1,283 games. Though he played 120 games in a season just six times over his 13-year career, Hafey was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1971.

Neither of the players the Cardinals obtained in the trade stayed in St. Louis for long before Rickey sold them back to the Reds.

Frey pitched just three innings for St. Louis before he was sold back to Cincinnati on May 9. Hendrick lasted a bit longer, batting .250 with one home run before the Reds purchased him back on June 5.

Collins hit .279 and led the Cardinals’ offense with 21 homers and 91 RBIs, but the Cardinals won just 72 games and fell to sixth in the National League in 1932. Two years later, however, the Cardinals returned to the top of the league as the Gashouse Gang brought another World Series championship home to St. Louis.

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[1] Tom Swope, “Reds Get Chick Hafey, League Batting Champ,” Cincinnati Post, April 11, 1932.

[2] “Hafey Traded By Cardinals To Reds,” St. Louis Star and Times, April 11, 1932.

[3] “Hafey Is Traded To The Reds For Frey And Hendrick,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, April 11, 1932.

[4] “Hafey Traded By Cardinals To Reds,” St. Louis Star and Times, April 11, 1932.

[5] “Hafey Traded By Cardinals To Reds,” St. Louis Star and Times, April 11, 1932.

[6] Sid Keener, “Sid Keener’s Column,” St. Louis Star and Times, April 12, 1932.

[7] “Hafey Traded By Cardinals To Reds,” St. Louis Star and Times, April 11, 1932.

[8] Sid Keener, “Sid Keener’s Column,” St. Louis Star and Times, April 12, 1932.

[9] Ed Wray, “Wray’s Column,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, April 12, 1932.

[10] “‘Satisfactory,’ Says Hafey; He Will Start for Cincinnati at Once,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, April 11, 1932.

[11] Jack Ryder, “Reds Get Hafey – Give Frey and Hendrick – Opener Today,” Cincinnati Enquirer, April 12, 1932.

The post Chick Hafey: Cardinals trade defending NL batting champion in 1932 first appeared on STLRedbirds.com.

Alexander spent just 3 ½ seasons with the Cardinals as part of a 20-year career, but he made them count. In 1911, Alexander debuted with the Phillies and led the league with 28 wins. He received $250 per month for his efforts. Even in 1938, United Press correspondent George Kirksey noted that sum was “less than half of what the lowliest rookie gets nowadays for sitting on the bench.”[1]

In his first seven seasons in the league, Alexander averaged 27 wins and 356 innings per season. In 1915, 1916, and 1917, he won the ERA title and piled up 94 wins, winning at least 30 games each season. In 1915, he threw four one-hitters on his way to a 1.22 ERA. The following season, he threw 16 shutouts among his 33 wins.

In December 1917, the Phillies traded Alexander and Bill Killefer to the Cubs for Pickles Dillhoefer, Mike Prendergast, and $55,000. After just three appearances with the Cubs, however, Alexander went to France with the 89^th Division, where he served as an artillery sergeant and was regularly exposed to heavy artillery during World War I. When he returned, Alexander suffered from partial hearing loss and epilepsy. He drank whiskey to help control his seizures.[2]

Somehow, that didn’t prevent him from being an effective pitcher with the Cubs. In 1919, he won 16 games and led the National League with a 1.72 ERA. The next year, he led the league with 27 wins, a 1.91 ERA, 173 strikeouts, and 363 1/3 innings.

Alexander continued to lead the Cubs’ staff until June 1926, when Chicago released him for breaking team rules. With Branch Rickey out of town, Cardinals team owner Sam Breadon signed Alexander off waivers with manager Rogers Hornsby’s support.[3]

The 39-year-old Alexander appeared in 23 games the remainder of the regular season, going 9-7 with a 2.91 ERA in 148 1/3 innings. With an 89-65 record, Alexander and the Cardinals won the National League pennant by two games over the Reds, earning the right to play the Yankees in the World Series.

After the Yankees won Game 1, the Cardinals turned to Alexander in Game 2. “Old Pete” held Babe Ruth, Bob Meusel, Lou Gehrig, and the rest of the New York lineup to one earned run on four hits in a 6-2 Cardinals victory.

With St. Louis trailing the series three games to two, Alexander came up big once again in Game 6. In another complete-game effort, he allowed just two runs on eight hits to force a decisive Game 7.

With the world championship on the line, Hornsby and the Cardinals called upon Alexander one more time. After Jesse Haines, plagued by a loose and bloody fingernail, walked Gehrig to load the bases in the bottom of the seventh, Hornsby called upon Alexander with a 3-2 lead and Tony Lazzeri at the plate.

“The bases are packed, Alex,” Hornsby greeted the veteran pitcher.

According to one account, Alexander replied, “Three on, eh? Well, there’s no place to put Lazzeri, is there? I’ll just have to give him nothin’ but a lot of hell, won’t I?”[4]

After three warm-up pitches, he did exactly that, striking out Lazzeri to end the inning. He then threw two more scoreless innings to secure the Cardinals’ first World Series title.

In the Cardinals’ clubhouse after the game, legendary New York Giants manager John McGraw said, “There you see the man who gave us the greatest pitching feat baseball has furnished since Christy Mathewson shut out the Athletics three times in a row.”[5]

Alexander pitched three more seasons in St. Louis, winning 21 games with a 2.52 ERA in 1927 and adding 16 more wins in 1928. The Cardinals traded Alexander to the Phillies in December 1929, where “Old Pete” played the final season of his major-league career.

His 373 career wins were a major-league record. His 2.56 career ERA included 90 shutouts.

“When I had it, I gave it – for 20 years,” he said.[6]

In 1936, the first year in which the Baseball Writers’ Association of America conducted a Hall of Fame vote, Alexander received 24.3% of the vote. The following year, his 62.2% gave him more votes than anyone who didn’t reach the 75% threshold necessary for induction.

In 1938, Alexander received 212 of 262 votes, eclipsing the 197 votes he needed. He was trailed by George Sisler with 179 votes (68.3%), Willie Keeler with 177 (67.6%), and Eddie Collins with 175 (66.8%).

Alexander said he felt “like going into a corner where no one could see me and giving myself a pat on the back.”[7]

In the Moline Dispatch, Gayle Talbot wrote:

Alexander’s election is certain to strike a popular chord. There had been grumblings because he was not named earlier, and a belief by some that he might never attain the honor because he was, toward the sunset of his career, a very rugged individualist of the diamond, a man who didn’t worry about training rules.

“I’m happy to see Old Pete get in there,” said a prominent baseball official who knew Alexander throughout his big-league service. “He was a wonderful pitcher, at least the equal of Mathewson, and the fact that he broke training now and then doesn’t matter.”[8]

At the time of his election, Alexander worked as a greeter for the Empire Hotel in Springfield, Illinois.[9] Still battling alcoholism and health issues, Alexander had arrived in Springfield in a sorry condition one year earlier. Johnny Connors, a local sports promoter and operator of the Empire Hotel, paid for Alexander to receive hospital treatment and, once Alexander recovered, gave him a job at the hotel tavern. While Alexander was allowed to drink beer while he regaled customers with stories of the majors, Connors made him promise to lay off the “hard stuff.”[10]

“The Hall of Fame is fine, but it doesn’t mean bread and butter. It’s only your picture on a wall,” said Alexander from the Empire Hotel bar, where he gestured at the photographs of athletes, politicians, and actors that lined the walls. “This place is Hall of Fame enough for me. If I can get my picture up there, I’ll be satisfied.”[11]

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[1] George Kirksey, “Grover Cleveland Alexander Voted Into Baseball’s Hall Of Fame,” St. Louis Star and Times, January 19, 1938.

[2] Paul E. Doutrich (2021), The Cardinals and the Yankees, 1926: A Classic Season and St. Louis in Seven, Kindle Android Version, Location 1076.

[3] John Heidenry (2007), The Gashouse Gang, PublicAffairs, Kindle Android Version, Page 38.

[4] Charles C. Alexander, Rogers Hornsby (Kindle Android version retrieved from Amazon.com), Page 119.

[5]  James R. Dawson, “Alex’s Feat Rates Him with the Immortal ‘Matty,’ Says McGraw,” St. Louis Globe-Democrat, October 11, 1926, Page 12.

[6] George Kirksey, “Grover Cleveland Alexander Voted Into Baseball’s Hall Of Fame,” St. Louis Star and Times, January 19, 1938.

[7] George Kirksey, “Grover Cleveland Alexander Voted Into Baseball’s Hall Of Fame,” St. Louis Star and Times, January 19, 1938.

[8] Gayle Talbot, “Grover Cleveland Alexander’s Name Added to Baseball’s Hall of Fame,” Moline Dispatch, January 19, 1938.

[9] George Kirksey, “Grover Cleveland Alexander Voted Into Baseball’s Hall Of Fame,” St. Louis Star and Times, January 19, 1938.

[10] “Alex Tickled About Honors, But His Springfield Benefactor Comes First,” Moline Dispatch, January 19, 1938.

[11] “Alex Tickled About Honors, But His Springfield Benefactor Comes First,” Moline Dispatch, January 19, 1938.

The post Grover Cleveland Alexander and the Hall of Fame first appeared on STLRedbirds.com.

Shortly after Dean walked off the field with his 30^th win of the season, a young boy ran out to the diamond and placed a four-pound block of ice on the mound.

“Dizzy told me this morning to put it there after the game,” the boy explained when reporters asked him why he had done such a thing. “Said it would be burning up if I didn’t. Go ahead and feel it. Even the ice hasn’t cooled it down yet.”^[1]

At 94-58, the Cardinals entered the final day of the regular season with a one-game lead over the defending World Series champion New York Giants. With a win over the Reds at Sportsman’s Park, the Cardinals could clinch their own World Series berth, where they would face the American League champion Detroit Tigers.

As if that weren’t motivation enough, Dean had an opportunity to earn his 30^th win of the season. If he reached the milestone, he would join Lefty Grove as the only pitchers to reach 30 wins since Jim Bagby did it in 1920, and the first National League 30-game winner since Grover Cleveland Alexander in 1917.

The pitching performances of Dean and his brother, Paul Dean, had led the Cardinals to the cusp of the NL pennant, even though they briefly left the team in August due to a salary dispute. Just one day earlier, Paul won his 19^th game of the season, holding the Reds to one run in a complete-game performance that lowered his ERA to 3.43.

Dizzy, meanwhile, was slated to make his 12^th appearance of the month on just one day of rest. On September 28, Dizzy had dominated the Reds, scattering seven hits and striking out seven for his 29^th win of the season. With the win, he exceeded 300 innings on the season, part of a stretch that had seen him pitch in five games from September 21-28, including three complete-game starts.

Even after that incredible workload, Dizzy was set to face the Reds one more time with a possible trip to the World Series on the line. If he was fatigued, he certainly didn’t show it in the first inning, even as the scoreboard showed that the Giants had scored four first-inning runs against the Dodgers. With 37,402 fans in attendance, the largest crowd at Sportsman’s Park in three years,[2] Dean retired the Reds’ first three hitters in order, thanks in part to a diving catch by center fielder Ernie Orsatti.

The Cardinals’ lineup gave Dean an early lead in the bottom of the first. After Cincinnati’s Si Johnson walked Ripper Collins to load the bases, Cardinals catcher Bill DeLancey singled to right to give St. Louis a 2-0 lead.

In the fourth, the Cardinals broke the game open. Johnson was clearly battling his control, as he hit Collins with a pitch and walked DeLancey and Ernie Orsatti before Reds manager Chuck Dressen came to the mound to replace him with Benny Frey.

Light-hitting Cardinals shortstop Leo Durocher greeted Frey with an RBI single to right before Pepper Martin punched a two-run single into the left-field gap to make the score 5-0. One inning later, DeLancey hit his 13^th home run of the season onto the pavilion roof in right-center field, and in the seventh Collins hit a two-run homer for his 200^th hit and 35^th blast of the 1934 campaign.

DeLancey’s third hit of the day, an RBI single in the eighth inning, made it 9-0 Cardinals. By that point, there was no doubt that the National League pennant belonged to St. Louis. Nonetheless, Dean had to battle to complete his shutout bid. After the Reds’ first three batters reached in the ninth inning, the scoreboard was updated to show that the Dodgers had rallied to defeat the Giants 8-5, clinching the pennant for the Cardinals. As confetti fell from the upper decks of Sportsman’s Park, Dean struck out Clyde Manion and Ted Petoskey before getting Sparky Adams to pop out to DeLancey behind the plate.

With the final out recorded, the capacity crowd surged onto the field and Dean was escorted off the field by the police. “For about two hours afterwards the crowd milled about underneath the grandstand, outside the exit gates and along the streets bordering the ball park,” the St. Louis Star and Times reported. “Everyone, it seemed, wanted to get a glimpse of this superstar, Dizzy Dean.”[3]

Dean’s two ninth-inning strikeouts gave him seven for the game and a league-high 195 for the season. It marked the third consecutive season Dean had led the league in strikeouts.

“By hurling two shutouts with only one day of rest in between, Jerome Herman climaxed the greatest baseball finish of all time,” Ray J. Gillespie wrote.[4]

The win was Dean’s seventh in a row and his seventh shutout of the year. Together, Dizzy and his brother Paul had combined for 12 of the Cardinals’ 15 shutouts on the season as they claimed 49 of the team’s 95 total wins.

“There is no question in my mind about who should be declared the most valuable player of 1934 in this league,” Cardinals manager Frankie Frisch said in his column in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “There is no candidate in my estimation except Jerome Herman Dean. He deserves the award.”[5]

In the clubhouse, the Cardinals celebrated with singing, dancing, hugging, and shouting.

“What did I tell yuh – what did I tell you?” Dizzy shouted in the midst of the celebration. “I asked you to get me one run and it would be a breeze for us.”[6]

Finally, Frisch arrived in the clubhouse. Immediately, his players tackled him as they offered him congratulations.

“It’s swell of you fellows to say all these nice things,” Frisch said when they finally let him go.[7]

“Swell of us?” responded Paul Dean. “Heck, we’re going to do more than this for you when the World Series is over.”[8]

Later, Frisch slumped onto a bench as his players continued the celebration around him. His thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of his ace pitcher, Dizzy Dean. “They shook hands quietly, did these two men who had just come through a great experience together, and Frank moved over on the bench to make room for Jerome Herman, where they sat talking until interrupted by photographers,” the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.[9]

Even after the Cardinals completed their revelry, their fans awaited outside the stadium. Police guided Paul Dean into a waiting cab only to be informed that his car was in a nearby parking lot. As a result, the police had to lead him back through the crowd again to find his vehicle.[10]

If anything, Dizzy faced an even greater challenge. As the Star and Times described the scene: “Dizzy, who had shown no fear in the face of enemy bats, turned white as he was confronted with the yelling, wild mob that attempted to grab his hand. The blue-coats quickly came to his rescue, fought away the fans and escorted the ‘people’s choice’ to safety.”[11]

It was a good thing for all concerned that Dean escaped unscathed. After all, the Cardinals would need him in Detroit just three days later for Game 1 of the World Series.

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[1] Doug Feldmann (2015), Dizzy and the Gas House Gang, McFarland, Kindle file, Page 135.

[2] “Final Game Drew Largest Crowd Since Cubs’ Double Header of 1931,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 1, 1934.

[3] Ray J. Gillespie, “Crowd of 37,402 Cheers Dizzy Dean As He Hurls Cards To Flag,” St. Louis Star and Times, October 1, 1934.

[4] Ray J. Gillespie, “Crowd of 37,402 Cheers Dizzy Dean As He Hurls Cards To Flag,” St. Louis Star and Times, October 1, 1934.

[5] Frankie Frisch, “Frisch Says He Never Played On Club With More Courage or Confidence Than The Cardinals,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 1, 1934.

[6] Sid K. Keener, “Keener Paints Picture of Cards’ Flag Celebration,” St. Louis Star and Times, October 1, 1934.

[7] Sid K. Keener, “Keener Paints Picture of Cards’ Flag Celebration,” St. Louis Star and Times, October 1, 1934.

[8] Sid K. Keener, “Keener Paints Picture of Cards’ Flag Celebration,” St. Louis Star and Times, October 1, 1934.

[9] Damon Kerby, “‘We’re in the Money,’ Theme Song of Cards After Victory,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 1, 1934.

[10] Ray J. Gillespie, “Crowd of 37,402 Cheers Dizzy Dean As He Hurls Cards To Flag,” St. Louis Star and Times, October 1, 1934.

[11] Ray J. Gillespie, “Crowd of 37,402 Cheers Dizzy Dean As He Hurls Cards To Flag,” St. Louis Star and Times, October 1, 1934.

The post How Dizzy Dean earned his 30th win in 1934 first appeared on STLRedbirds.com.

It was, perhaps, surprising that Dean had to win over the fans at all after his incredible 1934 season. In that historic campaign, Dean led the league with 30 wins against just seven losses, leading the Cardinals to the 1934 National League pennant and a World Series championship against the Detroit Tigers. His seven shutouts and 195 strikeouts each led the league, and he ended the regular season with a 2.66 ERA in 311 2/3 innings.

In the seven-game World Series, Dean pitched 26 innings, allowing just five earned runs for a 1.73 ERA. He pitched all nine innings of the Cardinals’ 8-3 Game 1 win, then took a tough-luck loss in Game 5 after allowing two earned runs over eight innings. With just one day of rest, Dean pitched the decisive Game 7, holding the Tigers to just six hits in a complete-game shutout.

Following Dean’s historic season, he was named National League MVP ahead of Pittsburgh’s Paul Waner, who placed second, and the Giants’ Jo-Jo Moore, Travis Jackson, and Mel Ott, who finished third, fourth, and fifth, respectively.

The Sporting News chose to honor Dean with a trophy presentation as part of one of the biggest days on the St. Louis baseball calendar. The Cardinals’ annual Tuberculosis Day carnival raised funds for the Tuberculosis and Health Society, which supported a variety of causes in the city. The fundraiser was so important to the city that union leadership, which was boycotting Sportsman’s Park over the employment of union bartenders and ushers, called a one-day halt to support the event. As the St. Louis Globe-Democrat explained, “The Central Trades and Labor Union, in raising the boycott, was influenced by the fact the Tuberculosis Society spends a great deal of its income to feed underprivileged children, some of whom come from union homes.”[1]

Tuberculosis and Health Society officials declared that the event would be “the largest and most spectacular in the history of the tuberculosis games,” including:

• a performance by 8-year-old trapeze artist Adele Inge;
• an exhibition by the Southwest Gymnastic Society;
• a niblick contest featuring golf stars Johnny and Jimmy Manion, Bob Cochran, Ben Richter, Lou Fehlig, George Dawson, Tom Draper, and Francis Schwartz;
• a race between 100- and 220-yard world record holder Helen Stephens, University City’s Harriet la Mertha, and U.S. Olympian Gertrude Webb;
• a model airplane contest;
• an exhibition by the Shriners Drum and Bugle Corps and Patrol;
• and a band concert.[2]

The extravaganza featured 3,000 total performers and attracted 16,000 fans to the stadium. As the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported, “Women outnumbered the men in attendance by more than three to one, their bright dresses making a coat of many colors for the stands, and their voices during the closely contested ball game, adding a predominating, vibrant note.”[3]

Despite the positive spirit of the festivities and his accomplishments of the past year, Dean had attracted some controversy in recent days. One day earlier, on July 15, he had been slated to appear at an exhibition game in Springfield, Illinois. However, Dean’s scheduled start for the previous day was pushed back. As a result, he pitched all nine innings in the Cardinals’ 13-6 victory over the Braves. After showering, driving 2 ½ hours to Springfield, and stopping at a restaurant, Dean arrived late.

In his Post-Dispatch column, Dean explained:

They tell me in the spring that I am doin’ too many things and should ought to rest more and be sure to eat good nourishin’ food and not miss my meals on account of outside engagements. I try to remember all these things so when I hurry from pitchin’ a ballgame and goes to Springfield and ain’t had my dinner I figure I owe something to the ball club to be sure and eat nourishin’ food, so I goes to a restaurant and orders a steak. And what happens? Why, I get the blast because it seems a Governor and some other people was waitin’. But the Governor can’t pitch for us none and old Diz has got to stay in shape.[4]

Dean was scheduled to receive the MVP trophy from St. Louis Mayor Bernard Dickmann, but in a late change, Dickmann was replaced by Sporting News editor E.G. Brands. With the Braves and Cardinals gathered at home plate, Dean accepted the award and, after a fan loudly shouted, “Say something, you big weed jumper!” made a few brief remarks.[5]

“I want to thank the Sporting News for this trophy and I want to thank each and every St. Louis fan for the loyal support you have given me and I hope I will spend many more years here with the fans of St. Louis,” Dean said.^[6]

The St. Louis Globe-Democrat reported, “Dizzy’s speech won his public back, and they cheered loudly as he left the field.”[7]

In the game that followed, it was another Cardinals pitcher, Jesse Haines, who stole the show, allowing one run on eight hits in a complete-game victory. After the Braves’ Buck Jordan hit a first-inning home run, Bill DeLancey hit an RBI single and Terry Moore drove a run home on a fielder’s choice in the fourth. St. Louis won the game, 2-1.

A few days later, the Baseball Writers Association of America presented Dean with its National League MVP Award before a July 21 doubleheader against Brooklyn.[8]

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[1] “T.B. Charity Carnival to Be Staged Today at Sportsmans Park,” St. Louis Globe-Democrat, July 16, 1935.

[2] “T.B. Charity Carnival to Be Staged Today at Sportsmans Park,” St. Louis Globe-Democrat, July 16, 1935.

[3] “16,000 At Ball Game On Tuberculosis Day,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 17, 1935.

[4] Dizzy Dean, “Poppin’ Off,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 17, 1935.

[5] “16,000 Witness Colorful Events at T.B. Carnival,” St. Louis Globe-Democrat, July 17, 1935.

[6] “Charity Day Race At Ball Park Won By Miss Stephens,” St. Louis Star and Times, July 16, 1935.

[7] “16,000 Witness Colorful Events at T.B. Carnival,” St. Louis Globe-Democrat, July 17, 1935.

[8] “Writers Will Award Dean Trophy Sunday,” St. Louis Globe-Democrat, July 17, 1935.

The post July 16, 1935: Dizzy Dean wins over the crowd as he accepts the NL MVP trophy first appeared on STLRedbirds.com.

Dean entered the game having won 11 of his last 12 decisions and each of his last four appearances. While Dean and his younger brother Paul were keeping the Cardinals in the pennant race, the Reds were mired at the bottom of the National League standings with a 21-44 record. Despite their season-long struggles, the Reds would prove a challenge for Dean and the Redbirds as the lead exchanged seven times in the 18-inning affair.

Dean and Cincinnati southpaw Tony Freitas exchanged zeros through the first three innings. Frankie Frisch got the Cardinals on the scoreboard in the fourth with an RBI single, but the Reds scored a run of their own with two singles and an RBI groundout in the bottom of the inning.

After Dean retired the first two batters of the fifth inning, the Reds rallied for three consecutive hits, including an RBI single by Gordon Slade and an RBI triple by Mark Koenig that gave Cincinnati a 3-1 lead.

St. Louis tied the score again in the top of the sixth. Pepper Martin led off the inning with a single, snapping an 0-for-11 slump, and scored on an RBI double by Frisch. With two outs, Ripper Collins singled into center field to score Frisch.

From there, the teams continued to trade runs. A sacrifice fly gave Cincinnati a 4-3 lead in the bottom of the sixth before Martin hit a sacrifice fly of his own to tie the score in the seventh. In the bottom of the frame, Koenig doubled and former Cardinal Chick Hafey singled into right field to give the Reds a 5-4 lead. The Cardinals wouldn’t tie the score again until the ninth, when Chick Fullis hit a leadoff double and Leo Durocher singled into center field to drive him home.

Incredibly, Dean and Freitas exchanged scoreless innings until the top of the 17^th. With one out, Joe Medwick launched his eighth home run of the year over the wall and onto a factory roof across the street.[1]

“The Reds had a lot of fun kidding Ducky during batting practice before the warfare started about his recent light hitting, and they also kidded him a lot when little Tony Freitas fanned him in the second and fourth innings of the long game. But he had the last laugh on Bob O’Farrell’s crowd,” the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.[2]

Dean returned to the mound for the bottom of the 17^th inning holding a 6-5 lead, but after he retired the first two batters he faced, Tony Piet doubled to left and Slade hit an RBI single to tie the score yet again.

The Reds had replaced Freitas with a pinch hitter in the frame, so Paul Derringer entered the game for Cincinnati in the 18^th. With one out, Derringer walked Burgess Whitehead. Pat Crawford, called upon to pinch hit for Dean, singled into center before Martin popped up for the second out.

With Jack Rothrock at the plate, Derringer uncorked a wild pitch that advanced the runners to second and third. Rothrock took advantage of the opportunity, reaching on an infield single that scored the go-ahead run. Frisch followed with his fourth hit of the day, a single into center field that gave the Cardinals an 8-6 lead.

With a two-run lead to protect, the Cardinals called on Jim Lindsey, a journeyman reliever who had pitched for the Reds earlier that season. On May 23, the Reds traded Lindsey to St. Paul of the American Association to acquire Freitas. Two weeks later, the Cardinals purchased Lindsey from St. Paul and inserted him into the bullpen.

Lindsey’s former teammates didn’t make it easy for him. After Lindsey retired Hafey on a fly ball to center field, Jimmy Shevlin singled and Ernie Lombardi reached on an error. Lindsey retired Harlin Pool for the second out, but then walked Adam Comorosky to load the bases.

That brought former Cardinals slugger Jim Bottomley to the plate. The 34-year-old first baseman lifted a high fly into left field, and as the Cincinnati Enquirer described it:

When the ball left his bat it looked good for three bases and would have won the game then and there. But Medwick cut back toward the scoreboard like a startled hare, leaped high and came down with the ball tightly encased in his glove.[3]

Frisch led the Cardinals offense with four hits in eight at-bats, while Martin, Rothrock, and Collins had three hits apiece.

Dean improved to 13-3 on the season with the win, which tied him with the Braves’ Fred Frankhouse for the National League lead. Over 17 innings, Dean allowed six earned runs on 18 hits and seven walks. He struck out seven of the 75 batters he faced.

“Just where the Cardinals would be without those Dean boys is not so hard to figure out,” Jack Ryder wrote in the Cincinnati Enquirer. “Somewhere down in the second division, anyway.”^[4]

Lindsey earned the save.

Incredibly, after a game that lasted almost 4 ½ hours, the Cardinals and Reds had the second game of a double-header to play. That contest, which was played “just to keep faith with the fans who had been promised a double-header,”[5] the Cincinnati Enquirer reported, ended in a 2-2 tie after five innings before it was called due to darkness. Medwick drove in both the Cardinals’ runs with his second home run of the day.

“It was a great day, with a fine crowd and an abundance of remarkable plays, but 23 innings ought to be enough for the most confirmed fanatic,” Ryder wrote. “No one could complain that he didn’t get his money’s worth on this occasion, at least.”[6]

For the Reds, Freitas received no decision for his 17-inning performance, which included six earned runs on 17 hits and two walks. He struck out five. With the loss, Derringer fell to 4-10 on the season.

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[1] Jack Ryder, “Reds Lose First In Eighteenth — Second Game Tie Affair,” Cincinnati Enquirer, July 2, 1934.

[2] “Dizzy Dean’s 18-Inning Victory Keeps Cards Near Front,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 2, 1934.

[3] Jack Ryder, “Reds Lose First In Eighteenth — Second Game Tie Affair,” Cincinnati Enquirer, July 2, 1934.

[4] Jack Ryder, “Reds Lose First In Eighteenth — Second Game Tie Affair,” Cincinnati Enquirer, July 2, 1934.

[5] Jack Ryder, “Reds Lose First In Eighteenth — Second Game Tie Affair,” Cincinnati Enquirer, July 2, 1934.

[6] Jack Ryder, “Reds Lose First In Eighteenth — Second Game Tie Affair,” Cincinnati Enquirer, July 2, 1934.

The post July 1, 1934: Dizzy Dean pitches 17 frames and Joe Medwick hits a game-winning homer in 18-inning marathon first appeared on STLRedbirds.com.

Signed off the New Jersey sandlots, the muscular and quick-tempered Medwick quickly developed a reputation as one of the best bad-ball hitters in the league. The Dodgers’ Van Mungo said, “I’d rather pitch to any other hitter in the league,” while his teammate, Dutch Leonard, suggested, “Forbid Medwick to carry a bat to the plate – make him hit it with his fists. Then he’d only get singles.”[1]

After appearing in 26 games in 1932, Medwick was inserted into the starting lineup and hit .306 with 18 home runs and 98 RBIs in 1933. During the Gashouse Gang’s world championship season in 1934, Medwick batted .319 with 18 homers and 106 RBIs.

“I just smell the lettuce,” Medwick said, using a slang term for money. “I have two good friends in this world: buckerinoes and base hits. If I get base hits, I will get buckerinoes. I smell World Series lettuce and I’ll get my two or three a day.”[2]

Medwick hits for the cycle

Facing the Reds at Crosley Field on June 29, 1935, Medwick got more than the two or three hits he’d bargained for. Batting cleanup, he opened the day’s scoring with an RBI double to left field that scored Ernie Orsatti. Catcher Bill DeLancey launched a solo home run over the right-field wall to make it 2-0 before Medwick struck again in the third. This time Medwick tripled into center field, scoring Burgess Whitehead. Ripper Collins followed with a single up the middle to score Medwick and give the Cardinals a 4-0 lead.

Medwick led off the fifth inning with a single and scored when DeLancey tripled off the right-field wall.

Paul Dean allowed two runs in the bottom of the fifth, including a solo home run by Ival Goodman, to trim the Cardinals’ lead to 5-3. After Cincinnati’s Billy Myers led off the seventh with a triple, manager Frankie Frisch replaced Dean with Bill Walker. Walker allowed five hits in the inning, including a two-run double by Alex Kampouris, as “base hits then cracked to all parts of the field like exploding firecrackers,” the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.[3] With the rally, the Reds grabbed an 8-5 lead.

The Reds continued to hold that three-run lead into the ninth. After Al Hollingsworth retired Orsatti and Whitehead, Medwick came to the plate seeking to keep the Cardinals’ chances alive, needing a home run for the cycle. With a blast that bounced off the left-field foul pole and back onto the field, he accomplished both.

Collins followed with a single and DeLancey drew a walk to bring the winning run to the plate, but Terry Moore hit a ground ball to third base and the Reds’ Lew Riggs stepped on the bag to force out Collins and end the game.

Medwick’s legacy

Medwick’s performance raised his average to .370, trailing only the Pirates’ Arky Vaughan, who was batting .392 through 199 at-bats. Medwick finished the season batting .353 with 23 homers and 126 RBIs and placed fifth in that year’s MVP voting behind Gabby Hartnett, Dizzy Dean, Vaughan, and Billy Herman.

Throughout the 1930s, Medwick was a mainstay in the Cardinals’ lineup, leading the league in runs, hits, doubles, home runs, RBIs, batting average, and total bases en route to the National League MVP in 1937. In 1940, to avoid his rising salary demands, the Cardinals traded Medwick and Curt Davis to the Dodgers for Carl Doyle, Bert Haas, Ernie Koy, Sam Nahem, and $125,000.

Medwick returned to the Cardinals for the final two years of his career in 1947 and 1948 before retiring. His 17-year major league career included a .324 batting average and 10 all-star game appearances. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1968.

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[1] Doug Feldmann (2015), Dizzy and the Gas House Gang, McFarland Publishing, Kindle file, Page 42.

[2] Doug Feldmann (2015), Dizzy and the Gas House Gang, McFarland Publishing, Kindle file, Page 41.

[3] J. Roy Stockton, “Medwick Hits Home Run, Triple, Double, and Single,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 30, 1935.

The post Joe Medwick completes cycle with homer off the foul pole: June 29, 1935 first appeared on STLRedbirds.com.

His big brother, Dizzy Dean, had taken it upon himself to serve as Paul’s spokesperson, telling anyone who would listen that his little brother was an even better pitcher than he was, and predicting that together the Dean brothers would win 45 games that season.[1]

The early results, however, weren’t promising. Making his debut in the Cardinals’ second game of the season against the powerful Pirates lineup, Paul lasted just two innings, as Pie Traynor and Gus Suhr each homered and Lloyd Waner added an RBI single to give Pittsburgh an early 4-0 lead.

Seeking to lessen the pressure on his rookie pitcher, manager Frankie Frisch used Paul in relief in each of his next two appearances. In a 15-2 loss to the Cubs, Paul pitched the fourth and fifth innings, allowing two runs. Six days later, he pitched two more innings and allowed two more runs in a 7-1 loss vs. Chicago.

On May 3, Paul earned his first major-league victory, throwing five innings of relief as the Cardinals beat the Phillies 8-7. He didn’t pitch particularly well, allowing five runs on seven hits and two walks. Nonetheless, Frisch selected the younger Dean for a May 11 start against the defending world champion New York Giants and their ace pitcher, Carl Hubbell.

The 31-year-old Hubbell had won the National League MVP Award the previous year. With his left-handed delivery and baffling screwball, he had won 23 games and posted a 1.66 ERA over 308 2/3 innings.

Why did Frisch have confidence in Paul against arguably the best pitcher in the game? In The Gashouse Gang, John Heidenry writes that the Cardinals’ manager believed Paul “was trying to imitate his brother instead of developing his own style. The younger Dean also lacked Dizzy’s enormous self-confidence, which no number of defeats, no criticism from colleagues, no taunting from opponents could erode.”[2]

To boost that confidence, Frisch invited Paul to his dining car as the team traveled by train between cities.

“We open with the Giants in about a week and you’re going to start the third game,” Frisch said. “Those Giants will be tough, but smart pitching can beat them. Let’s analyze their batting form.”[3]

Together, the Cardinals’ 36-year-old player/manager and the 21-year-old rookie pitcher spent the next two hours discussing the Giants lineup, with Frisch standing into the aisle to imitate the Giants’ batting stances. Through the entire conversation, Frisch never once mentioned Paul’s brother; instead, he emphasized his primary message: that Paul had the talent to beat the Giants.[4]

The Cardinals put that message to the test in front of 6,500 fans at Sportsman’s Park on May 11.

Paul worked himself out of trouble in the first inning. Jo-Jo Moore drew a leadoff walk before Paul struck out Lefty O’Doul and Bill Terry. Mel Ott hit a two-out single to advance Moore to third base, but Paul got Travis Jackson to fly out to center field for the final out.

The Cardinals gave Paul some early run support when Pepper Martin led off the bottom of the first with a double and Frisch tripled to drive him in. Ripper Collins singled to score Frisch, giving the Cardinals a 2-0 lead.

The Giants got on the scoreboard with three more hits in the second inning. Blondy Ryan led off with a single to center, then scored with a two-out double by Moore. From there, both pitchers settled down for the long haul.

Paul retired the side in order in the third and worked around a two-out walk to Paul Richards in the fourth. In the fifth, O’Doul singled and stole second, but Dean retired Ott on a fly ball to right field to end the inning.

One inning later, the Giants loaded the bases with one out before Hubbell drove Ryan home with a sacrifice fly to right field.

With the score tied 2-2, Paul worked out of trouble again in the seventh. O’Doul led off with a single and Terry reached on an error by Martin at third base. After Ott laid down a bunt to advance O’Doul to third, Travis Jackson hit a ground ball to third and Martin made up for his earlier misplay, throwing O’Doul out at the plate. Paul then retired Ryan on a ground ball force-out.

Paul retired all three batters he faced in the eighth, then worked around a leadoff single by Moore in the ninth. Hubbell matched Paul pitch for pitch, retiring Joe Medwick, Collins, and Spud Davis in order in the ninth to send the game to extra innings.

In the 10^th, Paul retired the side in order. In the Cardinals’ half of the inning, Leo Durocher hit a one-out double, then advanced to third when Ryan misplayed a pop fly off Paul’s bat. Hubbell chose to intentionally walk Martin to face right fielder Jack Rothrock, who was 0-for-4 on the day.

It proved a poor decision for the Giants. Rothrock singled to left, and Ernie Orsatti, in the game as a pinch runner for Durocher, scored the game-winning run. With the victory, the Cardinals continued a streak that included five consecutive wins and victories in 12 of their last 13 games.

Hubbell fell to 4-2 on the season after allowing three earned runs in 9 1/3 innings.

As Doug Feldmann wrote in Dizzy Dean and the Gas House Gang, “Paul Dean had proven that he was here to stay, and gained some more respect from the rest of the Cardinals for his performance.”[5]

Paul’s performance certainly caught the attention of New York Daily News sports reporter Jimmy Powers.

“When you hand either Paul or Jerome (Dizzy) a baseball and tell them they are to pitch a nine-inning contest they more or less mechanically turn in an excellent job,” Powers wrote after Paul and Dizzy each defeated the Giants during a three-game series later that month. “If you tell them they are to pitch against the New York Giants their eyes glow fanatically, they snatch the horsehide away from you and they stride out to the mound with nostrils breathing fire.

“Until the world champs appeared in St. Louis, the younger Dean was just another performer. Most of the western clubs had knocked him out of the box. Now, he is made. He has beaten us twice and so has his bigger brother. … If the Giants do not win the pennant this summer and the Cardinals do, you can credit the remarkable Deans.”[6]

Powers’ words proved prophetic. Trailing the Giants by as many as seven games on Sept. 6, the Cardinals made a furious rally in the season’s final weeks. On Sept. 28, Dizzy Dean shut out the Reds to move the Cardinals into a tie with the Giants. The following day, Paul Dean earned the win in a 6-1 victory to give St. Louis the lead, and in the season finale, Dizzy threw another shutout to clinch the pennant and secure his 30^th win of the season.

The Cardinals went on to defeat the Detroit Tigers in a seven-game World Series, and the legend of the Gas House Gang was born.

Give the gift of Cardinals history! The Trades That Made The St. Louis Cardinals is available now on Amazon.

[1] John Heidenry (2007), The Gashouse Gang, PublicAffairs, Kindle file, Page 68.

[2] John Heidenry (2007), The Gashouse Gang, PublicAffairs, Kindle file, Page 114.

[3] John Heidenry (2007), The Gashouse Gang, PublicAffairs, Kindle file, Page 114.

[4] John Heidenry (2007), The Gashouse Gang, PublicAffairs, Kindle file, Page 114.

[5] Doug Feldman (2015), Dizzy and the Gas House Gang, McFarland, Kindle file, Page 73.

[6] Jimmy Powers, “The Deans Are Mad!” New York Daily News, May 24, 1934.

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