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1934 St. Louis Cardinals season

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1934 St. Louis Cardinals
1934 World Series Champions
1934 National League Champions
File:St Louis Cardinals 1929-1948 logo.png
BallparkSportsman's Park
CitySt. Louis, Missouri
Record95–58 (.621)
OwnersSam Breadon
ManagersFrankie Frisch
RadioKMOX
(France Laux)
KWK
(Bob Thomas, Ray Schmidt)
← 1933 Seasons 1935 →

The 1934 St. Louis Cardinals season was the team's 53rd season in St. Louis, Missouri and the 43rd season in the National League. The Cardinals went 95–58 during the season and finished first in the National League. St. Louis won 18 of their last 23 games to overtake the New York Giants the last two days of the season. In the World Series, they defeated the Detroit Tigers in seven games, winning the last 11–0.

Offseason

Regular season

Pitcher Dizzy Dean won the MVP Award this year, with 30 wins, 195 strikeouts, and a 2.66 ERA. He was also named the Associated Press Athlete of the Year.[2]

The Gashouse Gang

The Gashouse Gang was a nickname applied to the Cardinals team of 1934. The Cardinals, by most accounts, earned this nickname from the team's generally very shabby appearance and rough-and-tumble tactics. An opponent once stated that the Cardinals players usually went into the field in unwashed, dirty, and smelly uniforms, which alone spread horror among their rivals.

According to one account, scrappy shortstop Leo Durocher coined the term. He and his teammates were speaking derisively of the American League, and the consensus was that the Redbirds – should they prevail in the National League race – would handle whoever won the AL pennant. "Why, they wouldn't even let us in that league over there", Durocher, who had played for the New York Yankees, observed. "They think we're just a bunch of gashousers." The phrase "gas house" referred to plants that manufactured town gas for lighting and cooking from coal, which were common fixtures in US cities prior to the widespread use of natural gas. The plants were noted for their foul smell and were typically located near railroad yards in the poorest neighborhood in the city.

Led by playing manager Frankie Frisch and the hard-nosed Durocher, as well as stars like Joe Medwick, Ripper Collins, Pepper Martin, Bill DeLancey and brothers Dizzy and Paul Dean, the '34 Cardinals won 95 games, the NL pennant, and the World Series in seven games over the Detroit Tigers.

The team featured five regulars who hit at least .300, a 30-game winner in Dizzy Dean (the last National League pitcher to win 30 games in a single season, and the last pitcher in Major League Baseball to do so until Denny McLain accomplished the feat for the 1968 Detroit Tigers), and four All-Stars, including player-manager Frisch. Not among the All-Stars was Collins, the first baseman who led the team in 16 offensive categories, with stats like a .333 batting average, a .615 slugging percentage, 35 home runs, and 128 runs batted in.

Season standings

National League
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
St. Louis Cardinals 95 58 .621 — 48‍–‍29 47‍–‍29
New York Giants 93 60 .608 2 49‍–‍26 44‍–‍34
Chicago Cubs 86 65 .570 8 47‍–‍30 39‍–‍35
Boston Braves 78 73 .517 16 40‍–‍35 38‍–‍38
Pittsburgh Pirates 74 76 .493 19½ 45‍–‍32 29‍–‍44
Brooklyn Dodgers 71 81 .467 23½ 43‍–‍33 28‍–‍48
Philadelphia Phillies 56 93 .376 37 35‍–‍36 21‍–‍57
Cincinnati Reds 52 99 .344 42 30‍–‍47 22‍–‍52

Record vs. opponents

1934 National League record

Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
Team BOS BR CHC CIN NYG PHI PIT STL
Boston — 16–6–1 12–10 15–7 7–15 14–8 9–11 5–16
Brooklyn 6–16–1 — 8–12 13–9 8–14 13–9 16–6 7–15
Chicago 10–12 12–8 — 14–8 11–10 13–9 14–8–1 12–10
Cincinnati 7–15 9–13 8–14 — 6–16 9–10 7–15 6–16–1
New York 15–7 14–8 10–11 16–6 — 15–7 14–8 9–13
Philadelphia 8–14 9–13 9–13 10–9 7–15 — 7–13 6–16
Pittsburgh 11–9 6–16 8–14–1 15–7 8–14 13–7 — 13–9
St. Louis 16–5 15–7 10–12 16–6–1 13–9 16–6 9–13 —


Notable transactions

Roster

1934 St. Louis Cardinals
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

Manager

Coaches

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Pos Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI
C Spud Davis 107 347 104 .300 9 65
1B Ripper Collins 154 600 200 .333 35 128
2B Frankie Frisch 140 550 168 .305 3 75
3B Pepper Martin 110 454 131 .289 5 49
SS Leo Durocher 146 500 130 .260 3 70
OF Jack Rothrock 154 647 184 .284 11 72
OF Joe Medwick 149 620 198 .319 18 106
OF Ernie Orsatti 105 337 101 .300 0 31

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI
Burgess Whitehead 100 332 92 .277 1 24
Bill DeLancey 93 253 80 .316 13 40
Chick Fullis 69 199 52 .261 0 26
Buster Mills 29 72 17 .236 1 8
Pat Crawford 61 70 19 .271 0 16
Kiddo Davis 16 33 10 .303 1 4
Gene Moore 9 18 5 .278 0 1
Francis Healy 15 13 4 .308 0 1
Lew Riggs 2 1 0 .000 0 0
Red Worthington 1 1 0 .000 0 0

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Dizzy Dean 50 311.2 30 7 2.66 195
Tex Carleton 40 240.2 16 11 4.26 103
Paul Dean 39 233.1 19 11 3.43 150
Bill Hallahan 32 162.2 8 12 4.26 70

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Bill Walker 24 153.0 12 4 3.12 76
Flint Rhem 5 15.2 1 0 4.60 6
Jim Winford 5 12.2 0 2 7.82 3

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G W L SV ERA SO
Jesse Haines 37 4 4 1 3.50 17
Jim Mooney 32 2 4 1 5.47 27
Dazzy Vance 19 1 1 1 3.66 33
Jim Lindsey 11 0 1 1 6.43 7
Burleigh Grimes 4 2 1 0 3.52 1
Pepper Martin 1 0 0 0 4.50 0
Clarence Heise 1 0 0 0 4.50 1

1934 World Series

Main article: 1934 World Series

In the World Series, the Cards and Tigers split the first two games in Detroit, and the Tigers took two of the next three in St. Louis. St. Louis proceeded to win the next two, including an 11–0 embarrassment of the Tigers in Detroit to win the Series. The stars for the Cardinals were Medwick, who had a .379 batting average with one of St. Louis' two home runs and a series-high five RBI, and the Dean brothers, who combined for all four of the teams wins with 28 strikeouts and a minuscule 1.43 earned run average.

NL St. Louis Cardinals (4) vs. AL Detroit Tigers (3)

Game Score Date Location Attendance
1 Cardinals – 8, Tigers – 3 October 3 Navin Field 42,505
2 Cardinals – 2, Tigers – 3 (12 innings) October 4 Navin Field 43,451
3 Tigers – 1, Cardinals – 4 October 5 Sportsman's Park 37,073
4 Tigers – 10, Cardinals – 4 October 6 Sportsman's Park 37,492
5 Tigers – 3, Cardinals – 1 October 7 Sportsman's Park 38,536
6 Cardinals – 4, Tigers – 3 October 8 Navin Field 44,551
7 Cardinals – 11, Tigers – 0 October 9 Navin Field 40,902

League leaders

Ripper Collins

  • #1 in NL in home runs (35)
  • #1 in NL in slugging percentage (.615)
  • #2 in NL in runs batted in (128)
  • #3 in NL in hits (200)
  • #3 in NL in runs scored (116)

Dizzy Dean

  • #1 in MLB in wins (30)
  • #1 in MLB in strikeouts (195)
  • #1 in MLB in shutouts (7)
  • #2 in NL in earned run average (2.66)

Paul Dean

  • #2 in NL in shutouts (5)
  • #3 in NL in strikeouts (150)

Pepper Martin

  • #1 in NL in stolen bases (23)

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AA Columbus Red Birds American Association Ray Blades
AA Rochester Red Wings International League Specs Toporcer
A Elmira Red Wings New York–Pennsylvania League Ira Smith and Joe Mathes
A Houston Buffaloes Texas League Carey Selph
B Springfield Red Birds Central League Joe Mathes
B Greensboro Patriots Piedmont League Bob Rice
C Huntington Red Birds Middle Atlantic League Eddie Dyer
C Paris Pirates/Lufkin Lumbermen West Dixie League Wayne Windle
C Springfield Red Wings Western Association Mike Ryba
D Martinsville Manufacturers Bi-State League Jimmie Sanders
D Beatrice Blues Nebraska State League Sonny Brookhaus
D Lincoln Links Nebraska State League Cy Lingle and Pug Griffin
D Norfolk Elkhorns Nebraska State League Joe McDermott
D Sioux Falls Canaries Nebraska State League Rex Stucker and Ralph Brandon
D Greensburg Trojans Pennsylvania State Association Clay Hopper
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Columbus, Springfield (Western Assn.), Lincoln, Greensburg Central League folded, June 10, 1934; Paris franchise transferred to Lufkin and renamed, June 27[4]

References

  1. ^ Ray Pepper at Baseball-Reference
  2. ^ Associated Press Athlete of the Year (male)
  3. ^ Francis Healy at Baseball Reference
  4. ^ Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007
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