| 1934 St. Louis Cardinals | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| World Series champions National League champions | ||||
| League | National League | |||
| Ballpark | Sportsman's Park | |||
| City | St. Louis, Missouri | |||
| Record | 95–58 (.621) | |||
| League place | 1st | |||
| Owners | Sam Breadon | |||
| General managers | Branch Rickey | |||
| Managers | Frankie Frisch | |||
| Radio | KMOX (France Laux) KWK (Bob Thomas, Ray Schmidt) | |||
| ||||
The1934 St. Louis Cardinals season was the team's 53rd season inSt. Louis, Missouri and the 43rd season in theNational League. TheCardinals 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 theWorld Series, they defeated theDetroit Tigers in seven games, winning the last 11–0.
PitcherDizzy Dean won theMVP Award this year, with 30 wins, 195 strikeouts, and a 2.66 ERA. He was also named theAssociated Press Athlete of the Year.[2]
TheGashouse 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, scrappyshortstopLeo Durocher coined the term. He and his teammates were speaking derisively of theAmerican League, and the consensus was that the Redbirds – should they prevail in theNational 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 theNew York Yankees, observed. "They think we're just a bunch of gashousers." The phrase "gas house" referred to plants that manufacturedtown gas for lighting and cooking from coal, which were common fixtures in US cities prior to the widespread use ofnatural 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 playingmanagerFrankie Frisch and the hard-nosed Durocher, as well as stars likeJoe Medwick,Ripper Collins,Pepper Martin,Bill DeLancey and brothersDizzy andPaul Dean, the '34 Cardinals won 95 games, the NL pennant, and theWorld Series in seven games over theDetroit 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 untilDenny McLain accomplished the feat for the 1968 Detroit Tigers), and four All-Stars, including player-manager Frisch. Not among the All-Stars was Collins, thefirst baseman who led the team in 16 offensive categories, with stats like a .333batting average, a .615slugging percentage, 35home runs, and 128runs batted in.
| 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 |
Sources:[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8] | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | BSN | BRO | 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 | — | |||||
| 1934 St. Louis Cardinals | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
| Pitchers | Catchers Infielders | Outfielders Other batters | Manager Coaches | ||||||
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 |
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 |
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 |
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 |
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 |
In the World Series, the Cards and Tigers split the first two games inDetroit, and the Tigers took two of the next three inSt. 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 1.43earned run average.
NL St. Louis Cardinals (4) vs. ALDetroit 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 |