1934 St. Louis Cardinals season

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.

1934 St. Louis Cardinals
1934 World Series Champions
1934 National League Champions
Major League affiliations
Location
Results
Record95–58 (.621)
League place1st
Other information
Owner(s)Sam Breadon
General manager(s)Branch Rickey
Manager(s)Frankie Frisch
Local radioKMOX
(France Laux)
KWK
(Bob Thomas, Ray Schmidt)
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Offseason
  • December 15, 1933: Ray Pepper was purchased from the Cardinals by the St. Louis Browns.[1]

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 W L Pct. GB Home Road
St. Louis Cardinals 9558 0.621 — 48–29 47–29
New York Giants 9360 0.608 2 49–26 44–34
Chicago Cubs 8665 0.570 8 47–30 39–35
Boston Braves 7873 0.517 16 40–35 38–38
Pittsburgh Pirates 7476 0.493 19½ 45–32 29–44
Brooklyn Dodgers 7181 0.467 23½ 43–33 28–48
Philadelphia Phillies 5693 0.376 37 35–36 21–57
Cincinnati Reds 5299 0.344 42 30–47 22–52

Record vs. opponents
1934 National League Records

Sources:
Team BOS BR CHC CIN NYG PHI PIT STL
Boston —16–6–112–1015–77–1514–89–115–16
Brooklyn 6–16–1—8–1213–98–1413–916–67–15
Chicago 10–1212–8—14–811–1013–914–8–112–10
Cincinnati 7–159–138–14—6–169–107–156–16–1
New York 15–714–810–1116–6—15–714–89–13
Philadelphia 8–149–139–1310–97–15—7–136–16
Pittsburgh 11–96–168–14–115–78–1413–7—13–9
St. Louis 16–515–710–1216–6–113–916–69–13—

Notable transactions
  • May 4, 1934: Francis Healy was purchased by the Cardinals from the New York Giants.[3]

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
CSpud Davis107347104.300965
1BRipper Collins154600200.33335128
2BFrankie Frisch140550168.305375
3BPepper Martin110454131.289549
SSLeo Durocher146500130.260370
OFJack Rothrock154647184.2841172
OFJoe Medwick149620198.31918106
OFErnie Orsatti105337101.300031

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 Whitehead10033292.277124
Bill DeLancey9325380.3161340
Chick Fullis6919952.261026
Buster Mills297217.23618
Pat Crawford617019.271016
Kiddo Davis163310.30314
Gene Moore9185.27801
Francis Healy15134.30801
Lew Riggs210.00000
Red Worthington110.00000

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 Dean50311.23072.66195
Tex Carleton40240.216114.26103
Paul Dean39233.119113.43150
Bill Hallahan32162.28124.2670

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 Walker241531243.1276
Flint Rhem515.2104.606
Jim Winford512.2027.823

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 Haines374413.5017
Jim Mooney322415.4727
Dazzy Vance191113.6633
Jim Lindsey110116.437
Burleigh Grimes42103.521
Pepper Martin10004.500
Clarence Heise10004.501

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)

GameScoreDateLocationAttendance
1Cardinals – 8, Tigers – 3October 3Navin Field42,505
2Cardinals – 2, Tigers – 3 (12 innings)October 4Navin Field43,451
3Tigers – 1, Cardinals – 4October 5Sportsman's Park37,073
4Tigers – 10, Cardinals – 4October 6Sportsman's Park37,492
5Tigers – 3, Cardinals – 1October 7Sportsman's Park38,536
6Cardinals – 4, Tigers – 3October 8Navin Field44,551
7Cardinals – 11, Tigers – 0October 9Navin Field40,902

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]

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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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