1939 St. Louis Cardinals season

The 1939 St. Louis Cardinals season was the team's 58th season in St. Louis, Missouri and the 48th season in the National League. The Cardinals went 92–61 during the season and finished 2nd in the National League.

1939 St. Louis Cardinals
Major League affiliations
Location
Results
Record92–61 (.601)
League place2nd
Other information
Owner(s)Sam Breadon
General manager(s)Branch Rickey
Manager(s)Ray Blades
Local radioKMOX
(France Laux, Cy Casper)
KWK
(Johnny O'Hara, Jim Bottomley)
StatsESPN.com
BB-reference
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Regular season

Season summary

Shortly after the end of the 1938 season, owner Sam Breadon appointed former reserve Cardinals outfielder Ray Blades as manager. He had managed many of the organization's top young players in Columbus, Ohio, and Rochester, New York.

A feisty skipper, Blades guided the Cardinals back into the pennant race. The Cincinnati Reds took over first place on May 26 and never fell back. The Cards seized second place at midseason and played at a .708 clip in the final 65 games-including a 29–6 record at home the second half-but never could catch the Reds.

The Redbirds made Cincinnati work down the stretch, though. They took two games from the Reds with the third of the three-game series washed out as a tie, and that pulled the Cards to only 3 and a half games back. Twice the Cardinals drew a game closer in September.

An old trade haunted the Cards: Paul Derringer, a former St. Louis farmhand, went 25–7 for the Reds. That record included a 5–3 victory in September that clinched the pennant for the Reds.

The best offense in the league was at least partially responsible for the Cardinals' dramatic turn. They led the NL in runs and made the most of their speed to head the league in doubles and triples. Their .294 team batting average was 16 points higher than anyone else's.

The trade that sent Dizzy Dean to the Chicago Cubs actually paid some dividends. Curt Davis, one of the two pitchers picked up in the deal, led the Redbirds' staff in almost every category. Clyde Shoun, the other ex-Cub, worked a team-high 51 games out of the bullpen. With rookie Mort Cooper winning 12 games and working more than 200 innings, the Cards pitchers posted the league's second-best ERA.

Season standings
National League W L Pct. GB Home Road
Cincinnati Reds 9757 0.630 — 55–25 42–32
St. Louis Cardinals 9261 0.601 4½ 51–27 41–34
Brooklyn Dodgers 8469 0.549 12½ 51–27 33–42
Chicago Cubs 8470 0.545 13 44–34 40–36
New York Giants 7774 0.510 18½ 41–33 36–41
Pittsburgh Pirates 6885 0.444 28½ 35–42 33–43
Boston Bees 6388 0.417 32½ 37–35 26–53
Philadelphia Phillies 45106 0.298 50½ 29–44 16–62

Record vs. opponents
1939 National League Records

Sources:
Team BOS BR CHC CIN NYG PHI PIT STL
Boston —10–12–16–166–1610–1113–89–129–13
Brooklyn 12–10–1—11–11–210–1212–1017–4–113–99–13
Chicago 16–611–11–2—10–1211–1112–1014–810–12
Cincinnati 16–612–1012–10—11–1119–316–611–11–2
New York 11–1010–1211–1111–11—14–711–119–12
Philadelphia 8–134–17–110–123–197–14—8–145–17
Pittsburgh 12–99–138–146–1611–1114–8—8–14
St. Louis 13–913–912–1011–11–212–917–514–8—

Roster
1939 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
CMickey Owen13134489.259335
1BJohnny Mize153564197.34928108
2BStu Martin120425114.268330
SSJimmy Brown147645192.298351
3BDon Gutteridge148524141.269754
OFJoe Medwick150606201.33214117
OFEnos Slaughter149604193.3201286
OFTerry Moore130417123.2951777

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
Pepper Martin8828186.306337
Don Padgett9223393.399553
Lynn Myers7411728.239010
Lynn King898520.235011
Lyn Lary347514.18709
Creepy Crespi15295.17206
Herman Franks17171.05903
Herb Bremer991.11101
Bob Repass362.33301
Eddie Lake241.25000
Johnny Hopp642.50002
Joe Orengo730.00000
Buster Adams210.00000
Johnny Echols200---00

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
Curt Davis4924822163.6370
Mort Cooper45210.21263.25130
Lon Warneke341621373.7859
Bob Weiland32146.110123.5763
Max Lanier737.2212.3914

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
Bob Bowman51169.11352.6078
Bill McGee431561253.8156
Tom Sunkel2085.1444.2254

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
Clyde Shoun533193.7650
Paul Dean160106.0716
Nate Andrews111206.756
Murry Dickson10000.002
Frank Barrett10105.403
Ken Raffensberger10000.001
Terry Moore10000.001

Awards and honors

Cardinals in the 1939 All-Star Game

Farm system
See also: Minor League Baseball

Notes
  1. 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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References
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