# 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.

## Offseason

* December 15, 1933: Ray Pepper was purchased from the Cardinals by the St. Louis Browns.

## 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.

### 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

vteNational 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 recordvte Sources: :
| 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

* May 4, 1934: Francis Healy was purchased by the Cardinals from the New York Giants.

### Roster
## 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

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

| 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 |