# 1931 St. Louis Cardinals season

The 1931 St. Louis Cardinals season was the team's 50th season in St. Louis, Missouri and the 40th season in the National League. The Cardinals went 101–53 during the season and finished first in the National League. In the World Series, they beat the Philadelphia Athletics in 7 games.

## Regular season

Second baseman Frankie Frisch won the MVP Award this year, batting .311, with 4 home runs and 82 RBIs.

### Season standings

vteNational League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 101 | 53 | .656 | — | 54‍–‍24 | 47‍–‍29 |
| New York Giants | 87 | 65 | .572 | 13 | 50‍–‍27 | 37‍–‍38 |
| Chicago Cubs | 84 | 70 | .545 | 17 | 50‍–‍27 | 34‍–‍43 |
| Brooklyn Robins | 79 | 73 | .520 | 21 | 46‍–‍29 | 33‍–‍44 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 75 | 79 | .487 | 26 | 44‍–‍33 | 31‍–‍46 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 66 | 88 | .429 | 35 | 40‍–‍36 | 26‍–‍52 |
| Boston Braves | 64 | 90 | .416 | 37 | 36‍–‍41 | 28‍–‍49 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 58 | 96 | .377 | 43 | 38‍–‍39 | 20‍–‍57 |

### Record vs. opponents

1931 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BOS | BR | CHC | CIN | NYG | PHI | PIT | STL |
| Boston | — | 11–11–1 | 8–14–1 | 8–14 | 6–16 | 11–11 | 11–11 | 9–13 |
| Brooklyn | 11–11–1 | — | 14–8 | 10–12 | 10–10 | 13–9 | 11–11 | 10–12 |
| Chicago | 14–8–1 | 8–14 | — | 14–8 | 12–10 | 14–8 | 14–8–1 | 8–14 |
| Cincinnati | 14–8 | 12–10 | 8–14 | — | 7–15 | 9–13 | 6–16 | 2–20 |
| New York | 16–6 | 10–10 | 10–12 | 15–7 | — | 14–8–1 | 12–10 | 10–12 |
| Philadelphia | 11–11 | 9–13 | 8–14 | 13–9 | 8–14–1 | — | 13–9 | 4–18 |
| Pittsburgh | 11–11 | 11–11 | 8–14–1 | 16–6 | 10–12 | 9–13 | — | 10–12 |
| St. Louis | 13–9 | 12–10 | 14–8 | 20–2 | 12–10 | 18–4 | 12–10 | — |

### 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 | Jimmie Wilson | 115 | 383 | 105 | .274 | 0 | 51 |
| 1B | Jim Bottomley | 108 | 382 | 133 | .348 | 9 | 75 |
| 2B | Frankie Frisch | 131 | 518 | 161 | .311 | 4 | 82 |
| SS | Charlie Gelbert | 131 | 447 | 129 | .289 | 1 | 62 |
| 3B | Sparky Adams | 143 | 608 | 178 | .293 | 1 | 40 |
| OF | George Watkins | 131 | 503 | 145 | .288 | 13 | 51 |
| OF | Chick Hafey | 122 | 450 | 157 | .349 | 16 | 95 |
| OF | Pepper Martin | 123 | 413 | 124 | .300 | 7 | 75 |

#### 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 |
| Ripper Collins | 89 | 279 | 84 | .301 | 4 | 59 |
| Gus Mancuso | 67 | 187 | 49 | .262 | 1 | 23 |
| Ernie Orsatti | 70 | 158 | 46 | .291 | 0 | 19 |
| Wally Roettger | 45 | 151 | 43 | .285 | 0 | 17 |
| Jake Flowers | 45 | 137 | 34 | .248 | 2 | 19 |
| Taylor Douthit | 36 | 133 | 44 | .331 | 1 | 21 |
| Andy High | 63 | 131 | 35 | .267 | 0 | 19 |
| Ray Blades | 35 | 67 | 19 | .284 | 1 | 5 |
| Mike González | 15 | 19 | 2 | .105 | 0 | 3 |
| Joe Benes | 10 | 12 | 2 | .167 | 0 | 0 |
| Ray Cunningham | 3 | 4 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 1 |
| Eddie Delker | 1 | 2 | 1 | .500 | 0 | 2 |
| Gabby Street | 1 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Joel Hunt | 4 | 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 |
| Bill Hallahan | 37 | 248.2 | 19 | 9 | 3.29 | 159 |
| Burleigh Grimes | 29 | 212.1 | 17 | 9 | 3.65 | 67 |

#### 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 |
| Paul Derringer | 35 | 211.2 | 18 | 8 | 3.36 | 134 |
| Flint Rhem | 33 | 207.1 | 11 | 10 | 3.56 | 72 |
| Syl Johnson | 32 | 186.0 | 11 | 9 | 3.00 | 82 |
| Jesse Haines | 19 | 122.1 | 12 | 3 | 3.02 | 27 |

#### 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 |
| Jim Lindsey | 35 | 6 | 4 | 7 | 2.77 | 32 |
| Allyn Stout | 30 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 4.21 | 40 |
| Tony Kaufmann | 15 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6.06 | 13 |

## 1931 World Series

NL St. Louis Cardinals (4) vs. AL Philadelphia Athletics (3)
| Game | Score | Date | Location | Attendance |
| 1 | Athletics – 6, Cardinals – 2 | October 1 | Sportsman's Park | 38,529 |
| 2 | Athletics – 0, Cardinals – 2 | October 2 | Sportsman's Park | 35,947 |
| 3 | Cardinals – 5, Athletics – 2 | October 5 | Shibe Park | 32,295 |
| 4 | Cardinals – 0, Athletics – 3 | October 6 | Shibe Park | 32,295 |
| 5 | Cardinals – 5, Athletics – 1 | October 7 | Shibe Park | 32,295 |
| 6 | Athletics – 8, Cardinals – 1 | October 9 | Sportsman's Park | 39,401 |
| 7 | Athletics – 2, Cardinals – 4 | October 10 | Sportsman's Park | 20,805 |

## Awards and honors

* Pepper Martin, Associated Press Athlete of the Year

### League leaders

* Chick Hafey, NL Batting Champion, .349
* Bill Hallahan, NL Leader (tied), 19 Wins
* Bill Hallahan NL Leader, 159 strikeouts
* Frankie Frisch, NL Leader, 28 stolen bases

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AA | Columbus Red Birds | American Association | Nemo Leibold |
| AA | Rochester Red Wings | International League | Billy Southworth |
| A | Houston Buffaloes | Texas League | Joe Schultz, Sr. |
| B | Elmira Colonels | New York–Pennsylvania League | Jake Pitler, Fritz Coumbe and Joe Sugden |
| B | Danville Veterans | Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League | Franklin Murphy |
| C | Scottdale Cardinals | Middle Atlantic League | Clay Hopper |
| C | Greensboro Patriots | Piedmont League | John Kane |
| C | Springfield Red Wings | Western Association | Eddie Dyer |
| D | Keokuk Indians | Mississippi Valley League | Bob Rice |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Rochester, Houston, Springfield, Keokuk