The 1934 St. Louis Cardinals: The World Champion Gas House Gang
- ISBN-10
- 193359974X
- ISBN-13
- 9781933599748
- Category
- Sports & Recreation
- Language
- English
- Publisher
- SABR, Inc.
- Author
- Edited by Charles F. Faber
Description
The 1934 St. Louis Cardinals were one of the most colorful crews ever to play the National Pastime. Sportswriters delighted in assigning nicknames to the players, based on their real or imagined qualities. What a cast of characters it was! None was more picturesque than Pepper Martin, the “Wild Horse of the Osage,” who ran the bases with reckless abandon, led his teammates in off thefield hijinks, and organized a hillbilly band called the Mississippi Mudcats. He was quite a baseball player, the star of the 1931 World Series and a significant contributor to the 1934 championship. The harmonica player for the Mudcats was the irrepressible Dizzy Dean. Full of braggadocio, Dean delivered on his boasts by winning 30 games in 1934, the last National League hurler to achieve that feat. Dizzy and his brother Paul accounted for all of the Cardinal victories in the 1934 World Series. Some writers tried to pin the moniker Daffy on Paul, but that name didn’t fit the younger and much quieter brother. The club’s hitters were led by the New Jersey strong boy, Joe “Ducky” Medwick, who hated the nickname, preferring to be called “Muscles.” Presiding over this aggregation was the “Fordham Flash,” Frankie Frisch. Rounding out the club were worthies bearing such nicknames as Ripper, “Leo the Lip,” Spud, Kiddo, Pop, Dazzy, Ol’ Stubblebeard, Wild Bill, Buster, Chick, Red, and Tex. Some of these were aging stars, past their prime, and others were youngsters, on their way up. Together they comprised a championship ball club. “The Gas House Gang was the greatest baseball club I ever saw. They thought they could beat any ballclub and they just about could too. When they got on that ballfield, they played baseball, and they played it to the hilt too. When they slid, they slid hard. There was no good fellowship between them and the opposition. They were just good, tough ballplayers.” — Cardinals infielder Burgess Whitehead on "When It Was A Game," HBO Sports, 1991
Get the book
Similar books
-
Dizzy and the Gas House Gang: The 1934 St. Louis Cardinals and Depression-Era Baseball
By Doug Feldmann" This work brings to life the legendary exploits of player manager Frankie Frisch and the Dean brothers--Dizzy and Paul--who combined for 49 wins that season. The era, the team, the season, and the Series are all fully covered.
-
St. Louis Cardinals Past and Present
By Doug FeldmannPairing historic black-and-white photos and contemporary images of the modern game, the book explores the ballparks and the fans, the players and the teams that have defined Cardinals baseball and captured the hearts of fans nationwide.
-
The St. Louis Cardinals: The Story of a Great Baseball Club
By Fred Lieb-- First published in 1944, Frederick G. Lieb's history of the St. louis Cardinals is one of the fifteen highly regarded team histories commissioned by G. P. Putnam's Sons in...
-
The Gashouse Gang: How Dizzy Dean, Leo Durocher, Branch Rickey, Pepper Martin, and Their Colorful, Come-from-Behind Ball Club Won the...
By John Heidenry39 Despite the Cardinals' victory march under Hornsby, the relationship between Breadon and his cantankerous new manager was tenuous. Late in the season, during the drive to the pennant, Hornsby had asked the Cardinals president to ...
-
High-flying Birds: The 1942 St. Louis Cardinals
By Jerome M. Mileur"Mileur provides a game-by-game account of the 1942 St. Louis Cardinals, world champions and the winningest team in franchise history.
-
St. Louis Cardinals
By Chris W. Sehnert... 27 Broglio , Ernie 22 Brown Stockings 4 , 6 , 7 Busch , August Jr. 22 Busch Stadium 23 F Frisch , Frankie 10 , 11 , 12 , 16 G Gashouse Gang 4 , 12 , 16 Gibson , Bob 4 , 22 , 23 , 24 Gilkey , Bernard 4 , 28 Grove , Lefty 11 C Carlton ...
-
History of the St. Louis Cardinals
By Jerry LanscheHistory of the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team from its beginning and into the Majors
-
The St. Louis Cardinals in the 1940s
By Mel R. FreeseThis is the history of the Cardinals during the 1940s, a decade that saw many of the greatest St. Louis clubs while war and integration significantly altered the game.
-
Drama and Pride in the Gateway City: The 1964 St. Louis Cardinals
By Society for American Baseball ResearchDrama and Pride in the Gateway City commemorates the team that Bing Devine built, the 1964 team that prevailed in one of the tightest three-way pennant races of all time and then went on to win the World Series, beating the New York Yankees ...
-
The Cardinals Way: How One Team Embraced Tradition and Moneyball at the Same Time
By Howard MegdalChronicles the history and tradition of the St. Louis Cardinals, from the era when they were managed by Branch Rickey in the years following World War I to the present day.