The 1934 St. Louis Cardinals

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 team-mates in off- the-field hi-jinks, 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

Introductory Articles

Brief History of the pre-1934 Cardinals by Parker J. Bena

Assembling the Team by John J. Watkins

Sportsman's Park by Scott Ferkovich

St. Louis in 1934 by Eric Aron

1934 St. Louis Cardinals Season Timeline

The Cardinals in the 1934 Pennant Race by Charles F. Faber

The 1934 World Series by Matthew Silverman

The Players

Tex Carleton by Gregory H. Wolf

Ripper Collins by Cort Vitty

Pat Crawford by Gregory H. Wolf

Kiddo Davis by Don Harrison

Spud Davis by Andy Sturgill

Dizzy Dean by Joseph Wancho

Paul Dean by Paul Geisler

Bill DeLancey by Thomas Ayers

Leo Durocher by Jeffrey Marlett

Frankie Frisch by Fred Stein

Chick Fullis by Jack Morris

Burleigh Grimes by Charles F. Faber

Jesse Haines by Gregory H. Wolf

Bill Hallahan by Gregory H. Wolf

Francis Healy by Greg Erion

Clarence Heise by J.G. Preston

Jim Lindsey by Alan Cohen

Pepper Martin by Norm King

Joe Medwick by Charles F. Faber

Buster Mills by Bill Nowlin

Jim Mooney by Charlie Weatherly and Gregory H. Wolf

Gene Moore by Greg Erion

Ernie Orsatti by Lawrence Baldassaro

Flint Rhem by Nancy Snell Griffith

Lew Riggs by Bob Webster

Jack Rothrock by Bill Nowlin

Dazzy Vance by Charles F. Faber

Bill Walker by Gregory H. Wolf

Burgess Whitehead by C. Paul Rogers III

Jim Winford by Clayton J. Trutor

Red Worthington by Jimmy Keenan

Executives

Sam Breadon by Mark Armour

Bill DeWitt by Dwayne Isgrig

Branch Rickey by Andy McCue

Coaches

Mike Gonzalez by Joseph Girard

Buzzy Wares by Charles F. Faber