Four players from 1934 collected eleven hits, one shy of the then-record. Just can't make it a dozen, they couldn't. Funny, I would have guessed the 1945 Fall Classic, which yielded three players with exactly eleven hits would have been the record. We can safely say at there was at least one more October Classic with more.
The victorious St. Louis Cardinals had Pepper Martin, who'd collected a dozen hits in the 1931 Fall Classic. Pepper was back for more.
The poor Detroit Tigers got a dose of reality in the opening tilt. But they had Charlie Gehringer, didn't they. One awesome second basemen. Little attention must have been paid to Charlie. Detroit actually had home-field advantage in this World Series. However, St. Louis easily won the first game, 8-3. The crowd at Navin Field weren't happy. They wouldn't be in the seventh contest, either. Only thing is, their frustration had really escalated by then.
So, Pepper Martin was held to just one hit. However, his sixth inning single off Firbo Marberry scored a run. The big gun for the Cards on this day was Joe Medwick, the left fielder. Hits? Four. The big one was in the top of the fifth went he parked one off starting pitcher General Crowder. General, whose first name was actually Alvin, surrended first and third inning singles to Medwick. So Joe was 3-3 to start the day, and 4-4 going into the top of the eighth. It was there that Elon Hogsett got him to fly out. But a 4-5 day is a great display of bat speed. The out itself helped, as Jack Rothrock tagged from second and made it to third. Ripper Collins, who was on his way to eleven hits himself, couldn't get Rothrock home, alas, grounding out to second. Collins finished the contest with just one hit, but scored two runs.
The Big Three, Martin, Medwick and Collins had been devastating in this game when you put it all together. Six hits, five runs scored and three more driven in.
The Tigers had Charlie Gehringer collecting two hits and a run scored. It wasn't an easy task, you see. The Cardinals had some chap named Dizzy Dean pitching. They also had his brother, Paul. Pay attention to them, it will be hard not to notice.
Game two was better for the home team. It took extras, but a Charlie Gehringer walk started a rally in the bottom of the twelve with one away. Hank Greenberg followed suit and Goose Goslin's single resulted in the walk-off win.
Well, that was better for Detroit, right. But Charlie Gehringer only had one hit. Pepper Martin had two. Ripper Collins and Joe Medwick, one each. Not much of a game for the quartet. Meet my blog in St. Louis, Louis!
Well, there was Paul Dean at Sportsman's Park, delvering the home team to a 4-1 win. Charlie Gehringer had no problem with Dean first two times up: Singe, double
However, when it came time to deliever the big hit, Gehringer was unable to do so. In the top of the fourth, Charlie came up with the bases loaded. Paul Dean bore down and got Charlie to ground out to second.
Pepper Martin was game for this contest. He boomed a triple to get things going for St. Louis in the bottom of the first. The next batter, Jack Rothrock, sent one to to centre. The ball was caught by Jo-Jo White (Not to be confused with the Boston Celtics star of the 1970s) in centre. Martin tagged up and scored. The inning promised more, but it ended with Joe Medwick hitting into a double play.
The bottom line is, the Cards had the lead for good. Martin would add a double and a walk later, taking over the game. Joe Medwick had two hits, Ripper Collins two. However, this gets lost in the shuffle as Paul Dean pitched an amazing game. Plus, he collected an RBI. Was there anyone else playing in this 1934 World Series outside the Dean brothers?
Well, game four was all Detroit. The routed St. Louis 10-4. The hit total was close, however. The Tigers had thirteen, the Cardinals ten.
It seemed, at first, like the Cards were in for a good day. In the bottom of the second inning of a scoreless ballgame, it was Joe Medwick with a leadoff single. Ripper Collins doubled him to third. Bill DeLancey walked to load the bases.
This was the home team's chance to blow the game wide open. True, they got a run on a Ernie Orsatti sacrifice fly, but that was it (Neither Collins nor DeLacey would advance beyone first and second). Leo Durocher followed with a fly to right, but that did nothing. Tex Carleton, the St. Louis starting pitcher, forced Bill DeLancey at second. Carleton would not be around much longer in the ballgame.
True, he got the first two batters out in the top of the third, but that was it. Catcher Mickey Cochrane kept the Detroit half of the inning alive with a double. One of our boys, Charlie Gehringer, then looked at ball four. Goose Goslin followed suite. Bases loaded.
The two big hits of the ballgame followed. The first was by Billy Rogell, who singled home Cochrane and Gehringer. Hank Greenberg followed Rogell's single with one of his own. So when Goslin scored, it was 3-1, Detroit.
The visitors were just getting started. St. Louis got one run back in the bottom of the third to make it a one-run game. It was Ripper Collins with a single. And ironically, enough, the Cards watched as their first two men up were retired. The Tigers wasted no time and got the run back in the top of the fourth.
St. Louis would tie the game in their half of the inning. But it was a sort of last gasp on their part. It was Pepper Martin that drove in the tying run. However, he just grounded out to do that. 4-4. But no more for St. Louis.
Detroit, on the other hand, touched home six more times in the contest to turn it into a laugher.
It was Charlie Gehringer that started it all with a single in the top of the seventh. Scoring Detroit's fifth run of the contest, it was the Tigers on top for good with that. The team added five more runs in the top of the eighth to make it a 10-4 score. Pepper Martin did add a single in the last of the ninth, but it didn't help matters.
Detroit closed to within one game of a world crown when they won the fifth contest, 3-1. Charlie Gehringer only contributed one hit. But it was one, big, hit. A sixth inning four-bagger off Dizzy Dean. Dean pitched well, but got little offence. Pepper Martin had two hits, and Ripper Collins one. But none of those blows led to any scoring.
So, St. Louis now seemed down and out. Game six was in Detroit. Should the St. Louis win that, they'd somehow have to then win game seven, also in Detroit.
Well, the Cards dug deep and pulled it out somehow.
Joe Medwick got the visitors off on the right foot, as he singled home a run in the top of the first. Mickey Cochrane singled home a run off Paul Dean in the bottom of the third.
Leo Durocher's single started a rally in the top of the fifth. A bunt moved him into scoring position. The man at the plate was Pepper Martin. His singled broke the 1-1 ballgame. Martin would come around to score later in the inning.
Detroit, though, tied the game in the bottom of the sixth. Charlie Gehringer came up with runners on the corners. He reached via an error by pitcher Paul Dean. Dean's error allowed a runner to score. Gehringer would later cross the plate on a Hank Greenberg single. This, however, proved to be the last run of the 1934 World Series for Detroit.
St. Louis would score the final run of game six. Paul Dean was looking for some redemption. He got it in the form of a single, which scored Leo Durocher. 4-3, St. Louis.
Detroit tried to come back. In the bottom of the eighth, it was Charlie Gehringer with a single. Goose Goslin then followed that with one of his own. Gehringer made it to third. Tying run ninety feet away. A fly or even a grounder that didn't result in the double play could tie it. So, too, could a wild pitch or passed ball.
But Paul Dean bared down. He got Billy Rogell out on a fly to second. Hank Greenberg hit into a force.
The Cardinals, sensing there was plenty of fight left in the home team, then looked to Pepper Martin for some insurance in the top of the ninth. They had runners on first and third, and two away. Here's where Martin usually came through. But not on this occasion. Schoolboy Rowe fanned him.
Rowe pitched a pretty good game. Why he batted with two away in the last of the ninth is beyond me. Paul Dean got him to fly out to Ernie Orsatti in centre.
Detroit might as well have mailed it in in the deciding game. St. Louis was every bit as dominating as Detroit had been in the fourth contest. Actually, it was even more dominating.
It all started in the top of the third. Dizzy Dean was pitching a gem of a ballgame for St. Louis. Here, he was about to get more offence than he would need.
Dean wanted to help his own cause, evidentially. Boy, did he ever!
One out, and the Cardinals' pitcher doubled of his counterpart, Elden Auker. Pepper Martin singled him to third. Then, Martin stole second. Two runners in scoring position. Jack Rothrock walked to load the bases. Frankie Frisch doubled home all three men. It was, essentially, game over for the Tigers.
The inning itself would take forever to complete. While Joe Medwick (Who'd have quite an unexpected adventure in this game seven) grounded out, St. Louis wasn't done. Schoolboy Rowe was the new pitcher, but would not have himself a good game.
Nope, Rowe gave up a single to Ripper Collins. 4-0. Bill DeLancey doubled Collins home. Dizzy Dean would add a run-scoring single of another relief pitcher, Elon Hogsett. Pepper Martin would add a bases-loaded walk. All told, St. Louis scored seven runs on seven hits. The champagne was ready.
But this is baseball, where just when "You've seen it all", there is more. Much more.
For starters, the Cardinals had more scoring to do. Elden Auker had allowed four runs on six hits. Schoolboy Rowe had allowed two more runs on two hits in just a third of an inning. Elon Hogsett, who'd pitched well in this Fall Classic prior to game seven, was shelled for a run, two hits and two walks without retiring a batter. Can you say the St. Louis bats were hot? Dizzy Dean was 2-2 himself at the dish. And he wasn't about to let Detroit score any runs.
Ripper Collins stroked a meaningless single in the top of the fourth. In the bottom of the frame, it was Charlie Gehringer with a futile hit. Charlie would add another in the last of the ninth, but it didn't matter.
But Pepper Martin's sixth inning single did matter. He was the first batter in the sixth inning. And because this was Pepper, you knew the Cardinals were up to something. Though the next two batters were retired, the inning was not over. Sure enough, it was Joe Medwick with a triple to score Martin. Then Ripper Collins scored Medwick with a single. Detroit ought to have forfeited the contest. The scored was 9-0, St. Louis.
The home crowd was mad. And, now they had someone to target as Medwick had slid hard into Detroit third basemen Marv Owen. When Medwick took up his position in left in the bottom of the sixth, the Detroit crowd let him have it. They threw everything but the kitchen sink at him. Fruit, vegetables. That was the least what was thrown at Joe. This thing was really getting out of hand! For his own safety, the commissioner of baseball, Kenesaw Mountain Landis, made sure Medwick was removed from the ballgame. Given the score in the contest, it was clearly the right thing to do.
The rest of the game passed uneventful, but the Cardinals seemed to be energized more than Detroit after that showmanship. They added two more tallies in the top of the seventh. Pepper Martin was sort of involved. But the tenth run only scored because of an error on his grounder. Jack Rothrock would later double Martin home. 11-0, final score. (Ironically, 41 years later, the Cardinals were on the other side of that score in game seven of the World Series)
The Dean brothers. Ripper Collins. Joe Medwick. Pepper Martin. This St. Louis Cardinals machine was awesome, devastating. Dubbed, "The Gashouse Gang", they'd given Detroit and their fans a painful lesson of "The longer the World Series goes, the better we get!"
The Tigers still got eleven hits by Charlie Gehringer, who was giving it his all. Apart from Charlie, the rest of the Detroit batters got but four hits off Dizzy Dean. Gehringer's efforts pushed his batting average to .379. On the other hand, Joe Medwick's 1-4 game seven performance took his batting average down to .379. Each finished the Fall Classic 11-29.
Where Gehringer stood out among his peers was his Series-leading .438 on-base percentage. It was sort of overshadowed by teammate Hank Greenberg. Hank topped all batters in the 1934 Fall Classic with seven RBI. It must have been tough on him to lose a game seven like that. Detroit came back the next year and beat the Chicago Cubs in six games, though.
St. Louis looked like they might have a dynasty going, with the Deans and all. However, it didn't quite work out that way. The Deans both had a fine 1935 season, but it proved to be a sort of last hurrah for Paul. Injuries took their tool on him in the coming years and he never again won more than five games in a season.
Dizzy was rolling along through the end of the 1936 season. Only 26 years old, his lifetime record stood at 121-65. And his 1937 season started out just fine. Then came the All-Star game. It was there that he was hit in the foot on a ball off the bat of Earl Averill. A broken toe was the result. This didn't necessary end his career, but it made it tough for him to pitch the rest of the season. He'd never quite be able to turn in a full campaign. Despite finishing the 1937 season with a 13-10 record and a fine 2.69 earned run average, Dizzy would find himself on a new team the next season. It was time to take the act to Wrigley Field.
When he could pitch, Dean was great. Although he only appeared in thirteen games (Ten starts), there was something about him you had to admire. This wasn't a prime Dizzy anymore, but that ERA was amazing, 1.81. Maybe not everyone was enamored with the charismatic pitcher, but Chicago Cubs fans sure warmed up to him. Dean tried his best in the Fall Classic against the powerful New York Yankees, but the Bronx Bombers were just too tough.
Dean had one more decent season in 1939, then really couldn't do much on the mound. He took his act elsewhere, like behind the mic. Dizzy became one colourful play-by-play announcer.
But when you think back to the 1934 World Series, the Dean brothers certainly stick out. Dizzy's ERA was just 1.73, while Paul's was even better, 1.00 (Topps among all pitchers with nine or more innings pitched). The Cardinals also got stellar pitching from Bill Hallahan, who in his only start gave up just two runs over eight and two-thirds innings pitched. The Tigers also had good pitching, as reliever Elon Hogsett allowed the Cardinals just one run over seven and a third innings pitched. General Crowder got into two games, allowing one earned run himself over six frames.
Now, having said all that, what does that tell you about this quartet of awesome hitters? Certainly Pepper Martin, Joe Medwick, Ripper Collins and Charlie Gehringer hit well in this Fall Classic. But eleven hits each against such good pitching? It kind of elevates their performance. Despite an 8-3, 10-4 and 11-0 game, the World Series of 1934 will be remembered as a well-pitched Fall Classic. But that's not to say there weren't four guys who came through again, and again!
References
Enders, Eric. 100 years of the World Series. New York: Sterling Publishing Co., Inc. 2005.
Morissey, Scott C. 114 World Series in 1 Book. Updated ed., Pandamonium Publishing House, 2020.
Neft, David S., Richard M. Cohen. The Sports Encyclopedia: Baseball, 1992. 12th ed. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1992.
-------------The World Series: Complete Play-by-play of Every Game, 1903-1989. 4th ed. New York: St. Martin's, 1990.
Nemec, David et all. 20th Century Baseball Chronicle: A Year-by-year History of Major League Baseball. Collector's Edition. Lincolnwood, Ill: Publications International, 1993.
Society for American Baseball Research, SABR, https://sabr.org/. 30 Jan. 2023.
Snyder, John S. World Series!: Great Moments and Dubious Achievements. San Francisco: Chronicle, 1995.
Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. https://www.baseball-reference.com/. 30 Jan. 2023.
Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, https://en.wikipedia.org/. 30 Jan. 2023.
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