1937_St._Louis_Cardinals_season
1937 St. Louis Cardinals season
Major League Baseball season
The 1937 St. Louis Cardinals season was the team's 56th season in St. Louis, Missouri and the 46th season in the National League. The Cardinals went 81–73 during the season and finished fourth in the National League.
| 1937 St. Louis Cardinals | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| League | National League | |||
| Ballpark | Sportsman's Park | |||
| City | St. Louis, Missouri | |||
| Record | 81–73 (.526) | |||
| League place | 4th | |||
| Owners | Sam Breadon | |||
| General managers | Branch Rickey | |||
| Managers | Frankie Frisch | |||
| Radio | KMOX (France Laux, Jim Alt) KWK (Ray Schmidt, Johnny O'Hara, Allan Anthony) | |||
| ||||
At the start of January 1937, general manager Branch Rickey named Robert L. Finch vice president of all Cardinals minor league baseball teams.[1] Their star pitcher, Dizzy Dean, spent the preseason in a contract dispute, even threatening to quit baseball. He finally signed for an estimated $24,000 and a lifetime supply of Cracker Jack and hot wings on March 19.[2]
As the season was set to begin, the Cardinals were considered the favorites to win the National League and face the New York Yankees in the 1937 World Series.[3]
Outfielder Joe Medwick won the MVP Award this year, batting .374, with 31 home runs and 154 RBIs. He also won the Triple Crown, the last National League player to do so. Conversely, Dizzy Dean battled injuries, staged a mid-game strike, engaged in multiple fights and was even suspended for a time. Dean finished with a 13–10 record and only one win after the All-Star Break and was named the "biggest bust of the year" by an Associated Press poll after the season.[2]
Season summary
The Cardinals started their season strongly, winning seven of their first eight games and jumping out to a 1½-game lead by the end of April. They were in second place as late as June 27, just half a game out of first place with a record of 35–24. However, they never rose any higher, spending the rest of the year in either third or fourth place, ending the season by losing six of eight and with their largest deficit of the year of 15 games out of first place.[4]
Season standings
| National League | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York Giants | 95 | 57 | 0.625 | — | 50–25 | 45–32 |
| Chicago Cubs | 93 | 61 | 0.604 | 3 | 46–32 | 47–29 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 86 | 68 | 0.558 | 10 | 46–32 | 40–36 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 81 | 73 | 0.526 | 15 | 45–33 | 36–40 |
| Boston Bees | 79 | 73 | 0.520 | 16 | 43–33 | 36–40 |
| Brooklyn Dodgers | 62 | 91 | 0.405 | 33½ | 36–39 | 26–52 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 61 | 92 | 0.399 | 34½ | 29–45 | 32–47 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 56 | 98 | 0.364 | 40 | 28–51 | 28–47 |
Record vs. opponents
Sources: | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | BOS | BR | CHC | CIN | NYG | PHI | PIT | STL | |||||
| Boston | — | 15–7 | 9–13 | 11–11 | 10–10 | 14–8 | 11–11 | 9–13 | |||||
| Brooklyn | 7–15 | — | 8–14 | 12–10–1 | 6–16 | 10–11 | 12–10 | 7–15–1 | |||||
| Chicago | 13–9 | 14–8 | — | 14–8 | 12–10 | 14–8 | 9–13 | 17–5 | |||||
| Cincinnati | 11–11 | 10–12–1 | 8–14 | — | 8–14 | 11–11 | 1–21 | 7–15 | |||||
| New York | 10–10 | 16–6 | 10–12 | 14–8 | — | 15–7 | 16–6 | 14–8 | |||||
| Philadelphia | 8–14 | 11–10 | 8–14 | 11–11 | 7–15 | — | 11–11 | 5–17–2 | |||||
| Pittsburgh | 11–11 | 10–12 | 13–9 | 21–1 | 6–16 | 11–11 | — | 14–8 | |||||
| St. Louis | 13–9 | 15–7–1 | 5–17 | 15–7 | 8–14 | 17–5–2 | 8–14 | — | |||||
Roster
| 1937 St. Louis Cardinals | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
|
Catchers
Infielders
|
Outfielders
|
Manager
Coaches
| ||||||
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 | Bruce Ogrodowski | 90 | 279 | 65 | .233 | 3 | 31 |
| 1B | Johnny Mize | 145 | 560 | 204 | .364 | 25 | 113 |
| 2B | Jimmy Brown | 138 | 525 | 145 | .276 | 2 | 53 |
| SS | Leo Durocher | 135 | 477 | 97 | .203 | 1 | 47 |
| 3B | Don Gutteridge | 119 | 447 | 121 | .271 | 7 | 61 |
| OF | Joe Medwick | 156 | 633 | 237 | .374 | 31 | 154 |
| OF | Don Padgett | 123 | 446 | 140 | .314 | 10 | 74 |
| OF | Terry Moore | 115 | 461 | 123 | .267 | 5 | 43 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pepper Martin | 98 | 339 | 103 | .304 | 5 | 38 |
| Frenchy Bordagaray | 96 | 300 | 88 | .293 | 1 | 37 |
| Mickey Owen | 80 | 234 | 54 | .231 | 0 | 20 |
| Stu Martin | 90 | 223 | 58 | .260 | 1 | 17 |
| Dick Siebert | 22 | 38 | 7 | .184 | 0 | 2 |
| Herb Bremer | 11 | 33 | 7 | .212 | 0 | 3 |
| Frankie Frisch | 17 | 32 | 7 | .219 | 0 | 4 |
| Randy Moore | 8 | 7 | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bob Weiland | 41 | 264.1 | 15 | 14 | 3.54 | 105 |
| Lon Warneke | 36 | 238.2 | 18 | 11 | 4.53 | 87 |
| Dizzy Dean | 27 | 197.1 | 13 | 10 | 2.69 | 120 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Si Johnson | 38 | 192.1 | 12 | 12 | 3.32 | 64 |
| Mike Ryba | 38 | 135.0 | 9 | 6 | 4.13 | 57 |
| Ray Harrell | 35 | 96.2 | 3 | 7 | 5.87 | 41 |
| Jesse Haines | 16 | 65.2 | 3 | 3 | 4.52 | 18 |
| Jim Winford | 16 | 46.1 | 2 | 4 | 5.83 | 17 |
| Howie Krist | 6 | 27.2 | 3 | 1 | 4.23 | 6 |
| Nub Kleinke | 5 | 20.2 | 1 | 1 | 4.79 | 9 |
| Bill McGee | 4 | 14.0 | 1 | 0 | 2.57 | 9 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sheriff Blake | 14 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3.71 | 20 |
| Tom Sunkel | 9 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2.76 | 9 |
| Abe White | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6.75 | 2 |
| Nate Andrews | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.00 | 6 |
| Johnnie Chambers | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18.00 | 1 |
| Paul Dean | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | inf | 0 |
- "Rickey Names Finch Cardinal Official". Los Angeles Times. January 3, 1937. p. A7.
- "Dean Biggest 'Bust' of Year". Spartanburg Herald-Journal. December 21, 1937. p. 9.
- "Yankees, Cardinals Scribes' Favorites". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. March 24, 1937. p. 9.
- Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007