Jay
Hanna "
Dizzy" Dean (
January 16, 1910 – July 17,
1974), also known as
Jerome Herman Dean, was an
American professional baseball player. He played in
Major League Baseball as a pitcher for the
St. Louis Cardinals,
Chicago Cubs and the
St. Louis Browns. A brash and colorful personality, Dean was the last
National League pitcher to win 30 games in one season.[2] After his playing career, he became a popular television sports commentator. Dean was elected to the
Baseball Hall of Fame in
1953. When the
Cardinals reopened the team
Hall of Fame in 2014, Dean was inducted among the inaugural class.
Dean was best known for leading the 1934 "
Gashouse Gang"
St. Louis team. He had a 30–
7 record with a 2.66
ERA during the regular season. His brother,
Paul, was also on the roster, and was nicknamed "
Daffy", although this was usually only done for press consumption. Though "Diz" sometimes called his brother "Daf", he typically referred to himself and his brother as "Me an' Paul". Continuing the theme, the team included
Dazzy Vance and Joe "
Ducky" Medwick.
The Gashouse Gang was the southernmost and westernmost team in the major leagues at the time, and became a de facto "
America's Team."
Team members, particularly
Southerners such as the Dean brothers and
Pepper Martin, became folk heroes in Depression-ravaged
America.
Americans saw in these players, dirty and hustling rather than handsome and graceful, a spirit of hard work and perseverance, as opposed to the haughty, highly paid
New York Giants, whom the Cardinals chased for the
National League pennant.
Much like later sports legends
Joe Namath and
Muhammad Ali,
Dizzy liked to brag about his prowess and make public predictions. In 1934, Dizzy predicted, "Me an' Paul are gonna win 45 games." On
September 21, Diz pitched no-hit ball for eight innings against the
Brooklyn Dodgers, finishing with a three-hit shutout in the first game of a doubleheader, his 27th win of the season. Paul then threw a no-hitter in the nightcap, to win his
18th, matching the 45 that Diz had predicted. "Gee, Paul", Diz was heard to say in the locker room afterward, "if I'd a-known you was gonna throw a no-hitter, I'd a-throw'ed one too!" He also bet he could strike out
Vince DiMaggio four times in one game. He struck him out his first three at-bats, but when DiMaggio hit a popup behind the plate at his fourth, Dean screamed at his catcher, "
Drop it!, Drop it!" The catcher did and
Dean fanned DiMaggio, winning the bet. Few in the press now doubted Diz's boast, as he was also fond of saying, "If ya done it, it ain't braggin'." Diz finished with 30 wins, the only NL pitcher to do so in the post-1920 live-ball era, and Paul finished with 19, for a total of 49. The Cards needed them all to edge the
Giants for the pennant, setting up a matchup with the
American League champion
Detroit Tigers. After the season,
Dizzy Dean was awarded the National League's
Most Valuable Player Award.
Dean was known for antics which inspired his nickname.
In time, perception became reality. In
Game 4 of the
1934 World Series against the Detroit Tigers, Dean was sent to first base as a pinch runner. The next batter hit a potential double play groundball. Intent on avoiding the double play, Dean threw himself in front of the throw to first. The ball struck him on the head, and Dean was knocked unconscious and taken to a hospital. The storied (and possibly apocryphal) sports-section headline the next day said, "X-ray of
Dean's head reveals nothing." Although the
Tigers went on to win the game 10-4, Dean recovered in time to pitch in Game 5 which he lost. After the Cardinals won
Game 6, Dean came back and pitched a complete game shutout in
Game 7 to win the game and the
Series for the Cardinals.
Branch Rickey, the Cardinals executive who had developed their farm system and built the great
1930s Cardinals teams, found Dean's homespun candidness and observations refreshing. He once told a friend, with some bemusement, "
Tell me why I spent four mortal hours today conversing with a person named Dizzy Dean."
- published: 28 Feb 2016
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