![]() ![]() ![]() Always on the lookout for a good moniker to pin on another, Medwick’s teammates heard that he’d been called “Ducky” in the minors-and it stuck as yet another complement to the Dizzy/Daffy chorus. Louis was 22-year-old outfielder Joe Medwick, a potent slugger with an ornery disposition that frequently found him scraping with teammates. He was also in the middle of a messy divorce proceeding, during which he admitted punching out his wife a few times.Īnother recent, prominent addition in St. But Durocher was more of an event away from the ballpark than he was within it, thanks to his well-known gambling habits and consorting with questionable types-elements that would shadow his baseball life. Nicknamed everything from “Leather Player” (Dizzy’s description of a good-field, no-hit player) to “The All-American Out” to the more aptly titled “The Lip,” Durocher quickly became manager Frankie Frisch’s right-hand man in the dugout as training for a fruitful future as skipper. There was shortstop Leo Durocher, who could have been mistaken for a lightweight boxer-and although he did play that role at times, it wasn’t in the ring. ![]() Within the cast was Pepper Martin, since converted to third base but still the point of origin for the Cardinals’ “Gashouse” persona-and one of its merriest pranksters, spending dead time on the road staging mock fights with teammates in the hotel lobby, then going upstairs to drop bags filled with water upon unsuspecting victims on the sidewalk below. The Cardinals of 1934 were loaded with characters that somehow managed to get along with each other-barely. Harpo made the most sense, but they eventually agreed on Daffy if for nothing else (and it wasn’t), it was simply poetic license. Dizzy championed that only Paul could pitch better than he, and reporters searched for a companion nickname for the much quieter, younger Dean. The Cardinals finally listened after the 19-year-old Paul won 22 games in the minors during 1933. Louis organization-brought up to the parent club. Louis management, staging various small holdouts for more money, and at one point declaring himself a free agent because he had signed with the organization while underage.ĭizzy was constantly lobbying to have his brother Paul-also in the St. But he remained a thorn in the side of St. The Cardinals were deeply concerned with Dizzy’s ego-not to mention his gratuitous spending habits.Ī year later Dizzy returned to the majors to stay, winning 18 in his rookie year before notching 20 more in 1933. Louis sent him back to the minors-not to work on his mechanics, but his humility. Reporters anticipating an excited young Dean in the clubhouse instead found the 19-year old moaning, “Those bums got three hits off’n me.”ĭizzy had the goods to make the starting rotation in 1931, but St. Dean won 25 that first year, rocketing up the minor league chain to the Cardinals for a start on the season’s final day-allowing just three hits in a win over Pittsburgh. Louis scouts in 1930-not surprising, since the vast Cardinals farm system Branch Rickey had set up was still miles ahead of any other major league organization. Raised within a poor rural family, Dizzy was rich in talent, his pitching arm first noticed by St. No one quite knew where the nickname came from, either-though Dean had several different versions for that as well. Perhaps that’s why they called him Dizzy. With a deep southern drawl that was short on syntax but long on color, Dizzy Dean never seemed to get his past right with reporters, giving various places and dates of birth. Louis Cardinals-a reckless batch of ballplayers best remembered as the Gashouse Gang-would greatly benefit from the Deans in the end. His remarkable 1934 campaign, coupled with a solid debut for his little brother, surpassed even Dizzy’s egotistical expectations. As his performance in the bigs began to substantiate the talk, the general reaction to Dizzy evolved from sarcastic chuckles to wild praise. Well before he arrived on the major league scene, he had mastered the art of self-promotion. No one could brag and then back up the brash predictions quite like Dizzy Dean. Louis Cardinals.Īnd for once in his life, Dizzy sold himself short. Jay Hanna “Dizzy” Dean boastfully spread the news before the 1934 season: He and his rookie brother Paul were gonna gang up and win 45 games together for the St. ![]()
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