Dizzy Dean
The St. Louis baseball reader
edited by Richard Peterson.
Columbia : University of Missouri Press, c2006.
El birdos : the 1967 and 1968 St. Louis Cardinals
Doug Feldmann.
Jefferson, N.C. : McFarland & Company, c2007.
In 1953, August A. Busch purchased the St. Louis Cardinals for nearly four million dollars. His dream included not only the best players money could buy but a brand new downtown stadium. By May 1966, when the new Busch Stadium was opened, the Cardinals were on the cusp of greatness. A world championship would follow in 1967, and in 1968 the Cardinals battled the Tigers in a classic seven-game series, narrowly losing their bid for back-to-back titles.
Commish & the Cardinals : the most memorable games
as covered by Rick Hummel ; [contributing writer, Bernie Miklasz].
[St. Louis, Mo.] : St. Louis Post-Dispatch Books, c2007.
St. Louis has often defined itself by its sports teams, and the Depression-era Cardinals' Gashouse Gang remains the standard by which local teams are measured.
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The Dean brothers
Dizzy's younger brother Paul was a good pitcher too. In 1934, Dizzy had 30 victories, Paul 19. The 49 victories were the most ever by a pair of brothers.
On September 21st Dizzy threw a three-hit shutout, allowing no hits until the 8th inning. In a second game, Paul threw a no-hitter. Dizzy was regretful: "If'n Paul had told me he was gonna pitch a no-hitters, I'd of throwed one too." And maybe he would have. |
On the Gashouse Gang's roster of legendary baseball players, Jay Hanna 'Dizzy' Dean was the poster child, the embodiment of what fans thought baseball could be. He pitched superbly and had a great time doing it.
Dean was born in backwoods Arkansas, on the edge of the Cardinals' sphere of influence. He pitched briefly for them as a twenty-year-old, then hit his Hall of Fame stride in 1933, at the age of twenty-three. For the next five years he averaged 24 victories a year and almost 200 strikeouts.
In the 1934 World Series, he got half of the Cardinals' four victories; (his brother, Paul, won the other two). He may have been entirely accurate when he asserted "Anybody who's ever had the privilege of seeing me play knows that I am the greatest pitcher in the world."
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In Dizzy's words
Dizzy's broadcast career was colorful but occasionally controversial. The liberties he took with the English language--"he slud into third"--annoyed those charged with teaching proper grammar.
Dean remained unrepentant. In the Depression's hard times, he noted, "a lot of people...who say 'isn't'...ain't eating." His final thoughts on the subject: "Let the teachers learn the kids English. Ol' Diz will learn the kids baseball." |
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In the 1937 All-Star Game, a line drive off his toe forced him to change his pitching motion, which damaged the arm he thought was indestructible. Dealt to the rival Chicago Cubs the following year, Dean never returned to his original form.
When his playing career ending in 1947 with the St. Louis Browns, he was able to make a very successful switch to broadcasting for CBS and NBC. He spoke as he had pitched, with a prodigious native talent, unlimited gusto, and complete unpredictability.
Dean was not shy and he was not humble, but he was GOOD. As he pointed out: "It ain't braggin' if you can back it up."
Article by: St. Louis Public Library staff.
