Johnny Mize and Enos Slaughter brought the big bats, and lanky shortstop Marty Marion anchored a dependable defense. Louis a period of National League domination few teams have matched. Three years later, the Cards won a close pennant race against the Giants and defeated the Detroit Tigers in seven games.Īs the Gang began to run out of gas, the Cardinal farm system brought up a new generation of Hall of Fame talent, allowing St. They lost in 1930 but won the rematch with Martin hitting. The Gashouse Gang won pennants in 1930-31 and met the powerful Philadelphia Athletics in both World Series. 374 average, 31 home runs and 154 runs batted in (along with 256 hits and 56 doubles) earned him the Triple Crown. His "crowning" season was 1937, when his. Medwick would drive in more than 100 runs for six consecutive seasons while always besting the. Dizzy Dean would win 28 and 24 games in 1935-36 before a foot injury derailed his pitching career in 1937. The group included Pepper Martin, Leo Durocher, Joe Medwick, and the Dean brothers, Dizzy and Daffy.ĭizzy Dean's best season was 1934, when he won 30 games while his brother Daffy won 19. This collection of hard-nosed, slightly off-beat characters were known as much for their crazy antics as for their baseball talent. The time of the "Gashouse Gang" was on its way. After the Series, Rickey surprised the baseball world by trading Hornsby to the Giants for Frankie Frisch, whose arrival signaled the beginning of a storied era in Cardinal history.
Hornsby replaced Rickey as manager in 1925, and led the Redbirds to their first World Series championship against the Yankees the next year. He retired with the National League's highest career average (.358 - second in the major leagues to Ty Cobb) and seven batting titles (six in a row from 1920-25). 384 the other two years), and posted the 20th Century's highest batting mark. From 1920-25 this Hall of Famer hit over. The first jewel of the system was Rogers Hornsby. What did help was the arrival of Branch Rickey, first as manager (1919) and then in the front office (1925), where he laid the foundation for the team's success by establishing a deeply rooted farm system. The Cards languished in the second division for 20 years. They picked up the nickname of Cardinals after changing uniform colors from brown to a scarlet red in 1900. The Cardinals joined the National League in 1891 after a decade playing in the American Association as the Brown Stockings. From Rickey to La Russa, Hornsby to Musial, McGwire to Pujols, the Cardinals have forged a legacy of winning unmatched in the National League - 18 pennants (most in the senior circuit), 11 world championships, 10 division titles and 37 Hall of Famers. Louis Cardinals have provided a gateway to baseball excellence.
Under the arch that signifies the Gateway to the American West, the St. LOUIS CARDINALS The Official History of the St.