photo: Paul and Dizzy Dean
More surprises and thrilling moments are in store in the quarterfinal round of the “Best of St. Louis” tournament using simulation to select the top St. Louis baseball team of all time.
Prior articles in this series
#1 seed 1942 Cardinals vs #9 1934 Cardinals
Coming off a sweep of the 2006 World Champions in the opening round, the top-seeded 1942 Cardinals looked to continue their march against the ’34 “Gas House Gang”. The Gas Housers also had a relatively easy opening round series, knocking out the ’67 team in five games.
This series started off as a bit of a shocker with the Dean brothers dominating in Games 1 and 2. Dizzy shut out the “Swifties” in the series lid lifter, striking out 13 and scattering eight hits. The win put Diz at 3-0 in the tournament with 31 strikeouts in 28 2/3 innings pitched and a 1.26 ERA. Despite the loss, ’42 starter Mort Cooper was even better, striking out 14 Gas Housers and surrendering only five hits. But the ’34 club scored the only run they needed in the seventh when Bill Delancey launched a solo home run with two out. They put the game away for all practical purposes in the top of the ninth when Ducky Medwick singled and Ripper Collins homered. Diz pitched a 1-2-3 bottom half for the 3-0 win.
In Game 2, Paul Dean matched Dizzy’s 13 strikeouts and gave up only five hits. Again the ’42s’ pitching was also good with Johnny Beazley yielding only five hits as well through eight innings, and Murry Dickson adding a scoreless ninth. The ’34 team put a run on the board in the top of the third when Pepper Martin tripled, and sped home on a wild pitch. The two-out wild pitch proved crucial as the ’42 club tied it in the bottom of the seventh on Enos Slaughter’s solo homer. The Gas Housers took the run back in the top of the eighth on a solo shot by Jack Rothrock, and the 2-1 score held.
Pitching was strong again in Game 3, with Max Lanier facing Tex Carleton. Carleton surrendered only two hits through five innings, but walked the number 8 and 9 hitters,” Creepy” Crespi and Lanier, to start the sixth frame. He then retired Terry Moore and Marty Marion, as the runners advanced. Enos Slaughter drove a clutch two-out single to left center plating both runners. The depression era club got a run back in the bottom half on a one-out single by Spud Davis, a walk to Chick Fullis and single by Leo Durocher to load the sacks. Pinch-hitter Burgess Whitehead then grounded to Ray Sanders at first, Sanders going to Marion at second trying to end the inning on a double play, but Whitehead beat the throw and the run scored. Martin then flew out to Moore in center ending the frame. Both teams tallied a run in the eighth with the veteran Jesse “Pop” Haines on for the Gas Housers while Howie Krist had replaced Lanier for the wartime nine. Another veteran, Dazzy Vance, came on in the ninth for the ’34 team and was greeted rudely, walking Stan Musial before Sanders homered, widening the gap to 5-2. The Gas House Gang got a run off Krist in the bottom of the ninth but could not get any closer as the ’42s held on for a 5-3 win to get back into the series.
Dizzy came back for Game 4, facing left-hander Ernie White, and he was masterful. Dean gave up only two hits, struck out 10 and pitched the Men of Frank Frisch to within a game of a major upset in a 3-1 victory. Ducky Medwick tripled home Frisch in the bottom of the first for the only run Diz would need, then tacked on single runs in the seventh and eighth to make the margin a little more comfortable. A second inning Walker Cooper triple followed by a Jimmy Brown run scoring ground out was the only run the great Diz surrendered, as he move to 4-0 in the tournament.
On the brink of elimination, the stunned 1942 club came back in championship form to win Games 5 and 6. The former was a tight 4-3 game as Mort Cooper topped lefty Bill Walker and Slaughter homered. Still, the ’34 team kept the pressure on, trailing 4-2 heading to the bottom of the ninth, Medwick promptly homered to get within one. Cooper then retired Ripper Collins and struck out Bill Delancey, his ninth “K” of the game, before walking Ernie Orsatti. Pinch-hitter Whitehead singled, putting the possible tying run on second, but another pinch-hitter, Chick Fullis, grounded out to end the game.
The ’42 club then tied the series with a 7-3 Game 6 win, knocking out nine hits against Paul Dean in only 5 1/3 innings. Johnny Beazley went the distance for the wartime club, allowing five hits. The ‘42s rapped out 10 base knocks in total with Crespi accounting for three and scoring twice. Terry Moore and Marty Marion had two hits apiece, and Walker Cooper stroked another triple for two runs.
This set up one of the more dramatic Game 7s you will ever witness – a 16-inning drama matching the irrepressible Dizzy Dean against ’42 lefty Max Lanier. Diz was not quite as sharp as in his earlier starts but still had the strikeout pitch working and bore down when he needed an out. The ‘42s opened the scoring in the bottom of the third on one out singles by Moore and Johnny Hopp, Moore scooting to third on Hopp’s single. Slaughter then lofted a fly ball to medium right that was deep enough to get Moore home, as Rothrock’s throw was a bit offline. This same scenario played out later in the game with different results.
The score remained 1-0 until the eighth when the ’34 club tied it on a single by Fullis, who then caught the ‘42s napping and stole second. Durocher singled shallowly to left, with Fullis holding at third. With Diz due up, Frisch let him hit and he managed to hit a fly ball to Moore in center, Terry’s throw just missed nabbing the sliding Fullis, who evaded Walker Cooper’s tag attempt to tie the game.
Diz pitched around a one-out walk in the bottom of the eighth, setting up a ninth inning of dashed hopes for both clubs. First, the ’34 club had a chance to grab the lead when Frisch and Medwick started the frame by singling off Lanier, with Frisch moving to third on Medwick’s hit. With the runner at third and no outs, Southworth pulled the ’42 infield in. Ripper Collins, hitting righty off Lanier, pulled a grounder right at Marion, who held Frisch and fired to first retiring Collins. Southworth ordered an intentional pass to Spud Davis, loading the bases. The infield moved back to halfway with Chick Fullis up. Fullis flied to Slaughter in right, as Frisch tagged and Enos threw a strike to Cooper who tagged out The Flash to end the inning.
Moving to the bottom of the ninth, Diz was still pitching but tiring some. A run and the ’42 club would advance. With Lanier due up, Southworth sent lefty Ray Sanders to hit, and he promptly singled. Terry Moore executed a perfect sacrifice bunt to move Sanders to second. Johnny Hopp then grounded to Durocher, who in an anxious attempt to get Sanders running for third booted the ball, putting runners at first and third with one out. Now the ’42 club had a golden opportunity to end the series with Slaughter and Musial coming up. In an example of “déjà vu all over again”, Slaughter, who had just saved the ‘42s a run by throwing out Frisch in the top of the inning, flied to his counterpart in right, Jack Rothrock. Sanders tagged and Rothrock unleased a strong throw to Davis, who had the plate blocked, tagging Sanders for the third out and sending Game 7 to extra innings!
On they battled, with right-hander Howie Krist on for the wartime crew. Krist and Dean both hurled 1-2-3 10th innings. Krist gave up a single to Frisch in the top of the 11th, but no further damage occurred. Marion reached a tiring Diz with a lead off single in the bottom of the 11th. Crespi followed suit, with Marion scooting to third and it looked like the ‘42s would finish off the series, with a runner at third and no outs. Frisch, who had righty Tex Carleton and lefty Bill Walker warming, walked to the mound to check the fatigued Dizzy Dean. “What do think Diz?”, Frisch asked. “Shucks Frank, I ain’t even showed ‘em my best stuff yet”, Diz responded in his usual display of confidence mixed with country-boy charm. Normally Diz backed up his braggadocio, and that was the case this time. He proceeded to strike out Sanders, Moore, and pinch-hitter Harry Walker in order to keep the game tied, displaying one of the most remarkable pitching sequences of the tourney.
Southworth went to his ace Mort Cooper to pitch the 12th and he retired the Gas Housers in order. With Dean out of gas, the lefty Walker came on for the ‘34s to face Slaughter in the bottom of the 12th. Enos doubled, again giving the ‘42s a good chance to end it. Walker stayed on to face the lefty hitting Stan Musial and carefully walked him. Frisch summoned Carleton from the bullpen to face the righty hitting Walker Cooper, who popped out to short. He then induced Jimmy Brown and Marion to ground out, ending the threat. Mort Cooper and Carleton each held their opponent at bay in the 13th, 14th and 15th innings. Neither team threatened but tension mounted with every pitch.
Cooper continued to dominate into the top of the 16th, striking out Martin and getting Rothrock on a fly out to start the frame. But the feisty manager Frisch singled with his fourth hit of the game, and Medwick followed with his third hit, also a single, with Frisch going to third. Ripper Collins had the third straight hit, with his single scoring Frisch and breaking the tie. Lefty Ernie White came on to face the left-handed batting Delancey, who had hit for Spud Davis in the 12th, and stuck him out, keeping the score 2-1.
Carleton pitched around a one-out single in the bottom half, striking out Whitey Kurowski to end the game and send the ’34 Cardinals on to the semi-finals. This was an absolutely incredible game with both clubs squandering opportunities, but the ’42 club especially let it slip away, leaving 16 runners stranded.
The legend of Dizzy Dean lives on! He pitched 11 innings and threw 179 pitches, striking out 13 and lowering his tournament ERA to 0.91. Carleton was clutch in relief, pitching the final five innings, allowing only one hit, striking out three and not walking anyone. The ’42 relief corps of Krist, Cooper and White were also terrific, throwing seven innings and giving up four hits while striking out seven and walking only one.
No matter how the rest of the tournament plays out, it will be hard to top this game for drama, tension and gritty performances.
#5 1943 Cardinals vs #13 1964 Cardinals
These teams pushed the odds a bit as the 1943 team had to win in the loser’s bracket to get into the field of 16, then win their opening series against the 2013 Championship club. They had no trouble in either series, sweeping both to start the tourney 8-0. The 1964 team was seeded 13th of 16 competitors yet upset the #4 seed 1946 group in a close, seven-game affair. That series mimicked to some degree the real-life 1960 World Series, as the 1946 team won the three games in rather dominating fashion and lost by close scores. How would this one turn out?
Well, to get to the finish first, the 1943 team continued their tournament dominance, winning in five games to push their overall record to 12-1.
In a bit of time warp and with a tired pitching staff from the opening seven-game series, the ’64 club sent Ernie Broglio to the mound to start, with Lou Brock in left field. And “Earnshaw” was good, going seven innings and departing with his club up 3-2 over Mort Cooper and the ‘43s. Mike Cuellar came in to start the eighth facing Harry Walker, with “The Hat” singling. Lou Klein walked, then Cuellar stayed on to face the lefty-hitting Musial. Stan popped out to shallow right, with Johnny Keane calling on knuckleballer Barney Schultz to face Walker Cooper. Cooper lived up to his name, walking to load the bases as Schultz’ knuckler was a little too effective. Ray Sanders and Whitey Kurowski followed with singles, putting the ’43 team up 4-3. Johnny Hopp’s sac-fly made it 5-3, and Howie Krist nailed down the win, blanking the ‘64s in the ninth.
The ’64 club jumped on starter Max Lanier for two in the top of the first of Game 2 when Curt Flood and Julian Javier singled and Dick Groat walked, loading the bases. Kenny Boyer drove home Flood with a sac-fly to Musial in right. Mike Shannon then walked against a shaky Lanier to reload the sacks. Bill White followed with a grounder to second. The ‘43s went for a double play but White just legged out the throw while Javier scored. Charlie James then went down on strikes, and that was all the offense the ‘64s could muster. Lanier and relievers Ernie White and Murry Dickson kept the ‘64s off the board the rest of the way, while the ‘43s came back for three runs, including two from Whitey Kurowski’s home run in the fifth, giving them a 3-2 win and moving to 10-0 in the tourney. Curt Simmons suffered his first tournament loss.
Bob Gibson finally broke through to beat the ’43 team in Game 3, throwing a complete game and striking out nine without a walk. Harry Brecheen was reached for four runs in the bottom of the fifth, which gave the ‘64s what they needed in the 4-2 victory. This was the first loss for the 1943 squad after 10 consecutive wins to start the tournament. The war squad took an early 2-0 lead into the fifth. Brecheen started the inning by striking out Tim McCarver but walked Gibson. Curt Flood singled and Javier doubled home Gibby and Flood. Dick Groat singled home Hoolie. After a Boyer strikeout, Groat took second on a wild pitch. Bill White then cashed in the run, singling home Groat. Mike Shannon grounded out to end the inning. Neither team scored the rest of the way, as the ‘64s narrowed the series to two games to one.
The ‘43s took control, capturing Games 4 and 5 to move to the semi-finals and end the dream of the ‘64s to continue against the odds. Howie Pollet was dominant in Game 4, spinning a two-hitter in the 4-1 win. Ray Sanders’ two-run homer was the big blow for the ‘43s, with a Lou Brock solo shot the only run mustered by the ’64s.
Howie Krist went the distance in the Game 5 clincher, with Marion, Walker Cooper and Danny Litwhiler homering for the 5-2 series-ending win. Curt Simmons, masterful against the ’46 club, took his second loss of this series.
The 1943 team will face the upstart 1934 club in the semi-finals.
#6 1922 Browns vs #14 1982 Cardinals
This is another series featuring a lower seeded team that scored an upset opening round win, with the 1982 speedsters of Whitey Herzog rather easily disposing of the #3 1931 team four games to one. The favored Browns topped another Whitey team, the ’85 bunch, in six games to advance to the quarter pole. In their opening series against the ’85 Cardinals, the Browns looked to be cruising to an easy series win by taking the first three games before getting a scare when the ’85 Cardinals won Games 4 and 5.
A similar scenario occurred in this series, as the Browns once again raced to a three-games-to-none lead. Just like the ’85 team, the 1982 team then got off the schneid and won Game 4. The Brownies mostly dominated the first three with scores of 8-2, 4-1, and 7-5. Left fielder Ken Williams was the offensive hero in the first two, going a combined 5-for-6 with two home runs, knocking in five. In Game 3, third sacker Eddie “Kid” Foster and catcher Hank Severeid did the heavy lifting, with Foster collecting four hits and Severeid driving in three. The ’82 team secured what turned out to be their lone win in Game four with Joaquin Andujar going seven innings, then getting help from Jim Kaat and Bruce Sutter in a 6-4 victory.
Like the ’85 team, the ’82 boys looked to be on their way to another win in Game 5, taking a 3-1 lead into the eighth inning behind John Stuper. But the Browns found their offense again late, plating two runs in the eighth to tie the game, then exploding against the usually reliable Sutter for six hits and five runs in the ninth to ice the series in the 8-3 final. Williams again was in the middle of things with a two-run triple in the big outburst.
The Browns move on the semis to face the winner of the 2004 vs. 1944 Cardinals series.
#2 1944 Cardinals vs #7 2004 Cardinals
As mentioned earlier, the 2004 Cardinals were a bit less statistically dominant than some other clubs and were humiliated in the World Series that year. That led them receiving only a #7 seed. Even so, this was a powerful team and probably would have garnered no lower than the four seed had they won the World Series.
They looked the part of a champion in this series, doing some humiliating of their own by eliminating the #2 seeded 1944 Cardinals in a four-game sweep. The ’44 team did not even score until Game 3, as Jason Marquis and Woody Williams, along with the excellent ’04 bullpen, shut out the wartime bunch in Games 1 and 2, 2-0 and 4-0. Marquis went six innings in Game 1, surrendering three hits, and relievers Julian Tavarez, Steve Kline, and Jason Isringhausen finished up with an inning each. Albert Pujols touched the familiar ‘40s ace Mort Cooper for a homer to start the fourth for the series’ first run, and the ‘04s added a second run in the seventh when Reggie Sanders doubled, and an out later pinch-hitter John Mabry singled him home.
Williams threw eight scoreless innings in Game 2, giving up only four hits, with Izzy again coming in to earn the save. The ‘04s scored four runs on 12 hits, three from Scott Rolen with Rolen, Pujols, Sanders and Tony Womack each driving in a run.
Game 3 moved to Busch Stadium III with the ‘04s home and it was the pivotal moment for the ’44 team – the “one that got away”. Facing Matt Morris, they took an early 4-1 lead as Ted Wilks was strong early, but the ’04 club chipped away with single runs in the fourth and fifth. As they trailed by a run going into the last of the eighth, Scott Rolen followed a Jim Edmonds double with a two-run homer to put the ’04 team up 5-4. However, Johnny Hopp led off the ninth with a solo shot off Isringhausen for the ’44s to even the score. Izzy then retired Ray Sanders, Stan Musial and Walker Cooper in order. With Harry Brecheen now pitching, the ’04 team went down without threatening in the bottom half, sending the game to extra innings. Izzy stayed on, shutting down the ’44s in the top of the 10th. With one out, none on in the bottom half Albert Pujols singled, and lightning struck again for the ’04s as Jim Edmonds hit a walk-off two-run shot into the bullpen to put the ’04 team up three games to none.
Tony La Russa’s bunch then punched their ticket to the semi-finals with a hard fought 5-4 win in Game 4, with Chris Carpenter getting the win over Mort Cooper. The ‘04s jumped on top in the bottom of the third when Pujols singled home Carpenter and Womack. The ‘44s tied it in the fifth when Hopp homered again, this time after a walk to Emil Verban. With the ’04s not scoring in the bottom half, the ‘44s grabbed the lead in the top of the sixth on a one out homer by Ray Sanders.
The ’04 squad then took the lead back in the bottom half as Pujols and Edmonds started the frame with singles. After Rolen lined out to left, Cooper plunked Reggie Sanders, loading the bags. Edgar Renteria singled through the hole in right, plating Albert and Jimmy.
Larry Walker homered in the eighth to push the lead to 5-3. The run proved crucial as the ‘44s notched a tally off Izzy in the top of the ninth when Ray Sanders led off with a double, moved to third on a ground out by Kurowski, and scored on a ground out by Augie Bergamo. Verban then hit the third straight grounder off Izzy which Renteria gobbled up and threw to Pujols, completing the sweep.
The 2004 club moves to the semi-finals, sporting a 12-3 tournament mark and a seven-game winning streak. They will lock horns with another powerful offensive group, the 1922 Browns.
A look ahead
Below is a glance at the real-life numbers for each of the final four teams compared to the league averages for the season. Pitching and defense defined the 1943 team, with an offense almost 10% better than league average as well.
They will face a 1934 club that was balanced at about 10% better than league norm on both offense and pitching.
The other series features a couple of powerful offenses. The graphic below is an insight into how good the 1922 Browns were – an offensive juggernaut with great pitching as well. Their defense by measure of number of errors was a weakness. But they were a great team and largely forgotten today. The franchise had little success over their history and the ’22 team did not win the pennant. Still, it was a very good squad.
Likewise, the 2004 team was great with an offense almost 14% better than league average and pitching close to 13% above the norm. Their defense was good as well.
Considering the metrics, one would expect the 1943 team’s pitching to stymie the 1934 club, while the Browns offense could overwhelm the 2004 Cardinals. However, the Gas House Gang has Dizzy Dean, and they won both series as underdogs including knocking off the top seed. Meanwhile, the 2004 Cardinals come in hot with seven consecutive wins and 12-3 in the tournament. They are a balanced team with a great bullpen. The Browns are 8-3 and can score runs in bunches, but a defensive miscue at a key point in a game might open the door for the Cardinals to take advantage. This shapes up for some terrific semi-final games.
For more
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