Colorful characters have dotted the landscape of baseball every since its inception. The Cardinals have had their share of them and 1934 was a keen example of that. The Dean brothers pitched for the Cardinals and they did it very well. Dizzy Dean was joined on the roster by his rookie brother, Paul. He was affectionately nicknamed “Daffy”.

Frankie Frisch became the manager in 1934 and he implemented some new rules to help shape the team up a bit. He told them no drinking or gambling and a midnight curfew on road games. During the season the Dean Brothers got in some trouble and were suspended and fined by Frisch. Dizzy got upset and tore up two uniforms. It  looked bleak that their two best pitchers were out.

The Cardinals trailed the Giants by 5.5 games and had only 17 to play. But good play and lots of hustle from Pepper Martin and that deficit was overtaken. Dizzy Dean won four games in the final 10 days and on the final game of the season the Cardinals clinched as he registered his 30th win of the season and was eventually named league MVP. His rookie brother Paul posted 19 wins to go well beyond what his braggart brother Dizzy predicted. Dizzy teased at the season’s start, “me and Paul will win 45 together.”

The World Series saw the Cardinals and the Tigers hooking up. What is probably remembered most is that the hard slide of Joe Medwick (see picture above)  caused his removal from Game 7. Now initially he was not thrown out. Fans hurled bottles, fruits and vegetables onto the field in protest of his slide and the Commissioner of baseball, Kenesaw Mountain Landis, came onto the field and ordered Medwick removed from the game. It caused no problems for the Cardinals as they went on to win the game 11-0 with Dizzy Dean on the mound.

The Gashouse Gang, as they were known, made it into baseball lore.