Another Statue For Busch III?

This is pretty much a reprint or rehash from an earlier post. Has anyone here ever heard of Ken Williams? If you search the net, you're likely to get two baseball 'hits'... one for the current (as of 10/2/2014) GM of the Chicago White Sox. Kenny, as he seems to be called, was also an actual ballplayer back in the day, an outfielder I believe. The other hit also gives you an outfielder, who I believe was more of a 'Ken' than a 'Kenny'. He was also a far, far better ballplayer.
Three years ago I 'played' a simulated season between the 1922 St. Louis Browns, hands down the greatest edition of the old American League squad, and all of the World Championship St. Louis Cardinals teams... all eleven, from 1926... the team that beat the NY Yankees of Ruth, Gehrig and Lazzeri... to the 2011 squad that put Texas in a deep David Freese. The mathematics made it simple. Eleven World Champs, 14 games each, yielding a 154 game season. I used 'What-If-Sports', fielded what I thought would be the best line-up for each side, kept an honest pitching rotation for each side, and sat back to enjoy the fireworks. The computer let me set the starting line-ups and pick the ballpark. Up until 1954, of course, the home park for each team was Sportsman's park, so the only thing we flipped was 'last ups'. But the computer made all in-game substitutions, and I tried my best to keep everything on the level. Bob Gibson, for example, didn't get to start seven straight games.
In the course of 'watching' the series and 'season' unfold, I learned an awful lot, as I always do. And I enjoyed 'meeting' some very good but now obscure baseball players.. from both the Cards and the Browns. Guys like Elam Vangilder, who not only pitched brilliantly in '22, but was also one of the Brown's best hitters. The Cape Girardeau native hit .344 with 10 doubles, 2 triples and two hoe runs for a .955 OPS! All while twirling 245 innings and compiling a 19-13 record! Guys like St. Louis native Jack Tobin... a tiny man who used a huge bat and slapped, poked, and bunted his way to a fine career... over a .300 lifetime average with a fine .331 mark in 1922. Many other players seem to have compelling tales to tell, as well.
None more compelling to me that that of Ken Williams of Grants Pass, Oregon.

The following is a direct reprint from my 2011 post. It appears when the 1922 Browns are in the midst of their 14-game series with the 1946 World Champion Cardinals.

Williams had a season for the ages in 1922, leading the AL in home runs, RBI and total bases. In addition to the first 30-30 (39 HR, 37 SB) season, Williams' posted 155 RBI in 153 games.  He had an OPS of 1.040 (.332 BA, .413 OBP, .627 SLG).  This was his best season, but by no means was it a fluke.

1920    141G  34 2B  13 3B  10 HR   72 RBI   .307 BA    .362 OBP  .480 SLG  .842 OPS
1921    146     31         7        24       117         .347         .429          .561          .990 
1922    153     34       11        39       155         .332         .413          .627        1.040
1923    147     37       12        29         91         .357         .439          .623        1.062
1924    114     21         4        18         84         .324         .425          .533          .958
1925    102     31         5        25       105         .331         .390          .613        1.003

From 1921-1925 Mr. Williams compiled a .421 OBP, slugged .595, and averaged an  On Base Plus Slugging of 1.015, averaged 297 total bases, and batted .339.  He also averaged 27 HR and 110 RBI.  Williams' lifetime averages over 14 seasons and 1397 games are a .319 BA, a .393 OBP, and a .524 SLG mark for a lifetime .924 OPS. That's outstanding work.  

Why Ken Williams doesn't get more credit for being a great hitter is a little perplexing.  Yes, he played in Sportsman's Park.  Yes he played at the advent of the 'lively ball' era.  But Sportsman's Park didn't close until the sixties.  The ball didn't deaden after 1922 (except maybe during WWII, which sucked the life out of a lot of things).  If anything, the ball got livelier, fences were pulled in, and young hitters were trained from the get-go to swing for distance.  And until the Bob Gibson era, power and average numbers for hitters stayed healthy.  So why the dis?  Ken Williams teammate, HOF George Sisler, a lifetime .340 hitter, had a .847 OPS.  His mark with the Browns, his best years, was .865.  During his very best years, 1920-22, when he hit .400 twice and set a single season (257 hits) record, Sisler's OPS was 1.039.  Sisler was not only a HOFer, he was one of the original dozen.  Williams lifetime mark is .924.  Ken Williams didn't arrive to stay until he was 28.  He still got in 14 years and into nearly 1400 games.

So, to recap, Ken Williams was baseball's first 30-30 man, and hands down the least remembered of the club that includes Willie Mays (the second member), his pal Bobby Bonds, and Bobby's son Barry. Shouldn't the founding member of such an illustrious bunch get a little more props? And as for minimizing Ken William's offensive contributions by saying his numbers are a product of playing in Sportsman's Park... well, it's the same stadium that housed Hornsby, Stan the Man, Country Slaughter, Ducky Medwick, and Jim Bottomley. All of them are in the Hall of Fame. All also were members of World Championship teams. Ahh... there may be the rub. The Browns, in a largely sad, miserable existence in the Loo, never won a single World Series. Their closest try found them in the 1944 wartime tilt against - you got it - the Cardinals, who beat them for the second of three 1940's titles.  The Browns' would have to wait until 1966 to pop the champagne and raise a World Series trophy... when, as the transplanted Baltimore Orioles, they would sweep the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers of Koufax, Drysdale and the Davises. 

So... look at Ken Williams' numbers. He didn't reach the bigs until 28... a circumstance wholly beyond his control. But once arriving on station, he tattooed the ball with ferocity almost until he departed. He averaged more than an RBI per game in 1925. He batted .345 with an OPS well over .900 in his FINAL season, at the age of 39. Sure he was a part timer, but still... can anybody use that guy coming off the bench in this year's post-season? 

Ken Williams will never get a statue, a HOF plaque, or even anything besides a 'who's-he?' And even if somebody decided he merits one or both... where would you put it? Camden Yards? Busch III? I'd vote for Busch, personally. Not really for Ken, who long ago passed away, back in Grants Pass, Oregon. More for the 3 million or so who pass through the St. Louis Cardinals turnstiles each year. They are, by and large, a knowledgeable baseball bunch. They deserve to know that before Pujols, Brock, Gibby and Stan, even before Hornsby, Frisch, Pepper Martin and Sunny Jim, there was Ken Williams of Grants Pass... and for ten superb years*, of St. Louis Missouri, as well. 

* According to baseball reference, Ken Williams' totals as a St. Louis Browns player read as follows:

10 years: 1109 Games, .326 BA, .403 OPS, .558 SA, .961 OPS, 185 HR, 240 SB

That stuff would look mighty good on a plaque. Or statue. Or something!

Twenty-twelve... Random Ramblings

"What a long strange trip it's been..."
Wow! We are just about done. Another baseball season just about in the books. San Fran is tangling with the Tigers, and we will crown a new champion, no matter what. Congratulations will be in order. For some, they already are.

Congrats to the 2012 playoff teams. All of them! Although I am not 100% sold on the new format, I cannot deny the drama resulting from the 10 teams involved. I thought 8 out of 32, 25% of all the teams in MLB, was plenty. But when all four division series went the full five games... with San Fran, St. Louis, Oakland, New York all posting dramatic comeback wins... and Baltimore, Detroit, Cincy and Washington all fighting hard as well... I cannot argue with the results. It was great baseball!

Of course I rooted for my Yanks. This year was a triumph of age over youth... until we met up with those whippersnappers from the Motor City. But even before the Yanks stopped hitting, I had to tip my hat to the Baltimore Orioles. They came out of nowhere to storm the AL East, damn near took the division after NY had built a 10-game cushion, and damn near took the last two games in Yankee Stadium. The five-game ALDS between NY and Baltimore featured two extra-inning tilts. Raul Ibanez tied and won one of them single-handedly, a triumph for senior citizens everywhere! Of course the Yankee bats went totally silent after that, and Detroit, fresh from a bitter battle with the Oakland A's, swept us out.

But how about those Oakland AmAzing A's! I happened to be in a STL hotel room for Game 4 of both the NYY-BAL and OAK-DET tilts. I have to confess, I nodded off in the ninth of the latter game... Pacific Coast Time being what it is. Oakland was down 3-1 going into the home 9th. You all know what happened! I don't know if Billy Beane gets to keep that team together next year. This is a situation MLB needs to address. The team 'deserves' to get another chance at the dance next year, but to paraphrase Yogi, if nobody wants to support the Oakland A's the way they deserve, you can't make em.

How about the Cardinals and Nationals! Has anybody ever thrown a bigger wet blanket over a celebration than St. Louis did in game 5 in DC? Down 6-0 early and 7-5 in the 9th, the Cardinals were down to their final strike several times. Of course, we NEVER cut off our radios and TVs any more after last year, do we? To paraphrase the late, great Jack Buck... I STILL don't believe what I just saw. The Cards did it again... and again... base hit after base hit after base hit, with Pete Kozma (who?), rookie shortstop, lining a 2-run single down the right field line to complete one of the most improbable comebacks in baseball history... and one of TWO in the last twelve months for the 2011 World Champions!

Speaking of comebacks... two Giant comebacks by one Giants squad dealt a painful pair of blows to the National League Central's finest. Down 2-0 and 3-1 in games to the Cincy Reds and St. Louis Cardinals respectively, the San Franciscans reeled off six consecutive wins in elimination games! As painful as those games were to Reds and Cardinals fans, I have to think that it was more that the Giants won more than the other squads lost. Going down in defeat is bitter, I know. When your team has a big lead it hurts even worse. But if you play in enough big games, it will happen. Count on it. Maybe I'm a glass-half-full kind of guy, but I choose to remember that the Giants did not quit, look scared, or appear to mail it in on even a single play. For that matter, neither had Oakland, just across the bay. The Cardinals 'luck' did not run out. Luck had nothing to do with it. Their mighty bats went cold, a phenomenon that descends on all teams, no matter how good. Babe Ruth hit .118 in the '22 Series, and the Yanks got swept (by the NY Giants!). The following year, the Babe hit well and the Yanks beat the same Giants to win their first World Series. Point is, of course, it happens! The randomness and drama of a short series is what makes us curious, makes us nervous, and makes us watch!

Congrats to the Washington Nationals... the winningest regular season team with 98 victories. I did not see the Nats, Orioles or Athletics coming! As such, I would nominate one (or two) of those skippers as Manager of the Year... and Billy Beane as executive of the year... will Moneyball have a sequel? Here's a rhetorical question - WHY DOESN'T ANYONE HIRE BILLY BEANE AWAY FROM OAKLAND?

Finally, and most importantly, I would like to tip my NYY cap to some friends I made on MLB.com this year. I started visiting lots of team threads this year, and found lots of like-minded, baseball-crazed friends. By far the friendliest of the bunch gravitated to the St. Louis Cardinal threads. Having literally circled the globe and lived in every US time zone, I've learned to look for the good in folks whenever and wherever I can. I've found a lot of good in the Cardinals' bunch, and for that I offer my sincerest thanks and congratulations to all of you. To you, and to all the super baseball fans I've met and be-friended, let's keep watching, rooting, cheering, shedding tears, and remember... you only lose when you lay down the bat!

Came Out Smokin'

On November 7th, 2011, after his toughest fight in a lifetime of very tough fights, the Referee of All Referees waved his hands and stopped the fight.

“Sit down, son... It’s all over. No one will ever forget what you did here today.”
(Eddie Futch, 1975)

1964 Olympic Heavyweight Gold Medalist.
Won with a broken thumb.

Undisputed World Heavyweight Champion, March 8, 1971
"Don't you know that I'm God and can't be beat?"
"Well, God's gonna get a butt whuppin' tonight!"
Still Undisputed World Heavyweight Champion, March 9, 1971

The first Black man to address the South Carolina legislature since the Reconstruction Era began. Smokin' Joe Frazier.

Have a seat Joe.  We'll never forget.  No one will ever forget.

STL Cardinals vs STL Browns!

Congratulations to the 2011 STL Cardinals for one of the most exciting, improbable and sensational championships in baseball history!

Sportsman's Park

In celebration of the Gateway City champions, Mac's Legendary Baseball is going to hold an all STL baseball season.  What we are going to do is match the 1922 STL Browns, the consensus greatest team in STL American League history, against the STL Cardinals.  Which STL Cardinals team?  ALL of them!  Starting with the 1926 Cardinals of the Rajah and Alex the Great, the season will work its way forward, playing all 11 Cardinals Championship teams.  Fourteen games per team, 11 teams... 154 games!
1926 * 1931 * 1934 * 1942 * 1944 * 1946 * 1964 * 1967 * 1982 * 2006 * 2011
Each of the 11 World Series Championship teams will play 14 games against the 1922 STL Browns.  Records for the Browns will be kept over the entire 154 game slate.  Records for each Cardinals team will be kept, as well as the overall composite W-L record of all eleven championship squads.  During each 14-game series the teams will play seven at each teams home park.  Of course, for the first seven series that means they just flip the teams names on the scoreboard at Sportsman's Park, the home of the Browns and Cards until 1954.  But the home team is also the year in which the game is played.  When the '46 Cardinals are the home team, everybody is back from WWII and HST is our new president!  When the 2006 Cardinals host, the teams play Cardinal home games at Busch III, the players can have a beer at Shannon's, and George Sisler gets to figure out cell-phones and ATMs!  And when Albert, David Freese and Carp hit the streets of St. Louis in 1922, there won't be any ESPN... or television!

But first... the 1926 Cardinals (Sunny Jim Bottomly, Billy Southworth, Grover Cleveland Alexander and player-manager Rogers Hornsby)  and the 1922 Browns (George Sisler, Ken Williams, Baby Doll Jacobsen and manager Lee Fohl) are loosening up!
PLAAAAAAAAAAAY BALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!
1926 * 1931 * 1934 * 1942 * 1944 * 1946 * 1964 * 1967 * 1982 * 2006 * 2011
1926 World Champion STL Cardinals (89-65) Starting Line-up
CF Taylor Douthit       .308  3 HR 52 RBI
RF Billy Southworth     .317 11 HR 69 RBI
2B Rogers Hornsby     .317 11 HR 93 RBI
1B Jim Bottomley        .299 19 HR 120 RBI
3B Les Bell                 .325  17 HR 100 RBI
LF Ray Blades            .305  8 HR 43 RBI
C   Bob O'Farrell        .293  7 HR  68 RBI
SS Tommy Thevenow .256  2 HR 63 RBI

1922 St. Louis Browns (91-63) 2nd place American League 1922.
LF Jack Tobin                 .331  13 HR  66 RBI
1B George Sisler             .420   8 HR  105 RBI  51 SB
RF Ken Williams              .332   39 HR  155 RBI  37 SB (Baseball's 1st 30-30 man!)
CF Baby Doll Jacobsen   .317   9HR  102 RBI
2B Marty McManus          .312   11 HR  109 RBI
C   Hank Severeid           .321   3 HR  78 RBI
SS Wally Gerber             .267   1 HR  51 RBI
3B Frank Ellerbe             .246   1 HR  33 RBI
C Pat Collins                   .307  8 HR  23 RBI (127 AB)
1922 saw one of the greatest offensive seasons ever enjoyed by a hurler:
P Elam Vangilder            .344 BA  10 2B  2 3B  2 HR  11 RBI
Elam, a native of Cape Gerardeau, MO., also posted a .396 On-Base Average, a .559 Slugging Average, a  .955 OPS!   By the way, Elam also went 19-13, 3.42 ERA 245 IP on the hill.
If you remember anything about the 1926 Cardinals, it's this...
Game Seven:  Two men squared off, each a Hall of Famer, each battling Epilepsy.  One, Tony Lazzeri, missed a World Series winning grand slam by a foot or so.  The other, Grover Cleveland Alexander, fanned Lazzeri with the bases jammed on the next pitch... a moment so dramatic it was immortilized by future President and former Cubs' radio broadcaster Ronald 'Dutch' Reagan.
Or this...
Babe Ruth homers three times in a game, a feat accomplished by among others... Babe Ruth... again.
Or this...
Babe Ruth is gunned down trying to steal second to end the 1926 World Series, two innings after the Tony Lazzeri, Pete Alexander/Dutch Reagan confrontation.

The greatness of the 1922 STL Browns is covered in (among many other places) two posts on this blog;
(1) February 2, 2011 where they play the 1932 World Champion NY Yankees a 154-game slate in Mac's Legendary Baseball
(2) September 19, 2011 where they take on the legendary 1927 Yankees.

The '22 Browns and the '26 World Championship Cardinals square off for 14 games!  Here we go.
Game 1:  STL Cards win 10-9.   Cards are 1-0.
1922 STL Browns - 1 7 0  1 0 0  0 0 0 -   9  17  3
1926 STL Cards    - 1 0 0  0 1 0  0 6 2 -  10 13  0
Browns left-fielder Ken Williams homers twice and drives in four.  His second is a 3-run shot over the RF pavilion onto Grand Avenue, and puts the Browns up 8-1.  But the Cardinals roar back with six in the eighth; the big blow being a grand slam to deep left-center by centerfielder and lead off man Taylor Douthit.  The Cards trail by only one, 9-8. The Cards then come all the way back in the ninth when SS Tommy Thevenow singles home third baseman Les Bell and leftfielder Ray Blades for the win.
Game 2:  Cards win 6-5 in 12.  Cards are 2-0.
The Browns take a 4-0 lead in the third on six consecutive singles.  The Cardinals answer back in tthe fifth.  A run-scoring single from Taylor Douthit, and a 432 foot 3-run blast into the centerfield bleachers by Sunny Jim Bottomly tie the game 4-4.  The game is still tied 5-5 with two out in the 12th when Rogers Hornsby bloops a double into right-center. Billy Southworth flies all the way around from first and slides under Hank  Severeids swipe tag...SAAAAAFE!  Cards win!
Games 3-10: The 1922 Browns rise up and rip off eight straight.  Ken Williams hits four homers and drives in ten.  He homers twice in game four (for the second time in four games) and drives in five in a 7-1 win.  St. Louis native, 142-pound right fielder Jack Tobin bats .444 at the top of the order.  His 3-run homer, and four hits beat Pete Alexander the next day, 5-2.  Game 8 sees Baby Doll Jacobsen goe 4-4 and Ken Williams hit his sixth home run as the Browns beat Jess Haines 5-2.  Game 9:  Baby Doll Jacobsen and Marty McManus combine for five hits and five RBI as Ray Kolp wis his second, 7-1.  Second-baseman Marty McManus drives in three more the next day, as the Browns win game 10, 7-2.
The 1926 World Champion STL Cardinals are 2-8 against the largely forgotten 1922 Browns.  Since the teams are scheduled for 14 games, that means Lee Fohl's bunch of bangers have guaranteed a winning record against the Redbirds.  The Cardinals win three of the next five to salvage some pride.  They take games 11 and 12, 10-7 and  8-7 respectively.  Sunny Jim Bottomly singles, doubles and triples in game 11.  Third baseman Les Bell and left-fielder Chick Hafey (subbing for a slumping Ray Blades) each drive in a pair.
Game 12 a tight one, mainly because Browns right-fielder Ken Williams hits two homers for the third time.  His three driven in give him 18 RBI - and the Browns a 5-1 lead going into the ninth.  The Cardinals, who had been the 'home team' for the first seven games, flip-flopped with the Browns in game eight.  Thus they come to bat in the top of the ninth.  Taylor Douthit, Billy Southworth, playing-manager Rogers Hornsby, and Sunny Jim Bottomly start things off with consecutive singles.  Hornsby's drive to center plates a run (5-2).  Les Bell raps into a fielder's choice.  The 5-4 putout makes it a 5-3 ballgame.  Chick Hafey's rope to right-center is the fifth hit of the frame and scores his boss, the Rajah... 5-4.  Catcher Bob O'Farrell takes a Bill Baynes fastball off his knee to reload the bases.  But SS Tommy Thevenow, who had a great 1926 Series, batting .417, pops up to his opposite number, Browns SS Wally Gerber.  Two out.  But then manager Hornsby sends up the slumping Ray Blades to hit for pitcher Reinhart.  Blades swings at Bill Baynes first-pitch fastball and smokes it deep, between Jacobsen in center and Williams in left. The ball heads toward the 379 foot alley.  Bell, Hafey and O'Farrell all head home, Blades cruises into 2nd, and the Cards lead 7-5.  Billy Southworth's second single of the inning sends home Blades with an insurance run.  It proves to be the difference in an 8-7 final.
Game 13   Browns win 10-9  Cards are 4-9
WP- Hub Pruitt (2-2)  LP- Bill Hallahan (1-1)
Jim Bottomly, Les Bell and Billy Southworth homer.  Bottomly and Bell each drive in three.  Les Bell, heating up, now has 13 RBI in 13 games.  But it isn't enough.  After battling back from a 5-1 deficit to take a 9-5 lead, Jess Haines and the Cardinal pen let it get away.  Art Reinhart surrenders a 2-run homer home run to Browns second-baseman Marty McManus in the seventh.  Hall-of-Fame first-sacker George Sisler crushes an Allan Sothoron fastball over the 354 foot right-centerfield fence to tie it 9-9 in the eighth.  Hornsby brings in Wild Bill Hallahan.  Unfortunately Hallahan lives up to his moniker, surrendering just two scratch infield hits - and two walks.  The second walk, agonizingly comes with the bases full to Hank Severeid, forcing home Jack Tobin with the ball game.
Game 14  Cards win 8-3 and finish 5-9
WP- Bill Hallahan (2-1)   LP- Elam Vangilder (1-1)
It goes into the 11th tied 3-3.  The Cardinals score five, the big blow being a 3-run double to deep right by right-fielder Billy Southworth.  Cardinal 3rd baseman Les Bell, easily the '26 Champs' hottest hitter, tacks on a run-scoring single to finish with 16 RBI, four doubles, two homers and a .352 batting average for 14 games.

1926 World Champion STL Cardinals (5-9)  
CF Taylor Douthit       .305  1 HR   6 RBI
RF Billy Southworth     .292 1 HR   9 RBI
2B Rogers Hornsby     .245  0 HR  7 RBI
1B Jim Bottomley        .286  2 HR  9 RBI
3B Les Bell                 .352  2 HR 16 RBI
LF Ray Blades            .188  0 HR  3 RBI
C   Bob O'Farrell        .173  0 HR  3 RBI
SS Tommy Thevenow .172  0 HR  4 RBI

1922 St. Louis Browns (9-5) 
LF Jack Tobin                 .397  1 HR   12 RBI
1B George Sisler             .365   1 HR  10 RBI  1 SB
RF Ken Williams              .295   8 HR  18 RBI  3 SB
CF Baby Doll Jacobsen   .393   1 HR    9 RBI
2B Marty McManus          .328  2 HR  16 RBI
C   Hank Severeid           .346   0 HR   7 RBI
SS Wally Gerber             .220   0 HR   6 RBI
3B Frank Ellerbe             .246   0 HR  7 RBI
C Pat Collins                   .214  0 HR   0 RBI
P Elam Vangilder            .444, 2 2B,   2 RBI

After taking 9 of 14 from the 1926 Champs, the '22 Browns move on to the team that defeated Connie Mack's ninth and last pennant winner... the 1931 World Champion St. Louis Cardinals.  The world has changed in the five years between STL's first and second world titles.  The USA has gone from the Roaring Twenties to the hardscrabble Great Depression thirties.  After the Cardinals defeat the Philadelphia Athletics, Connie Mack sells all of his great stars for cash.  Jimmie Foxx, Lefty Grove, Mickey Cochrane, Mule Haas, Al Simmons all find new homes.  The 1931 Cardinals are building, not breaking down, assembling the pieces of the squad that would be soon and ever-after be known as 'The Gashouse Gang'.  But the 1931 Series itself was the coming out party for John 'Pepper' Martin.  During the season Martin played well enough, .300 with 75 RBI.  But in the Series he tied a record with 12 hits, batted .500, slugged .792, scored 5, drove in 5, and stole 5 bases.  

1926 * 1931 * 1934 * 1942 * 1944 * 1946 * 1964 * 1967 * 1982 * 2006 * 2011
1931 World Champion STL Cardinals (101-53) Starting Line-up
CF Pepper Martin       .300  7 HR 75 RBI
SS Charlie Gelbert       .289  1 HR 62 RBI
2B Frankie Frisch        .311 4 HR 82 RBI
1B Jim Bottomley        .348  9 HR 75 RBI
LF Chick Hafey           349  16 HR 95 RBI
RF George Watkins    .288  13 HR 51 RBI
3B Sparky Adams       .293  1 HR  40 RBI
C  Jimmie Wilson        .274  0 HR 51 RBI

The 1931 Cardinals are the home team for the first seven games.  Therefore it is 1931 at Sportsman's Park.  And the Cardinals shock the mighty Browns, winning six of the first seven games.

Game 15     Cards win 8-7          1931 Cards are 1-0   Cards are 6-9 overall
With the score tied 6-6 in the 7th, Cardinals third-baseman Sparky Adams smokes a line single to left, scoring Sunny Jim Bottomly from second.  Catcher Jimmie Wilson then bounces a single between first baseman George Sisler and second sacker Marty McManus, into right field.  Chick Hafey comes around with a very important insurance run.  The Browns' leadoff man, rightfielder Jack Tobin drives in three in a losing cause.
Game 16     Cards win 7-6          1931 Cards are 2-0   Cards are 7-9 overall
The Cardinals fall behind 4-0 by the third inning.  They chip away.  Pepper Martin doubles in Sparky Adams in the bottom of the third.  Frankie Frisch lines a shot into the rightfield corner and circles the bases for an inside-the-park home run in the fourth.  Then the Cardinals explode for five in the seventh.  Chick Hafey, rightfielder George Watkins, catcher Jimmie Wilson, and shortstop Charlie Gelbert each collect run-scoring hits, with Watkins picking up two on a single to right.  The five-run outburst turns a 4-2 deficit into a 7-4 lead, which turns out to be enough.
Game 17     Browns win 17-3      1931 Cards are 2-1    Browns are 10-7 overall
1922 Browns - 1 1 0  0 1 4  2 6 2 -   17  20  3
1931 Cards   - 0 0 0  0 0 0  0 0 3 -     3  12  3
Elam Vangilder goes eight strong innings, allowing three runs.  He also collects four hits, two doubles, and five RBI.  He's now 2-1 with a 4.35 ERA for 31 innings against both Cardinals clubs.  In four games he's also 8-15 (.533) with four doubles and six RBI. Four Browns rap out three hits including Hall of Famer George Sisler, who collects four RBI.
Game 18     Cards win 11-7    1931 Cards are 3-1   Cards are 8-10 overall
Pepper Martin, Charlie Gelbert and Jim Bottomly each drive in three.  The Cardinals smack nine doubles (two each from Martin, Gelbert and Bottomly) and three triples (Martin, Gelbert and Georg Watkins).  They rack up a quick 6-0 and 9-2 leads and coast.
Game 19     Cards win 4-2      1931 Cards are 4-1   Cards are 9-10 overall
Paul Derringer goes eight strong innings, allowing just five hits and one run.  The Cards snap a 1-1 tie in the sixth on an RBI single from Charlie Gelbert, a triple from Frisch to score Gelbert, and a 4-6-3 double play off the bat of Hafey to score Frisch with the 4th Cardinal run.
Game 20     Cards win 10-8    1931 Cards are 5-1   Cards are 10-10 overall
Browns second baseman Marty McManus belts his third home run.  His two ribbies give him 20 in 20 games.  It's not enough.  The Cards win a see-saw battle; it's 4-0 Cards after four, 5-4 Browns after five, 7-6 Cardinals after seven.  When Chick Hafey belts a 3-run homer in the eighth, it ices it for the Cards.    
Game 21     Cards win 4-2      1931 Cards are 6-1   Cards are 11-10 overall
Marty McManus homers again (4) and drives in two again (23).  But again it's not enough. George Watkins homers with a man on in the second. Jim Bottomly singles home Pepper Martin in the fourth, then scores on a Chick Hafey double moments later... all the offense the Cardinals would need.

The STL Browns become the home team at this point.  So their name goes beneath the Cardinals on the scoreboard.  And it is 1922, not 1931.

And the STL Browns come roaring back.  They take six of seven to tie the 14 games series.  The Browns offense comes alive, winning 11-10, 14-8, 10-9, 13-6, 11-3 in games 22-26, tying the series at 6-6.  After the Cardinals salvage a 4-3 win, the Browns win the final contest, also by a 4-3 score.  Contributing mightily to the Browns comeback are two .400-hitting catchers.  Manager Lee Fohl decides to spell Hank Severeid, and second stringer Pat Collins goes ballistic.  Baby Doll Jacobsen also hits .400.  But for the second consecutive 14 games set it's left-fielder Ken Williams leading both sides with 16 RBI.  For St. Louis, Taylor Douthit, a holdover from the 1926 comes off the bench to provide a spark.  Pepper Martin torments Browns pitching as potently as he did Connie Mack's staff in the '31 Series... 21 hits in 14 games, with seven doubles and a triple.  Frankie Frisch, who hit only four home runs all season long in 1931, oddly leads everybody here with three in only 59 at bats.  But it's Chick Hafey, another holdover from 1926, who shines for the Cards.  The pull-hitting Hafey hits .431 and slugs .655 with 25 hits and 38 total bases, leading everybody in those categories.  His 14 RBI lead the Cards, as does his 9 extra base hits.

1931 World Champion STL Cardinals 14 games (7-7)  
CF Pepper Martin       .362  0 HR  7 RBI   7 2B
RF Taylor Douthit        .400  0 HR  6 RBI
2B Frank Frisch          .322  3 HR  8 RBI
1B Jim Bottomley        .333  0 HR  11 RBI
LF Chick Hafey           .431  2 HR 14 RBI  7 2B
RF George Watkins     .263  1 HR  9 RBI
3B Sparky Adams        .321  0 HR 11 RBI
C  Jimmie Wilson          .373  0 HR 10 RBI

1922 St. Louis Browns 14 games (games 15-28) (7-7 against '31 Cardinals) 
LF Jack Tobin                 .347  1 HR   15 RBI
1B George Sisler             .382   1 HR  15 RBI
RF Ken Williams              .270   1HR  16 RBI 
CF Baby Doll Jacobsen   .403   0 HR  12 RBI (25-62)
2B Marty McManus          .344  2 HR  12 RBI
C   Hank Severeid         .429   0 HR   4 RBI (12-28)
SS Wally Gerber             .245   0 HR   8 RBI
3B Frank Ellerbe             .340   0 HR  7 RBI
C Pat Collins                  .469  1 HR   9 RBI (15-32)
P Elam Vangilder          .500, 5 2B,   7 RBI (7-14)

1922 St. Louis Browns 28 games (16-12 overall)
LF Jack Tobin                 .371  2 HR   27 RBI
1B George Sisler             .374   2 HR  25 RBI  4 SB
RF Ken Williams              .282   9 HR  34 RBI  3 SB
CF Baby Doll Jacobsen   .398   1 HR    21 RBI (49-123)
2B Marty McManus          .336  4 HR  28 RBI
C   Hank Severeid           .375   0 HR   11RBI
SS Wally Gerber             .233   0 HR   14 RBI
3B Frank Ellerbe             .321   0 HR  14 RBI
C Pat Collins                   .391  1 HR   9 RBI (18-46)
P Elam Vangilder          .429, 7 2B,   8 RBI (9-21)

Ladies and Gentlemen!  The Gashouse Gang!

1926 * 1931 * 1934 * 1942 * 1944 * 1946 * 1964 * 1967 * 1982 * 2006 * 2011
1934 World Champion STL Cardinals (95-58) Starting Line-up
3B Pepper Martin       .289  5 HR 49 RBI
CF Jack Rothrock       .284  11 HR 72 RBI
2B Frankie Frisch       .305 11 HR 75 RBI
LF Joe Medwick          .319  18 HR 106 RBI
1B Ripper Collins        .333 35 HR 128 RBI
C  Bill Delancy            .316  13 HR 40 RBI
RF Ernie Orsatti         .300  0 HR  31 RBI
SS  Leo Durocher        .260  3 HR 70 RBI

P  Dizzy Dean             30-7, 2.66, 311 IP
P  Daffy Dean             19-11, 3.43, 233 IP
P  Tex Carleton          16-11, 4.26, 240 IP
P  Wild Bill Hallahan    8-12, 4.26, 162 IP
P  Bill Walker              12-4, 3.12, 153 IP

By 1934 the United States is firmly in the grips of the Great Depression.  How bad did it get?  Well consider this: the 1934 Cardinals, one of the most storied, most colorful teams of all time, won the World Series.  Stories abound about how the Gashouse Gang helped fans forget about their woes.  Well, maybe fans  huddled around the Gashouse radio, or chipped in to read about it in the newspaper.  But precious few actually showed up to see the Cardinals win... 325,056 (according to Baseball-reference.com).  That's 4222 people per game, folks, in a ballpark seating 30,000-plus.  Times were indeed tough.

The 1934 Cardinals win the first two games, 11-2 and 5-4.  They are the third consecutive Cardinals squad to begin 2-0.
Thirty-game winning ace Dizzy Dean goes eight strong inning in the first game (game 29).  Diz allows two in the first three, then clamps down and shuts the Browns out the rest of the way.  In the fourth, back-to-back-to-back three-baggers by Joe Medwick, Ripper Collins and Bill Delancy get the '34 Cardinals rolling, turning a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 lead.  Leo the Lip Durocher follows the triple triples with a line drive double off the RF boards, and it's 4-2 Cardinals.  It stays that way until the eighth, when the Gashouse Gang roughs up Browns pitching to the tune of seven runs, sending 11 to the plate.  Joe Medwick triples for the second time, scoring Pepper Martin.  Rip Collins goes 2-2, but catcher Bill Delancy has the dubious distinction of striking out twice - both times on bad pitches.
Game 30 starts out well for the Brownies.  Marty McManus lines his fifth home run of the year, with Baby Doll Jacobson onboard, in the top of the second.  But the Cardinals turn to the long ball - Rip Collins lines a solo shot to left-center in the 2nd, and Joe Medwick follows with bomb to dead center, tying the game 2-2 in the 4th.  The Cardinals seize the game in the fifth.  Dizzy's kid brother Paul 'Daffy' Dean, just 21, doubles down the left field line.  After Pepper Martin walks, Jack Rothrock smokes a single to center.  Dean, running aggressively, rounds third an attempts to score the tie-breaker.  But Browns centerfielder Jacobson charges the ball aggressively as well, fires a strike to catcher Hank Severeid... yerrr OUT!  The game is still tied, and the 27,565 fans cheer the aggressive play on both sides.  Then Frankie Frisch raps a single to score Martin, Joe Medwick flies deep to right to score a tagging Jack Rothrock, and Ripper Collins rips a booming double off the RF boards to give the Cards a 5-2 lead that the younger Dean brother does not relinquish.
Game 31   Browns win 13-9    '34 Cards are 2-1.  The Browns are 17-14 overall.  
Elam Vangilder doesn't pitch particularly well (5-1/3 IP, 10 hits, seven runs).  But he brings his big bat, doubling into the left-field corner to score Wally Gerber in the fourth - putting the Browns in front, 5-4.  It's Elam's eighth double and ninth RBI -  in only his seventh game.  The double also makes Elam a .435 hitter.  Ken Williams had given the Browns an early lead, belting only his second home run in 19 games - a 2-run shot into the RF pavilion for a 1st inning 2-0 lead.  The Cards come back with four in the 2nd.  Rip Collins and Leo Durocher each belt run-scoring triples.  Each man scores,  Collins on a single from Ernie Orsatti and  Leo on a foul fly to right.
STL native and lifetime resident Jack Tobin doubles home Severeid and Gerber in the sixth.  The Cardinals quickly erase the 7-4 deficit in their half of the sixth.  Leo Durocher has a reputation as a light-hitting shortstop.  But in this series he's hitting like Honus Wagner.  He goes 3-4 today.  Here in the sixth Leo follows up his RBI triple with a bases-loaded line single to right, scoring Ripper Collins.    Southpaw Hub Pruitt relieves Elam Vangilder, but he can't stop the Cards from tallying two more to tie the game 7-7.  But the screwball tossing Pruitt gets CF Jack Rothrock to bounce into a 5-4-3 double play to end the rally.
In the seventh Jack Tobin gets hit in the back by a Dazzy Vance fastball.  Even at 43 the Dazzler can still fire, so the pitch leaves a mark.  But Tobin takes no umbrage - the bases are full, and Tobin's painful RBI snaps the 7-7 tie.  Even more painful for the Cards is the fact that Johnny Mooney had walked the previous two Browns batters - hence the relief by Vance.  Marty McManus and Wally Gerber each single home teammates in the eighth.  McManus knocks in another in the ninth on a fielder's choice, and 36-year-old third-sacker Eddie Foster singles in McManus and  Hank Severeid to cap it, 13-9.

Game 32   Browns win 8-7.     1934 Cards are 2-2.  Cards are 14-18 overall.
Browns reliever Hub Pruitt is the winner for the second straight day.  Second string catcher Pat Collins comes off the bench and hits for Pruitt in the eighth.  He powers a fastball over the leftfield wall with two on to turn a 7-3 deficit into a 7-6 squeaker.  After Jack Tobin singles, George Sisler lines one over the rightfield fence, making Pruitt and the Browns winners.
Game 33   Browns win 13-5    1934 Cards are 2-3.  Cards are 14-19 overall.
Hub Pruitt and the Browns are on a roll.  Hub goes to 5-4, winning his third game in three days.  Every member of the Browns starting eight hits safely... and every member drives in a run.  Ken Williams leads the hit parade, going 3-3 with 2 doubles and 3 RBI.

Game 34      Cards win 11-10     '34 Cards are 3-3    Cardinals are 15-19 overall
1922 STL Browns       - 0 7 0  0 0 0  0 1 2 -  10  12  1
1934 STL Cardinals  - 4 0 2  1 0 2  0 0 2 -  11  15  0
Baby Doll Jacobsen smacks out four hits and drives home five.But it's not enough.  The Browns knock Cardinal ace Dizzy Dean out in the second.  That's not enough either.  The '34 Cardinals win a see-saw battle in the last of the ninth - after the Browns think they've won it in the top of the ninth.  The Cards take a 4-0 lead out of the gate on run scoring hits from Frisch, Rip Collins, Ernie Orsatti and Leo Durocher.  The lead lasts half-an-inning.  Baby Doll Jacobsen's three-run double highlights a seven-run second.  Marty McManus' double scores Jacobsen shortly thereafter and drives Dean out of the game trailing 6-4.  Diz is relieved by Daz... the great Dazzy Vance, who at 43 is finishing up his Hall-of-Fame career.  He allows an RBI hit to catcher Hank Severeid  before retiring the side.
Leo Durocher, normally a light-hitting, heavy-talking shortstop, his mashing in this series.  His two hits today give him 10 for a fat .400 mark.  One of his hits is a triple to deep center in the third inning, scoring right-fielder Ernie Orsatti.  Leo scores seconds later when Browns shortstop Wally Gerber boots a grounder off the bat of Cardinal reliever Bill Walker.  The bobble makes it a 7-6 game.
Ducky Medwick ties it in the fourth, singling home his boss, Frank Frisch, who is now player-manager.  Medwick singles home Pepper Martin in the sixth to put the Cards on top.  Medwick himself scores when Rip Collins doubles to right-center, making it a 9-7 game in the Cardinals favor.
Then it's Baby Doll Jacobsen again.  Jacobsen, who hails from Cable, Illinois (270 miles north of STL), scoring on a Marty McManus line-drive double off the 379 foot sign in left-center in the eighth (9-8), then singling home Chick Shorten and Jack Tobin in the ninth to put the Browns on top for the first time since the top of the 4th, 10-9.  

Starter Ray Kolp comes in to start the bottom of the ninth in a wild game that has exhausted both bullpens.  Kolp retires Pepper Martin on a routine grounder to SS Wally Gerber.  He gets Cardinal centerfielder Jack Rothrock to ground one to the left side as well, but it bounces between the scissoring gloves of Eddie Foster at third and Gerber at short for a seeing-eye single to left.  Then Fordham Frank Frisch lines a shot deep to right.  31,233 fans jump to their feet roaring - some rooting the ball's flight toward the RF pavilion, others exhorting Browns right-fielder Jack Tobin as he races back to the boards.  The Frisch supporters win, as the ball sails into the pavilion, winning the game for his troops, 11-10.

Sportsman's Park - St. Louis' Field of Dreams for 90 years

Sportsman's Park was 310 feet to the rightfield corner, 322 to straight-away right, and 354 to right-center.
Babe Ruth hit many a home run OVER the rightfield pavilion.  Once on consecutive days, the Bambino drove pitches over the roof, across Grand Blvd, and through the plate glass window of a car dealership.
The next game decides who prevails over the first seven.

Game 35     Cards win 3-1.    '34 Cards are 4-3
Paul Dean goes eight strong frames, scattering seven hits and allowing just one run.  Jess Haines picks up the save with a scoreless ninth.  Catcher Bill Delancey doubles three times and knocks in two.
After seven games:
1934 World Champion STL Cardinals (4-3)  
3B Pepper Martin       .281  0 HR 2 RBI
CF Jack Rothrock       .294  0 HR 5 RBI
2B Frankie Frisch       .290 1 HR 6 RBI
LF Joe Medwick          .500 1 HR 7 RBI
1B Ripper Collins        .464 1 HR 10 RBI
C  Bill Delancy            .409  0 HR 4 RBI
RF Ernie Orsatti         .280  0 HR  2 RBI
SS  Leo Durocher        .357  1 HR 7 RBI
1922 St. Louis Browns 35 games (19-16 overall)
LF Jack Tobin                 .374  2 HR   33 RBI
1B George Sisler             .373   3 HR  29 RBI  5 SB
RF Ken Williams              .284   10 HR  41 RBI  3 SB
CF Baby Doll Jacobsen   .400   1 HR    21 RBI (62-155)
2B Marty McManus          .327  5 HR  36 RBI
C   Hank Severeid           .360   0 HR   15 RBI
C Pat Collins                   .388  2 HR   12 RBI (19-49)
SS Wally Gerber             .263   0 HR   16 RBI
3B Frank Ellerbe             .321   0 HR  14 RBI
3B Eddie Foster              .393  0 HR   4 RBI (11-28)
P Elam Vangilder          .435, 8 2B,   9 RBI (10-23)

Now the Browns become the 'home team for seven games.  They trail the '34 Cards 4-3.  But they trailed the '31 Cards 6-1, so...
Game 36     Cards win 6-2     '34 Cardinals are 5-3.   Cardinals are 17-19 overall
Ken Williams goes 4-4.  He scores the first Browns tally on a Hank Severeid single in the 4th, and the second when he smacks a 443 foot solo home run to dead center in the 6th.  But after that it's all Cardinals - and all Tex Carleton, Jess Haines (the winning pitcher), Dazzy Vance and Jim Mooney, who allow no other scores.  The Cards seize it in the eighth, snapping a 2-2 tie with run-scoring doubles from Joe Medwick and Ripper Collins.  In the ninth Frank Frisch singles home Pepper Martin, then scores himself on a Joe Medwick single.
Game 37    Browns win 5-4   '34 Cardinals are 5-4    Browns are 20-17 overall
The Browns win their fourth.  And for the fourth time, Hub Pruitt is their winning pitcher.  The Browns trail 3-0 in the fifth when Ken Williams begins the comeback with a sac fly to deep left, plating Jack Tobin.  Backup third baseman 36-year old Eddie Foster, still in the line-up because he's hitting at a .361 clip, singles home Marty McManus and Wally Gerber to tie it 3-3 in the sixth.  In the seventh Baby Doll Jacobson singles to center, scoring George Sisler, and Hank Severeid brings in Hank Severeid on a sac fly to deep right, making it 5-3.  Making Hub Pruitt 6-4.  And making the Browns winners.
Game 38    Browns win 6-1   '34 Cardinals are 5-5   Browns are 21-17
Ray Kolp wins (4-2, .29, 41 IP), allowing just one run on seven hits in six innings.  Ken Williams homers (12), collects four hits and 2 RBI.
Game 39    Cards win 6-3   '34 Cardinals are 6-5   Cardinals are 18-21 overall
Cardinals Ace Dizzy Dean (2-0, 5.59, 19 IP) goes 8-1/3 strong innings, limiting the Browns to 3 runs.  Manager Frank Frisch goes 4-5.  Five different Cardinals drive in runs with Ernie Orsatti driving in two.
Game 40   Browns win 6-5   '34 Cardinals are 6-6   Browns are 22-18
WP - Urban Shocker (3-6, 6.25, 59 IP) goes 6-2/3, gives up five runs (4 earned) on eight hits.
LP - Paul Dean (2-1, 4.26, 25 IP) goes six innings, gives up six runs on 11 hits.   Baby Doll Jacobson and Eddie Foster each collect two hits and drive in two runs.
Game 41     Cards win 17-13        '34 Cardinals are 7-6      Cardinals are 19-22 overall
1934 Cardinals -  1 0 2  0 0 2  4 0 8 -  17  21  0
1922 Browns     -  2 1 1  4 0 5  0 0 0 -  13  16  3 
Pepper Martin and Frank Frisch collect four hits apiece.  Frisch and Rip Collins drive in three apiece.  Dizzy Dean picks up the win (3-0) in relief.  For the losing Browns SS Wally Gerber collects two doubles, three hits and four RBI, and pitcher Elam Vangilder homers and drives in a pair.  Marty McManus also goes 4-5.
Game 42    Browns win 7-6   '34 Cardinals are 7-7   Browns are 23-19
The Browns jump all over Wild Bill Hallahan early, then hold off the Cardinals as the Gashouse Gang mounts a furious comeback.
First inning: Jack Tobin leads off with a single.  Ken Williams lines a triple to deep left-center.  1-0, Browns.
Third inning: With two away and nobody on, Williams singles and swipes second.  Baby Doll Jacobson rips a liner to the gap in deep right-center, scoring Williams easily.  2-0. Second-sacker Marty McManus smacks one to deep left-center, doubling in Jacobson.  3-0.  Catcher Pat Collins (.356) singles to right-center, picking up McManus.  The two out, three run rally has the Browns up 4-0.
Fourth inning: 142 pound Jack Tobin lines a Paul Dean fastball over the 422 foot marker in deep center.  is solo shot drives Dean from the game.  Dazzy Vance takes the ball to face fellow Hall of Famer George Sisler.  Sisler slaps a fastball between Rip Collins and Frankie Frisch into RF for a hit.  Vance retires Williams and Jacobson.  But second baseman Marty McManus lines a Dazzler fastball over the rightfield wall for a commanding 7-0 lead.
Seventh inning: Seeking to become the first Cardinals team in three tries to win a 14-game set, the Cardinals rally.  With two out, CF Jack Rothrock and 2B/Mgr Frank Frisch single in runs (7-2).  Joe Medwick then lines a Dixie Davis fastball over the leftfield boards with two on (7-5).  Ripper Collins hits Davis' very next pitch over the 354 sign in right-center.  It's 7-6!  Browns manager Lee Fohl sends in Hub Pruitt to relieve Dixie Davis, and Pruitt retires Cardinal catcher Bill Delancey and the Cardinals.
Hub Pruitt goes the rest of the way.  The Cards do not go easily.  They load the bases with two out in the ninth.  But rightfielder Ernie Orsatti swings at a Pruitt screwball and grounds one to Marty McManus... who flips to Wally Gerber for the force.  And just like that, it's all over.

The Browns go 7-7 against their second consecutive Cardinals opponent, again coming from behind.

1934 World Champion STL Cardinals (7-7)  
3B Pepper Martin       .313  1 HR 7 RBI
CF Jack Rothrock       .242  0 HR 10 RBI
2B Frankie Frisch       .419 1 HR 14 RBI
LF Joe Medwick          .385 2 HR 14 RBI
1B Ripper Collins        .439 2 HR 15 RBI
C  Bill Delancy            .360  0 HR 7 RBI
RF Ernie Orsatti         .278  0 HR  6 RBI
C  Leo Durocher        .291  1 HR 9 RBI

1922 St. Louis Browns 14 games (7-7)
LF Jack Tobin                 .313  1 HR   8 RBI
1B George Sisler             .382   1 HR  7 RBI
RF Ken Williams              .371   4 HR  17 RBI 
CF Baby Doll Jacobsen   .361   1 HR    18 RBI
2B Marty McManus          .328  2 HR  12 RBI
C   Hank Severeid           .341   0 HR   6 RBI
C Pat Collins                   .230  1 HR   6 RBI
SS Wally Gerber             .291   0 HR   8 RBI
3B Eddie Foster              .412  0 HR   11 RBI (21-51)
P Elam Vangilder          .250, 3 2B, 1 HR  3 RBI (2-8)

1922 St. Louis Browns 42 games (23-19 overall)
LF Jack Tobin                 .353  3 HR   35 RBI
1B George Sisler             .377   3 HR  32 RBI  8 SB
RF Ken Williams              .312   13 HR  49 RBI  3 SB
CF Baby Doll Jacobsen   .386   2 HR    38 RBI
2B Marty McManus          .333  6 HR  40 RBI
C   Hank Severeid           .363   0 HR   17 RBI
C Pat Collins                   .356  2 HR   14 RBI (21-59)
SS Wally Gerber             .291   0 HR   22 RBI
3B Frank Ellerbe             .321   0 HR  14 RBI
3B Eddie Foster              .407  0 HR   11 RBI (22-54)
P Elam Vangilder          .379, 8 2B, 1 HR  11 RBI (11-29)

1926 * 1931 * 1934 * 1942 * 1944 * 1946 * 1964 * 1967 * 1982 * 2006 * 2011
1942.  The world has gone even darker.  We've gone from losing millions to killing millions.  From a baseball fan's standpoint, it's ridiculous.  We can't even celebrate Joe D's 56-game hitting streak or Ted's .406 masterpiece or even Mickey Owen letting a third strike get by him in the '41 Series, igniting a NY Yankees comeback and helping them to their fifth World Title in six years.  Nooooooo! Instead we have to worry about getting drafted, fitted for olive drab and shooting rifles instead of whether that kid Musial is the real deal, and if Ted can do it (.400) again.  Ted didn't - he merely won the triple crown.

And the 1942 St; Louis Cardinals not only won 106 of 154 games and the National League flag, they dispatched of the previously invincible Yankees in just five games in the 1942 World Series.  Who were these guys?  Well, some of them, the core if you will, are still well-known, or at least well remembered.  Stan  the Man Musial, Country Slaughter, Terry Moore. Maybe pitcher Mort Cooper and his battery-mate brother Walker Cooper.  Marty Marion, brilliant glove man at short.  Whitey Kurowski at the hot corner.  The Cardinals won World Series titles three times in five years. the most dominant stretch in their history.
Who are they?

1942 World Champion STL Cardinals (106-48) Starting Line-up

2B Jimmy Brown        .256  1 HR 71 RBI
CF Terry Moore        .288  6 HR 49 RBI
RF Enos Slaughter   .318 13 HR 98 RBI
LF Stan Musial          .315  10 HR 72 RBI
C  Walker Cooper     .281 7 HR 65 RBI
1B Johnny Hopp        .314  3 HR 37 RBI
RF Whitey Kurowski  .254  9 HR  42 RBI
SS  Marty Marion       .276  0 HR 54 RBI

P  Mort Cooper             22-7, 1.78, 278 IP
P  Johny Beazley          21-6, 2.13, 215 IP
P  Max Lanier               13-8, 2.96, 161 IP
P  Ernie White                7-5, 2.52, 128 IP
P  Lon Warneke             6-4, 3.29,   82 IP

Game 43   Browns win 10-7 in 10 innings     Browns are 1-0, 24-19 overall
Browns third baseman Frank Ellerbe drives in three, as does catcher Hank Severeid.  Severeid's third RBI is a bases loaded walk in the top of the tenth to break a 7-7 tie.  Frank Ellerbe follows with a two-run single to pad the lead.  Ellerbe had singled in Marty McManus to tie the game in the ninth.
Game 44    Browns win 5-3 and are 25-19.
Elam Vangilder gives the Browns seven strong innings, allowing three runs, two of them earned.  Frank Ellerbe drives in two more, as does shortstop Wally Gerber, whose two-run double in the eighth gives the Browns a 5-1 edge - and ultimately the game.
Games 45 and 46: Browns win 6-2 and 8-7 to go up 4-0 on the 1942 Cardinals.  Dixie Davis goes seven strong innings - seven hits and two runs - to win game 45. In the 7th inning of game 46, CF Baby Doll Jacobson singles home 1B George Sisler to snap a 4-4 tie .  Jack Tobin smacks a 2-run home run in the eighth (7-4), and Marty McManus knocks in Ken Williams with a fielder's choice for the eventual game winner in the 9th.
Game 47:  The Cardinals finally beat the Browns, 8-6.  The Cards are 1-4.  It's a comeback win.  Down 6-4 in the sixth, Browns catcher Hank Severeid lets one get by and Johnny Hopp races in from third on the passed ball.  Then in the seventh young Stan Musial lines a double past Jacobson in CF, scoring Jimmy Brown and Terry Moore to put the Cardinals in front 7-6.  Walker Cooper then belts a Bill Bayne fastball down the left field line for another double, plating Musial with what turns out to be the final score.
The two squads then trade laughers.
Game 48     The Browns win 17-5      The Cards are 1-5
1922 STL Browns      - 4 1 3  2 3 0  1 0 3 - 17  20   0
1942 STL Cardinals  - 1 0 2  0 0 0  1 1 x -  5  21  2
Something possibly never seen before, either in Major League Baseball Or Mac's Legendary Baseball... The battery-mates for the 1922 STL Browns, catcher Pat Collins and right-hander Urban Shocker each go deep twice.  Collins launches a 3-run shot to deep right in the top of the first to put the Browns up 4-0.  Urban Shocker lines a solo home run to left-center in the second.  Collins crushes a Mort Cooper curve, lining it over the left-field boards in the third, again with two on, to put the Browns up 8-1.  Shocker's second solo blast comes in the fifth, a line drive to CF.  Jack Tobin immediately follows with a back-to-back shot to left, making it a 12-3 rout-in-progress.  George Sisler catches the fever, homering to deep center in the ninth.  Every Browns player in the line-up hits safely.  Jack Tobin, Ken Williams, Pat Collins and Wally Gerber each collect three.
Game 49    The Cards win 18-3 and are 2-5
1922 STL Browns      -  0 0 2  0 0 0  1 0 0 -   3    7   2
1942 STL Cardinals  - 10 0 2  3 0 0  1 2 x -  18  21  0
It's the Cardinals' turn.  Everyone hits safely, including starter Johnny Beazley, who goes 3-4 with a double and two RBI.  Harry 'the Hat' Walker drives in four; Enos Slaughter and Walker Cooper three each.  The Walkers, Harry and  Cooper combine to help knockout the Browns in the 1st round.  Harry goes 2-2 with two doubles and three driven in.  Walker Cooper singles and doubles, each hit scoring a run.  Fifteen come to bat and ten score.  And the Cardinals never look back.
Game 50     STL Browns win 8-4 in 11 innings     STL Browns are 6-2 and 29-21 overall.
With the score knotted 4-4 in the 11th, the Browns load them up with two hits and a walk.  At this point Cardinal Skipper Billy Southworth, former outfielder on the 1926 World Champions, relieves Howie Krist with Howie Pollet.  But Pollet is just as wild.  With one away Ken Williams walks, forcing in a run (5-4).  Pollet tosses a wild one and Tobin races in.  Finally Baby Doll Jacobson singles to left, scoring two, and capping a Browns win.
The 1922 Browns are 29-21 after 50 games.  Here's how and why:
1922 St. Louis Browns 50 games (29-21 overall)
LF Jack Tobin                   .355  5 HR   39 RBI
1B George Sisler                .372   5 HR  35 RBI
RF Ken Williams               .323   16 HR  61 RBI 
CF Baby Doll Jacobsen    .394   2 HR    49 RBI
2B Marty McManus          .316  7 HR  50 RBI
C   Hank Severeid             .361   0 HR   22 RBI
C  Pat Collins                     .377  4 HR   20 RBI (29-70)
SS Wally Gerber               .296   0 HR   25 RBI
3B Frank Ellerbe              .323   0 HR  19 RBI
3B Eddie Foster                .358  0 HR   12 RBI (24-67)
P Elam Vangilder             .344, 8 2B, 1 HR  11 RBI (11-32)

Game 51     STL Cards win 5-4(11)    1942 Cardinals are 3-6, 22-29 overall.
Rookie 21-year-old Stan Musial singles home Harry Walker in the 11th to win it in overtime.
Game 52     STL Cards win 2-1    1942 Cardinals are 4-6, 23-29 overall
Not only does Lon Warneke (8 IP, 3 hits, 1 run) pitch brilliantly, he singles in Marty Marion with the eventual winning run in the fifth.
Game 53     STL Browns win 13-9     1922 Browns are 7-4, 30-23 overall
Hub Pruitt entered this 14-game set with a 2-4 record.  He wins this game to go 5-1 in the series and 7-5 overall.  That means Pruitt is holding down the fort while his teammates stage a lot of late comebacks.  Today he comes into the game in the top of the seventh after 21-year old rookie Stan Musial doubles home Jimmy Brown and Terry Moore.  Pruitt is shaky at first.  Walker Cooper lines his first screwball to deep center, tripling home Musial and Enos Slaughter. Cooper himself scores on a Marty Marion single, putting the Cardinals up 9-8.
After Hub finally puts down the Cardinals, the Browns strike back in their half of the seventh.  Four consecutive singles by Hub Pruitt, Jack Tobin, George Sisler and Ken Williams score two an put the Browns back in front 10-9.  Baby Doll Jacobson belts a long liner to left-center.  Sisler and Williams score easily (12-9) and Jacobson pulls into 3rd with a stand-up triple... good enough for the win.
Game 54     STL Cards win 12-6     1942 Cardinals are 7-5, 24-30 overall
In the 3rd with the Cardinals trailing 3-1, 1st baseman Johnny Hopp crushes a Elam Vangilder fastball down the right field line for a grand slam home run. Hopp scores again in the fifth on a Whitey Kurowski double to deep left.  Stan Musial doubles in the sixth to plate Terry Moore (7-3).  The Man himself scores, along with Walker Cooper, on a Marty Marion single to make it 9-3 and effectively ice the game.
Game 55     STL Browns win 7-5     1922 Browns are 8-5, 31-24 overall
Stan Musial doubles, triples and drives in two. But Browns RF Jack Tobin rips a double to deep left-center in the eighth, scoring Wally Gerber to snap a 5-5.  George Sisler singles in Frank Ellerbe with an insurance run.  By winning this game the 1922 Browns clinch the series, 8 games to 5.
Game 56     STL Cards win 12-2     1942 Cardinals are 8-6, 25-31 overall
Walker Cooper, having a great series, collects three hits, including his 4th triple, and drives in 4. He finishes with 21 RBI and a .377 average, both team highs.
1942 World Champion STL Cardinals 14 games (6-8)  
2B Jimmy Brown        .246  0 HR 8 RBI
CF Terry Moore        .366  0 HR 1 RBI
RF Enos Slaughter   .297 2 HR 11 RBI
LF Stan Musial          .367  0 HR 13 RBI
C  Walker Cooper     .377 1 HR 21 RBI
1B Johnny Hopp        .356  1 HR 16 RBI
RF Whitey Kurowski  .281  0 HR  8 RBI
SS  Marty Marion       .218  0 HR 7 RBI

P  Mort Cooper             0-1, 13.82, 13 IP
P  Johny Beazley          2-1, 5.06, 26 IP
P  Max Lanier               1-1, 3.71, 17 IP
P  Ernie White                0-0, 6.30, 10 IP
P  Lon Warneke             1-0, 4.8,   13 IP

1922 St. Louis Browns 14 games (8-6)
LF Jack Tobin                 .402  2 HR   7 RBI
1B George Sisler             .368   2 HR  6 RBI
RF Ken Williams              .323   3 HR  18 RBI
CF Baby Doll Jacobsen   .361   0 HR    17 RBI
2B Marty McManus          .303  1 HR  14 RBI
C   Hank Severeid           .250   0 HR   8 RBI
C  Pat Collins                  .429  2 HR  7 RBI
SS Wally Gerber             .274   0 HR   4 RBI
3B Frank Ellerbe             .303   1 HR  8 RBI
3B Eddie Foster              .143  0 HR   1 RBI
P Elam Vangilder          .167, 3 2B, 1 RBI (1-6)

1922 St. Louis Browns 56 games (31-25 overall)
LF Jack Tobin                 .364  5 HR   42 RBI
1B George Sisler             .375   5 HR  38 RBI   100H 267AB
RF Ken Williams              .315   16 HR  67 RBI
CF Baby Doll Jacobsen   .380   2 HR    55 RBI
2B Marty McManus          .325  7 HR  54 RBI
C   Hank Severeid           .333   0 HR   25 RBI
C  Pat Collins                  .375  4 HR   21 RBI (30-80)
SS Wally Gerber             .286   0 HR   26 RBI
3B Frank Ellerbe             .316   1 HR  22 RBI
3B Eddie Foster              .353  0 HR   12 RBI (24-68)
P Elam Vangilder          .343, 9 2B, 1 HR  12 RBI (12-35)
1926 * 1931 * 1934 * 1942 * 
Just to recap how the great STL Cardinals Championship teams have done thus far:
1926 World Champion STL Cardinals (5-9)
1931 World Champion STL Cardinals (7-7)
1934 World Champion STL Cardinals (7-7)
1942 World Champion STL Cardinals (6-8)
Overall St. Louis Cardinals record: 25-31
1926 * 1931 * 1934 * 1942 * 1944 * 1946 * 1964 * 1967 * 1982 * 2006 * 2011
With a lot of regulars gone to WWII, the major leagues, like everything else, were depleted.  So much so that soon we had one-armed but heroic Pete Gray (playing for the Browns), several 4o-year-olds like Babe Herman and Pepper Martin (back with the Cardinals) and 15-year-old Joe Nuxhall (Reds).  In 1944 the Cardinals won the World Series against none other than the AL champion STL Browns - the only pennant the 20th century Browns would ever capture.

1944 World Champion STL Cardinals (105-49) Starting Line-up
CF Johnny Hopp         .336  11 HR 72 RBI   .404 OBP  .499  SLG
1B Ray Sanders          .295  12 HR 102 RBI  .371 OBP  .441 SLG
LF Stan Musial            .347  12 HR 94 RBI    .440 OBP  .549 SLG
C  Walker Cooper       .317 13 HR 72 RBI     .371 OBP  .504 SLG
RF Whitey Kurowski    .270  20 HR  87 RBI
LF Danny Litwhiler      .288  6 HR 49 RBI
2B Emil Verban           .257 0 HR  43 RBI
SS  Marty Marion        .276  0 HR 54 RBI
OF Pepper Martin        .279  2 HR  4 RBI  (24-86. 40 years old, back from 3 years in minors
P  Mort Cooper             22-7, 2.46, 252 IP
P  Max Lanier               17-12, 2.65, 224 IPer
P  Ted Wilks                 17-4, 2.64, 207 IP
P  Harry Brecheen        16-5, 2.85, 189 IP
P  Red Munger              11-3, 1.34, 121 IP

The 1944 Cardinals take five of the first seven.  C Walker Cooper (.483), 1B Ray Sanders (.438) and Stan Musial (.414) are all hitting over .400.  Sanders has homered three times, doubled twice and is slugging .781.  Cooper has driven in 14, doubled five times, homered twice and is slugging a ridiculous .862.  Musial has homered, doubled twice and driven home eight.
The 1944 St. Louis Cardinals then win three of the next five to become the first of the World Championship teams to win a 14-game series against the 1922 Browns.  The Cardinals of 1944 enjoyed a reputation as a strong defensive squad with standout pitching - and it shows up here.  Two of the three Cardinal victories are shutouts, and the third is a 7-2 win - a complete game six-hitter from Mort Cooper. Brother Walker rips a two run double to deep center in a four run third which also features a two-run two-bagger from Stan Musial.  This victory in game 67 is sandwiched by the two shutouts.  The first is a 4-0 throttling from Cardinals fifth starter Red Munger.  It's no fluke - reference his actual 1944 stats above.  Here Munger limits the mighty Browns line-up to three singles over seven innings, and singles in two himself.  That happens in the fourth after Stan Musial lines a solo home run and Danny Litwhiler doubles home Walker Cooper, who had doubled himself.  The four run fourth is all the Cards get - and all they need.  Game 68 is the second shutout, and the series clincher.  Max Lanier takes the hill and tosses the best game all season by either staff, a stunningly masterful two hitter.  Max needs just 103 pitches to dispatch on of the most powerful line-ups in baseball history.  Lanier takes a no-hitter into the fifth, when Marty McManus dribbles one to third and beats it out.  Lanier takes the one-hitter into the ninth, where Jack Tobin doubles.  By then the game is well in hand.  The Cardinals secure the game, as they did in the earlier shutout, with a four run fourth.  The rally is started, to the delight of 31,098 St. Louisians, by 40-year-old Pepper Martin.  Martin had effectively retired as a player, and had been managing in the Cardinals farm system (the Cardinals were one of the first teams to have a farm system).  But with WWII depleting baseball rosters, Martin was invited back - and he helped the Cardinals win their fourth World Series, and his third.  Here in Mac's Legendary Baseball the grizzled veteran plays sparingly - as he did in '44, but plays well - as he did in '44.  The first three games of the series, Pepper comes off the bench and delivers three pinch-hits.  Pepper gets a spot start in the fourth game and raps a stand-up double... earning a standing ovation.  He rips two more hits in the fifth game.  Coming into this game Pepper is batting .400 (6-15) with two doubles.  He doubles twice here in game 68, and his first one, scoring Whitey Kurowski with all the offense Max Lanier would need.  His clutch performance leaves him sitting at .421 (8-19).  Pepper Martin's four doubles give him a .631 slugging mark, and help the '44 Cards to a 8-4 mark, and the first defeat of the 1922 Browns.

The Cards win the next two as well.  Their five game winning streak gives them a finishing 10-4 mark, topping the 9-5 record the '22 Browns compiled against the '26 Cardinals in the first 14-game series.  Further, by going 10-4 the '44 Cardinals have squared the whole season's record at 35-35.
Stan the Man drives in three - each game.  The final game, a 10-6 win, features doubles by seven different hitters, including catcher Walker Cooper, who smacks his 11th in 14 games.  Marty McManus belts a grand slam to dead center in the first and a solo shot in the third, plating five of the six Browns runs.  The Browns indeed lead 6-0 going into the bottom of the 4th, at which time the Cardinals are being held hitless by Ray Kolp.  Stan the Man and Johnny Hopp help lead the comeback.  Stan doubles to deep center in the 4th, and scores on red-hot Walker Cooper's double to right.  The following inning Johnny Hopp doubles himself, scoring SS Marty Marion, who had led off the 5th with - yes - a double.  Musial then delivers Hopp with a single, and the Cards are back in it, 6-4.  They tie it 6-6 in the 6th on bases loaded walks from - yes - Hopp and Musial.  Then the bottom of the order completes the comeback.  2B Emil Verban, pinch hitter Augie Bergamo, and then leadoff man Johnny Hopp drive in four runs with Bergamo doubling home two.  Final for the game, 10-6.  Final for the series, '44 Cardinals win 10 games to 4.

Walker (left) and Mort Cooper

1944 Cardinals 14 games (9-5).
CF Johnny Hopp          .396 (25-63), 34 TB, .540 SLG, 0 HR  8 RBI (7 2B, 1 3B)
1B Ray Sanders             .404 (23-57), 37 TB, .649 SLG, 3 HR  9 RBI
RF Stan Musial              .436 (24-55), 40 TB, .727 SLG, 3 HR 20 RBI (7 2B)
C  Walker Cooper          .373 (22-59), 39 TB, .661 SLG, 2 HR 18 RBI (11 2B)
3B Whitey Kurowski    .259 (14-54), 21 TB, .388 SLG, 2 HR  4 RBI
LF Danny Litwhiler      .229   (8-35), 11 TB, .314 SLG  0 HR  2 RBI
2B Emil Verban             .182 (10-55), 10 TB, .182 SLG, 0 HR  3 RBI
SS Marty Marion           .314 (16-51),  24 TB, .471 SLG, 0 HR  2 RBI (8 2B)
OF Pepper Martin         .364  (8-22),  12 TB, .545 SLG, 0 HR  4 RBI (4 2B)

P  Mort Cooper             1-0, 4.30, 23 IP
P  Max Lanier               2-0, 4.66, 19 IP 
P  Ted Wilks                 1-0, 3.79, 19 IP
P  Harry Brecheen      0-1, 1.71, 21 IP
P  Red Munger              1-1, 5.59, 9 IP
RP Blix Donnelly         5-1
I did not keep stats on relievers. But Blix Donnelly was money.  Whenever the Cardinals starters faltered, which was rare, Donnelly stepped in to hold the fort.  Five times the Cardinals were able to mount comebacks late and make him, and the rest of the 1944 Champions winners.

1922 Browns 14 games (5-9).
RF Jack Tobin              .193 (11-57), 15 TB, .263 SLG, 0 HR 3 RBI
1B George Sisler          .400 (22-55), 28 TB, .509 SLG, 1 HR 6 RBI
LF Ken Williams          .236 (13-55), 19 TB, .345 SLG, 1 HR 6 RBI
CF BD Jacobson           .273 (15-55), 18 TB, .327 SLG, 0 HR 15 RBI
2B Marty McManus    .386 (22-57), 32 TB, .561 SLG, 2 HR 15 RBI
C Hank Severeid          .382 (13-34), 18 TB, .529 SLG, 0 HR 5 RBI
C Pat Collins                  .227 (5-22),    6 TB,  .273 SLG, 0 HR 3 RBI
SS Wally Gerber          .288 (15-52), 16 TB, .308 SLG, 0 HR 4 RBI
3B Frank Ellerbe         .167 (5-30),     6 TB, .200 SLG, 0 HR 1 RBI
3B Eddie Foster           .167 (3-18),     4 TB, .222 SLG, 0 HR 0 RBI

1922 Browns 70 games (35-35).
RF Jack Tobin              .334 (109-326), 155 TB, .475 SLG, 5 HR 45 RBI
1B George Sisler          .379 (122-322), 158 TB, .491 SLG, 6 HR 44 RBI
LF Ken Williams          .301 (92-306), 160 TB, .523 SLG, 17 HR 73 RBI
CF BD Jacobson           .360 (108-300), 137 TB, .457 SLG, 2 HR 70 RBI
2B Marty McManus    .337 (104-309), 153 TB, .495 SLG, 9 HR 69 RBI
C Hank Severeid          .342 (69-202), 94 TB, .465 SLG, 0 HR 30 RBI
C Pat Collins                  .343 (35-102), 55 TB,  .539 SLG, 4 HR 24 RBI
SS Wally Gerber          .287 (82-286), 96 TB, .336 SLG, 0 HR 30 RBI
3B Frank Ellerbe         .291 (53-182), 68 TB, .374 SLG, 1 HR 23 RBI
3B Eddie Foster           .314 (27-86),   30 TB, .349 SLG, 0 HR 12 RBI

RF Stan Musial              .436 (24-55), 40 TB, .727 SLG, 3 HR 20 RBI (7 2B)
Twenty RBI in 14 games!  Alright, we ALL know about Stan the Man.  At this point, 1944, his star is still on the ascent.  This is what the 23-year old has done in three full seasons plus a 1941 cup of expresso (he hit .426... that ain't just coffee!).  Stats are from baseball-reference.com.
1941-1944: 
455 Games, .344 BA, .423 OBP, .532 SLG, .962 OPS, 135 2B, 44 3B, 36 HR, 72 SO.
The Man is still filling out - he isn't really a home run hitter.  Who CARES?  He's already led the league in just about everything else... in 1943, eleven categories alone!  Stan would make a habit of monopolizing the hits-doubles-triples trifecta, leading the NL in all three categories simultaneously four times.  But the stat I love the most is the on on the far right.  Seventy-two strikeouts.  That's a lifetime total, folks!  That's not a misprint.  That's not 1944's count.  That's four years, 72 strikeouts for a guy who takes a full cut!  Stan didn't achieve his 100th regular season whiff until his fifth season.  Happily, that happens to be the next season here too.  Because Stan skipped 1945, as WWII finally snatched him up.  But in 1946, EVERYONE is back!  Stan has a monster year.  The Cardinals win the World Series for the third time in five years.  And thus, they take on the 1922 Browns next here at Mac's Legendary Baseball.

1926 * 1931 * 1934 * 1942 *1944 
Just to recap how the great STL Cardinals Championship teams have done thus far:
1926 World Champion STL Cardinals (5-9)
1931 World Champion STL Cardinals (7-7)
1934 World Champion STL Cardinals (7-7)
1942 World Champion STL Cardinals (6-8)
1944 World Champion STL Cardinals (10-4)
Overall St. Louis Cardinals record: 35-35
1926 * 1931 * 1934 * 1942 * 1944 * 1946 * 1964 * 1967 * 1982 * 2006 * 2011
Here in 1946 Stan Musial sets a new seasonal high by whiffing 31 times for a total of 103 over five years.  Reminds me of an interview I heard many years ago - Mickey Mantle during a Yankee telecast.  The Mick had always been a fan of Stan - his Dad used to take his family on annual pilgrimages to the original Sportsman's Park, up from Oklahoma.  Well, Mickey got to meet Stan the Man of course.  And the Mick said that he looked at Stan's small bat one time and asked him what happens when you hit a ball wrong with a bat like that.  According to Mick, Stan's answer was something like, "Gee Mick... I don't know."

Dick Sisler

George Sisler

HEY! I JUST REALIZED SOMETHING!  DICK SISLER WAS A MEMBER OF THE 1946 WORLD CHAMPIONS!  

WE GOT OURSELVES A FAMILY DUEL HERE!

COOL!

The First Seven Games:
The 1946 World Champions take a 4-3 edge.  Stan The Man (.355), Enos Slaughter (.370), 3B Whitey Kurowski (.435) and catcher Del Rice (.462) are carrying the offense for the Cardinals.  Each has exactly 16 total bases, with Kurowski (.696.) and Whitey (.615) slugging over .600.  But the real story is on the mound where starter Howie Pollet is 2-0, and in 16 innings has yet to allow a run.  In game 1, the Cardinal ace allows 2 singles in seven innings.  He is removed for a pinch-hitter in the seventh inning of a scoreless tie.  The pinch-hitter is none other than Dick Sisler, son of Browns HOF first baseman George.  Dick Sisler steps in to face Hub Pruitt and raps a sharp grounder between his dad and second-sacker Marty McManus, bringing in Whitey Kurowski with the game's first tally.  Red Schoendienst lines a single to left to plate Del Rice.  And Murry Dickson comes in to save the 2-0 win for Pollet, allowing just three singles himself.  Browns right-hander Rasty Wright also shuts out the Cardinals on 2 singles over six innings, but comes away with a no-decision.  In game 6 (game 76 overall) it's even worse for Browns ace Urban Shocker.  He goes eight strong - just six hits and two runs - and loses as Pollet tosses a 7-hit whiteout at the Browns.  Stan Musial homers in the 6th, a solo blast to right.  Pollet's shutout puts the Cards up 4 games to 2.  In game seven though Ken Williams reminds us why the Browns are in this contest.  He nearly matches the Cardinals four leading hitters' 16 total bases in one game - with eleven!  Williams singles, doubles, homers twice and knocks home five.  His 19th four-bagger in the 4th puts the Browns up 2-1.  His 20th in the 5th puts them up 3-1.  Both are solo blasts.  Williams' 2-run two-bagger makes it a 6-2 lead.  And after the 1946 Champs tie it 6-6, Williams singles in Bill Bayne in the 9th with the eventual winning run.  Marty McManus singles in an insurance run, and the Browns prevail 8-6.
Besides pulling the Browns back within one game (3-4) in the series, as well as overall (38-39), Ken Williams big day makes him the series leader with 3 HR and 9 RBI.  He tops everybody with 23 total bases and is hitting .367 as well as slugging .767.  Two other Browns also actually have more total bases than the four Cardinal horsemen above - Jack Tobin (20), who is hitting .424 and slugging .606, and Papa George Sisler (18) who is raking it at a .345 clip and slugging .621.  Catcher Hank Severeid is batting .389.  And among Browns pitchers, Dix Davis deserves some plaudits.  After a rocky start he has settled in nicely.  In his last four starts Dixie is 3-0 with a 1.24 ERA over 29 innings, to make him 6-1 for the season.
Game 8:  Make that 7-1.  Dixie Davis wins game 78, 4-1, to square the series (4-4) and the season (39-39).  He is backed by Ken Williams, who's heating up - hitting his 21st home run and third in two games.  Davis goes eight innings, allowing one run on seven hits.  Even though the Cardinals go down, reliever Murry Dickson merits a shout.  Murry enters in the seventh.  He shuts out the Browns on three hits and collects two himself.  One is a line-shot double to deep center, scoring Dick Sisler with the Cardinals only run.
Note:  Ken Williams smacked 8 home runs (and drove in 18) in his first 12 games.  He then hit 8 in his next 51 games - but drove in 53 anyway, to give him a still very respectable 71 RBI in 65 games.  Williams had a season for the ages in 1922, leading the AL in home runs, RBI and total bases. In addition to the first 30-30 (39 HR, 37 SB) season, Williams' posted 155 RBI in 153 games.  He had an OPS of 1.040 (.332 BA, .413 OBP, .627 SLG).  This was his best season, but by no means was it a fluke.

1920    141G  34 2B  13 3B  10 HR   72 RBI   .307 BA    .362 OBP  .480 SLG  .842 OPS
1921    146     31         7        24       117         .347         .429          .561          .990 
1922    153     34       11        39       155         .332         .413          .627        1.040
1923    147     37       12        29         91         .357         .439          .623        1.062
1924    114     21         4        18         84         .324         .425          .533          .958
1925    102     31         5        25       105         .331         .390          .613        1.003

From 1921-1925 Mr. Williams compiled a .421 OBP, slugged .595, and averaged an  On Base Plus Slugging of 1.015, averaged 297 total bases, and batted .339.  He also averaged 27 HR and 110 RBI.  Williams' lifetime averages over 14 seasons and 1397 games are a .319 BA, a .393 OBP, and a .524 SLG mark for a lifetime .924 OPS. That's outstanding work.  

Why Ken Williams doesn't get more credit for being a great hitter is a little perplexing.  Yes, he played in Sportsman's Park.  Yes he played at the advent of the 'lively ball' era.  But Sportsman's Park didn't close until the sixties.  The ball didn't deaden after 1922 (except maybe during WWII, which sucked the life out of a lot of things).  If anything, the ball got livelier, fences were pulled in, and young hitters were trained from the get-go to swing for distance.  And until the Bob Gibson era, power and average numbers for hitters stayed healthy.  So why the dis?  Ken Williams teammate, HOF George Sisler, a lifetime .340 hitter, had a .847 OPS.  His mark with the Browns, his best years, was .865.  During his very best years, 1920-22, when he hit .400 twice and set a single season (257 hits) record, Sisler's OPS was 1.039.  Sisler was not only a HOFer, he was one of the original dozen.  Williams lifetime mark is .924.  Ken Williams didn't arrive to stay until he was 28.  He still got in 14 years and into nearly 1400 games.

"Hey Ken. You were good."


The Browns and Cards split the next two.  In game 79 Ken Williams knocks in three more runs.  They all come on a bases loaded, bases clearing double in the 9th, giving the Browns a come from behind win.  Game 80 sees Howie Pollet win his third. He goes the route, holds the Browns to five singles, extends his scoreless inning streak to 25, and wins 5-0 to go 3-0.  Dick Sisler knocks home two, as does 3rd sacker Whitey Kurowski.  The Browns bounce back the next day, winning 4-3.  They score all their runs in the sixth with George Sisler, Wally Gerber and Eddie Foster knock in four between them.   Then comes one of the most hotly contested games of the season:
Game 82    Cards win 11-10 (12)      '46 Cards are 6-6.   Cards are 41-41 overall.
1922 STL Browns    - 4 2 0  3 0 0  1 0 0  0 0 0 -  10  13   3
1946 STL Cardinals - 1 0 0  0 5 0  4 0 0  0 0 1 -  11  16  1
The Browns jump out to a 9-1 lead.  Baby Doll Jacobson doubles in two in a four run first.  He does it again in the second.  Finally he homers to right-center in the 4th.  His solo shot follows a 2-run job from Ken Williams (his 22nd) and gives the Browns a 9-1 lead.  
But the Cardinals show why they are the 1946 Champions.  They get off the mat and score five in the fifth, with the help of some sloppy fielding by the Browns.  Normally sure-handed right-fielder Jack Tobin drops two fly balls, and third-baseman Eddie Foster throws one away.  Whitey Kurowski doubles in two, the only run-scoring hit of the frame.  But there's nothing sloppy about the 4-run seventh.  Down 10-6, Dick Sisler lines a triple to deep left-center, scoring Whitey Kurowski and catcher Del Rice... 10-8.  Cards reliever Murry Dickson, who came on to pitch in the 7th (and squelched a Browns rally), singles home Sisler...10-9.  Finally, Stan the Man's frozen-rope single scores Dickson, and the 1946 Cardinals come all the way back from a 9-1 deficit to tie it 10-10.  
Murry Dickson pitches three scoreless innings, allowing just two hits.  He gives way to Red Barrett, who takes it into the 12th.  With two out and no one on, Harry Walker and Stan Musial hit successive singles.  Enos Slaughter then bloops one that lands in front the charging Jack Tobin, and Harry Walker scores the game-winner without a play... the Cards win 11-10.  

After 82 games plus at least 3 innings of free baseball, absolutely nothing is settled.  The 1946 Cardinals and the 1922 Browns are 6-6.  The 1922 Browns are 41-41 overall on the season.  

Game 83: Ken Williams drives in three for the 4th time in nine games.  Five other Browns also drive in runs.  Dixie Davis goes to 8-1, allowing just 4 hits and two runs in seven innings.  The Browns win an easy one, 8-2. 

The final game of the 14-game set goes into overtime.  The Cards are trying to salvage a 7-7 tie in games, so they send ace Howie Pollet (3-0, 0.00 ERA, 25 innings) on three days rest.  And does he ever respond.  He allows his first run of the series on a bloop RBI single off the bat of Baby Doll Jacobson in the first.  But that's all.  Pollet goes a full nine, giving up just eight hits in all, and no more scores.  But Browns ace Urban Shocker also steps up; just four hits and one run in seven innings.  After he comes out for a pinch-hitter, Hub Pruitt shuts out the Cards through the ninth, and it's 1-1 at the end of regulation.  Howie Pollet comes out to start the top of the 10th.  Browns SS Wally Gerber leads off and rips a screamer past Harry Walker, and tears around the bases, gliding into 3rd standing up.  The Cardinals bring their infield in.  But third-baseman Eddie Foster rips Pollet's first pitch into left-center, for a run-scoring double.  Jack Tobin punches a single to left, scoring Eddie Foster.  With the Cardinals now trailing 3-1, manager Eddie Dyer finally brings in Murry Dickson to relieve the noble Howie Pollet, who leaves the mound to a long, loud standing ovation that lasts several minutes.  He also leaves with a spectacular 1.05 ERA over 34 innings of pitching against a powerful 1922 Browns line-up.  Unfortunately he also winds up the losing pitcher - still 3-1 - as the Browns win 4-1, and take the 14-game series 8 games to 6. 
1946 Cardinals 14 games (6-8).
2B Red Schoendienst  .269 BA, .317 SLG, 0 HR  8 RBI  
CF Terry Moore            .085 BA, .085 SLG, 0 HR  3 RBI
1B Stan Musial              .310 BA, .448 SLG, 1 HR 5 RBI  
RF Enos Slaughter       .293, .466 SLG, 1 HR 7 RBI  
3B Whitey Kurowski   .353, .510 SLG, 1 HR  8 RBI
C    Del Rice                    .415, .566 SLG  0 HR  6 RBI
LF Erv Dusak                .154, .385 SLG, 1 HR  3 RBI
SS Marty Marion          .200, .280 SLG, 0 HR  7 RBI  
LF Dick Sisler               .233, .349 SLG, 0 HR  5 RBI  

P  Howie Pollet             3-1, 1.05, 34 IP
P  Harry Brecheen      1-1, 4.66, 21 IP 
P  Johnny Beazley      0-2, 9.00, 9 IP
P  Ken Burkhart          0-1, 11.11, 11 IP
P  Red Munger             0-1, 7.20, 5 IP
RP Ted Wilks              1-0
RP Murry Dickson     0-2
RP Red Barrett           1-0


1922 Browns 14 games (8-6).
RF Jack Tobin              .388, .552 SLG, 1 HR 10 RBI
1B George Sisler           .339, .509 SLG, 1 HR 8 RBI
LF Ken Williams          .304, .661 SLG, 5 HR 18 RBI
CF BD Jacobson           .207, .293 SLG, 1 HR 8 RBI
2B Marty McManus    .253, .253 SLG, 0 HR 10 RBI
C Hank Severeid          .364, .409 SLG, 0 HR 1 RBI
C Pat Collins                 .229, .286 SLG, 0 HR 1 RBI
SS Wally Gerber          .321, .411 SLG, 0 HR 4 RBI
3B Frank Ellerbe         .300, .350 SLG, 0 HR 4 RBI
3B Eddie Foster           .314, .371 SLG, 0 HR 3 RBI

Ken Williams RBI total is only three less than the top three hitters for the Cardinals.  
Pitcher Dixie Davis is 5-0 against the '44 and '46 Cardinals, with a 1.43 ERA over 44 innings.  Against the '46 Cardinals: 3-0, 1.23, 22 IP  

1922 Browns 70 games (43-41).
RF Jack Tobin              .344 (135-393), 192 TB, .489 SLG, 6 HR 55 RBI
1B George Sisler           .373 (142-381), 189 TB, .496 SLG, 7 HR 52 RBI
LF Ken Williams          .301 (109-362), 197 TB, .544 SLG, 22 HR 91 RBI
CF BD Jacobson           .335 (120-358), 154 TB, .430 SLG, 3 HR 78 RBI
2B Marty McManus    .323 (120-372), 169 TB, .454 SLG, 9 HR 79 RBI
C Hank Severeid          .344 (77-224), 103 TB, .460 SLG, 0 HR 31 RBI
C Pat Collins                 .314 (43-137), 65 TB,  .474 SLG, 4 HR 25 RBI
SS Wally Gerber          .292 (100-342), 119 TB, .348 SLG, 0 HR 34 RBI
3B Frank Ellerbe         .292 (59-202), 75 TB, .371 SLG, 1 HR 27 RBI
3B Eddie Foster           .314 (31-121), 43 TB, .355 SLG, 0 HR 15 RBI 

1926 * 1931 * 1934 * 1942 * 1944 * 1946
Just to recap how the great STL Cardinals Championship teams have done thus far:
1926 World Champion STL Cardinals (5-9)
1931 World Champion STL Cardinals (7-7)
1934 World Champion STL Cardinals (7-7)
1942 World Champion STL Cardinals (6-8)
1944 World Champion STL Cardinals (10-4)
1946 World Champion STL Cardinals (6-8)
Overall St. Louis Cardinals record: 41-43
1926 * 1931 * 1934 * 1942 * 1944 * 1946 * 1964 * 1967 * 1982 * 2006 * 2011
Bob Gibson, Lou Brock (just over from the Cubs), and Mike Shannon - in right field!
Game One:  In the 4th 3B Ken Boyer lines a solo shot to deep RF.  First sacker Bill White grounds to first.  Then right-fielder Mike Shannon digs in.  Urban Shocker tries a curve, but it breaks low and away... ball one.  Urban won 24 games in 1922.  He sets.  The kick and the pitch...SWIIINGGG... IT'S A LONG DRIVE TO DEEP LEFT-CENTER!  GET UP, BABY! GET UP! OHHHH-YEAHHH! HOME RUN!  Shannon's shot puts the Cards up 3-0.  The Browns answer back with two the sixth and two more in the seventh.  Ken Williams scores on a bases-loaded walk in the sixth (as does 2nd-sacker Marty McManus).  Williams and George Sisler each score on base hits... Sisler on a double by to deep right by Ken Williams and Williams on a Texas League single from Baby Doll Jacobson, which puts the Browns in front 4-3.  Cards 2B Julian Javier ties it up with an RBI single in the eighth.  Ken Williams doubles in a pair in the top of the ninth... Browns lead 6-4.  
Last of the 9th:  CF Curt Flood leads off by whistling a shot past Hub Pruitt, into centerfield.  Mid-season acquisition Lou Brock then tops one towards third, and beats it out as 3B Frank Ellerbe can only pick up the ball and flip it to Pruitt.  Dick Groat smokes one to right-center, scoring Flood and making it a one-run game.  3B Ken Boyer grounds one through the hole into left, scoring Brock with the tying run.  Browns manager Lee Fohl brings in Dave Danforth, but Danforth walks Bill White.  Up comes Mike Shannon, who smokes one to left-center.  Dick Groat scores easily and the Cards win 7-6.  
Curt Simmons goes the route in game 2 (game 86), scattering 11 hits but allowing just two runs.  Tim McCarver himself drives in three as the Cards win 7-2 to go up 2 games to none.
Game three: Eight different Browns knock in runs, with pitcher Dix Davis knocking in two.  Davis goes to 9-1 on the season as he wins easily, 9-3.  
Game 88   Browns win 19-7 and are 2-2, 45-43 overall
1922 STL Browns -     2 1 0    1 1 6   2 0 6 -   19  21  1
1964 STL Cardinals - 1 0 0   0 0 2   0 4 0 -   7  12  0
Baby Doll Jacobson belts out five hits and knocks in seven runs.  Ken Williams drives home three more as the Browns win going away to tie the series 2-2.  Every member of the Browns line-up, including pitcher Ray Kolp, hit safely and drive in at least one run,
Game 89  Cards win 6-5 and are 3-2, and 44-45 overall
First baseman Bill White snaps a 5-5 tie in the bottom of the eighth with a ground single to left, scoring SS Dick Groat from second.  Mike Shannon hits his second home run, a two-run shot in a five run 4th.  Young lefty Mike Cuellar picks up the win in relief.  Ken Williams picks up his 100th RBI in his 89th game, with a run-scoring single in the seventh.
Game 90   Cards win 8-6 and are 4-2.  Cards are 45-45 overall
The '64 Champs jump all over Browns ace Urban Shocker in the first.  Lou Brock smokes a one out line single to left.  SS Dick Groat rips a line drive double down the LF line, and Brock streaks all the way around from first... 1-0 Cardinals.  3B Ken Boyer singles home Groat, and Bill White, getting white hot, lines a Shocker fastball out of the park for a 4-0 lead the Cardinals never relinquish.
Game 91   Cards win 5-4 and are 5-2, 46-45 overall.
Trailing 4-3 in the seventh, Bill White ties it with a sac fly to right-center, scoring Lou Brock.  Then it's Mike Shannon again.  He tops one towards Browns third-baseman Eddie Foster, who is playing deep and on the line.  Foster charges in - but so does Cards SS Dick Groat from third.  Groat scores as Foster picks up the ball, and Shannon beats throw to first.  His infield single turns out to be the game winner - his second of the series.  
The Cardinals win the next game 6-4 in extra innings to go up 6-2 in the series.  But like the 1922 STL Browns have done so many times, they get off the mat.  They rip off a five game win streak to actually take the lead in games, 7-6, before the 1964 World Champs salvage the final game, salvaging a 7-7 tie in the series.  
The Browns make a loud statement in game 93 (game 9 of the series), scoring 10 in the first to win going away, 14-5. They send 15 to the dish and crack out 10 hits.  George Sisler, Baby Doll Jacobson and Marty McManus each go 2-2.  For the game Jacobson, McManus and 3B Frank Ellerbe eack knock home three.  
St. Louis native Jack Tobin thrills 38,000 fellow citizens the next day.  In the bottom of the ninth the 5'8", 142 pound rightfielder lines a solo home run to dead center, snapping a 3-3 tie and making it two straight for the Browns.
Dixie Davis improves to 10-1 in game 95.  The Browns improve to 5-6 versus the '64 Champs and 48-47 overall.  Davis holds the Cardinals to five hits and two runs over six innings.  His battery mate, Pat Collins knocks in three himself.  Over his last 13 starts Dixie Davis has gone 9-0 with a 2.94 ERA over 88 innings - against the best Cardinals teams of all time.
George Sisler collects five hits and three RBI in game 96 to lead a 15-6 thumping, and square the two teams at 6-6 wins apiece.  Ken Williams, Marty McManus and 3B Eddie Foster each knock home two.  The next game sees the Browns take the lead in a series they once trailed 6-2.  Manager Lee Fohl sends Rasty Wright to the mound against Cardinals ace Bob Gibson, and Wright rewards his skipper's faith, holding the Cards scoreless on just four hits over six innings.  Gibby himself pitches great - 2 earned runs over eight frames, but he is still tagged with the loss.  Ken Williams collects four hits.  Wally Gerber drives home two.  Pat Collins and Eddie Foster knock home one apiece.
The Cardinals salvage the final game, namely due to a monster day from young Lou Brock.  Brock collects 11 total bases - matching the Browns team total.  He doubles, homers twice, and knocks home three.  Curt Simmons goes eight-plus and holds the Browns to eight hits and four runs, good enough for an 8-4 win.

Brock winds up with a .354 batting average (23-65).  He and first baseman Bill White tie for the team (and overall) lead with three home runs.  Ken Boyer and Tim McCarver knock in 13 apiece to pace the Cardinals, while Baby Doll Jacobson leads everybody with 16.  Three Browns players top .400: Pat Collins (.405), Jacobson (.415) and George Sisler, who lined out 32 hits in 68 tries for a ridiculous .471 mark!  Ken Williams just misses at .397.  

1964 Cardinals 14 games (7-7).
CF Curt Flood            .250 BA, .279 SLG, 0 HR  4 RBI  
LF Lou Brock            .354 BA, .554 SLG, 3 HR  6 RBI
SS Dick Groat            .279 BA, .394 SLG, 0 HR 11 RBI  
3B Ken Boyer            .353, .608 SLG, 1 HR 13 RBI  
1B Bill White             .327, .592 SLG, 3 HR  9 RBI
RF Mike Shannon    .228, .368 SLG  2 HR  9 RBI
C   Tim McCarver     .333, .549 SLG, 1 HR  13 RBI
2B Julian Javier        .302, .509 SLG, 1 HR  6 RBI   

P  Bob Gibson              1-2, 5.85, 40 IP
P  Curt Simmons        2-1, 3.89, 39 IP 
P  Ray Sadecki             1-3, 12.27, 9 IP
RP  Mike Cuellar         2-0
RP  Ron Taylor            0-1
RP Bob Humphries    1-0

1922 Browns 14 games (7-7).
RF Jack Tobin              .203, .275 SLG, 1 HR 6 RBI
1B George Sisler           .471, .588 SLG, 0 HR 9 RBI
LF Ken Williams          .397, .587 SLG, 0 HR 15 RBI
CF BD Jacobson           .415, .507 SLG, 0 HR 16 RBI
2B Marty McManus    .328, .375 SLG, 0 HR 12 RBI
C Hank Severeid          .292, .375 SLG, 0 HR 4 RBI
C Pat Collins                 .405, .649 SLG, 2 HR 12 RBI
SS Wally Gerber          .288, .288 SLG, 0 HR 8 RBI
3B Frank Ellerbe         .325, .441 SLG, 0 HR 5 RBI
3B Eddie Foster           .333, .375 SLG, 0 HR 3 RBI

1922 Browns 70 games (50-48).
RF Jack Tobin              .323 (149-462), 211 TB, .457 SLG, 7 HR 61 RBI
1B George Sisler           .388 (174-449), 229 TB, .510 SLG, 7 HR 61 RBI
LF Ken Williams          .315 (134-425), 234 TB, .551 SLG, 23 HR 106 RBI
CF BD Jacobson           .348 (147-423), 187 TB, .442 SLG, 3 HR 94 RBI
2B Marty McManus    .323 (141-436), 193 TB, .443 SLG, 9 HR 91 RBI
C Hank Severeid          .339 (84-248), 112 TB, .460 SLG, 0 HR 31 RBI
C Pat Collins                 .333 (58-174), 89 TB,  .511 SLG, 6 HR 37 RBI
SS Wally Gerber          .292 (115-394), 134 TB, .340 SLG, 0 HR 42 RBI
3B Frank Ellerbe         .297 (70-236), 90 TB, .381 SLG, 1 HR 32 RBI
3B Eddie Foster           .317 (46-145), 52 TB, .359 SLG, 0 HR 20 RBI 

1926 * 1931 * 1934 * 1942 * 1944 * 1946 * 1964
Just to recap how the great STL Cardinals Championship teams have done thus far:
1926 World Champion STL Cardinals (5-9)
1931 World Champion STL Cardinals (7-7)
1934 World Champion STL Cardinals (7-7)
1942 World Champion STL Cardinals (6-8)
1944 World Champion STL Cardinals (10-4)
1946 World Champion STL Cardinals (6-8)
1964 World Champion STL Cardinals (7-7)
Overall St. Louis Cardinals record: 48-50
1926 * 1931 * 1934 * 1942 * 1944 * 1946 * 1964 * 1967 * 1982 * 2006 * 2011

Sportsman's Park passes into history

Busch II is born

The STL Cardinals won their first seven World Championships in Sportsman's Park.  The STL Browns called Sportsman's Park home until they left St. Louis entirely after the 1953 season, closing the history books on George Sisler, Ken Williams, Jack Tobin and the gang.  1967 saw the Cardinals win their first championship in their new digs... one of the new cookie-cutter stadia sprouting up all over America.  The year before, 1966, the Baltimore Orioles had won their first World Championship of any type - since moving from St. Louis and setting up shop in 1954.

1967 Cards Starting Line-up
LF Lou Brock   .299, 21 HR  76 RBI  52 SB
CF Curt Flood   .335, .378 OBP
RF Roger Maris  .261, 9 HR  55 RBI
1B Orlando Cepeda  .325, 25 HR 111 RBI
C   Tim McCarver   .295, 14 HR  69 RBI
3B Mike Shannon   .245, 12 HR  77 RBI
2B Julian Javier   .281, 14 HR  64 RBI
SS Dal Maxvill   .227, 1 HR  41 RBI

P  Steve Carlton  14-9, 2.98, 193 IP
P  Dick Hughes   16-6, 2.67, 222 IP
P  Ray Washburn  10-7, 3.53, 186 IP
P  Bob Gibson   13-7, 2.98, 175 IP
P  Larry Jaster   9-7, 3.01, 152 IP
The 1967 World Champions become only the second team in eight tries to win a 14-game series, going 8-6 against the 1922 St. Louis Browns.  Lead-off man Lou Brock was a real life World Series standout.  In 21 games: .391 BA, .424 OBP, .655 SLG., 13 RBI, 14 SB, 16 Runs.  Here he also dominates, leading the Cardinals in hitting and all hands in slugging.  Personally I always though Brock was a natural number 3 hitter, but obviously he did fine leading off, as millions of fans and his Hall of Fame plaque will attest.

Game 1 (99)  Cards win 5-0, lead 1-0, 49-50 overall
Steve Carlton shuts out the Browns over seven-plus innings.  His battery mate Tim McCarver belts a 2-run homer to right to cap a four run seventh.
Game 2 (100) Cards win 7-4, lead 2-0, 50-50 overall
Dick Hughes goes eight strong innings, yielding just five hits and three runs.  Lou Brock collects 3 hits and swipes 3 bases.  First baseman Orlando Cepeda drives in 3. CF Curt Flood doubles twice and drives in two more.  Browns LF Ken Williams homers and plates 3 in a losing cause.
Game 3 (101) Cards win 8-7, lead 3-0, 51-50 overall
The Cards overcome a 6-1 deficit late.  Lou Brock doubles in two and SS Dal Maxvill one in the seventh.  Then in the 9th, trailing 7-6, 2B Julian Javier lines a shot past CF Baby Doll Jacobson.  Orlando Cepeda and Tim McCarver come around to score the tying and winning runs.
Game 4 (102) Cards win 5-2, lead 4-0, 52-50 overall
Down 2-0, Cards 1B Orlando Cepeda starts the comeback with a 2-run single to left-center, scoring Curt Flood and Cards RF Roger Maris to tie it 2-2.  Maris knocks in the go-ahead run in the 3rd with a fielder's choice to make it 3-2.  Then Maris tacks on two insurance runs with a double to deep right in the fifth.
Game 5 (103) Browns win 11-5, Cards lead 4-1, 52-51 overall
The Browns finally break through.  LF Ken Williams homers (26th), plates two and steals his 21st bag.  Baby Doll Jacobson collects three hits and drives home three.  SS Wally Gerber goes 4-5.
Game 6 (104) Browns win 12-3, Cards lead 4-2, 52-52 overall
The Browns jump all over game 1 victor, Lefty Carlton; 7 hits and 6 runs in five innings.  Browns second baseman Marty McManus singles, doubles and triples, knocking in four.  Eighth place hitter and 3B Frank Ellerbe gets three singles and three RBI.
Game 7 (105) Cards win 10-5, lead 5-2, 53-52 overall
Cards SS Dal Maxvill, a .227 hitter in 1967, singles, doubles and triples here, and knocks in two.   Catcher Tim McCarver knocks in four with two singles and a double.  Right-hander Dick Hughes goes to 2-0, allowing just four hits and two earned runs over seven frames.
Game 8 (106) Cards win 6-3, lead 6-2, 54-52 overall
The switch to Sportsman's Park and 1922 does not slow down the Cardinals at all... especially lead off man Lou Brock, who swipes his 5th sack, lines his seventh double, homers, and drives in two.  Down 3-1 in the 6th, CF Curt Flood hits a solo HR to straightaway center.  After a Roger Maris single to left center, the Baby Bull, Orlando Cepeda triples to deep CF, scoring Maris with the game tying tally.  Mike Shannon, playing third this year, belts a line drive double off of the right-center field boards to put the Cards in front 4-3.  Lou Brock's 2-run blast, 446 feet to dead center in the 7th, caps the win.
Game 9 (107) Cards win 5-0, lead 7-2, 55-52 overall
Bob Gibson and the Cards bullpen shutout the powerful Browns line-up.  Eighth place hitter, SS Dal Maxvill drives in four of the five Cardinal runs with two 2-run singles.
Game 10 (108) Browns win 10-0, Cards lead 7-3, 55-53 overall
George Sisler hits safely in his 30th straight game.  Over that span he has batted .447 (63-141).  Everyone in the Browns line-up hits safely including pitcher Rasty Wright, who wins his 3rd straight, allowing just one hit over five innings.  Ken Williams hits his 27th home run and drives in three.  Everyone else, including Wright, also drives in a run except 2B Marty McManus, who scores.
Game 11 (109) Browns win 6-5, Cards lead 7-4, 55-54 overall
Pinch-hitter and second string catcher Pat Collins snaps a 5-5 tie in the 6th with a single to right, scoring first string catcher Hank Severeid.  Severeid would lead all hands in the Series with a .413 average.  Collins would be second at .412.
Game 12 (110) Browns win 8-7(11), Cards lead 7-5, 55-55 overall
Browns 2B Marty McManus grounds a single to left in the bottom of the 11th, scoring Jack Tobin with he game winner.  George Sisler drives in four, including a 3-run double in the sixth.
Game 13 (111) Cards win 5-4(11), clinch series 8-5, and lead 56-55 overall
George Sisler collects 3 singles to reach 200 hits on the season (200-509, .393).  But this time it's the Cardinals who win it in eleven, on a Dal Maxvill RBI single.  Maxvill collects 3 hits, a triple, and his 9th RBI in 13 games.
Game 14 (112) Browns win 5-4, Cards win 8-6, 56-56 overall
Dixie Davis improves to 11-2, allowing just 3 hits and one earned run over seven innings. Baby Doll Jacobson doubles in two in the seventh for the deciding runs.
  

1967 Cardinals 14 games (8-6).

LF Lou Brock            .379 BA, .576 SLG, 1 HR  10 RBI  

CF Curt Flood            .302 BA, .476 SLG, 1 HR  13 RBI

RF Roger Maris         .270 BA, .333 SLG, 0 HR 4 RBI  

1B Orlando Cepeda   .357, .571 SLG, 2 HR 10 RBI  

C  Tim McCarver      .340, .453 SLG, 1 HR  11 RBI

RF Mike Shannon    .250, .333 SLG  0 HR  2 RBI

2B Julian Javier        .180, .246 SLG, 0 HR  4 RBI

SS Dal Maxvill           .288, .404 SLG, 0 HR  10 RBI   

P  Steve Carlton          1-2, 3.38, 18 IP

P  Dick Hughes            2-0, 4.46, 34 IP 

P  Ray Washburn       0-0, 8.25, 12 IP

P  Bob Gibson              2-0, 1.64, 11 IP

P  Larry Jaster            0-1, 11.74, 7 IP

RP  Ron Willis            2-2

RP  Nelson Briles       1-0

RP Hal Woodshick    0-1

1922 Browns 14 games (6-8).

RF Jack Tobin              .233, .233 SLG, 0 HR 5 RBI

1B George Sisler           .429, .540 SLG, 0 HR 8 RBI

LF Ken Williams          .268, .518 SLG, 4 HR 14 RBI

CF BD Jacobson           .339, .407 SLG, 1 HR 11 RBI

2B Marty McManus    .283, .367 SLG, 0 HR 8 RBI

C Hank Severeid          .413, .500 SLG, 0 HR 8 RBI

C Pat Collins                 .412, .529 SLG, 0 HR 4 RBI

SS Wally Gerber          .310, .328 SLG, 0 HR 1 RBI

3B Frank Ellerbe         .267, .311 SLG, 0 HR 5 RBI

3B Eddie Foster           .231, .231 SLG, 0 HR 0 RBI

1922 Browns 112 games (56-56).

RF Jack Tobin              .312 (163-522), 225 TB, .431 SLG, 7 HR 66 RBI

1B George Sisler           .393 (201-512), 263 TB, .514 SLG, 7 HR 69 RBI

LF Ken Williams          .310 (149-481), 263 TB, .547 SLG, 27 HR 120 RBI

CF BD Jacobson           .346 (167-482), 211 TB, .438 SLG, 4 HR 105 RBI

2B Marty McManus    .319 (158-496), 215 TB, .433 SLG, 9 HR 99 RBI

C Hank Severeid          .350 (103-294), 135 TB, .459 SLG, 0 HR 43 RBI

C Pat Collins                 .340 (65-191), 98 TB,  .513 SLG, 6 HR 41 RBI

SS Wally Gerber          .294 (133-452), 153 TB, .338 SLG, 0 HR 43 RBI

3B Frank Ellerbe         .292 (82-281), 104 TB, .370 SLG, 1 HR 37 RBI

3B Eddie Foster           .310 (49-158), 55 TB, .348 SLG, 0 HR 20 RBI 

1926 * 1931 * 1934 * 1942 * 1944 * 1946 * 1964 *1967 *

Just to recap how the great STL Cardinals Championship teams have done thus far:

1926 World Champion STL Cardinals (5-9)

1931 World Champion STL Cardinals (7-7)

1934 World Champion STL Cardinals (7-7)

1942 World Champion STL Cardinals (6-8)

1944 World Champion STL Cardinals (10-4)

1946 World Champion STL Cardinals (6-8)

1964 World Champion STL Cardinals (7-7)

1967 World Champion STL Cardinals (8-6)

Overall St. Louis Cardinals record: 56-56

1926 * 1931 * 1934 * 1942 * 1944 * 1946 * 1964 * 1967 * 1982 * 2006 * 2011
There are only three more Cardinals championship teams to go.  And hard to believe, the 1982 edition is the 2nd and last at Busch II... a record that the Busch III boys have matched in just six seasons!  But we'll get to those guys in a bit.  For now it's Willie McGee's bunch.

1982 Cardinals Line-up (92-70).

LF Lonnie Smith           .307 BA, .434 SLG, 8 HR  69 RBI  68 SB

CF Willie McGee            .296 BA, .391 SLG, 4 HR  56 RBI

1B Keith Hernandez      .299 BA, .413 SLG, 7 HR 94 RBI  

RF George Hendrick     .282, .450 SLG, 19 HR 104 RBI  

2B Tom Herr                  .266, .320 SLG, 0 HR  36 RBI

C   Darrell Porter          .231, .402 SLG  12 HR 48 RBI

SS Ozzie Smith              .248, .314 SLG, 2 HR  43 RBI

3B Ken Oberkfell           .289, .370 SLG, 2 HR  34 RBI
P  Joaquin Andujar       15-10, 2.47, 265 IP
P  Bob Forsch                  15-9, 3.48, 233 IP
P  Steve Mura                  12-11, 4.05, 184 IP
P  John Stuper                  9-7, 3.36, 136 IP

1922 Browns 112 games (56-56).

RF Jack Tobin              .312 (163-522), 225 TB, .431 SLG, 7 HR 66 RBI

1B George Sisler           .393 (201-512), 263 TB, .514 SLG, 7 HR 69 RBI

LF Ken Williams          .310 (149-481), 263 TB, .547 SLG, 27 HR 120 RBI

CF BD Jacobson           .346 (167-482), 211 TB, .438 SLG, 4 HR 105 RBI

2B Marty McManus    .319 (158-496), 215 TB, .433 SLG, 9 HR 99 RBI

C Hank Severeid          .350 (103-294), 135 TB, .459 SLG, 0 HR 43 RBI

C Pat Collins                 .340 (65-191), 98 TB,  .513 SLG, 6 HR 41 RBI

SS Wally Gerber          .294 (133-452), 153 TB, .338 SLG, 0 HR 43 RBI

3B Frank Ellerbe         .292 (82-281), 104 TB, .370 SLG, 1 HR 37 RBI

3B Eddie Foster           .310 (49-158), 55 TB, .348 SLG, 0 HR 20 RBI 

Play ball gentlemen! 

The 1982 World Champions win 8 of 14 to become the second straight Cardinals champion to prevail against the 1922 St. Louis Browns.  Joaquin Andujar was outstanding.  Even in his one defeat he still gave up only 3 runs in 6 innings.  His masterpiece however, came in his final start - a 3-hit shutout.  'Silent' George Hendrick let his bat do the talking, and it shouted loudly and proudly, driving in 19 runs in 14 games.
Game 1 (113)  Cards win 2-1.  Cards 1-0, 57-56 overall. 
Andujar gives up just five hits and one run in eight innings.  Bruce Sutter picks up a nine inning save.  Lonnie Smith singles home Ozzie Smith to tie it in the eighth. Willie McGee delivers a sac fly moments later to win it.
Game 2 (114)  Cards win 8-5.  Cards 2-0, 58-56 overall
George Hendrick drives in 3, 2B Tom Herr and catcher Darrell Porter two apiece.  Ozzie Smith steals two sacks... Lonnie Smith and Herr one apiece.  Bob Forsch gets roughed up for 11 hits and five runs in six-plus innings, but still gets the win.  Sutter earns his 2nd save with another scoreless 9th inning.
Game 3 (115)  Browns win 3-2.  Cards 2-1, 58-57 overall
Browns ace Urban Shocker goes eight, allows seven hits and two runs to win it.  Baby Doll Jacobson doubles in two in the third.  Third-sacker Eddie Foster draws bases loaded walk in the fifth.
Game 4 (116)  Browns win 9-5.  Teams 2-2, 58-58 overall
CF Baby Doll Jacobson singles, doubles (twice) and triples, driving home four.  LF Ken Williams hits his 29th home run, and is bemused when the 1967 Busch Stadium crowd accords him a loud ovation as he circles the bases.
Game 5 (117)  Browns win 5-2.  Browns 3-2, 59-58 overall
Dixie Davis improves to 12-2, with a five hit, one-run performance over six frames.  The Browns trail 1-0 in the seventh when Baby Doll Jacobson singles home George Sisler.  It's Jacobson's 7th RBI in three games.  A sac fly from 2B Marty McManus and a run-scoring single from SS Wally Gerber give the Browns a lead they never relinquish.
Game 6 (118)  Cards win 4-3.  Teams 3-3, 59-59 overall
Bob Forsch goes six, gives up ten hits and three runs, and leaves on the losing end of a 3-1 score.  After Ozzie Smith doubles in Tom Herr, Steve Braun pinch-hits for Forsch in the bottom of the sixth and doubles home Ozzie Smith and Ken Oberkfell to give the Cardinals a 4-3 lead, and ultimately, the game.
Game 7 (119)  Browns win 6-4.  Browns 4-3, 60-59 overall
Catcher Hank Severeid drives in three; 2B Marty McManus two more.  Ken Williams reaches base five times - and scores all five times.  His 4th tally in the seventh on Severeid's fielder's choice gives the Browns a 5-4 lead.  His fifth tally in the ninth, on a Severeid single, is insurance in a 6-4 win.
Game 8 (120)  Cards win 10-5.  Teams are 4-4. 60-60 overall
George Hendrick speaks softly but carries a big stick.  He knocks in four, three on a bases-loaded, bases-clearing double to left-center in the sixth.  Ozzie Smith also doubles; his two-bagger in the fourth plates Tom Herr and Darrell Poter and snaps a 2-2 tie.  The Cardinals score six more unanswered runs to ice the game.
Game 9 (121)  Cards win 5-4.  Cards are 5-4, 61-60 overall
Ozzie swipes two bases (to give him five) and drives in three (to give him seven RBI).  Joaquin Andujar goes  eight, gives up eight hits and just one run.  Hendricks and Oberkfell each homer.
Game 10 (122)  Browns win 7-5.  Teams are 5-5, 61-61 overall
George Sisler and 2nd string catcher Pat Collins hit home runs.  Both blows come in a five-run Browns first. Sisler launches a 2-run shot to right-center.  Four batters later Collins smacks a 3-run blast, also to deep right-center, giving the Browns a 5-2 lead.   Baby Doll Jacobson and Marty McManus tack on runs in the seventh that turn out to be important in a 7-5 win.
Game 11 (123)  Cards win 15-7.  Cards 6-5, 62-61 overall
Lonnie Smith and Willie McGee, the Cardinal's one-two hitters, drive in four each.  Both men single, double and triple.  Keith Hernandez triples twice, while George Hendrick singles three times and drives in two (to give him 13).  The Cards seize the game with a seven-run 4th, turning a 4-2 deficit into a 9-4 lead.  Willie McGee thrills the fans by smacking a two-run triple - and trying to steal home.  He's nailed, but the St. Louis fans still give McGee a standing ovation for his aggressive, fiery play.
Game 12 (124)  Cards win 7-5(12). Cards 7-5, 63-61
Bruce Sutter blows his first save after converting three.  With a 5-3 lead in he 9th Sutter tosses a splitter to Jack Tobin.  The diminutive Browns right-fielder golfs it off his shoetops and rifles a shot to the base of the left-center field wall for a two-run game-tying triple.  But in the 12th, the Browns give it back.  Ken Williams  drops a fly off the bat of Willie McGee.  Ken Oberkfell scores on the error.  Perhaps even more distasteful, pitcher Ray Kolp, on in emergency relief, walks Keith Hernandez and George Hendrick to force in a 7th run.
Game 13 (125)  Browns win 12-10.  Cards 7-6, 63-62
This time it's the Browns one and two hitters who go wild.  Jack Tobin goes 4-5 with two doubles and 4 RBI.  George Sisler goes 5-5, also with two doubles and four RBI.  SS Wally Gerber goes 4-5 as well and knocks in two.  The Browns need every bit because the Cardinals nearly come all the way back from an 11-3 deficit.  Willie McGee collects three hits and three RBI (12 for the series), as does George Hendrick (18).
Game 14 (126)  Cards win 3-0.  Cards clinch series 8-6, are 64-62 overall
As mentioned at the top, Joaquin Andujar throttles the 1922 American League scoring champions.  Andujar needs just 108 pitches to shutout the Browns.  He also gets help from an unlikely source - Browns ace Urban Shocker, who uncorks a wild pitch in the first.  Lonnie Smith races in with the first run - and the game winner.  Keith Hernandez gives Andujar room to breathe, lining a solo shot down the right-field line.

As I said at the top, 'Silent' George Hendrick's bat spoke loudly.  His 19 RBI in 14 games have been eclipsed by only Walker Cooper (21) of the '42 Cardinals..... and Stan the Man (20) for the '44 bunch.    
Ken Williams has driven in 18 (1926, 1942), as has Walker Cooper (1944) and Baby Doll Jacobson (1934).

1982 Cardinals 14 games (8-6).

LF Lonnie Smith           .285 (18-63), .413 SLG, 0 HR  9 RBI  4 SB

CF Willie McGee            .409 (27-66), .485 SLG, 0 HR  12 RBI

1B Keith Hernandez     .379 (22-58), .586 SLG, 1 HR 8 RBI  

RF George Hendrick    .313 (20-64), .438 SLG, 1 HR 19 RBI  

2B Tom Herr                  .276 (16-58), .362 SLG, 0 HR  9 RBI

C   Darrell Porter          .160 (9-56), .304 SLG  2 HR 5 RBI

SS Ozzie Smith              .308 (16-52), .384 SLG, 0 HR  7 RBI

3B Ken Oberkfell           .289 (15-52), .365 SLG, 1 HR  6 RBI
P  Joaquin Andujar       3-1, 1.45, 31 IP
P  Bob Forsch                  2-1, 9.23, 12 IP
P  Steve Mura                  1-1, 5.82, 17 IP
P  John Stuper                1-2, 6.86, 19 IP
RP Bruce Sutter              0-0, 5.40, 3 IP, 3 saves, 1 blown save

1922 Browns 14 games (6-8).

RF Jack Tobin              .257 (17-66), .500 SLG, 4 HR 9 RBI

1B George Sisler           .413 (26-63), .571 SLG, 2 HR 11 RBI

LF Ken Williams          .304 (17-56), .518 SLG, 4 HR 9 RBI

CF BD Jacobson           .313 (20-64), .484 SLG, 0 HR 14 RBI

2B Marty McManus    .250(15-60), .367 SLG, 1 HR 8 RBI

C Hank Severeid          .345 (10-29), .448 SLG, 0 HR 4 RBI

C Pat Collins                 .267 (8-30), .533 SLG, 2 HR 7 RBI

SS Wally Gerber          .382 (21-55), .509 SLG, 0 HR 4 RBI

3B Frank Ellerbe         .000 (0-15), .000 SLG, 0 HR 0 RBI

3B Eddie Foster           .152 (5-33), .152 SLG, 0 HR 2 RBI 

1922 Browns 126 games (62-64).

RF Jack Tobin              .306 (180-588), 258 TB, .439 SLG, 11 HR 75 RBI

1B George Sisler           .395 (227-512), 299 TB, .520 SLG, 9 HR 80 RBI

LF Ken Williams          .309 (166-537), 292 TB, .544 SLG, 31 HR 129 RBI

CF BD Jacobson           .342 (187-546), 242 TB, .443 SLG, 4 HR 119 RBI

2B Marty McManus    .312 (173-556), 237 TB, .426 SLG, 10 HR 107 RBI

C Hank Severeid          .350 (113-323), 148 TB, .458 SLG, 0 HR 47 RBI

C Pat Collins                 .330 (73-221), 114 TB,  .516 SLG, 8 HR 48 RBI

SS Wally Gerber          .304 (154-507), 181 TB, .357 SLG, 0 HR 47 RBI

3B Frank Ellerbe         .277 (82-296), 104 TB, .370 SLG, 1 HR 37 RBI

3B Eddie Foster           .283 (54-191), 60 TB, .314 SLG, 0 HR 22 RBI 

The 1922 St. Louis Browns have played 126 games against nine World Championship Cardinals teams.  The Browns have won three, the Cardinals three, and the teams have split three!  Pretty close, eh?  For the first time though, the Cardinals hold an edge on the season, with a 64-62 record.
                                                                                                                                         

1926 * 1931 * 1934 * 1942 * 1944 * 1946 * 1964 *1967 *1982

Just to recap how the great STL Cardinals Championship teams have done thus far:

1926 World Champion STL Cardinals (5-9)

1931 World Champion STL Cardinals (7-7)

1934 World Champion STL Cardinals (7-7)

1942 World Champion STL Cardinals (6-8)

1944 World Champion STL Cardinals (10-4)

1946 World Champion STL Cardinals (6-8)

1964 World Champion STL Cardinals (7-7)

1967 World Champion STL Cardinals (8-6)
1982 World Champion STL Cardinals (8-6)

Overall St. Louis Cardinals record: 64-62

1926 * 1931 * 1934 * 1942 * 1944 * 1946 * 1964 * 1967 * 1982 * 2006 * 2011

Now we turn the page on the 20th century.  New century.  New ballpark.  Busch III opened for business in 2006.  And like the 1909 Pittsburgh Pirates, 1923 New York Yankees and the 2009 New York Yankees, the '06 Cardinals decorated their brand new park with a brand new World Championship banner.

2006 Cardinals Line-up (83-78).

SS David Eckstein         .292, .344 SLG, 2 HR  23RBI  

2B Hector Luna             .291, .417 SLG, 4 HR  21 RBI

1B Albert Pujols             .331, .671 SLG, 49 HR 137 RBI  

3B Scott Rolen               .296, .518 SLG, 22 HR 95 RBI  

CF Jim Edmunds           .257, .471 SLG, 19 HR  70 RBI

LF Chris Duncan           .293, .589 SLG  22 HR 49 RBI

RF Juan Encarnacion  .278, .443 SLG, 19 HR  79 RBI

C   Yadier Molina          .216, .321 SLG, 6 HR  49 RBI
UT Scott Spiezio           .272, 496 SLG, 13 HR 52 RBI
P  Chris Carpenter        15-8, 3.09, 221 IP
P  Jason Marquis           14-16, 6.02, 194 IP
P  Jeff Suppan                12-7, 4.12, 190 IP
P  Mark Mulder                6-7, 7.14, 93 IP
P  Anthony Reyes            5-8, 5.06, 85 IP

Game 1 (127)  Cards win 2-0.  2006 Cards are 1-0.  Cards are 65-62 overall.
Cardinals ace Chris Carpenter shows why he is the ace.  He needs just 98 pitches to dispose of a powerful 1922 Browns line-up.  The Browns scratch out 4 singles, and nobody reaches second base.  Urban Shocker also pitches great - only 5 hits and two runs in eight innings.  The two runs come on one swing - a 2-run home run to left off the bat of catcher and .216 hitter Yadier Molina.
Game 2 (128)  Browns win 5-3.  2006 Cards are 1-1.  Cards are 65-63 overall.
In the top of the 1st, Browns left-fielder Ken Williams slugs a 3-run home run down the right-field line at new Busch Stadium.  SS Wally Gerber doubles home his double-play partner Marty McManus four batters later. The 4-0 lead after seven batters is enough for the Browns win.
Game 3 (129)  Browns win 2-1.  2006 Cards are 1-2.  Cards are 65-64 overall.
Cards RF Juan Encarnacion goes 3-3 with a double.  But Browns right-hander Dix Davis allows just three other hits all afternoon.  He needs only 93 pitches to corral the Cardinals and go to 14-2 on the season.  Baby Doll Jacobson scores one run in the second (off a Wally Gerber single), and drives in the other in the fifth, scoring HOFer George Sisler on a grounder to short.
Game 4 (130)  Cards win 15-13.  2006 Cards are 2-2.  Cards are 66-64 overall.
1922 STL Browns    -  3 0 0   0 1 0   2 2 5 -  13  14   3
2006 STL Cardinals -  4 5 1   0 0 1   2 2 x  -  15  16   1
Wow.  By FAR the most entertaining scrap of the series.  The Cardinals score ten in first three to seemingly ice the game.  The Browns score nine in the last three to nearly snatch it back.  Albert Pujols and Juan Encarnation each drive home three.  Chris Duncan and winning pitcher Anthony Reyes each plate two more. But the Browns earn the respect and admiration of the 2006 Busch Stadium crowd with a heroic comeback effort.  After Pujols puts one into the CF stands to make it 15-8 in the home eighth, Tony LaRussa has every reason to believe he's got it wrapped up.  Butt in the ninth a Marty McManus hit and two walks have TLR anxious.  He sends in Braden Looper to pitch.  Browns skipper Lee Fohl sends up 2nd string catcher Pat Collins to pinch-hit..  Collins sends a Looper slider the other way - 388 feet to right for a grand slam.  Suddenly it's 15-12, and a lot of the 40,000 fans are cheering the visitors from days past.  Leadoff man Jack Tobin slaps a ground single between Eckstein and Rolen.  Tony LaRussa then brings in closer Jason Isringhausen. Izzy's first challenge?  George Sisler.  But Isringhausen, pitching carefully, walks Sisler.  Then he walks Ken Williams.  With the fans now roaring, Illinois native and potential tying run Baby Doll Jacobson steps in with one out.  Isringhausen catches the plate with a tailing fastball - but Jacobson swings and catches it, driving one DEEP toward the left-center field fence.  The crowd jumps - it could be a 3-run, game tying jack.  But Jim Edmunds races over, leaps and grabs it on the warning track.  Tobin tags and scores to make it 15-13.  But Izzy reaches back and strikes out Marty McManus for out number three and the ballgame.
Game 5 (131)  Browns win 10-9.  2006 Cards are 2-3.  Cards are 66-65 overall.
Ken Williams belts his 34th home run and drives home three.  Second Baseman Marty McManus triples, homers and plates two.  Chris Duncan also triples and homers for the Cardinals.  Williams' and McManus' home runs come in a 3-run sixth and give the Browns a relatively safe 10-6 lead.  But the Cardinals, like the Browns the day before, thrill the fans with a near comeback.  David Eckstein is drilled in the knee with a fast one.  The painful RBI makes it 10-7.  Hub Pruitt, the screwballing southpaw who was famous for his success against Babe Ruth, comes on to pitch.  His dipping, diving screwball is working - he gets Hector Luna to bounce to Sisler.  The slick-fielding first-sacker scoops and fires home. Yadier Molina is... SAAAAAFE!  10-8. Albert Pujols digs in, and 39,774 St. Louisians stand and roar.  Pujols swings at a dipping screwball and grounds it to deep short.  Wally Gerber scoops it smoothly and fires to McManus at second...OUT!  But John Rodriguez scores on the fielder's choice... 10-9, and just one out.  But Hub Pruitt strikes out Scott Rolen and Chris Duncan to squelch the rally.  Pruitt shuts out the Cardinals in the eighth and ninth to preserve the win.
Game 6 (132)  Browns win 5-2.  2006 Cards are 2-4.  Cards are 66-66 overall.
Urban Shocker gives up just five hits and two runs in eight innings.  Chris Duncan homers to put the Cardinals up 2-1 in the fourth.  But Baby Doll Jacobson and Marty McManus drive in two runs in the sixth, both on productive outs.  Jacobson hits into a fielder's choice with he bases loaded.  And Marty McManus launches a sac fly to deep left - for a moment everybody thinks it's a grand slam.  McManus kicks the first base bag in disgust as Chris Duncan catches it against the boards, but his sac fly proves to be the margin of victory.
Game 7 (133)  Cards win 5-2.  2006 Cards are 3-4.  Cards are 67-66 overall.
The Cardinals flip the score.  Albert Pujols gets things rolling in the 1st, lining an Elam Vangilder fast ball over the right-centerfield wall for a 2-run home run.  They score two more in the 6th.  2B Hector Luna, having a fine series, singles home Yadier Molina.  His double-play partner David Eckstein knocks in Chris Duncan with a fielder's choice... enough for the win.
Game 8 (134)  Browns win 5-1.  2006 Cards are 3-5.  Cards are 67-67 overall.
Dixie Davis goes to 15-2, scattering just six hits over seven-plus innings.  The Browns give Davis all the help he needs in the top of the first.  The first three Browns batters swing at Suppan's first three pitches as spectators are still filing in.  Jack Tobin pulls a line single into right center.  George Sisler bloops a double to left-center.  Tobin races around and scores.  And Ken Williams lines one to deep right that bounces into the seats, scoring Sisler.
Game 9 (135)  Cards win 7-6(10).  2006 Cards are 4-5.  Cards are 68-67 overall.
CF Jim Edmunds (3-29) and 3B Scott Rolen (6-30) are hitting well under .200.  So Scott Spiezio gets the start at 2B, and So Taguchi in CF.  And the moves pay off.  Taguchi goes 2-5 with a double.  Spiezio goes 2-4.  And Scott Rolen comes off the bench in the bottom of the 10th...
"And Rolen SWIIIIINGS... it's a long one to deep LEFT... get up baby...GET UP!  OH-HO, YEAH!  IT'S A THREE RUN HOMER TO WIN IT FOR THE CARDINALS, 7-6!  LISTEN to this crowd!"
Game 10 (136)  Browns win 3-1.  2006 Cards are 4-6.  Cards are 68-68 overall.
Chris Carpenter goes the distance and gives up just five hitts and three runs... but is saddled with the loss.  All three scores come in the first two innings.  Marty McManus rips a double to deep CF in the first, driving in two.  George Sisler singles home 3B Eddie Foster in the second.  And Rasty Wright, with help from the pen, wins his ninth (against six losses) by allowing six hits and one run over five innings.
Game 11 (137)  Cards win 6-4.  2006 Cards are 5-6.  Cards are 69-68 overall.
Browns LF Ken Williams belts two home runs and drives in three.  After his second home run, off Jason Isringhausen in the ninth, 40,611 St. Louisians stand and accord the quiet Oregonian a long, loud ovation.  They are magnanimous because Albert Pujols has gone deep twice, Chris Duncan has also homered, and supersub So Taguchi has singled in another run and swiped a sack besides.  Since coming into the line-up, Taguchi is 4-13 (.308).  Scott Spiezio is also doing well; 6-15 (.400).
Game 12 (138)  Browns win 17-1.  2006 Cards are 5-7.  Cards are 69-69 overall.
I've already written about St. Louis catcher Pat Collins (see 1922 St. Louis Browns vs 1932 New York Yankees, Feb 2011).  In Mac's Legendary Baseball he always comes up monster big in whatever role, great or small, he is given.  Today he takes over the game.  He bounces to second, driving in Baby Doll Jacobson during a five-run second.  Then Collins gets serious.  He homers to deep left-center with one on in the seventh. Collins rips a double to deep center, driving in Baby Doll Jacobson and Marty McManus in the ninth.  Collins scores moments later on a single from pitcher Elam Vangilder.  The Browns, now leading 11-1, really get rolling.  With the bases loaded George Sisler takes a pitch off the arm.  Boos begin to cascade as Wally Gerber trots home from third.  Home plate umpire Bill Klem looks toward the St. Louis dugout and issues a warning.  Tony LaRussa starts out of the dugout.  Klem walks over to meet him.  They share a very brief exchange and LaRussa returns to his perch, with a small wry smile on his face.  But his point is well taken.  Josh Hancock, trying to save the rest of the bullpen, is tiring and wild.  Eddie Foster had gotten on via a walk earlier.  After the HBP Hancock walks Ken Williams to force home Foster, unfortunately illustrating LaRussa's point.  Marty McManus lines a two-run single to left, scoring Sisler and Williams...15-1.  That brings up Pat Collins, who earlier had doubled to deep center.  So Taguchi backs up.  And Collins does it again, ripping a double past him, again scoring Jacobson and McManus. Final: 17-1.
Pat Collins: 3 for 6, 2 doubles, home run, 7 RBI.  Collins now batting .324 and has 10 HR and 61 RBI... in just 247 AB.
So what did Umpire Klem tell Tony LaRussa?  "He told me that if I needed to warm up another pitcher, we could start an argument to give him time to get lose...."  
Game 13 (139)  Browns win 9-6.  2006 Cards are 5-8.  Cards are 69-70 overall.
Dixie Davis goes to 16-2 on the season.  He gives up six runs on eight hits in six innings, but Baby Doll Jacobson, George Sisler and Marty McManus exceed that themselves, driving in eight,  Sisler and Jacobson each homer.  Sisler also triples and McManus doubles twice.  With their eighth win the 1922 Browns clinch their series against the 2006 World Champions.
Game 14 (140)  Cards win 5-1.  2006 Cards are 6-8.  Cards are 70-70 overall.
Chris Carpenter finishes the series the way he started it - with a masterful performance.  He goes the route, scatters just six hits and needs just 105 pitches to dispatch of the Browns. He's supported by home runs from 2B Hector Luna, Jim Edmunds and Chris Duncan.  Duncan finishes an excellent series; 4 HR, 13 RBI and a .321 BA, leading the Cardinals in all three categories... unless you count supersubs Scott Spiezio and So Taguchi.  Spiezio went 7-19 (.368) and Taguchi 6-17 (.353).  As for Carpenter, he went just 2-2, but posted a 2.05 ERA for 35-1/3 innings over four starts - 3 complete games and 8-1/3 in the fourth.

As for Albert, he got off to a slow start.  In fact the renowned 'MV3' all did.  The other two never really got untracked, but Albert finally showed some power.  He tied with Duncan for home runs (4) and was second in RBI (11).  Both finished behind Ken Williams, who hit just .255, but with 5 HR and 14 RBI.  Williams earned several standings as the St. Louis fans became reacquainted with one of their greatest hitters.  "We oughta put up one more statue..." says George Sisler quietly, who is clearly moved to see his own statue outside of the brand new ballpark.

2006 Cardinals Line-up (6-8).

SS David Eckstein         .207, .258 SLG, 0 HR 5 RBI  

2B Hector Luna             .316, .439 SLG, 1 HR  7 RBI

1B Albert Pujols             .224, .466 SLG, 4 HR 11 RBI  

3B Scott Rolen               .250, .500 SLG, 1 HR 7 RBI  

CF Jim Edmunds          .128, .308 SLG, 2 HR  4 RBI

LF Chris Duncan           .321, .660 SLG  4 HR 13 RBI

RF Juan Encarnacion  .302, .321 SLG, 0 HR  5 RBI

C   Yadier Molina          .250, .479 SLG, 3 HR  4 RBI
UT Scott Spiezio           .368, .421 SLG, 0 HR  2 RBI
P  Chris Carpenter        2-2, 2.02, 35 IP
P  Jason Marquis           1-1, 4.91, 14 IP
P  Jeff Suppan                0-3, 5.64, 22 IP
P  Mark Mulder                0-1, 4.00, 2 IP

P  Anthony Reyes            1-0, 7.07, 145 IP

1922 Browns 14 games (8-6).

RF Jack Tobin              .383 (23-60), .500 SLG, 1 HR 3 RBI

1B George Sisler           .333 (21-63), .444 SLG, 1 HR 10 RBI

LF Ken Williams          .255 (14-55), .600 SLG, 5 HR 14 RBI

CF BD Jacobson           .322 (19-59), .492 SLG, 1 HR 12 RBI

2B Marty McManus    .291(18-62), .484 SLG, 1 HR 16 RBI

C Hank Severeid          .222 (6-27), .259 SLG, 0 HR 4 RBI

C Pat Collins                 .258 (8-31), .548 SLG, 2 HR 13 RBI

SS Wally Gerber          .259 (14-54), .296 SLG, 0 HR 4 RBI

3B Frank Ellerbe         .100 (2-20), .150 SLG, 0 HR 1 RBI

3B Eddie Foster           .111 (3-27), .148 SLG, 0 HR 2 RBI 

1922 Browns 140 games (70-70).

RF Jack Tobin              .313 (203-648), 288 TB, .444 SLG, 12 HR 78 RBI

1B George Sisler           .389 (248-638), 327 TB, .512 SLG, 10 HR 90 RBI

LF Ken Williams          .304 (180-592), 325 TB, .549 SLG, 36 HR 143 RBI

CF BD Jacobson           .340 (206-605), 271 TB, .448 SLG, 5 HR 131 RBI

2B Marty McManus    .309 (191-618), 267 TB, .432 SLG, 11 HR 123 RBI

C Hank Severeid          .340 (119-350), 155 TB, .443 SLG, 0 HR 51 RBI

C Pat Collins                 .321 (81-252), 131 TB,  .520 SLG, 10 HR 61 RBI

SS Wally Gerber          .299 (168-561), 197 TB, .351 SLG, 0 HR 51 RBI

3B Frank Ellerbe         .266 (84-316), 107 TB, .339 SLG, 1 HR 38 RBI

3B Eddie Foster           .261 (57-218), 64 TB, .294 SLG, 0 HR 24 RBI 

Browns Catchers         .332 (200-602), 286 TB,  .475 SLG, 10 HR 112 RBI
P  Urban Shocker        9-15, 5.46, 207 IP
P  Elam Vangilder       8-15, 5.59, 212 IP       .307 (27-88), 13 2B, 1 3B, 15 RBI
P  Dixie Davis                16-2, 4.23, 168 IP 
P  Ray Kolp                     5-11, 5.65, 116 IP
P  Rasty Wright            9-6, 5.25, 77 IP                                                                                                                    

Now we come to... today.  The authors of the most thrilling comeback in recent memory... (Say Hey Willie could tell you about another one that was pretty good).  The 2011 St. Louis Cardinals were not as improbable as you might think.  Consider: 762 runs (1st), 1513 hits (1st), 308 doubles (3rd, one double behind co-leaders Mets and 'Stros), 726 RBI (1st), .273 Batting Average (1st), .341 On-base-pct/.425 Slugging/.766 On-base-plus-slugging (1st/1st/1st).  2351 Total Bases (1st) and alas, grounded into double plays (169).  The Cardinals pitching was middle-of-the pack - not really all that bad.  The current Cardinals are really just a steady DP combo and two bullpen pitchers away from being a dominant team for quite some time.

Albert Pujols is, and has been, a first ballot Hall-of-Famer.  His stats are mind-numbing.  He's a 40 HR, 121 RBI, .328 BA hitter for 11 seasons... those are his actual averages.  He has 455 homers and 445 doubles. He has an excellent chance to be baseball's first and only 700-700 man!*  His lifetime .420 OBP, .617 SLG and 1.037 OPS averages are historic.  Albert's 1.037 OPS mark is sixth all-time... after Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, Lou Gehrig, Barry Bonds, and Jimmie Foxx... and ahead of Hank Greenberg, Rogers Hornsby, Manny Ramirez and Mark McGwire (10th).  If you remove guys suspected of cheating out of the top ten, the 11-13th guys moving up to replace them are Cardinals and Yankees: Mickey Mantle, Joe DiMaggio and Stan Musial.  LOOK AT THOSE NAMES!  Look at the company Albert has been keeping!

The question on eveybody's minds are (1) how long can he keep it up, and (2) will he keep it up in a 'birds-on-a-bat' uniform? He seems to play a relatively 'safe' defensive position, until you consider how he was injured just this past year.  Some have said he's slipping, and his last three years his numbers have dropped:
(2009-2011 seasons averaged)
155 G  578 AB  115 R  181 H  38 2B  42 HR  117 RBI  
            .313 BA  .409 OBP  .598 SLG  1.007 OPS

Not bad for a guy losing it, eh?  In the process of this 'slide', AP led the NL in HR twice.  Albert had been (and remains) the only player to ever open his career with ten straight seasons of .300-30-100.  I'm betting he's now the only one to open with eleven years of .299, 30-99.  So... what should the Cardinals do?  History says the odds of keeping up the production is slim.  Out of all of the all-time greats, the only real productive power hitters who were able to sail past 35 full-steam were (surprise!) the Babe, the Hammer, Barry, the Splendid Splinter, and Stan the Man.

As for now, 37 HR, 99 RBI, .a .299 average, and an injury caused by putting team ahead of self are not bad selling points.

*Hank Aaron: 624 doubles, 755 HR.  Barry Bonds: 601 doubles, 762 HR.  There are only four players all-time with 700 doubles.  There are only three with 700 home runs.  Even dropping to 600-600, we're talking only 14 and 8.  Hank and Barry are the only members of both clubs - and Albert is just about five seasons of 30 doubles and 30 homers from joining them.  I would have guessed Sey Hey Willie is also a member, but he ran out of doubles at the 523 mark.  Then again Willie clocked 140 triples, so he may have stretched a double or two.

Oh, by the way, sitting at number 19 all time on the On-Base-Plus-Slugging list?  None other than Lance Berkman (.954), one notch below Johnny Mize (.959), and one slot above Alex Rodriguez (.953).  Doesn't  that make you STL fans a little more excited about 2012?

1926 * 1931 * 1934 * 1942 * 1944 * 1946 * 1964 *1967 *1982 * 2006

Just to recap how the great STL Cardinals Championship teams have done thus far:

1926 World Champion STL Cardinals (5-9)

1931 World Champion STL Cardinals (7-7)

1934 World Champion STL Cardinals (7-7)

1942 World Champion STL Cardinals (6-8)

1944 World Champion STL Cardinals (10-4)

1946 World Champion STL Cardinals (6-8)

1964 World Champion STL Cardinals (7-7)

1967 World Champion STL Cardinals (8-6)
1982 World Champion STL Cardinals (8-6)
2006 World Champion STL Cardinals (6-8)

Overall St. Louis Cardinals record: 70-70

1926 * 1931 * 1934 * 1942 * 1944 * 1946 * 1964 * 1967 * 1982 * 2006 * 2011

The 1922 Browns have won four 14-game series.  The Cardinal championship teams have won three.  Three have ended in ties.  And the overall record after 140 games: 70-70!

2011 Cardinals Line-up (90-72).
SS Rafael Furcal          .255, .418 SLG, 7 HR  16 RBI  

CF Jon Jay                     .297, .424 SLG, 4 HR  21 RBI

1B Albert Pujols           .299, .541 SLG, 37 HR 99 RBI  

LF Matt Holliday         .296, .525 SLG, 22 HR 75 RBI  

RF Lance Berkman     .301, .547 SLG, 31 HR  94 RBI

3B David Freese          .297, .441 SLG  10 HR 55 RBI

C   Yadier Molina        .305, .465 SLG, 14 HR  65 RBI

2B Skip Schumaker   .283, .351 SLG, 2 HR  38 RBI
UT Allen Craig             .315, .555 SLG, 11 HR 40 RBI
UT Ryan Theriot         .271, .342 SLG, 1 HR 47 RBI
P  Chris Carpenter        11-9, 3.45, 237 IP
P  Jaime Garcia             13-7, 3.56, 194 IP
P  Kyle Lohse                  14-8, 3.39, 188 IP
P  Jake Westbrook       12-9, 4.66, 183 IP
P  Edwin Jackson           5-2, 3.58, 78 IP

1922 St. Louis Browns (91-63) 2nd place American League 1922.
LF Jack Tobin                 .331  13 HR  66 RBI
1B George Sisler             .420   8 HR  105 RBI  51 SB
RF Ken Williams            .332   39 HR  155 RBI  37 SB (MLB's 1st 30-30 man!)
CF Baby Doll Jacobsen .317   9HR  102 RBI
2B Marty McManus        .312   11 HR  109 RBI
C   Hank Severeid           .321   3 HR  78 RBI
SS Wally Gerber             .267   1 HR  51 RBI
3B Frank Ellerbe            .246   1 HR  33 RBI
C Pat Collins                    .307  8 HR  23 RBI (127 AB)


The first seven games of this final set will take place at Sportsman's Park - in 1922.  The second and final seven will be played at Busch Stadium III, 2011!  As you read it!

Game 1 (141)  Browns win 5-1, are 1-0, Browns are 71-70 overall
Browns RF, Jack Tobin smacks his 12th home run and collects four hits.  Second-sacker Marty McManus lines his 9th triple and knocks in two.  Urban Shocker (10-15) goes the route and holds the 2011 World Champions to 7 hits and 1 run, defeating Chris Carpenter.
Game 2 (142)  Browns win 20-4, are 2-0, Browns are 72-70 overall
2011 Cards    -  0 0 0   0 0 0   0 0 4 -   4   9  2
1922 Browns -  2 0 9   6 2 1   0 0 x -  20 23 0
Every member of the starting nine hit safely.  Everyone except leadoff man Jack Tobin (3 for 5 with a double) drives in a run.  Seven Browns hit a total of 11 doubles, with Marty McManus collecting three.  Ken Williams doubles twice, singles and plates four.  Right-hander Elam Vangilder yields seven hits and four runs while collecting three hits (and a double) himself, driving in two.  With the Browns leading 20-0 in the 9th,Yadier Molina lines a grand slam to deep left-center.
Game 3 (143)  Browns win 13-3, are 3-0, Browns are 73-70 overall
2011 Cards    -  0 0 0   0 1 0   1 0 1 -   3   9  0
1922 Browns -  1 1 3   0 3 1   1 3 x -  13 18 1
Hall-of-Famer George Sisler goes 4-5, hits two home runs, doubles, drives in three and collects 10 total bases.   Catcher Pat Collins homers, doubles, goes 5-5 and drives in six.  Third-baseman Frank Ellerbe goes 3-3 with three doubles and plates two.  Dixie Davis ups his record to 17-2, allowing 6 hits and 2 runs in seven innings.
Game 4 (144)  Browns win 3-1, are 4-0, Browns are 74-70 overall
Browns lead-off hitter Jack Tobin hits his 13th home run, drives in his 79th run and goes 3-4.  In four games the 5-foot-8, 142-pound right-fielder is 12 for 19 (.631) with 20 total bases for a 1.052 slugging mark.  Tobin also guns down Albert Pujols at the plate in the fifth, when Pujols attempts to score on a Lance Berkman single.  Catcher Pat Collins, who doubles home Marty McManus in the 2nd, is 13-28 with 16 RBI in his last six games.  Ken Williams knocks in the remaining run with a fielder's choice in the 3rd - his 148th RBI.
Game 5 (145)  Browns win 12-4, are 5-0, Browns are 75-70 overall
George Sisler homers, doubles and drives in five.  After Cardinals left-fielder Matt Holliday homer s with SS Rafael Furcal onboard in the top of the first, Sisler doubles home Jack Tobin in the boom of the first - then scores the tying run himself when Ken Williams singles to center.  Sisler lines a grand slam to straightaway center.  The score remains 2-2 until the 4th.  SS Wally Gerber singles home DP partner Marty McManus to snap the tie.  Three batters later five-foot-eight Jack Tobin works a bases-loaded walk off of Ryan Franklin.   Then George Sisler unloads the bases, unloading on a Franklin fastball, crushing it over the centerfield fence for a grand slam.  The blast makes the score 8-2, effectively icing the game.
Game 6 (146)  Cardinals win 7-3, are 1-5, Browns are 75-71 overall
The 2011 World Champions win their first in six tries.  Chris Carpenter goes just five innings but picks up the win.  With the Cardinals trailing 2-1 in the 6th Rafael Furcal singles home Yadier Molina and Skip Schumaker to take a 3-2 lead.  David Freese pads it in the 7th, singling in Albert Pujols.  Pinch-hitter Nick Punto doubles down the left field line in the eight, making it a 5-2 game.
Game 7 (147)  Browns win 17-6, are 5-1, Browns are 76-71 overall
2011 Cards -     0 0 0   0 0 0   0 0 6 -   6   9  0
1922 Browns -  2 3 0   2 9 1  0 0 x -  17  19  1
The 1922 Browns pound Jake Westbrook and several relievers.  Browns righty Elam Vangilder is again the beneficiary of a huge lead - that he helps build.  Besides pitching eight shutout innings, Cape Girardeau native Vangilder lines two doubles and knocks in three.  He is now batting .327 with 20 RBI in 98 at-bats. Baby Doll Jacobson has 143 RBI after plating five.  He homers to right in the first with Ken Williams aboard to give the Browns a 2-0 lead, then clears the bases with a 3-run double in the Browns 9-run fifth.
Game 8 (148)  Cardinals win 5-4, are 2-6, Browns are 76-72 overall
Jaime Garcia outduels Dixie Davis, who loses just his 3rd game in 20 decisions.  Garcia goes six innings, allows five hits and just one run.  The Cardinals build up a 5-1 lead with RBI singles from Matt Holliday and David Freese (1st inning), home runs from Rafael Furcal (2nd) and Albert Pujols (3rd), and a pinch-hit RBI single by Allen Craig in the 6th.  Then they hold on, even as St. Louisian Jack Tobin makes it a one run drama with a two-run home run in the ninth.
Game 9 (149)  Browns win 19-8, are 7-2, Browns are 77-72 overall
1922 Browns -  1 1 3   0 3 3   3 2 3 -   19  21  1
2011 Cards   -    0 0 0  0 0 3  0 1 4 -    8   9   2
The two teams have moved to new Busch Stadium III, and moved forward 89 years.  But 41,772 fans of the 2011 Champs see their team pummeled yet again.  Despite the beating however, the fans find themselves cheering.  After all, the road uniforms of the visitors do have ST LOUIS emblazened across the front.  Lead-off man, 68-inch tall, 142-pound Jack Tobin is a lifetime St. Louisian.  And today the little lead-off man stands tall, hitting three home runs and driving in five.  After his third blast, a solo shot to right-center in the ninth, he is greeted with a five-minute standing ovation from 40,000 fellow citizens.  Tobin's performance makes him 22 for 40 (.550) with 46 total bases (1.150 slugging) against the 2011 Cardinals.  His 3 bombs give him 18 on the season, and his five RBI give him 89.  The only thing more remarkable than Tobin's day is that catcher Pat Collins matches it.  Collins also gets three hits. They all leave the yard.  And Collins also drives home five.  Collins has been on fire.  In his last eight games he has now homered six times and driven in 25 - with 5, 6 and 7 RBI games.  Against the 2011 Cardinals he is hitting .500 (19-38) with 18 RBI in nine games.  Marty McManus shows the 2011 fans that 1920's St. Louis had two hard-hitting second basemen.  He is the third Browns hitter to knock home five this day, rapping out four safeties in five tries, including his 36th double and his 12th home run, a 2-run job in the 3rd which put the Browns up 5-0.
Game 10 (150)  Browns win 15-6, are 8-2, Browns are 78-72 overall
1922 Browns -  2 0 2   2 1 3   3 0 2 -   15  20  1
2011 Cards   -    0 0 1  0 0 0  0 3 2 -    6   9   2
The beatings continue.  Left-fielder Ken Williams is the leader today, lining two doubles, a 2-run homer to right-center in the top of the first, and five hits in all.  He drives in six.  Williams has plenty of help.  Marty McManus drives in four (to give him nine in two games).  Hall-of-Famer 1st baseman George Sisler lines a 2-run homer to deep left-center in the 7th, giving the Browns a 12-1 lead, as the 1922 squad is well on the way to clinching the 14-game series - which they do two innings later.
Game 11 (151)  Cardinals win 6-2, are 3-8, Browns are 78-73 overall
Ken Williams hits his 39th home run and drives in his 159th run.  His actual 1922 totals are 39 and 155 - both career highs. Coincidently the 159 ribbies matches the career best of another Williams, who in 1922 was a toddler at 4121 Utah Street in North Park, San Diego.  But John Jay, Albert Pujols, Matt Holliday, Lance Berkman and David Freese all chip in with run-scoring hits - Lance getting two.  Berkman, batting left-handed, slices a double down the left-field line in the fourth to score Matt Holliday with the Cards' 1st run.  Berkman scores momens later when 2011 World Series MVP David Freese doubles him home...2-0.  Berkman again drives home Holliday in the 6th with a single to left-center - after Holliday himself doubles home John Jay.  The 4-1 lead is enough, as Jake Westbrook (1-2) holds down the fort - and the Browns.
Game 12 (152)  Browns win 21-7, are 9-3, Browns are 79-73 overall
1922 Browns -  2 1 2   8 0 1  2 0 5 -   21  23  0
2011 Cards   -    3 0 0  0 0 0  4 0 0 -    7   8   1
After the one game respite the 1922 Browns get back to their destructive ways, smacking around Jaime Garcia, Kyle McClellan and Ryan Franklin  Second baseman Marty McManus drives in six, giving him 15 in four games (5, 4, 0, 6).  He's gone 10-22 over that span with 17 total bases.  He's not alone of course, as the Browns hit blackjack.  Everyone hits safely.  Even righty hurler Elam Vangilder, who seems to have found his stroke, cracks out four hits in five tries.  "Any time I get to bat five times, I'm having a good day, no matter what..." muses the Cape Girardeau native and lifetime resident, who today has a great day.  He doubles three times, knocks in two.  All that and he only pitches into the seventh!  He departs with a 14-5 lead, a .350 (36-103) average, and ultimately, his 11th win.  The Browns do most of their damage in the 4th, when they put up a 'snowman'.  Marty McManus doubles twice,driving in a combined three runs.  Elam doubles in his two.  SS Wally Gerber doubles in yet another.  Jack Tobin chips in with a three-bagger to score Vangilder - and scores moments later on George Sisler's single.  Lost in all the carnage is Matt Holliday's five RBI day.  In fact, he puts the Cardinals ahead in the bottom of the first, 3-2, with a 3-run bomb to left-center.  Of course that was soon erased and forgotten.
Game 13 (153)  Browns win 7-0, are 10-3, Browns are 80-73 overall
Dixie Davis goes to 18-3, shutting out the Browns on just four hits.  It's been said before in this blog (Feb 2011 post), but it bears repeating.  If you are tempted to dismiss the Browns fine offense due to to Sportsman's Park (which nobody does to Stan the Man), then you MUST tip your cap to the Browns 1922 staff.  They paced the American League (3.38), pitching in Sportsman's Park half the time.  They beat the AL average of 4.03.  The other three staffs that did so, NY, Washington and the White Sox, all played in bigger parks.  Ken Williams smacks his 40th home run in the 1st with George Sisler onboard.  Williams' triple in the eighth also scores Sisler.  Marty McManus follows with his 13th home run, a solo shot to left that caps the scoring 7-0.
Game 14 (154)  Browns win 17-5, are 11-3, Browns are 81-73 overall
1922 Browns -  0 1 10  5 0 0   0 1 0 - 17  17  0
2011 Cards   -     0 0 4   0 0 0  0 0 1 -   5   11   0
In the 14-game series the 1922 Browns reach double figures eight times, top 15 runs six times, and score 20 twice.  Here they reach double figures in the third inning, which is highlighted by catcher Pat Collins' grand slam to left-center.  Ken Williams lines his 41st home run, a two-run blast to dead center, in his second at-bat of the inning.  His home run gives the Browns a 11-0 lead.  And even though the Cardinals score four in the bottom of the inning, they lose ground when the Browns answer with five in the fourth.

2011 Cardinals 14 games (3-11).
SS Rafael Furcal          .210, .274 SLG, 1 HR  5 RBI  

CF Jon Jay                     .305, .423 SLG, 1 HR  3 RBI

1B Albert Pujols           .288, .407 SLG, 1 HR 10 RBI  

LF Matt Holliday         .358, .566 SLG, 2 HR 14 RBI  

RF Lance Berkman     .298, .340 SLG, 0 HR  6 RBI

3B David Freese          .284, .391 SLG  0 HR 7 RBI

C   Yadier Molina        .283, .434 SLG, 2 HR  10 RBI

2B Skip Schumaker   .283, .327 SLG, 1 HR  4 RBI
UT Allen Craig             .368, .421 SLG, 0 HR 1 RBI
UT Ryan Theriot         .250, .500 SLG, 0 HR 0 RBI
P  Chris Carpenter        1-2, 7.20, 15 IP
P  Jaime Garcia             1-2, 10.53, 13 IP
P  Kyle Lohse                  0-3, 6.17, 11 IP
P  Jake Westbrook       1-2, 12.65, 10 IP
P  Edwin Jackson           0-1, 11.57, 4 IP

1922 Browns 14 games (11-3).

RF Jack Tobin              .485 (33-68), .912 SLG, 6 HR 15 RBI

1B George Sisler           .456 (31-68), .824 SLG, 4 HR 22 RBI

LF Ken Williams          .429 (27-63), .793 SLG, 5 HR 23 RBI

CF BD Jacobson           .364 (24-66), .561 SLG, 2 HR 20 RBI

2B Marty McManus    .379(25-66), .682 SLG, 2 HR 22 RBI

C Hank Severeid          .000 (0-0), .000 SLG, 0 HR 0 RBI

C Pat Collins                 .429 (24-56), .946 SLG, 8 HR 25 RBI

SS Wally Gerber          .302 (19-63), .413 SLG, 0 HR 6 RBI

3B Frank Ellerbe         .258 (16-62), .403 SLG, 0 HR 7 RBI

3B Eddie Foster           .500 (1-2), .500 SLG, 0 HR 1 RBI 

1922 Browns 154 games (81-73). FINAL STATISTICS

RF Jack Tobin              .330 (236-716), 350 TB, .489 SLG, 18 HR 93 RBI

1B George Sisler           .395 (279-706), 383 TB, .542 SLG, 14 HR 112 RBI

LF Ken Williams          .316 (207-655), 375 TB, .573 SLG, 41 HR 166 RBI

CF BD Jacobson           .343 (230-671), 308 TB, .459 SLG, 7 HR 151 RBI

2B Marty McManus    .316 (216-684), 312 TB, .456 SLG, 13 HR 145 RBI

C Hank Severeid          .339 (120-354), 157 TB, .444 SLG, 0 HR 51 RBI

C Pat Collins                 .341 (105-308), 184 TB,  .597 SLG, 18 HR 86 RBI

SS Wally Gerber          .299 (187-624), 223 TB, .357 SLG, 0 HR 57 RBI

3B Frank Ellerbe         .265 (100-378), 132 TB, .349 SLG, 1 HR 45 RBI

3B Eddie Foster           .264 (58-220), 64 TB, .295 SLG, 0 HR 25 RBI 

Browns Catchers         .340 (225-662), 341 TB,  .515 SLG, 18 HR 137 RBI
P  Urban Shocker        10-17, 5.31, 229 IP
P  Elam Vangilder       11-15, 5.59, 235 IP  .350 (36-103), 19 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR 22 RBI
P  Dixie Davis                18-3, 4.14, 187 IP 
P  Ray Kolp                     7-11, 5.61, 130 IP
P  Rasty Wright            11-6, 5.13, 142 IP                                       

1926 * 1931 * 1934 * 1942 * 1944 * 1946 * 1964 *1967 *1982 * 2006 * 2011

Just to recap how the great STL Cardinals Championship teams did against the mighty but forgotten 1922 STL Browns

1926 World Champion STL Cardinals (5-9)

1931 World Champion STL Cardinals (7-7)

1934 World Champion STL Cardinals (7-7)

1942 World Champion STL Cardinals (6-8)

1944 World Champion STL Cardinals (10-4)

1946 World Champion STL Cardinals (6-8)

1964 World Champion STL Cardinals (7-7)

1967 World Champion STL Cardinals (8-6)
1982 World Champion STL Cardinals (8-6)
2006 World Champion STL Cardinals (6-8)
2011 World Champion STL Cardinals (3-11)

Overall St. Louis Cardinals record: 73-81
Overall 1922 St. Louis Browns record: 81-73

Browns win five 14-game series
Cardinals win three 14-game series
Three series tied 7-7