The 1939

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

season was the team's 58th season in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

and the 48th season in the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

. The Cardinals went 92–61 during the season and finished 2nd in the National League.

Regular season

Season summary

Shortly after the end of the 1938 season, owner

Sam Breadon Samuel Wilson Breadon (July 26, 1876 – May 8, 1949) was an American executive who served as the president and majority owner of the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1920 through 1947. During that time, the Cardinals ro ...

appointed former reserve Cardinals outfielder

Ray Blades Francis Raymond Blades (August 6, 1896 – May 18, 1979) was an American left fielder, manager, coach and scout in Major League Baseball (MLB). Scouted on the sandlots by Rickey A native of McLeansboro, Illinois, Blades was first scouted as a bas ...

as manager. He had managed many of the organization's top young players in Columbus, Ohio, and

Rochester, New York Rochester () is a city in the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, and Yonkers, with a population of 211,328 at the 2020 United States census. Located in W ...

. A feisty skipper, Blades guided the Cardinals back into the

pennant race The Major League Baseball postseason is an elimination tournament held after the conclusion of the Major League Baseball (MLB) regular season. Starting in 2022, the playoffs for each league— American and National—consist of two best-of-thre ...

. The Cincinnati Reds took over first place on May 26 and never fell back. The Cards seized second place at midseason and played at a .708 clip in the final 65 games-including a 29–6 record at home the second half, but never could catch the Reds. The Redbirds made Cincinnati work down the stretch, though. They took two games from the Reds with the third of the three-game series washed out as a tie, and that pulled the Cards to only 3 and a half games back. Twice the Cardinals drew a game closer in September. An old trade haunted the Cards:

Paul Derringer Samuel Paul Derringer (October 17, 1906 – November 17, 1987) was an American right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for three National League teams from 1931 to 1945, primarily the Cincinnati Reds. He won 20 games for Cincin ...

, a former St. Louis farmhand, went 25–7 for the Reds. That record included a 5–3 victory in September that clinched the pennant for the Reds. The best offense in the league was at least partially responsible for the Cardinals' dramatic turn. They led the NL in runs and made the most of their speed to head the league in doubles and triples. Their .294 team batting average was 16 points higher than anyone else's. The trade that sent

Dizzy Dean Jay Hanna "Dizzy" Dean (January 16, 1910 – July 17, 1974), also known as Jerome Herman Dean (both the 1910 and 1920 Censuses show his name as "Jay"), was an American professional baseball pitcher. During his Major League Baseball (MLB) career ...

to the Chicago Cubs actually paid some dividends.

Curt Davis Curtis Benton Davis (September 7, 1903 – October 12, 1965) was an American Major League Baseball pitcher. Even though he did not reach the big leagues until he was 30, the right-hander was a two-time National League All-Star over a 13-year ...

, one of the two pitchers picked up in the deal, led the Redbirds' staff in almost every category.

Clyde Shoun Clyde Mitchell Shoun (March 20, 1912 – March 20, 1968) was an American professional baseball player. A left-handed pitcher, he was born in Mountain City, Tennessee, and known as "Hardrock", due to his fastball. He was the younger brother of pro ...

, the other ex-Cub, worked a team-high 51 games out of the bullpen. With rookie

Mort Cooper Morton Cecil Cooper (March 2, 1913 – November 17, 1958) was an American baseball pitcher who played eleven seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played from 1938 to 1949 for the St. Louis Cardinals, Boston Braves, New York Giants, and Chi ...

winning 12 games and working more than 200 innings, the Cards pitchers posted the league's second-best ERA.

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Roster

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

''Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in''

Other batters

''Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in''

Pitching

Starting pitchers

''Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts''

Other pitchers

''Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts''

Relief pitchers

''Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts''

Awards and honors

Cardinals in the 1939 All-Star Game

* Pitcher

* Outfielder

Joe Medwick Joseph Michael Medwick (November 24, 1911 – March 21, 1975), nicknamed "Ducky" and "Muscles", was an American Major League Baseball player. A left fielder with the St. Louis Cardinals during the " Gashouse Gang" era of the 1930s, he also pla ...

* First baseman

Johnny Mize John Robert Mize (January 7, 1913 – June 2, 1993), nicknamed "Big Jawn" and "The Big Cat", was an American professional baseball player, coach and scout. He played as a first baseman in Major League Baseball (MLB) for 15 seasons between 1936 ...

* Outfielder Terry Moore * Pitcher

Lon Warneke Lonnie Warneke (March 28, 1909 – June 23, 1976) (pronounced WARN-a-key), nicknamed "The Arkansas Hummingbird", was a Major League Baseball player, Major League umpire, county judge, and businessman from Montgomery County, Arkansas, whose caree ...

Farm system

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Rochester, Sacramento, Asheville, Kilgore, Springfield, Albuquerque, Cambridge, Albany, Washington, GastoniaJohnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., ''The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball'', 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007

Notes

References

1939 St. Louis Cardinals at Baseball Reference

1939 St. Louis Cardinals team page at www.baseball-almanac.com
{{St. Louis Cardinals St. Louis Cardinals seasons Saint Louis Cardinals season

St Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...