1944 St. Louis Cardinals season
Major League Baseball season
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The 1944 St. Louis Cardinals season was the team's 63rd season in St. Louis, Missouri and the 53rd season in the National League. The Cardinals went 105 wins and 49 losses during the season and finished first in the National League. In the World Series, they met their town rivals, the St. Louis Browns. They won the series in 6 games to win their 5th World Series title.
| 1944 St. Louis Cardinals | |
|---|---|
| World Series champions National League champions | |
| League | National League |
| Ballpark | Sportsman's Park |
| City | St. Louis, Missouri |
| Record | 105–49 (.682) |
| League place | 1st |
| Owner | Sam Breadon |
| Manager | Billy Southworth |
| Radio | WEW/WTMV (Dizzy Dean, Johnny O'Hara) |
Regular season
Shortstop Marty Marion won the MVP Award this year, batting .267, with 6 home runs and 63 RBIs. This was the third consecutive year a Cardinal won the MVP Award, with Mort Cooper winning in 1942 and Stan Musial winning in 1943. Marion was the first shortstop in the history of the National League to win the award.[1]
Season standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Louis Cardinals | 105 | 49 | .682 | — | 54–22 | 51–27 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 90 | 63 | .588 | 14½ | 49–28 | 41–35 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 89 | 65 | .578 | 16 | 45–33 | 44–32 |
| Chicago Cubs | 75 | 79 | .487 | 30 | 35–42 | 40–37 |
| New York Giants | 67 | 87 | .435 | 38 | 39–36 | 28–51 |
| Boston Braves | 65 | 89 | .422 | 40 | 38–40 | 27–49 |
| Brooklyn Dodgers | 63 | 91 | .409 | 42 | 37–39 | 26–52 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 61 | 92 | .399 | 43½ | 29–49 | 32–43 |
Record vs. opponents
Sources: | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | BSN | BRO | CHC | CIN | NYG | PHI | PIT | STL | |||||
| Boston | — | 9–13 | 11–11 | 8–14 | 9–13 | 11–11–1 | 9–13 | 8–14 | |||||
| Brooklyn | 13–9 | — | 8–14–1 | 8–14 | 10–12 | 16–6 | 4–18 | 4–18 | |||||
| Chicago | 11–11 | 14–8–1 | — | 9–13–1 | 10–12 | 13–9 | 12–10–1 | 6–16 | |||||
| Cincinnati | 14–8 | 14–8 | 13–9–1 | — | 15–7 | 13–19 | 12–10 | 8–14 | |||||
| New York | 13–9 | 12–10 | 12–10 | 7–15 | — | 10–12 | 7–15–1 | 6–16 | |||||
| Philadelphia | 11–11–1 | 6–16 | 9–13 | 9–13 | 12–10 | — | 9–12 | 5–17 | |||||
| Pittsburgh | 13–9 | 18–4 | 10–12–1 | 10–12 | 15–7–1 | 12–9 | — | 12–10–3 | |||||
| St. Louis | 14–8 | 18–4 | 16–6 | 14–8 | 16–6 | 17–5 | 10–12–3 | — | |||||
Roster
| 1944 St. Louis Cardinals | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
|
Catchers
Infielders |
Outfielders
|
Manager
Coaches
| ||||||
Player stats
| = Indicates team leader |
| = Indicates league leader |
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
| Pos | Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | Walker Cooper | 112 | 397 | 126 | .317 | 13 | 72 |
| 1B | Ray Sanders | 154 | 601 | 177 | .295 | 12 | 102 |
| 2B | Emil Verban | 146 | 498 | 128 | .257 | 0 | 43 |
| SS | Marty Marion | 144 | 506 | 135 | .267 | 6 | 63 |
| 3B | Whitey Kurowski | 149 | 555 | 150 | .270 | 20 | 87 |
| LF | Stan Musial | 146 | 568 | 197* | .347 | 12 | 94 |
| CF | Johnny Hopp | 139 | 592 | 177 | .336 | 11 | 72 |
| RF | Danny Litwhiler | 140 | 492 | 130 | .264 | 15 | 82 |
- Tied with Phil Cavarretta (Chicago)
Other batters
Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ken O'Dea | 85 | 265 | 66 | .249 | 6 | 37 |
| Augie Bergamo | 80 | 192 | 55 | .286 | 2 | 19 |
| Debs Garms | 73 | 149 | 30 | .201 | 0 | 5 |
| George Fallon | 69 | 141 | 28 | .199 | 1 | 9 |
| Pepper Martin | 40 | 86 | 24 | .279 | 2 | 4 |
| John Antonelli | 8 | 21 | 4 | .190 | 0 | 1 |
| Bob Keely | 1 | 0 | 0 | .--- | 0 | 0 |
Pitching
Starting pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mort Cooper | 34 | 252.1 | 22 | 7 | 2.46 | 97 |
| Max Lanier | 33 | 224.1 | 17 | 12 | 2.65 | 141 |
| Ted Wilks | 36 | 207.2 | 17 | 4 | 2.64 | 88 |
| Harry Brecheen | 30 | 189.1 | 16 | 5 | 2.85 | 88 |
| Red Munger | 21 | 121.1 | 11 | 3 | 1.34 | 55 |
| Harry Gumbert | 10 | 61.1 | 4 | 2 | 2.49 | 16 |
Other pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Al Jurisich | 30 | 130.0 | 7 | 9 | 3.39 | 53 |
| Bud Byerly | 9 | 42.1 | 2 | 2 | 3.40 | 13 |
| Bill Trotter | 2 | 6.0 | 0 | 1 | 13.50 | 0 |
Relief pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Freddy Schmidt | 37 | 7 | 3 | 5 | 3.15 | 58 |
| Blix Donnelly | 27 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2.12 | 45 |
| Mike Naymick | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.50 | 1 |
1944 World Series
NL St. Louis Cardinals (4) vs. AL St. Louis Browns (2)
| Game | Score | Date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Browns 2, Cardinals 1 | October 4 |
| 2 | Cardinals 3, Browns 2 (11 innings) | October 5 |
| 3 | Browns 6, Cardinals 2 | October 6 |
| 4 | Cardinals 5, Browns 1 | October 7 |
| 5 | Cardinals 2, Browns 0 | October 8 |
| 6 | Cardinals 3, Browns 1 | October 9 |
Source:[2]
Farm system
| Level | Team | League | Manager |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA | Columbus Red Birds | American Association | Nick Cullop |
| AA | Rochester Red Wings | International League | Ken Penner |
| AA | Sacramento Solons | Pacific Coast League | Earl Sheely |
| B | Allentown Cardinals | Interstate League | Ollie Vanek |
| B | Lynchburg Cardinals | Piedmont League | George Ferrell |
| D | Johnson City Cardinals | Appalachian League | George Smith |
| D | Lima Red Birds | Ohio State League | Runt Marr and Jack Norris |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Lynchburg[3]