April 15th, 1934 - The 1934 St. Louis Browns

Before they left St. Louis to become the Baltimore Orioles, the Browns competed with the Washington Senators for the cellar in the American League. In 1934, St. Louis finished 6th, edging out the Senators by only a single game, with a record of 67-85. They were managed by former Cardinal great Roger Hornsby, who would also get to bat 23 times in the season. At 38, Hornsby was arguably still the best player on the team. Only Sam West (of) had a better than average year among St. Louis hitters. The Browns are saved only by a starting pitching rotation consistently better than average, with Bobo Newsom the best. The bullpen is solid, if unspectacular. This is the first of Hornsby's four seasons at the helm. It's also his best. The Browns will alternate between 7th and 8th place for the rest of the decade.

April 14th, 1934 - The 1934 Pittsburgh Pirates

The 1934 Pittsburgh Pirates finished just under .500 at 74-76, in fifth place. Paul Waner (of) and Arky Vaughan (ss) were the team's best hitters that year. Larry French is a strong starter and Waite Hoyt is among the best relief pitchers in the game. Third baseman Pie Traynor will take over as manager during the season and continue to manage the Pirates for the rest of the decade, during which they'll improve and make a run at the pennant in 1938, falling just two games back of the Cubs.

March 30th, 1934 - The 1934 Philadelphia A's

The 1934 Philadelphia A's are a shadow of their recent selves. Having won the World Series in 1929 and 1930, and the AL pennant in 1931, the A's have been slowly sliding, and would reach fifth place in 1934 with a record of 68-82. They still have Jimmie Foxx (1b). Bob Johnson (of) and Pinky Higgins (3b) also provide solid hitting. Their starting pitching, however, is mediocre. George Caster, a reliever, is their best pitcher in 1934. Connie Mack is still managing after 34 years. Even more amazingly, he's got another 16 to go before he hangs it up after the 1950 season. Still, the A's slide will continue. Next year, they'll drop to 8th and will not do better than 7th for the rest of the decade.

March 26th, 1934 - The 1934 Philadelphia Phillies

"At least we're better than the Reds," should have been the motto of the 7th place, 56-93 Phils. In 1934, outfielder Johnny Moore provides what offense exists, and the Phils will always have a chance when Curt Davis starts. Euel Moore and Phill Collins are also good starters. Reliever Syl Johnson rounds out what is good about the Phils pitching staff, however, meaning the the Phils managers have a lot of tough decisions when deciding whether to yank one of those pitchers for a pinch hitter. The best Phils year of the 1930s came in 1932, when they finished fourth. For the rest of the decade, they finished seventh or eighth place ever year.

February 22nd, 1934 - 1934 Cleveland Indians

The 1934 Cleveland Indians finished third in the American League at 85-69. They are managed by arguably the greatest pitcher of all time, Walter Johnson. Earl Averill (of) and Hal Trosky (1b) are their strongest hitters. Mel Harder is their star starting pitcher, with strong relief from Belve Bean and Lloyd Brown. The Indians are a steady team in the 1930s, finishing mostly in 3rd place, never higher, nor worse than 5th.

February 21st, 1934 - The 1934 Cincinnati Reds

The 1934 Cincinnati Reds finished at the bottom of the National League with a 52-99 record. The struggling Reds would go through three managers that season. Future Hall of Famer Chick Hafey, who had spent most of his career with the Cardinals, was in his third season as a Red and the best hitter on the 1934 Reds. Paul Derringer and Benny Frey were solid starters, and Dan Brennan was adequate out of the bullpen. No other Reds pitcher had a season worth mentioning. The Reds performance was no surprise. They had finished last in the previous three seasons. In 1938, Bill McKechnie takes the team over and turns it around, finishing fourth in 1938,and then winning the pennant in 1939 and the World Series in 1940.

February 15th, 1934 - The 1934 Brooklyn Dodgers

The 1934 Dodgers are not yet the powerhouse they'll become once Branch Rickey arrives in the 1940s. Their closest brush to greatness in 1934 comes from their manager - Casey Stengel. Still, "dem Bums" will finish sixth at 71-81. The Dodgers have some decent hitters: Sam Leslie (1b), Buzz Boyle (of), Donny Taylor (of), and Len Koenecke (of). They only have one quality starting pitcher, though, Van Mungo, and one relief pitcher, Dutch Leonard. The rest of the pitching staff runs the gamut from subpar to awful. The Dodgers won't improve much over the next two years under Stengel, and he'll be replaced. At the end of the decade, Leo Durocher will take control.

February 14th, 1934 - The 1934 New York Yankees

The 1934 New York Yankees finished second in 1934 with a record of 94-60. Babe Ruth is at the end of his career. This is his last season in pinstripes. Next year he will be in Boston (NL). Still, he will appear in 106 games and have an exceptional year by any standards other than his own. Lou Gehrig (1b) and Bill Dickey (c) are the other big Yankee hitting stars in 1934. Lefty Gomez and Johnny Allen are the Yankees big starting pitchers, with Johnny Murphy coming out of the bullpen. The Yankees are in between World Series at this point. Having won it in 1932, they'll win it again from 1936 through 1939. The legendary Joe McCarthy is in his fourth year as the Yankees' skipper.

January 15th, 1934 - The 1934 Boston Braves

Boston had a team in each league until the Braves moved to Milwaukee after the 1952 season. The Braves were one of the dominant teams in early National League history (the period prior to the formation of the American League in 1901). Boston's 1934 National League team, however, would finish fourth with a 78-73 record. Wally Berger (of) was their big slugger, but not their only accomplished batsman. Similarly, Fred Frankhouse anchored a fairly solid starting rotation. Boston's lack of a competent reliever, however, will make it difficult to win the close ones in late innings. The Braves slid to the bottom of the league in 1935, and experienced near last finishes for the rest of the decade. In 1938, Casey Stengel took the reins, but will not be able to accomplish anything before his departure after the 1942 season.

January 14th, 1934 - The 1934 Boston Red Sox

The 1934 Boston Red Sox finished fourth with a record of 76 and 76. Roy Johnson (of) and Bill Werber (3b) were their best hitters 1934. Wes Ferrell and Fritz Ostermuller were their star starting pitchers with Herb Pennock and Joe Mulligan the leaders of a strong bullpen. One note of interest is Lefty Grove. One of the all time greatest pitchers in baseball, Grove has had a terrific career prior to 1934, and will have a terrific career after it. During 1934, however, he was playing injured, the result of letting a bad toothache go untended long enough for it to effect his pitching. Other than his first year in the league and his last, Grove had an incredible ERA for every year EXCEPT 1934. The Beantowners manager is Bucky Harris, who had just left the managing job in Detroit. Their fourth place finish will be the best for Boston until 1938. In 1935, Joe Cronin will be sold to Boston by his father in law, Washington Nationals owner Clark Griffith, and he'll play shortstop and replace Harris (who will move to Washington to manage) managing from 1935 through 1948.

January 13th, The 1934 Chicago Cubs

The 1934 Chicago Cubs finished third in the NL with a 86-65 record. Outfielders Babe Herman, Kiki Cuyler and Chuck Klein, along with Catcher Gabby Hartnett, provided plenty of offense. Lon Warneke and Bill Lee anchored a strong starting rotation. Bud Tinning provided strong relief, but was the only real Chicago reliever. Charlie Grimm's Cubs had won the pennant only two years before, and would win again the next year (1935) and in 1938.

January 12th, 1934 - The 1934 Chicago White Sox

The 1934 Chicago White Sox finished in the cellar with an abysmal record of 53-99 despite a lineup that includes Hall of Famers Al Simmons, Luke Appling and Zeke Bonura. One the primary reasons was their poor starting rotation. George Earnshaw is the only starter who had a good year. Even worse was their bullpen. Only Harry Kinzy can be called "adequate" in 1934. The Sox changed managers in the middle of the year, replacing Lew Fonseca with Jimmie Dykes. Dykes partially turned things around, and the Sox finished mostly third and fourth for the rest of the 30s.

January 10th, 1934 - The 1934 St. Louis Cardinals

The 1934 St. Louis Cardinals won the World Series in seven games over Detroit. Their 95-58 record was just good enough to win the National League Pennant over the New York Giants, who lost several games down the stretch to the lowly Dodgers thereby handing the pennant to the Cards. The 1934 Cards were led by Ripper Collins (1b) and Joe Medwick (of) on offense. The real heart of the 34 Cards, though, lie in their starting rotation with Dizzy Dean, his brother Paul, and Bill Walker. Jesse Haines and Dazzy Vance provide solid relief out of the bullpen. The Cards, who also won the World Series in 1931 would make runs at the pennant in 1935, 1936 and 1939, coming up just short. Still, the 1930s Cards, known as "the Gashouse Gang," provided fans with thrilling baseball, and were almost always in the thick of the pennant races in this era.

January 9th, 1934 - The 1934 Detroit Tigers

The 1934 Detroit Tigers won the AL pennant in 1934 with a record of 101-54. They were "star studded" with hitters such as Charlie Gehringer (2b) and player-manager Mickey Cochrane (c). Hank Greenberg (1b) is in his second year in 1934. Their star pitchers include "Schoolboy" Rowe and Tommy Bridges. The Tigers turned it around in 1934, having finished 5th in 1932 and 1933 under previous manager Bucky Harris. Although they lost the 1934 World Series to the St. Louis Cardinals in a seven game series, they won the World Series in 1935. They finished second in 1936 and 1937, before sliding to the middle of the league at the end of the decade.

One of Detroit's strengths in this period was its infield, which historian Bill James calls the best of the decade. Defensively, its anchor is second baseman Charlie Gehringer, who was as great in the field as at the plate. 3rd baseman Marv Owen and Shortstop Billy Rogell were also very solid fielders. The infield's only defensive weakness is first baseman Hank Greenberg. At the plate, however, Greenberg provides the power among the four.

January 8th, 1934 - The 1934 New York Giants

In real life 1934 (IRL), the 1933 defending World Series Winners New York Giants just missed the pennant by two games. Mel Ott, Jo-Jo Moore and player/manager Bill Terry (3b) provide the team's offensive spark. Carl Hubbell's phenomonal year overshadowed other superb seasons by NY pitchers Freddie Fitzsimmons and Hal Schumaker. Even New York's fourth starter, Roy Parmelee was better than average. The Giants bullpen was solid, but without a real "lights out" closer. They won two more pennants (1936 and 1937) before the decade ended. Player-manager Terry was just the second manager in Giants' history, having taken over for the legendary John McGraw during the 1932 season before leading the Giants to a World Series victory in 1933.

January 7th, 1934 - The 1934 Washington Nationals

The Washington Nationals (known informally to their fans as the Senators) were the defending American League champions entering into 1934. Manager-Shortstop Joe Cronin, however, found 1934 rougher sledding, and the Nationals were unable to repeat, falling to 7th with a record of 66-86. Heine Manush was the Nats hitting star that year. Their starting rotation was, with the exception of Lefty Stewart, inadequate. The brightest spot on the Nats was their bullpen, led by Bobby Burke. The Nats finished the rest of the decade no higher than third, but no lower than sixth, making it a successful one by their standards.