NL Player of the WeekJerome (Jay?) "Dizzy" Dean
"...the personalification of a backward, uneducated, unsophisticard athlete."
-Bill James
"Dizzy had two personalities. He let his friends and families see the real one. The rest of the world saw the more colorful Dizzy Dean, the one the media preserved for eternity. In reality he was as refined a gentleman as ever I looked it from across a table...Dean knew he could make more money being old Diz than being Jerome Dean, so old Diz he was."
-Elden Auker, Sleeper Cars and Flannel UniformsPerhaps no other player epitmizes the 1934 season like Cardinals' pitching ace "Dizzy Dean." A solid NL MVP winner, Dean (HA23) went 30-7 with a 2.66 ERA. He would finish in the top 6 in the league for ERA every year between 1934 and 1937. He was traded to the Cubs after the 1937 season, and had come continued success in 1938 and 1939, but did not pitch anywhere near as many innings as he had in his prime days in St. Louis.
Dean had one of the truly outsized personalities in baseball history, and stories about him abound. Most centered on his outlandish, folksy "country ways." A "hick" and "happy rube" who made us believe that those who did not master the details could still thrive as Bill James describes him. In his chapter on Dean, though, Elden Auker makes clear that much, if not all, of Dean's shenanigans were an act to increase his entertainment value. For instance, Dean's exact name is unclear because he used to amuse himself by giving different names, and life accounts, to different reporters.
Dean's legend may outshine his overall playing record. He remains well known, and had a few truly outstanding years (1934-7), as well as being the star for the Cardinals in their 7 game 1934 World Series victory over Detroit (3 GS, 2 wins, 1 loss, 1.73 ERA). However, his overall statistics best compare to pitchers such as Don Newcombe and Sal Maglie, neither of whom are in the Hall of Fame. Dean's career may have been shortened by an injury to his toe sustained in the 1937 All Star game, which forced him to change his throwing motion, which in turn ruined his arm.
After his playing days, Dean became a radio announcer for the Cardinals and the Browns, known mostly for his colorful countrified language ("slud into third base"). After a string of particularly poor performances by the Browns' pitching staff, he announced that he could STILL pitch better than 9 out of 10 pitchers. As a publicity stunt, the Browns took Dean up on his offer. Six years after his 1941 retirement, Dean suited up for one game as a St. Louis Brown. He pitched four innings, scattering 3 hits and one walk, but yielding no runs. After knocking a single, the 37 year old Dean pulled a hamstring and left the game. Dean left the game and returned to broadcast the rest of the game, saying "I said I can pitch better than nine of the ten guys on the staff, and I can. But I'm done. Talking's my game now, and I'm just glad that muscle I pulled wasn't in my throat."
Dean was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1953.
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