The Gashouse Gang

New York: William Morrow and Company, Inc, 1976. First Printing [Stated]. Hardcover. Good/Good. 242 pages. Illustrations. DJ has some wear, tears, soiling and chips. Includes; Part I--The Gathering of the Gang; Stormy Weather; Spring Training; Part II--The Championship Race; Opening Daze; Dusty Trail to the Top; Trouble in June; Death Valley; Revolt in August; The Deans of September; Seven Days in October; Part III--Winding Up With the Gang; Exit Dynasty, Enter Legend; Jim and Jack and Spud; Binghamton's Wild Bill; A Visit with Pop; The Pinch Hitter; Almost There; Muscles and Me. Also includes Batting Statistics and Pitching Records and Index. Robert E. Hood was a prolific writer who at one point in his career was the editor of Boy's Life. From a review in The New York Times: In 1934 the St. Louis Cardinals, known as the Gashouse Gang for their disreputable appearance, came from behind to win the National League pennant, and took the World Series from the Detroit Tigers. Frankie Frisch was player manager, Pepper Martin, third baseman, Leo Durocher, shortstop, Ducky Medwick, left fielder and Dizzy and Paul Dean were pitching. Except when they were on strike. In "The Gashouse Gang," Robert E. Hood has written the history of the season, with backward glances at players' earlier careers; then he has interviewed some surviving players, including Joe Medwick, Bill Hallahan and Tex Carleton. "Baseball," says the author at the beginning of this book, "is the only American game that can sustain...a lifetime fantasy." Maybe that's why baseball brings forth such excellent writing. The Gashouse Gang was the nickname of the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team of the early 1930s. Between 1930 and 1934, St. Louis won 3 National League pennants (1930, 1931, & 1934), and 2 World Series titles (1931 & 1934). Some baseball writers use the nickname to refer to a multi-year period. For example, Jack Cavanaugh has used the phrase, "the raucous Gas House era in the 1930s." The nickname Gashouse Gang, by most accounts, came from the team's generally very shabby appearance and rough-and-tumble tactics. An opponent once stated the Cardinals players usually went into the field in unwashed, dirty, and smelly uniforms, which alone spread horror among their rivals. According to one account, shortstop Leo Durocher coined the term. He and his teammates were speaking derisively of the American League, and the consensus was that the Redbirds—should they prevail in the National League race—would handle whoever won the AL pennant. The phrase gas house referred to factories that turned coal into town gas for lighting and cooking. The plants were noted for their foul smell and were typically located near railroad yards. Another explanation holds that the name comes from Dizzy Dean. The story goes that during Spring training Dean bought a local gas station and hung out there when he wasn't playing. The team was led by general manager Branch Rickey, playing manager Frankie Frisch and included other stars such as Joe Medwick and Ripper Collins. The 1934 team featured five regulars who hit at least .300, a 30-game winner in Dizzy Dean (the last National League pitcher to win 30 games in a single season, and the last pitcher in Major League Baseball to do so until Denny McLain accomplished the feat for the 1968 Detroit Tigers), and four All-Stars, including player-manager Frisch. Not among the All-Stars was Collins, the first baseman who led the team in sixteen offensive categories with stats like a .333 batting average, a .615 slugging percentage, 35 home runs, and 128 runs batted in. In the 1934 World Series, the Cards and Tigers split the first two games in Detroit, and the Tigers took two of the next three in St. Louis. St. Louis proceeded to win the next two, including an 11-0 embarrassment of the Tigers in Detroit to win the Series. The stars for the Cards were Medwick, who had a .379 batting average with one of St. Louis's two home runs and a series-high five RBI, and the Dean Brothers, who combined for all four of the team's wins with 28 strikeouts and a 1.43 earned run average.