1944_St._Louis_Cardinals_season
1944 St. Louis Cardinals season
Major League Baseball team season
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 105–49 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.
| 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 | |||
| Owners | Sam Breadon | |||
| Managers | Billy Southworth | |||
| Radio | WEW/WTMV (Dizzy Dean, Johnny O'Hara) | |||
| ||||
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
| National League | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Louis Cardinals | 105 | 49 | 0.682 | — | 54–22 | 51–27 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 90 | 63 | 0.588 | 14½ | 49–28 | 41–35 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 89 | 65 | 0.578 | 16 | 45–33 | 44–32 |
| Chicago Cubs | 75 | 79 | 0.487 | 30 | 35–42 | 40–37 |
| New York Giants | 67 | 87 | 0.435 | 38 | 39–36 | 28–51 |
| Boston Braves | 65 | 89 | 0.422 | 40 | 38–40 | 27–49 |
| Brooklyn Dodgers | 63 | 91 | 0.409 | 42 | 37–39 | 26–52 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 61 | 92 | 0.399 | 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
| ||||||
| = Indicates team 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 |
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 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Red Munger | 21 | 121.1 | 11 | 3 | 1.34 | 55 |
| Freddy Schmidt | 37 | 114.1 | 7 | 3 | 3.15 | 58 |
| Harry Gumbert | 10 | 61.1 | 4 | 2 | 2.49 | 16 |
| Bill Trotter | 2 | 6.0 | 0 | 1 | 13.50 | 0 |
Note: Freddie Schmidt led the Cardinals in saves with 5.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blix Donnelly | 27 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2.12 | 45 |
| Al Jurisich | 30 | 7 | 9 | 1 | 3.39 | 53 |
| Bud Byerly | 9 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3.40 | 13 |
| Mike Naymick | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.50 | 1 |
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 |
| 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[2]
- Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p. 152, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, NY, ISBN 978-0-451-22363-0
- Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, N.C.: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007
- 1944 St. Louis Cardinals at Baseball Reference
- 1944 St. Louis Cardinals team page at www.baseball-almanac.com
| STL | This article relating to a St. Louis Cardinals season is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |