1939 St. Louis Cardinals season

1939 St. Louis Cardinals
League	National League
Ballpark	Sportsman's Park
City	St. Louis, Missouri
Record	92–61 (.601)
League place	2nd
Owners	Sam Breadon
General managers	Branch Rickey
Managers	Ray Blades
Radio	KMOX (France Laux, Cy Casper) KWK (Johnny O'Hara, Jim Bottomley)
Stats	ESPN.com Baseball Reference
← 1938 Seasons 1940 →

The 1939 St. Louis Cardinals season was the team's 58th season in St. Louis, Missouri and the 48th season in the National League. The Cardinals went 92–61 during the season and finished second in the National League.

Shortly after the end of the 1938 season, owner Sam Breadon appointed former reserve Cardinals outfielder Ray Blades as manager. He had managed many of the organization's top young players in Columbus, Ohio, and Rochester, New York.

A feisty skipper, Blades guided the Cardinals back into the pennant race. The Cincinnati Reds took over first place on May 26 and never fell back. The Cards seized second place at midseason and played at a .708 clip in the final 65 games-including a 29–6 record at home the second half, but never could catch the Reds.

The Redbirds made Cincinnati work down the stretch, though. They took two games from the Reds with the third of the three-game series washed out as a tie, and that pulled the Cards to only 3 and a half games back. Twice the Cardinals drew a game closer in September.

An old trade haunted the Cards: Paul Derringer, a former St. Louis farmhand, went 25–7 for the Reds. That record included a 5–3 victory in September that clinched the pennant for the Reds.

The best offense in the league was at least partially responsible for the Cardinals' dramatic turn. They led the NL in runs and made the most of their speed to head the league in doubles and triples. Their .294 team batting average was 16 points higher than anyone else's.

The trade that sent Dizzy Dean to the Chicago Cubs actually paid some dividends. Curt Davis, one of the two pitchers picked up in the deal, led the Redbirds' staff in almost every category. Clyde Shoun, the other ex-Cub, worked a team-high 51 games out of the bullpen. With rookie Mort Cooper winning 12 games and working more than 200 innings, the Cards pitchers posted the league's second-best ERA.

• v
• t
• e

National League

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Cincinnati Reds	97	57	.630	—	55‍–‍25	42‍–‍32
St. Louis Cardinals	92	61	.601	4½	51‍–‍27	41‍–‍34
Brooklyn Dodgers	84	69	.549	12½	51‍–‍27	33‍–‍42
Chicago Cubs	84	70	.545	13	44‍–‍34	40‍–‍36
New York Giants	77	74	.510	18½	41‍–‍33	36‍–‍41
Pittsburgh Pirates	68	85	.444	28½	35‍–‍42	33‍–‍43
Boston Bees	63	88	.417	32½	37‍–‍35	26‍–‍53
Philadelphia Phillies	45	106	.298	50½	29‍–‍44	16‍–‍62

1939 National League record v t e Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
Team	BOS	BR	CHC	CIN	NYG	PHI	PIT	STL
Boston	—	10–12–1	6–16	6–16	10–11	13–8	9–12	9–13
Brooklyn	12–10–1	—	11–11–2	10–12	12–10	17–4–1	13–9	9–13
Chicago	16–6	11–11–2	—	10–12	11–11	12–10	14–8	10–12
Cincinnati	16–6	12–10	12–10	—	11–11	19–3	16–6	11–11–2
New York	11–10	10–12	11–11	11–11	—	14–7	11–11	9–12
Philadelphia	8–13	4–17–1	10–12	3–19	7–14	—	8–14	5–17
Pittsburgh	12–9	9–13	8–14	6–16	11–11	14–8	—	8–14
St. Louis	13–9	13–9	12–10	11–11–2	12–9	17–5	14–8	—

1939 St. Louis Cardinals
Roster
Pitchers 22 Nate Andrews 18 Frank Barrett 26 Bob Bowman 25 Mort Cooper 27 Curt Davis 22 Paul Dean 32 Murry Dickson 30 Max Lanier 29 Bill McGee 23 Ken Raffensberger 24 Clyde Shoun 28 Tom Sunkel 21 Lon Warneke 20 Bob Weiland		Catchers 13 Herb Bremer 12,13,15 Herman Franks 14 Mickey Owen 16 Don Padgett Infielders  3 Jimmy Brown 19 Creepy Crespi  5 Don Gutteridge 19 Johnny Hopp  2 Lyn Lary  6 Stu Martin 10 Johnny Mize  1 Lynn Myers  4 Joe Orengo 23 Bob Repass		Outfielders 17 Lynn King  1 Pepper Martin  7 Joe Medwick  8 Terry Moore  9 Enos Slaughter Other batters 12 Buster Adams  4 Johnny Echols		Manager 37 Ray Blades Coaches 35 Mike González 36 Buzzy Wares

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	Mickey Owen	131	344	89	.259	3	35
1B	Johnny Mize	153	564	197	.349	28	108
2B	Stu Martin	120	425	114	.268	3	30
SS	Jimmy Brown	147	645	192	.298	3	51
3B	Don Gutteridge	148	524	141	.269	7	54
OF	Joe Medwick	150	606	201	.332	14	117
OF	Enos Slaughter	149	604	193	.320	12	86
OF	Terry Moore	130	417	123	.295	17	77

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
Pepper Martin	88	281	86	.306	3	37
Don Padgett	92	233	93	.399	5	53
Lynn Myers	74	117	28	.239	0	10
Lynn King	89	85	20	.235	0	11
Lyn Lary	34	75	14	.187	0	9
Creepy Crespi	15	29	5	.172	0	6
Herman Franks	17	17	1	.059	0	3
Herb Bremer	9	9	1	.111	0	1
Bob Repass	3	6	2	.333	0	1
Eddie Lake	2	4	1	.250	0	0
Johnny Hopp	6	4	2	.500	0	2
Joe Orengo	7	3	0	.000	0	0
Buster Adams	2	1	0	.000	0	0
Johnny Echols	2	0	0	----	0	0

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Curt Davis	49	248.0	22	16	3.63	70
Mort Cooper	45	210.2	12	6	3.25	130
Lon Warneke	34	162.0	13	7	3.78	59
Bob Weiland	32	146.1	10	12	3.57	63
Max Lanier	7	37.2	2	1	2.39	14

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Bob Bowman	51	169.1	13	5	2.60	78
Bill McGee	43	156.0	12	5	3.81	56
Tom Sunkel	20	85.1	4	4	4.22	54

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
Clyde Shoun	53	3	1	9	3.76	50
Paul Dean	16	0	1	0	6.07	16
Nate Andrews	11	1	2	0	6.75	6
Murry Dickson	1	0	0	0	0.00	2
Frank Barrett	1	0	1	0	5.40	3
Ken Raffensberger	1	0	0	0	0.00	1
Terry Moore	1	0	0	0	0.00	1

• Pitcher Curt Davis
• Outfielder Joe Medwick
• First baseman Johnny Mize
• Outfielder Terry Moore
• Pitcher Lon Warneke

• 1939 St. Louis Cardinals at Baseball Reference
• 1939 St. Louis Cardinals team page at www.baseball-almanac.com