1939 St. Louis Cardinals season

1939 St. Louis Cardinals
Major League affiliations
National League (since 1892)
Location
Sportsman's Park (since 1920)
St. Louis, Missouri (since 1882)
Results
Record	92–61 (.601)
League place	2nd
Other information
Owner(s)	Sam Breadon
General manager(s)	Branch Rickey
Manager(s)	Ray Blades
Local radio	KMOX (France Laux, Cy Casper) KWK (John O'Hara, Jim Bottomley)
Stats	ESPN.com BB-reference
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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 2nd in the National League.

Regular season

Season summary

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 dividens. 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.

Season standings

National League	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Cincinnati Reds	97	57	0.630	—	55–25	42–32
St. Louis Cardinals	92	61	0.601	4½	51–27	41–34
Brooklyn Dodgers	84	69	0.549	12½	51–27	33–42
Chicago Cubs	84	70	0.545	13	44–34	40–36
New York Giants	77	74	0.510	18½	41–33	36–41
Pittsburgh Pirates	68	85	0.444	28½	35–42	33–43
Boston Bees	63	88	0.417	32½	37–35	26–53
Philadelphia Phillies	45	106	0.298	50½	29–44	16–62

Record vs. opponents

1939 National League Records Sources:
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	—

Roster

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

Player stats

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

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

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

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
Davis, CurtCurt Davis	49	248	22	16	3.63	70

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
Shoun, ClydeClyde Shoun	53	3	1	9	3.76	50
Andrews, NateNate Andrews	11	1	2	0	6.75	6

Awards and honors

Cardinals in the 1939 All-Star Game

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

Farm system

Notes

↑ Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007

References

1939 MLB season by team

American League	Boston Chicago Cleveland Detroit New York Philadelphia St. Louis Washington

National League	Boston Brooklyn Chicago Cincinnati New York Philadelphia Pittsburgh St. Louis

1939 All-Star Game 1939 World Series

St. Louis Cardinals

Based in St. Louis, Missouri

Franchise

History

Ballparks

Robison Field Sportsman's Park Busch Memorial Stadium Busch Stadium

Spring training	Whittington Park Herald Park West End Park McKechnie Field City Island Ball Park Al Lang Stadium Roger Dean Stadium

Culture

Lore

Rivalries

Key personnel

Owner: Bill DeWitt, Jr.
General Manager: John Mozeliak
Manager: Mike Matheny

Minors

AAA: Memphis Redbirds
AA: Springfield Cardinals
A Adv.: Palm Beach Cardinals
A: Peoria Chiefs
Short A: State College Spikes
Rookie Adv.: Johnson City Cardinals
Rookie: Gulf Coast League Cardinals; Dominican Summer League Cardinals

World Series
Championships

pre-MLB	1885 1886

MLB	1926 1931 1934 1942 1944 1946 1964 1967 1982 2006 2011

League pennants

American Association	1885 1886 1887 1888

National League	1926 1928 1930 1931 1934 1942 1943 1944 1946 1964 1967 1968 1982 1985 1987 2004 2006 2011 2013

Division titles

National League East: 1982; 1985; 1987
National League Central: 1996; 2000; 2001; 2002; 2004; 2005; 2006; 2009; 2013; 2014; 2015

Wild card titles

All Star Games hosted

Seasons (136)

1880s	1880 · 1881 · 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889

1890s	1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899

1900s	1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909

1910s	1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919

1920s	1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929

1930s	1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939

1940s	1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949

1950s	1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959

1960s	1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969

1970s	1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979

1980s	1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989

1990s	1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999

2000s	2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

2010s	2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

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