1934-1936 Diamond Stars: #124 "Dizzy" Dean

Sunday, January 22, 2023

#124 "Dizzy" Dean - St. Louis Cardinals

Jay Hanna Dean

St. Louis Cardinals

Pitcher

Bats: Left Throws: Right Height: 6'2" Weight: 182

Born: January 16, 1910, Lucas, AR

Major League Teams: St. Louis Cardinals 1930, 1932-1937; Chicago Cubs 1938-1941; St. Louis Browns 1947

World Series Appearances: St. Louis Cardinals 1934; Chicago Cubs 1938

Died: July 17, 1974, Reno, NV (64)

Hall of Fame Induction: 1953

Known for his colorful, boastful personality and the occasional butchering of the English language, Dizzy Dean had a brief, phenomenal pitching career followed by a lengthy second life in the broadcast booth. Dean won at least 18 games each season between 1932 and 1936, leading the league in strikeouts in four straight seasons between 1932 and 1935. He's the last National League pitcher to win 30 games, as he went 30-7 for the 1934 Cardinals on their way to a World Championship title. In that World Series against the Tigers, Dean started three games, including the decisive Game 7 where he pitched a complete game shutout. His brother Paul Dean (#125) was on the team as well, with Paul going 19-11 to complement his older brother. In Game 4 of that World Series, Dizzy Dean took a thrown ball to the head while trying to break up a double play, knocking him unconscious. The now legendary summary of the incident in the next day's newspaper stated, "X-ray of Dean's head reveals nothing." He'd be named the league's MVP for the 1934 season as well.

His pitching career was cut short after an Earl Averill (#35) line drive in the 1937 All-Star Game hit Dean on the foot, fracturing it, and forever altering his pitching motion. Dean would pitch sparingly over his final four seasons, losing his greatest weapon - his nearly unhittable fastball. Dean pivoted to the broadcast booth, where he became one the game's most well-known voices. He worked in the radio booths of the Cardinals (1941-1946), Browns (1941-1948), Yankees (1950-1951) and Braves (1966-1968), and called games nationally (1952-1965). While a member of the Browns broadcast team in 1947, he made a one game comeback, pitching four scoreless innings but retiring for good when he pulled a hamstring running out a single.

For his career, Dean was 150-83 with a 3.02 ERA and 1,163 strikeouts over 1,967 1/3 innings pitched. He threw 154 complete games and 26 shutouts. Dean was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1953, and the Cardinals retired his #17 in 1974.

Building the Set

December 16, 2020 from Albion, NY

Within days of officially deciding to collect the Diamond Stars set, I found myself searching for the 1993 extension set consisting of 36 more "what if" cards this time issued by the Chicle Fantasy Company. Individual cards from this set are very prevalent on eBay, but I wanted to buy a complete set to save myself some time and money. Given this is a relatively modern set, I was somewhat surprised at the closing auction prices for previously sold complete sets and I was happy to win my set at a lower price. These cards are gorgeous, and I can tell a lot of hard work and love for the originals went into making this tribute set. What's more, the set's creators were smart enough to start the numbering with card #121, given the 1981 extension set had left off with #120.

As I slowly collect the originals from the 1930s, I'll also highlight each of the cards from these extension sets with their own posts. The complete set came with a small disclaimer card, indicating Dean and five other former players appear under license authorized by Curtis Management Group.

Variations Available

1 - 1993 / blue back / 1935 statistics / 1993 copyright

The Card / Cardinals Team Set

There are two men behind Dean on this card making cameo appearances, a peanut vendor and who I'm assuming is Dean's father, Monroe Dean. A sharecropper from near the Arkansas Ozarks, Monroe Dean often played sandlot baseball with his sons while not picking cotton. The back of the card recounts another incident when Dean was struck in the head with a baseball. On July 11, 1936, with Dean facing off against the Giants and holding a 2-0 lead, Burgess Whitehead doubled off Dean with the ball apparently hitting Dean first and then landing in center field. Reliever Ed Heusser would replace Dean, with Dean not missing much time at all.

1936 Season

This was the third of four consecutive All-Star seasons for Dean, and he was 24-13 for the Cardinals with a 3.17 ERA in 51 appearances, including 34 starts. He led the league with 28 complete games, 11 saves and 315 innings pitched. The Cardinals would finish in a tie for second place with the Cubs, five games behind the Giants.