1931 World Champions

versus

101-53
107-45

The Story of the 1931 Championship Season

Slightly embarrassed by the barrage of base hits in 1930, and faced with players demanding higher salaries commensurate with their higher averages, the owners "de-activated" the ball for 1931. As a consequence the National League batting average dropped from .303 to a more seemly .277.

1931 was the year of the Cardinal. After being in previous races in June, they had fallen mightily in the stretch. And after the few successful seasons required them to grind out the pennants in lock-step races, seemingly not allowed to lose a game in September, the Cards finally found an easy way to the World Series. This club won 101 games (a new team record) and took the National League pennant by 13 games. They clinched the title on September 16 after leading the League the entire season.

1931 also marked the year the Baseball Writers of America began selecting the League Most Valuable Player. The very first winner of the MVP award was none other than St. Louis second baseman, Frank Frisch. All he did was bat .311, lead the League in stolen bases with 28, and galvanized the team with this blazing play.

Left fielder Chick Hafey, who reported to the club late in a contract dispute, won what remains the closest 3-way batting race in history. He had a .3489 average, the Giants' Bill Terry had a .3486 mark, and fellow-Cardinal Jim Bottomley batted .3482. Hafey managed only one hit in his first eight at bats in a doubleheader on the season's final day. But Brooklyn held Terry to one hit in four trips, giving Hafey the crown.

With the farm system becoming more and more productive, Rickey was able to indulge what was going to become a familiar penchant - selling off older, still productive stars and replacing them with younger players, who commanded smaller salaries. In June, Rickey dealt Taylor Douthit (batting .331 at the time) to Cincinnati and installed young Johnny Leonard Roosevelt "Pepper" Martin in center field. Pepper began to show the signs of the coming Gashouse Gang age, with his .300 batting average and all-out style of play.

Martin was an aggressive, hard-playing, and very likable Oklahoman. Pepper's style of play was as uninhibited as his mischievous personality; his bristling presence on the field can best be summed up in the words of a National League infielder: "Once we had three guys chasing him around in a run-down, and we were the ones who felt surrounded."

Another rookie, Paul Derringer, fit right in with a splendid pitching staff. He won 18 games and posted a league-best .692 winning percentage. Grimes (17-9), Hallahan (19-9) and Derringer (18-8) combined to win 54 games. And "Pop" Haines coaxed a 12-3 record out of his 37-year-old arm.

The ball lacked the liveliness of 1930, but the spirit of the Cardinals was growing. They got into a base running battle with the Cubs in Chicago, then returned to St. Louis for a re-match with the Cubbies. A crowd of 45,715 showed up at Sportsman's Park, about 11,000 more than the yard could hold. Breadon wasn't about to turn money away, so he put thousands of fans in the outfield behind a rope. The Cubs won the first game 7-5 as the clubs combined for 11 doubles, then the Cards took a farcical 17-13 decision in the second, during which 21 ground-rule doubles fell as fly balls into the fans standing in the outfield.

For the second straight year, Connie Mack's juggernaut Philadelphia Athletics were sharing the World Series stage with the Cardinals. But this time the Cardinals had, in Hallahan's words, "a secret weapon named Pepper Martin." Hallahan wasn't the only one who had a healthy dose of confidence. "I knew my ball club would win the pennant," said Street, the first man to win pennants in his first two years as a manager. "I have a great ball club, a game ball club, and I'm proud of it...[Philadelphia Athletics manager] Connie Mack is right when he says he's going to have a tough time in the World Series."

After the Series, Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis congratulated the exuberant Series MVP Martin and said, "Young man, I'd rather trade places with you than with any man in the country," to which Pepper replied, "Fine, Judge, if we can swap salaries, too." (Landis was making $60,000 to Pepper's $4,500. It gave Martin a permanent entry in baseball's book of famous quotes.)

Creator's note: In doing the research for this page, I wondered, "If Dizzy Dean pitched a shutout to finish the 1930 season, where was he in 1931?" Well, after his impressive debut, Dean assumed he would be on the staff in 1931. But the youngster's cocky, outspoken self-confidence so annoyed Street that the skipper (with Rickey's concurrence) decided to send him back to the minors for another year (where was Scott Boras?). Dizzy toured the Texas League like a tornado, posting a 26-10 record and ringing up 303 strikeouts, and in 1932 there was no question about his making the team. Read more about him in the 1934 profile.

1931 Regular Season Highlights

Manager:

Gabby Street

	World Series Lineup
	1.	High, 3B
	2.	Roettger, RF
	3.	Frisch, 2B
	4.	Bottomley, 1B
	5.	Hafey, LF
	6.	Martin, CF
	7.	Wilson, C
	8.	Gelbert, SS
	9.	pitcher

Regular Season Offensive Performances

Pos.	Name	AVG	OBP	SLG	HR	RBI	Runs	SB	Notables
1B	Bottomley	.348			9	75	73	3	edged out of BA race by Hafey
2B	Frisch	.311			4	82	96	28	MVP Season
SS	Gelbert	.289			1	62	61	7
3B	Adams	.293			1	40	97	16
LF	Hafey	.349			16	95	94	11	League Leader in BA
CF	Martin	.300			7	75	68	16
RF	Watkins	.288			13	51	93	15
C	Wilson	.274			0	51	45	5
Team		.286			60	751	815	114	SB's led the League

Regular Season Pitching Performances

Pos.	Name	W-L	Pct.	Sv.	G	GS	CG	SHO	ERA	Notables
SP	Rhem	11-10		1	33	26	10	2	3.56
SP	Grimes	17-9	.654	0	29	28	17	3	3.65
SP	Haines	12-3		0	19	17	8	2	3.02
SP	Hallahan	19-9	.679	4	37	30	16	3	3.29	Most wins and best Pct.
SP	Derringer	18-8	.692	2	35	23	15	4	3.36	Not a bad rookie season
RP	Lindsey	6-4		7	35	2	1	1	2.77
Team		101-53		20	154	154	80	17	3.45

Team Accomplishments

League Leaders:	Doubles (353), Stolen Bases (114)
League Leaders:	Shutouts (17), Saves (20), Strikeouts (626), SO/Game (4.1), Fielding Average (.974)

Individual Accomplishments

Doubles	Batting Average	On Base Percentage	Slugging Pct.
1st - Adams (46)	1st - Hafey (.3489) 3rd - Bottomley (.3482)	1st - Hafey (.404)	2nd - Hafey (.569)
Stolen Bases	Wins	Winning Pct.	Shutouts
1st - Frisch (28) T-3rd - Martin (16) T-3rd - Adams (16) 5th - Watkins (15)	T-1st - Hallahan (19)	1st - Derringer (.692) 2nd- Hallahan (.679) 4th - Grimes (.654)	T-2nd - Derringer (4)
Saves	Fewest BB/Game	Strikeouts	Stikeouts/Game
2nd - Lindsey (7) 4th - Hallahan (4)	1st - Johnson (1.40)	1st - Hallahan (159) 4th - Derringer (134)	2nd - Hallahan (5.75) 3rd - Derringer (5.69)
ERA	Opponents OBP
5th - Johnson (3.00)	3rd - Johnson (.283)

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World Series Opponent

Philadelphia Athletics
Manager:	Connie Mack

	World Series Lineup
	1.	Bishop, 2B
	2.	Haas, CF
	3.	Cochrane, C
	4.	Simmons, LF
	5.	Foxx, 1B
	6.	Miller, RF
	7.	Dykes, 3B
	8.	Williams, SS
	9.	pitcher

Game Summaries

For the second year in a row, the A's met the Cardinals in the Series, and once again pitchers Lefty Grove and George Earnshaw provided more than 80 percent of the Athletics' pitching, performing splendidly and winning three games between them. But this time Cardinal pitchers Wild Bill Hallahan and Burleigh Grimes outshone them, winning two games apiece to bring St. Louis the world championship.

Game One

October 1 at Saint Louis (attendance: 38,529)

Athletics Starter: Lefty Grove (LHP), 31-4

Cardinals Starter: Paul Derringer (RHP), 18-8

PHI 0 0 4 0 0 0 2 0 0 6 11 0

STL 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 12 0

Homeruns: Simmons - Philadelphia

WP: Grove (1-0)

LP: Derringer (0-1)

Athletics lead Series 1-0

Highlights:

Grove gave up four hits and two runs in the first inning of the opener, but shut out the Cards the rest of the way as the A's scored six off Paul Derringer to take the Series lead. Martin had two singles, a double and a stolen base in the losing effort.

Game Two

October 2 at Saint Louis (attendance: 35,947)

Athletics Starter: George Earnshaw (RHP), 21-7

Cardinals Starter: Bill Hallahan (RHP), 19-9

PHI 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0

STL 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 X 2 6 1

Homeruns: none

WP: Hallahan (1-0)

LP: Earnshaw (0-1)

Series tied 1-1

Highlights:

Earnshaw also held St. Louis to two runs the next day--both manufactured by Pepper Martin's daring baserunning. But they were more than enough for Hallahan, who shut out the A's on three singles. Martin again stole the show when he doubled, stole third and scored the first run, then singled, stole second, and eventually scored the second run on a squeeze bunt.

Game Three

October 5 at Philadelphia (attendance: 32,295)

Cardinals Starter: Burleigh Grimes (RHP),17-9

Athletics Starter: Lefty Grove (LHP), 31-4

STL 0 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 5 12 0

PHI 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 2 0

Homeruns: Simmons - Philadelphia

WP: Grimes (1-0)

LP: Grove (1-1)

Cardinals leads Series 2-1

Highlights:

The Cardinals took their first Series lead in Game Three, scoring five times off Grove and reliever Roy Mahaffey while Grimes held the A's hitless through seven innings and scoreless through eight before giving up a harmless two-run homer to Al Simmons in the bottom of the ninth. Martin had a single and a double, while scoring two runs.

Game Four

October 6 at Philadelphia (attendance: 32,295)

Cardinals Starter: Syl Johnson (RHP), 11-9

Athletics Starter: George Earnshaw (RHP), 21-7

STL 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1

PHI 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 X 3 10 0

Homeruns: Foxx - Philadelphia

WP: Earnshaw (1-1)

LP: Johnson (0-1)

Series tied 2-2

Highlights:

Earnshaw's 2-hit shutout. And yes, Martin had both hits.

Game Five

October 7 at Philadelphia (attendance: 32,295)

Cardinals Starter: Bill Hallahan (RHP), 19-9

Athletics Starter: Waite Hoyt (RHP), 13-13

STL 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 1 5 12 0

PHI 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 9 0

Homeruns: Martin - St. Louis

WP: Hallahan (2-0)

LP: Hoyt (0-1)

Cardinals lead the Series 3-2

Highlights:

Pepper Martin, the Cardinal hero of Game Two, was elevated to the clean-up spot by Street. He responded by homering for two runs, and droving in two more of St. Louis' five runs with a sacrifice fly and a single. Meanwhile pitcher Hallahan held Philadelphia to a lone run, returning the Series lead to the Cardinals with his second win.

Game Six

October 9 at Saint Louis (attendance: 39,401)

Athletics Starter: Lefty Grove (LHP), 31-4

Cardinals Starter: Paul Derringer (RHP), 18-8

PHI 0 0 0 0 4 0 4 0 0 8 8 1

STL 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 5 2

Homeruns: none

WP: Grove (2-1)

LP: Derringer (0-2)

Series tied 3-3

Highlights:

Game Six pitted Grove and Derringer against each other again as in the opener, and again Grove emerged the victor, holding the Cardinals to one run and five hits, and just as significantly, keeping Martin off base. The Athletics scored four unearned runs in the fifth off the unfortunate Derringer who, after an error put a runner on base to open the inning, gave up two singles and walked four, including two with the bases full, before leaving the game. Four more Philadelphia runs in the seventh (two of them scoring on a dropped fly ball) gave the A's the Series' only lopsided win.

Game Seven

October 10 at Saint Louis (attendance: 20,805)

Athletics Starter: George Earnshaw (RHP), 21-7

Cardinals Starter: Burleigh Grimes (RHP), 17-9

PHI 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 7 1

STL 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 X 4 5 0

Homeruns: Watkins - St. Louis

WP: Grimes (2-0)

LP: Earnshaw (1-2)

Save: Hallahan

Cardinals win the World Series 4-3

Highlights:

In the finale, Grimes once again held the A's scoreless through eight before giving up two runs in the ninth. With two outs, Hallahan recorded the save when he came in and got the final out - on a fly ball, lifted, appropriately enough, to St. Louis' "secret weapon" in center field, Pepper Martin (who had failed to register a hit in Game 7).

Pepper ended the Series with 12 hits and a .500 batting average. He had one home run, four doubles, five RBI's, five runs scored, and five stolen bases. Check out the detailed profile under the Series MVP section.

Series Composite Box Score

STL (N)
PLAYER- POS	AVG	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RB	BB	SO	SB
Sparky Adams, 3b	.250	2	4	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Ray Blades, ph	.000	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
Jim Bottomley, 1b	.160	7	25	2	4	1	0	0	2	2	5	0
Ripper Collins, ph	.000	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Paul Derringer, p	.000	3	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Jake Flowers, 3b-4	.091	5	11	1	1	1	0	0	0	1	0	0
Frankie Frisch, 2b	.259	7	27	2	7	2	0	0	1	1	2	1
Charlie Gelbert, ss	.261	7	23	0	6	1	0	0	3	0	4	0
Burleigh Grimes, p	.286	2	7	0	2	0	0	0	2	0	2	0
Chick Hafey, of	.167	6	24	1	4	0	0	0	0	0	5	1
Bill Hallahan, p	.000	3	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
Andy High, 3b	.267	4	15	3	4	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
Syl Johnson, p	.000	3	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
Jim Lindsey, p	.000	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Gus Mancuso, c-1	.000	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Pepper Martin, of	.500	7	24	5	12	4	0	1	5	2	3	5
Ernie Orsatti, of	.000	1	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
Flint Rhem, p	.000	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Wally Roettger, of	.286	3	14	1	4	1	0	0	0	0	3	0
George Watkins, of	.286	5	14	4	4	1	0	1	2	2	1	1
Jimmie Wilson, c	.217	7	23	0	5	0	0	0	2	1	1	0
TOTAL	.236	-	229	19	54	11	0	2	17	9	41	8

PITCHER	W	L	ERA	G	GS	CG	SV	SHO	IP	H	ER	BB	SO
Paul Derringer	0	2	4.26	3	2	0	0	0	12.2	14	6	7	14
Burleigh Grimes	2	0	2.04	2	2	1	0	0	17.2	9	4	9	11
Bill Hallahan	2	0	0.49	3	2	2	1	1	18.1	12	1	8	12
Syl Johnson	0	1	3.00	3	1	0	0	0	9.0	10	3	1	6
Jim Lindsey	0	0	5.40	2	0	0	0	0	3.1	4	2	3	2
Flint Rhem	0	0	0.00	1	0	0	0	0	1.0	1	0	0	1
TOTAL	4	3	2.32	14	7	3	1	1	62.0	50	16	28	46

PHI (A)

PLAYER- POS

AVG