1931 World Champions

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101-53		107-45

The Story | Season Highlights | W.S. Opponent | Game Summaries | Series Box Score | Series MVP | World Series Program

The Story of the 1931 Championship Season

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1931 Regular Season Highlights

Regular Season Pitching Performances

Team Accomplishments

Individual Accomplishments

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World Series Opponent

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Game Summaries

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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Series Composite Box Score

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Series MVP

No one ever played baseball harder than John Leonard Roosevelt "Pepper" Martin. Though he was seldom graceful, he was fast, very fast, which made his reckless style an even sharper weapon. After seeing him play football, a sportswriter nicknamed him "the Wild Horse of the Osage." Martin explained his speed simply. "Well, I grew up in Oklahoma and out there, once you start running there ain't nothing to stop you."

Martin had a solid career, batting .298 lifetime, scoring more than 120 runs three times, and leading the National League in stolen bases three times. But it was the way he made his grand entrance, with an astounding performance in the 1931 World Series, that earned him a place in baseball history.

The Philadelphia A's were playing in their third consecutive World Series in 1931, and the team of Mickey Cochrane, Lefty Grove, Al Simmons, Jimmie Foxx, and George Earnshaw had humiliated the Cubs in the 1929 Fall Classic and had topped the Cardinals in 1930.

The difference between 1930 and 1931 was that the 1930 Cardinals didn't have Pepper Martin. After a six-year minor league career, Martin had simply hustled his way into the center field position for the Cardinals, prompting the trade of outfielder Taylor Douthit early in the season.

Martin tore the potent A's apart in the Series. He batted .500, scored five runs, stole five bases, had 12 hits and four doubles, all tops in the Series. Commissioner Kenesaw Landis said to a friend, "Did you ever see anything like that Martin's performance? Why, there were times when I thought he would steal Mickey's [Cochrane] underwear."

The Series started with a ho-hum win for A's fans. Lefty Grove beat the Cards, 5-2, although he allowed an unusual 12 hits, 3 by Martin. Martin also swiped second base when the A's weren't paying attention: they were arguing over the call on outfielder Chick Hafey's steal of third.

Game 2 was all Martin: he had a double and a single, swiped two bases, and scored the only two runs of the game. He hit a double and scored two runs in Game 3 as the Cardinals beat Grove, 5-2. The Cards lost Game 4, 3-0, with only two hits off George Earnshaw. Martin had both of them, one a double, and stole another base. Martin took center stage again in Game 5. He drove in the Cards' first run with a flyball to the left-field wall in the first inning, then beat out a bunt to open the fourth, hit a two-run homer in the sixth, and singled to drive in a run in the eighth. He drove in four of the Cardinals' five runs as they won, 5-1. At that point Martin was hitting a remarkable .667, with 12 hits in five games. No one before or since has had more hits in a Series. The A's tightened their belts and kept Martin hitless the rest of the Series, but they couldn't keep him out of the action.

After losing Game 6, the Cardinals stormed back in Game 7. Martin walked and stole second to keep a two-run rally alive in the first inning. When the A's threatened in the ninth, Martin made the final catch of a sinking line drive with two on and two out. Martin's domination of the Series against a superior team was complete. After the Series Martin went hunting back home. While sleeping in the tall grass one night, he suffered a nasty insect bite, and the result was an unpleasant, relentless skin infection. He got into just 85 games in 1932, playing some with a broken finger that no one knew about until a throw to first left a trail of bandage. When asked about it, he said, "It was just a small bone."

Moved to third base fulltime in 1933 to make outfield room for Joe Medwick, Martin stumbled, stammered, took balls off his chest, and threw wildly. His frustration showed in his batting average and behavior. In the final game of an early-season Cardinals homestand, Martin flung his bat into the dugout after a strikeout, chased it, and gave the bat rack a mighty boot, causing the whole pile to go flying. One landed in the lap of Mrs. Sam Breadon, wife of the Cardinals' owner. Martin was heavily booed; it was the low point of his career.

But the Cards were beginning a road trip, so Manager Gabby Street decided to keep Martin at third. By the time they returned home, he was learning the position (although still playing like a wild man), and his batting eye was back. He finished the season at .316, leading the league with 122 runs scored. The Cards improved their record by 10 games, largely due to the addition of a loose-limbed Arkansas pitcher named Dizzy Dean.

As a third baseman, Martin's brutal style of play assured that his body would always be banged up. With his back aching in a game against Boston, he told the Braves they'd better not bunt. When the first batter disobeyed, Martin fired the ball at him, not the first baseman. After he hit the second bunter between the shoulder blades with a flaming toss, the bunt was dropped from the Braves' playbook for the day.

In 1934 the "Gas House Gang", the wacky, fun-loving, hard-charging Cardinals, made their mark, and Martin was their leader. He played guitar in the Gang's Mudcat Band and kept the Cardinals loose by dropping water balloons on sportswriters, attaching smoke bombs to the spark plugs of fancy cars, and releasing sneezing powder in hotel lobbies. Playing an exhibition game once in fading light, he had trouble locating a line drive, until he pulled a flashlight out of his pocket.

That season Martin led the NL in stolen bases for the second consecutive year. With Dizzy and Paul Dean combining for 49 wins, outfielder Ripper Collins belting 35 home runs, and young Medwick hitting 18 triples, the Gang outlasted the Giants and made it to the World Series, this time against the Tigers.

Martin was in the middle of the action once again in the Fall Classic. He drove in a run and scored one as the Cardinals overpowered the Tigers, 8-3, in Game 1. He scored one run in a 12-inning, 3-2 Game 2 loss. And with a double and triple in Game 3, he scored half the team's runs in a 4-1 win.

Martin's poor hands at third resulted in three errors in Game 4, but he returned to form with three singles and two stolen bases as the Cardinals took Games 6 and 7. They were once again champions of the world. Martin's 11-hit total tied three other players for the Series high.

After 1936 Martin's playing time was reduced to fewer than 100 games a year. His batting averages stayed consistently close to .300, but his basestealing ability had left him. In 1940 he batted .316, then returned to the minors for several years as a player-manager. When World War II depleted the Cardinals' roster, Martin came back, played in 40 games in 1944, and retired.

He coached for the Cubs in 1956. A prosperous cattle rancher, he served as director of the Oklahoma State Penitentiary for a time. He was managing the Tulsa Oilers in 1965 when he died of a heart attack.

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