Led by the colorful pitcher Dizzy Dean, the 1934 St. Louis Cardinals personified Depression-era America. The players were underpaid, wore uniforms that were almost always torn and dirty, and had wandered into professional baseball from small towns in the Midwest where other jobs were scarce. Despite their lack of resources, however, and despite coming off two mediocre seasons, the Cardinals emerged triumphant in ’34, winning the pennant by two games over the Giants and the World Series in seven games over the Tigers.
The book chronicles that championship team which came to be known in baseball lore as the famous “Gas House Gang.” This work brings to life the legendary exploits of player manager Frankie Frisch and the Dean brothers—Dizzy and Paul—who combined for 49 wins that season. The era, the team, the season, and the Series are all fully covered.

Doug Feldmann is a professor in the College of Education at Northern Kentucky University and a former scout for the Cincinnati Reds, Seattle Mariners, and San Diego Padres.

Doug Feldmann
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 215
Bibliographic Info: photos, appendices, index
Copyright Date: 2000
pISBN: 978-0-7864-0858-0
eISBN: 978-0-7864-6244-5
Imprint: McFarland

“thoroughly and lovingly researched…thorough, lively and enlightening”—Gateway: The Quarterly Magazine of the Missouri Historical Society; “Feldmann’s writing springs to life with vivid language and evocative stories that stir the memories. Put it on your ‘to read’ list—this is historical writing, chronicling a championship team, at its best”—Public Library Quarterly; “a great story about colorful players, a scrappy baseball team, and a magnificent season”—Baseball Almanac; “an excellent job capturing both the team and the era…short, concise and the best of the [books on Dizzy]”—The Diamond Angle; “offers keen insights”—Nine; “an interesting read…a first-rate job of weaving anecdotes and game accounts”—Cardinals Magazine; “thorough in its retelling of the season”—The SABR Bulletin; “a nostalgic look back at Frisch, Medwick, Martin and the rest of the Redbirds”—USA Today Sports Weekly; “revisits the 1934 St. Louis Cardinals and depression-era baseball”—Sports Collectors Digest.