September 28, 1947: Dizzy Dean comes out of Browns’ broadcast booth to prove his point

Throughout his colorful career, the often braggadocious Dizzy Dean had few problems backing up controversial predictions regarding his or his team’s performance. It didn’t matter if the game was a late-season yawner against the last-place team or a crucial outing in the World Series; he never lacked confidence in his ability to pitch and win games. And he usually delivered on his boastful predictions.

In 1947, six years after he had retired as a player and become a broadcaster for the St. Louis Browns, Dean publicly criticized the team’s poor pitching, claiming he could do better. True to form, he ended up fulfilling his prediction with an odd mound appearance on the final day of the season.

During his prime seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals, between 1932 and 1937, Dean won 134 games and lost only 75. He was the 1934 National League MVP, a two-time MVP runner-up, and a four-time All-Star. His popularity with sportswriters and fans soared because of his homespun personality, which included his frequent butchering of the English language. He developed into a master showman, and his persona easily carried over from the playing field to the broadcast booth.

Dean had been critical of the Browns’ dismal play throughout the 1947 season. In fact, there wasn’t much the team could be proud of, except for becoming the first major-league club to integrate with two Black players.1 The Browns had dropped to last place on May 7 and were never able to climb out of the cellar.

St. Louis manager Muddy Ruel, in his first season of a two-year contract, didn’t have much talent to work with. The Browns, who had won their only AL pennant during the wartime season of 1944 and posted a winning record in 1945, had finished seventh, 38 games behind the pennant-winning Boston Red Sox in 1946.

Over the airwaves, Dean complained about the hitting ability of Browns players Al Zarilla and Les Moss.2 “What’re they doing in the big leagues if they can’t swing a bat no better than that?”3 Browns pitchers didn’t escape his criticism either. He boasted, “I could go down there and fog ’em in better than them boys.”4

As the season wound down, Dean boasted, “Boy, I’d have me a picnic if I were playing today.” He bragged that he “could beat nine out ten who called themselves pitchers.” Reportedly some of the wives of the Browns’ pitchers relayed his condescending comments to their husbands, who challenged him to back up his outlandish remarks.5 Adding fuel to the fire, Dean’s broadcast listeners inundated the Browns’ front office with requests to allow Dean to make good on his boasts.6

The Browns saw an opportunity to capitalize on the situation by signing Dean to a contract that was announced on September 17 by their public-relations department. General manager William DeWitt Sr. teased fans that he would consider matching Dean against Cleveland’s Bob Feller in a coming series.7 Considering that the Browns hadn’t been performing well at the gate, drawing slightly over 300,000, the prospect of a larger-than-usual crowd was appealing to ownership.

DeWitt finally settled on pitching Dean on the last day of the season against the Chicago White Sox at Sportsman’s Park, 17 years to the day after Dean had made his big-league debut with a three-hit complete-game win in the Cardinals’ 1930 finale. The Browns’ 1947 season windup expectedly had the air of an exhibition contest – one whose outcome was inconsequential.8 The pregame billing was effective, as a crowd of 15,910 showed up for the afternoon game to see if Dean could live up to his boastful statements.9 (The previous day’s doubleheader against the White Sox had attracted only 1,031.)

When someone jokingly asked Dean how he could pitch and handle his broadcast duties at the same time, he said, “Well, I sorta figure my partner Johnny [O’Hara] could handle the first three innings while I’m doin’ the pitchin.’ If I ain’t doing so well after that, I’ll come up and broadcast the rest of it. But I’ll stay in as long as I can and if Johnny wants me to spell him a while I guess I could put a walkie-talkie on my back and do my broadcastin’ between pitches.”10

Dean, 37 years old, had last played in the majors in 1941, when he pitched one inning for the Chicago Cubs. While his playing weight during his prime years hovered around 180 pounds, he reportedly weighed 260 pounds in his comeback.11

Dean’s last mound appearance in Sportsman’s Park with a St. Louis uniform had been with the Cardinals in 1937. He had piqued the curiosity of Browns fans who were anxious to see how he would fare after his long absence.

Not everyone was elated to see Dean on the mound. Ruel, a St. Louis native who had begun his 19-season big-league playing career with the 1915 Browns, spent the entire game in the clubhouse, in protest of the Browns’ front office signing Dean without consulting him. Instead, he delegated his managerial duties to coach Fred Hofmann.12

Former White Sox pitching standout Ted Lyons was in his second season as Chicago’s manager. He countered with 29-year old Eddie Lopat as Dean’s opponent on the mound. The lefty had won 15 games and was sporting a 2.84 ERA.

Remarkably, Dean held the White Sox scoreless through the first four innings, facing a veteran lineup that included three reserve players who had also seen plenty of action throughout the season. While Dean didn’t overpower any of their batters, his control was good enough to induce batters to swing. He had the crowd in stitches when he threw a “blooper style slow curve” that was called a strike.13 Dean allowed only three hits and a walk to the 14 batters he faced and did not strike out a batter.

When Dean’s turn at the plate came in the third inning, he was wielding a bat with black paint. Umpire Cal Hubbard ordered him back to the dugout to retrieve a regulation bat. Dean returned with another bat that had red stripes instead. Hubbard relented and allowed Dean to take his place in the batter’s box. Dean singled on the first pitch but paid the price of a pulled leg muscle when he slid into second base on a teammate’s subsequent groundball.14

Sportswriters surmised that it was possible Dean could have gone another inning or two had he not pulled the muscle.15 But that didn’t match Hoffmann’s decision to have Glen Moulder relieve him for the start of the fifth inning. He continued Dean’s shutout streak until the ninth inning, when the White Sox broke the game’s scoreless tie. Bob Kennedy opened the inning with a single. Dave Philley bunted and both runners were safe on a fielder’s choice. Rudy York sacrificed to move the runners to second and third. Thurman Tucker walked, filling the bases.16

Moulder walked Jack Wallaesa, forcing Kennedy home with the first run of the game. Cass Michaels followed with a double that cleared the bases. Mike Tresh singled to score Michaels with the fifth run of the inning.17

Lopat hadn’t been particularly efficient throughout the game but managed to keep the Browns from scoring until the bottom of the ninth. With two outs, he gave up four consecutive singles that netted two runs for the Browns. The White Sox won, 5-2.18

Lopat gave up 14 hits and a walk in claiming his 16th victory, more than any other White Sox pitcher. Second baseman Johnny Berardino led the Browns’ offense with four hits, but he didn’t get much offensive support when it counted. The Browns stranded 11 runners.

Ruel, who ended up being fired before the second year of his Browns contract, said after the game, “Some pitchers are great and some are great pitchers – Dean belongs to the all-time great class.”19 Although Ruel offered a glowing compliment for Dean, one has to wonder if the tense situation over Dean’s activation was, after the Browns’ poor performance in 1947, the final straw that precipitated his early firing.

Dean received $1 for his services under the Browns’ contract to make it legal.20 He didn’t reveal the specific conditions of the agreement, but said it was the first contract he had signed without first returning it for more money.21

After the game, Dean doubled down on his claim that he could still pitch well enough to win games. He believed he had proven his point in the White Sox game. For once, though, a cooler head prevailed when he said, “But I don’t intend to try it. I have a job as a radio announcer, and I’m going to stick with that job.”22

Acknowledgments

This article was fact-checked by Kevin Larkin and copy-edited by Len Levin.

Photo credit: National Baseball Hall of Fame Library.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball-Reference.com and Retrosheet.org.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SLA/SLA194709280.shtml.

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1947/B09280SLA1947.htm.

Notes

1 Hank Thompson and Willard Brown became the third and fourth Black players for American and National League teams in 1947, following Jackie Robinson of the Brooklyn Dodgers and Larry Doby of the Cleveland Indians. On July 20, both players appeared for the St. Louis Browns, making history as the first Black teammates on the field.

2 Zarilla batted .227 and Moss .157 in 1947.

3 Robert Gregory, Diz: Dizzy Dean and Baseball During the Great Depression (New York: Viking Penguin, 1992), 372.

4 Gregory, 373.

5 Vince Staten, Ol’ Diz: A Biography of Dizzy Dean (New York: HarperCollins, 1992), 227.

6 Ray Gillespie, “Dizzy Dean Himself Again – Hurls Four Shutout Innings,” The Sporting News, October 8, 1947: 11.

7 “Dizzy’s ‘Comeback’ With Browns,” The Sporting News, September 24, 1947: 14.

8 With the Browns five games behind the seventh-place Washington Senators and the opposing Chicago White Sox firmly entrenched in sixth place, the final result would have no effect on the final league standings.

9 The attendance on September 28 was the third largest of the season for Browns home games, after 25,735 on June 4 in a doubleheader against the Boston Red Sox and 17,397 on June 8 in a doubleheader against the New York Yankees.

10 Gregory, 373.

11 Staten, 227.

12 “Dean ‘Fogs ’Em Through’”; 15,000 See Dizzy Stop Chicago for Four Innings,” St. Louis Post Dispatch, September 29, 1947: 8A.

13 Ray Nelson, “Diz Dean Bats 1.000 in His Comeback Try,” St. Louis Star-Times, September 28, 1947: 17.

14 Gillespie.

15 “Dean ‘Fogs ’Em Through.’”

16 “Sox Win Final Game, 5-2, After Dean Departs,” Chicago Tribune, September 29, 1947: 33.

17 “Sox Win Final Game, 5-2, After Dean Departs.”

18 “Sox Win Final Game, 5-2, After Dean Departs.”

19 Nelson.

20 Gillespie.

21 “Dean $1-a-Year Man,” The Sporting News, October 1, 1947: 10.

22 Gillespie.