September 29, 1949: Former Cardinal Murry Dickson knocks St. Louis out of first place

In January 1949, the St. Louis Cardinals sold right-hander Murry Dickson, a mainstay since their glory years earlier in the 1940s, to the Pittsburgh Pirates for $125,000. Dickson defeated his former club five times in eight decisions that season, with one victory especially harmful to St. Louis’s championship aspirations. His complete-game 7-2 win at Pittsburgh’s Forbes Field on September 29, combined with the second-place Brooklyn Dodgers’ doubleheader sweep of the Boston Braves, knocked the Cardinals from the National League’s top spot to stay.

Dickson secured a regular role on St. Louis’s staff in 1942, as the Cardinals won their first of three World Series in five years. Known for what a sportswriter described as “an assortment of pitches as varied as the auto tires-to-zinc salve assortment of a cut-rate drug store,”1 he led St. Louis with 203 appearances, including 87 starts, from 1942 through 1948, even while missing 1944 and 1945 for US Army service. Dickson declined in 1948, when he allowed 39 home runs to break the single-season record for National and American League pitchers,2 but he contributed a staff-high 252⅓ innings at an ERA near league average to the Cardinals’ second straight second-place finish.

His sale to the Pirates – for the equivalent of $1.6 million in 2024 – was an unwelcome surprise in St. Louis.3 “Cards’ Dickson Sale Puzzle of the Winter,” charged the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.4 During spring training, manager Eddie Dyer and three prominent Cardinals – reigning National League MVP Stan Musial, team captain Enos Slaughter, and veteran shortstop Marty Marion – criticized the move publicly.5

The circumstances of the 32-year-old Dickson’s departure heightened the controversy. Were the Cardinals, as the Pittsburgh Press reported, seeking to create opportunities for younger pitchers?6 Or did personal ties between outgoing majority owner and team President Robert Hannegan – who dealt Dickson shortly before cashing out to minority owner Fred Saigh7 – and Pirates President Frank McKinney motivate the sale?8 The New York Giants lodged an unofficial protest, accusing St. Louis of denying other clubs the chance to bid for Dickson.9

Dissatisfaction over losing Dickson did not prevent the Cardinals from challenging for the pennant in 1949. St. Louis seized sole possession of first place on August 20 and held it narrowly over the Dodgers as the schedule churned toward its conclusion.10

When the Cardinals arrived in Pittsburgh on September 27, the season’s final Tuesday, they had spent more than five weeks alone in first place. St. Louis led Brooklyn by 1½ games; any combination of four Cardinals wins or Dodgers losses would give St. Louis its fifth pennant of the 1940s.

Favored by some to win the pennant in 1949, the Pirates had been solidly in sixth place since Independence Day.11 They had played spoilers by sweeping a two-game set from the Dodgers in mid-September.12 Dickson, splitting his duties between starting and relief, led the Pirates’ staff in appearances.13

In the opener of the two-game series, Pittsburgh rookie Tom Saffell’s grand slam – only his second home run in 191 at-bats – punctuated a decisive five-run second inning in the Pirates’ 6-4 win. St. Louis’s lead over idle Brooklyn was just one game.14

Dickson, whose four wins against the Cardinals included a two-hit shutout in the second game of an August 21 doubleheader,15 was supposed to pitch the series finale on two days’ rest, but it rained. Pittsburgh and St. Louis were postponed to the following afternoon.16 Rain in Boston also washed out the Dodgers and Braves, setting up a doubleheader.17

A crowd of 9,573 paid, plus 2,623 ladies with free admission, showed at Forbes Field on Thursday.18 In St. Louis, more than 80,000 requests for World Series tickets, lugged in 56 sacks of mail or transmitted via special delivery, overwhelmed team offices at Sportsman’s Park. More than 5,000 fans crowded into St. Louis’s main post office at midnight to beat the rush.19

Dickson had not allowed an earned run in 27⅔ innings,20 but the Cardinals struck in the first inning. Musial, battling Brooklyn’s Jackie Robinson and Slaughter for the NL batting title,21 hit a slow two-out grounder to first baseman Johnny Hopp – another former Cardinal – and beat the throw to Dickson for a single.22 It was Musial’s 200th hit of the season, the fourth time he had reached that milestone. Slaughter doubled down the left-field line, and Musial scored for a 1-0 lead.23

St. Louis persistently threatened to increase its advantage in the early innings, but Dickson turned away the Cardinals each time. Runners were left in scoring position in the second, third, and fourth innings. Dickson induced groundouts by Musial and Slaughter to defang Marion’s leadoff double in the third.

Twenty-nine-year-old right-hander Gerry Staley had attained a larger role on the Cardinals’ staff in Dickson’s absence.24 His 2.67 ERA was second in the NL to the Giants’ Dave Koslo’s 2.51. Pittsburgh’s Ralph Kiner, bidding for his majors-leading 54th homer of the season, hit a first-inning double off the screen in left-center, inches below the top.25 But Staley stranded Kiner at second, and the Pirates did not reach scoring position in the second or third inning.

Pittsburgh’s fourth inning also appeared unpromising when Pete Castiglione grounded to third with Hopp on first and two outs. The ball, however, hit a clump of dirt and bounced past rookie third baseman Tommy Glaviano for a single to left. As Hopp ran for third, Slaughter raised his arm to throw, but the ball slipped from the Cardinal left fielder’s grasp. Hopp scored on Slaughter’s error to tie the game.26

Dickson found his stride in the middle innings. Marion led off the Cardinals fifth with a single, but Musial popped up and Slaughter grounded to Hopp, who turned it into a double play. Dickson then put up one-two-three innings from the sixth through the eighth. St. Louis managed only one ball out of the infield during this span.

“[T]hrowing a wide variety of soft pitches, knucklers, curves and fast balls, [Dickson] had the straining, over-anxious Cardinal batters in the palm of his hand most of the afternoon,” the St. Louis Star-Times reported.27

It was still 1-1 when Kiner walked on Staley’s 3-and-1 pitch to begin the sixth.28 Cardinals second baseman Red Schoendienst dived for Hopp’s liner, but the ball came out of his glove; he took the out at first as Kiner advanced to second.29

Wally Westlake’s hard grounder went off Marion’s glove for a hit, and Kiner stopped at third.30 Castiglione singled in Kiner with his third hit of the day, giving the Pirates a 2-1 lead.

With the game and season in the balance, Dyer summoned left-hander Howie Pollet to face Monty Basgall. Pollet had won 19 games and made his third All-Star team in 1949. Basgall, Pittsburgh’s second baseman, was batting .213.

“Pollet vs. Basgall is a situation that would call for odds-on betting on the southpaw to dispatch the hitter to the bench without a look-see,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette columnist Al Abrams mused.31

But Basgall sliced a double inside the right-field line. Westlake scored from second, and Castiglione headed home. Schoendienst took Ron Northey’s throw from right and fired to the plate, but the ball bounced over catcher Joe Garagiola’s head and rolled to the backstop. Basgall scored on the error, and it was 5-1.32

The Pirates tacked on two more runs in the eighth against Ted Wilks. Hopp led off with a single, and Westlake hit his 23rd home run of the season, over the scoreboard in left.33

Dickson took the 7-1 lead to the ninth. Northey’s fly out made it 12 Cardinals in a row without reaching base, but Rocky Nelson broke the string with a double. One out later, pinch-hitter Bill Howerton singled Nelson home with St. Louis’s second run. Dickson caught pinch-hitter Steve Bilko looking for the final out.34

“To be honest, I hope the Cards win the pennant, but that doesn’t stop me from pitching my best against them,” said Dickson, whose record improved to 12-14 with the six-hit, two-walk, two-strikeout performance. “When I’m out there on the mound, I have no friends. They’re all alike to me.”35

The Dodgers were sweeping Boston to take a half-game lead, which they never relinquished.36 Brooklyn clinched its second pennant in three seasons by beating the Philadelphia Phillies on the season’s final day.37

By many measures, Cardinals pitching was better in 1949 than in 1948,38 and St. Louis’s 96 wins in 1949 would have been enough for the pennant in either of the two previous seasons. But the Cardinals finished one game behind the Dodgers, and their next pennant did not come until 1964.

That was also the year that Musial, one season into retirement, published an autobiography. He criticized three deals of Cardinals veterans for cash: first baseman Johnny Mize to the Giants in 1941, catcher Walker Cooper to New York in 1946, and Dickson, who went on to record 118 of his 172 career victories and 29.8 of his 43.0 pitching Wins Above Replacement after being sold in 1949.39

“With those three players, I’m certain we could have won close pennant races which we lost,” Musial lamented.40

Acknowledgments

This article was fact-checked by Madison McEntire and copy-edited by Len Levin. SABR members Gary Belleville and Kurt Blumenau provided insightful comments on an earlier version of his article.

Photo credit: Murry Dickson, Trading Card Database.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball-Reference.com and Retrosheet.org for pertinent information, including the box score and play-by-play. He also reviewed game coverage in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph, St. Louis Globe-Democrat, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and St. Louis Star-Times newspapers; and SABR Baseball Biography Project biographies of several players involved in the game, including Warren Corbett’s biography of Murry Dickson and Jim Sargent’s biography of Gerry Staley.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/PIT/PIT194909290.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1949/B09290PIT1949.htm

Notes

1 Bob Broeg, “Old Pitch Dusted off in Dickson’s Turn for Better,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 7, 1957: 4C.

2 Larry Corcoran of the National League’s Chicago White Stockings allowed 35 home runs in 1884. Dickson’s mark stood until future Hall of Famer Robin Roberts of the Philadelphia Phillies allowed 41 home runs in 1955. Through 2023, the record was 50 homers, allowed by Bert Blyleven of the Minnesota Twins, another future Hall of Famer, in 1986.

3 Associated Press, “Dyer Can’t Agree With Saigh on the Value of Murry Dickson,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, March 24, 1949: 17A.

4 J. Roy Stockton, “Extra Innings,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, February 13, 1949: 1B.

5 Joe Reichler (Associated Press), “Dickson Deal Horrible, Say Bird Heroes,” St. Louis Star-Times, March 29, 1949: 18.

6 Chester L. Smith, “The Village Smithy,” Pittsburgh Press, March 31, 1949: 38.

7 Bob Broeg, “Murry Dickson Sold to Pirates for ‘More Than $75,000’: One Source Says Cards to Receive $150,000,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, January 30, 1949: 1F.

8 Joe Williams, “Boss Chandler Should Review Dickson Sale to Bucs, Scribe Urges,” Buffalo Evening News, March 22, 1949: 30.

9 Associated Press, “Dyer Can’t Agree With Saigh on the Value of Murry Dickson.”

10 Bob Broeg, “Cards Defeat Pirates, 4-3, on Klein’s Double in Ninth, Move Full Game Ahead of Dodgers: Pollet Shines in Relief and Gains 16th Victory; Harry Gumbert the Loser,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 20, 1949: 1D.

11 Grantland Rice, “Grantland Rice Says … Pirates Picked to Win Flag but It Will Be Close,” Pittsburgh Press, April 18, 1949: 21; Associated Press, “Pirates 4-1 Shot to Win Pennant,” Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph, April 17, 1949: 33.

12 Jack Hernon, “Bucs Deal Blow to Dodger Hopes, 9-2: Bill Werle Stalls Bums’ Flag Bid,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, September 17, 1949: 12; Jack Hernon “Bucs Put Bum Flag at Half-Mast: Dickson’s 5-Hitter for 7-2 Triumph Foils Dodger Bid,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, September 18, 1949: 22.

13 Entering play on September 29, Dickson had started 19 times in 43 appearances. His 215 innings pitched to that point were one fewer than teammate Bill Werle.

14 Jack Hernon, “Pirates Cut Cards’ Lead to Game, 6-4: Kiner Bid for 54th Hits Screen; Saffell Socks Grand Slammer,” Pittsbugh Post-Gazette, September 28, 1949: 1; Martin J. Haley, “Rookie’s Grand-Slam Homer Fells Cards, 6-4, Slices Lead Over Idle Dodgers to One Game: Tom Saffell Routs Munger With Second-Inning Smash; Error Sets Up Big Frame,” St. Louis Globe-Democrat, September 28, 1949: 3C.

15 Jack Hernon, “Bucs Beat Cards, 8-0, After 4-2 Loss: Dickson’s Two-Hit Hurling Cools Off Pennant Chasers,” Pittsbugh Post-Gazette, August 22, 1949: 14.

16 Martin J. Haley, “Cards, Dodgers Stalled; Lay Plans for Final Drive: Dyer Entrusts Buc Close-Out to Staley,” St. Louis Globe Democrat, September 29. 1949: 3C.

17 Dick Young, “Flock Rained out, Two in Hub Today; Cards Get It, Too; Pray for More,” New York Daily News, September 29, 1949: 85.

18 Martin J. Haley, “Pirates Shell Cardinals out of Lead, 7 to 2; Dodgers Take Over by Beating Braves Twice: Birds ‘Freeze’ With Chips Down, Can Move Back up With Victory Today over Cubs,” St. Louis Globe-Democrat, September 30, 1949: 3C.

19 “Futile to Write for Series Seats Now, Saigh Says,” St. Louis Star-Times, September 29, 1949: 29.

20 Dickson’s streak without an earned run had included the final 4⅓ innings of his complete-game win over the Chicago Cubs on September 11, a complete-game win over the Dodgers on September 17 in which he allowed two unearned runs, an inning of relief against the Braves on September 20, a shutout of the Braves on September 22, and 4⅓ innings of scoreless relief against the Cincinnati Reds on September 25.

21 Entering the day, Robinson was batting .343, Slaughter .337, and Musial .336.

22 Charles J. Doyle, “Chilly Sauce,” Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph, September 30, 1949: 16; W. Vernon Tietjen, “Birds ‘Blow’ One Against Dickson, Go Down, 7 to 2,” St. Louis Star-Times, September 29, 1949: 1.

23 W. Vernon Tietjen, “Birds ‘Blow’ One Against Dickson, Go Down, 7 to 2.”

24 Staley appeared in 31 games, including three starts, in 1948. His workload increased to 45 games and 17 starts in 1949. In 2003 Staley told SABR biographer Jim Sargent, “I became a regular when they sold Murry Dickson to the Pirates. That deal opened the way for me.” Jim Sargent, “Gerry Staley,” SABR Baseball Biography Project, https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/gerry-staley/. Accessed September 16, 2024.

25 Haley, “Pirates Shell Cardinals out of Lead, 7 to 2; Dodgers Take Over by Beating Braves Twice.”

26 Haley, “Pirates Shell Cardinals out of Lead, 7 to 2; Dodgers Take Over by Beating Braves Twice.”

27 “Birds ‘Blow’ One Against Dickson, Go Down, 7 to 2.”

28 “Tab on Kiner,” Pittsburgh Press, September 30, 1949: 34.

29 Haley, “Pirates Shell Cardinals out of Lead, 7 to 2; Dodgers Take Over by Beating Braves Twice.”

30 Haley, “Pirates Shell Cardinals out of Lead, 7 to 2; Dodgers Take Over by Beating Braves Twice.”

31 Al Abrams, “Sidelights on Sports,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, September 30, 1949: 16.

32 Chester L. Smith, “Dickson Deal Backfires on Cardinals: Bucs Get Last Laugh in Win over St. Louis,” Pittsburgh Press, September 30, 1949: 34.

33 Charles J. Doyle, “Cards Will Remember ’49 Pirates,” Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph, September 30. 1949: 28.

34 The 20-year-old Bilko was appearing in his fourth major-league game. He had hit 34 home runs and driven in a league-leading 125 runs with Rochester of the Triple-A International League. “Cards Buy Bilko, Derry from Wings,” St. Louis Star-Times, September 21, 1949: 24.

35 Associated Press, “Card Defeat ‘A Bitter One,’” Somerset (Pennsylvania) Daily American, September 30, 1949: 6.

36 Harold C. Burr, “Hear Ye, Hear Ye! All’s Well With World! Dodgers Back on Top of National League: Brooks in Front of Cards After Boston Sweep,” Brooklyn Eagle, September 30, 1949: 18.

37 Dick Young, “Brooklyn Wins in 10 Over Phils,” New York Daily News, October 3, 1949: 3.

38 The 1949 Cardinals allowed 615 runs, 31 fewer than in 1948. Their 3.44 ERA was the lowest among all NL teams; only the Cleveland Indians (3.36) were lower in the AL. By the twenty-first-century metric Fielding Independent Pitching, the 1949 Cardinals had the most effective pitching in the NL or AL; their 3.59 FIP of 1949 was an improvement on their 3.87 FIP of 1948.

39 Dickson was with the Pirates until getting traded to the Phillies after the 1953 season. His 20 wins in 1951 were Pittsburgh’s only 20-win season between Rip Sewell in 1944 and Bob Friend in 1958, and he pitched at least 200 innings in 10 straight seasons from 1947 through 1956. In 625 major-league games for six clubs over 18 seasons –  including a return to the Cardinals in 1956 and 1957 – he had a career record of 172-181.

40 Bob Broeg, “Stan Stands Behind Second Thoughts,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, April 7, 1964: 5C.