1930 St. Louis Cardinals-A Team Like No Other!

[HistoryMajor46]

The year was 1930. What was so special about the year 1930? It only featured a team where all eight starters batted .300 or better. I know of no other team that accomplished that feat since 1901. I’m talking about the 1930 St. Louis Cardinals. The Cardinals won the National League pennant that year by two games over the Chicago Cubs. Their record was 92-62 for the regular season.

Charlie Gelbert hit .304 with 11 triples, 3 home runs and 72 RBIs for the Cardinals in 1930.

They were managed by Gabby Street. In 1929 he had only managed two games for the Cardinals and he was 0-2. But in 1930 he would help lead his team to a pennant and a trip to the World Series. They would have to face the powerful Philadelphia Athletics who finished the regular season 102-52 under manager Connie Mack. The Athletics had won the 1929 World Series by defeating the Chicago Cubs four games to one.

As I stated earlier the 1930 St. Louis Cardinals featured eight starters that batted .300 or better. George Watkins who played some outfield, first base and second base led the team with a .373 average. Now he only played in 119 games and batted 391 times, so second baseman Frankie Frisch who played in 133 games and had 540 at bats really led the team with a .346 average in my estimation. Outfielder Taylor Douthit led the team with 201 hits that year. His batting average was .303. Outfielder Chick Hafey was the slugger for the Cardinals that year, by slamming 26 home runs and driving in 107 runs. His batting average was .336. He also led the team with a .652 slugging percentage. The first baseman Jim Bottomley hit 15 home runs and drove in 97 runs. His average was .304. Shortstop Charlie Gelbert batted .304. Third baseman Sparky Adams hit .314. Catcher Jimmie Wilson batted .318.

You really couldn’t pitch around any of these guys. Most anybody in the lineup could hurt you. Even some of the utility players batted .300 or better. Outfielder Showboat Fisher batted .374. He played in 92 games and had 254 at bats. Back-up catcher Gus Mancuso batted .366. He played in 76 games and had 227 at bats. This team was simply amazing. What was so strange was that no player on this team led the league in any offensive category.

As for the Cardinal pitching it was not that great. Their best pitcher was Wild Bill Hallahan. He had a 15-9 record with an ERA of 4.67. Pitcher Burleigh Grimes was 13-6 with an ERA of 3.02. See what I mean? Not much better. Pitcher Hi Bell led the pitching staff and the National League with eight saves.

There were four starters on this team that would be inducted into Baseball’s Hall of Fame in the future. That being Frankie Frisch, Jim Bottomley, Chick Hafey and pitcher Burleigh Grimes.

I guess your wondering how the St. Louis Cardinals made out in the 1930 World Series. As I stated earlier they played the Philadelphia Athletics of the American League. The Athletics were victorious by winning four games to two. You must understand their lineup was nothing to sneeze about. It featured first baseman Jimmie Foxx, outfielder Al Simmons, catcher Mickey Cochrane and outfielder Mule Haas. Foxx, Simmons and Cochrane eventually would be inducted into Baseball’s Hall of Fame.

Their pitching staff was led by future Hall of Famer Lefty Grove. He posted a record of 28-5 in 1930 with an ERA of 2.54. Another effective pitcher for the Athletics was George Earnshaw who was 22-13 on the year with an ERA of 4.44. Their pitching staff was definitely better than the one St. Louis had that year. Pitcher George Earnshaw won two games in the 1930 World Series against St.Louis. He had an amazing ERA of 0.72. He pitched 25 innings and gave up 13 hits in the series. Pitcher Lefty Grove was 2-1 in the series.

Philadelphia Athletic manager Connie Mack would be inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1937. He holds the major league record for the most wins and the most losses by a manager. He managed for 50 years. I bet he had some ulcers. The Philadelphia Athletics were certainly a dynasty to be reckoned with in those days. They won the 1929 and the 1930 World Series. They were finally defeated in the 1931 World Series by the St. Louis Cardinals.

Cardinal outfielder Pepper Martin was the batting hero in that 1931 World Series. He got twelve hits in the seven game series, and batted .500. Cardinal pitchers Wild Bill Hallahan and Burleigh Grimes were both 2-0 in the series. Hallahan had an ERA of 0.49 in the World Series. The Cardinals had a dynasty pretty much themselves in the 1920’s and 1930’s.

I just want to mention an interesting fact that occurred with the 1921 St. Louis Cardinals. They had seven starters that batted .300 or better that year. The only starter that didn’t bat .300 or better was shortstop Doc Lavan. He batted .259. Hall of Fame second baseman Roger Hornsby led the major league in batting that year with a .397 batting average. Nevertheless, that team finished third in their division that year with a record of 87-66. Seven games behind the league leading New York Giants. The Cardinals had a reputation for hitting back then and to think of it they still do. They were managed by Hall of Famer Branch Rickey in 1921. That’s another story in itself.

I hope you enjoyed this amazing tale of the St. Louis Cardinals. They were a force to be reckoned with and they provided the fans of St. Louis with competitive teams year after year and extraordinary characters that seemed almost fictional. See you at the game.

Written by: Keith Thronson from Mobile,Alabama. He is a frequent contributer to Historic Baseball.


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[Max Power]

In 1930, the NL league batting average, minus pitchers, was .312.

That's the whole league, on average! Kinda takes away from this, a tad, to me.

[sweaver]

Hello, HM46. Remember, 1930 was the Year of the Hitter, and offense all over was at historic levels (at least until recently). An AVERAGE OF of 1930 hit .300.

I see Max was typing while I was. The point is, the feat is not as impressive as doing the same in 1966 would have been.

[SmedIndy]

Hitting that well in 1930, as compared to 1915, was nothing, really.

If you didn't hit .300 you should have been in the bushes.

The Phils staff that year had a 6.71 team ERA and gave up more than 16 baserunners per nine. ICK!

"My country 'tis of thee / Sweetland and Willoughby / of thee I sing."

[KCBOOMER]

Despite all the hitting by the Cards they were only the third best hitting team in the league. The Giants (.319) and Phillies (.315) were better than the Cards (.314). The whole league, including pitchers, hit .303. The Cards scored the most runs and their pitching allowed the second fewest runs in the league. How did they only win 92 games?

[HistoryMajor46]

Your right the Giants did hit .319 as a team, but still not other team in history hit .300 or better with all eight starters. Rather it be the dead ball era or bad pitching. It was a great accomplishment and never will be repeated by any other team I'm sure.

[SmedIndy]

Originally posted by HistoryMajor46
Your right the Giants did hit .319 as a team, but still not other team in history hit .300 or better with all eight starters. Rather it be the dead ball era or bad pitching. It was a great accomplishment and never will be repeated by any other team I'm sure.

It reminds me of the stats in the Old Texas League, or in the smaller "C" and "D" leagues in the Southwest. Everyone was hitting, and a replacement level BA in that era was among the best in 1968.

I think the 1895 era Phillies are more of an interesting story. They were the first team to really try and outscore everyone and it never worked.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/PHI/1895.shtml

[sweaver]

Yeah, you have to stop the opposition from scoring some too. That Phillies team was neat, Smed, thanks for the link. A lineup built around Sliding Billy Hamilton, Sam Crawford, and Ed Delahanty, but no pitching to speak of. A lot of kids who were probably getting shell-shocked.

The 1930 Cardinals did manage the feat of all .300 hitters, although Taylor Douthit at .303 and Charlie Gelbert and Jim Bottomley at .304 cut it close. But we need to remember, .303 that year was like .275 today, or .240 in 1968. Even with all those hits, the top in runs was Frankie Frisch with 121, and the RBI leader was also Frisch, at 114. It was a bunch of singles-and-doubles, not a lot of power, only a fair number of walks.

[HistoryMajor46]

In my opinion hitting a single or double takes the same amount of skill as hitting a 600 foot homerun lol Seriously-I use to play baseball in high school-I never could hit a curve ball lol Getting a hit off a major leaguer is an accomplishment in itself.

[SmedIndy]

Originally posted by HistoryMajor46
In my opinion hitting a single or double takes the same amount of skill as hitting a 600 foot homerun lol Seriously-I use to play baseball in high school-I never could hit a curve ball lol Getting a hit off a major leaguer is an accomplishment in itself.

In 1930, there were a lot of pitchers in the PCL, AA, IL, Southern League, etc. that were better than the chattel that masqueraded as pitchers for the Phillies and others.

If it took the same amount of skill, why are there less homeruns than singles or doubles?

[SmedIndy]

PS - I don't mean to be a buzz kill. Just trying to offer some perspective. In 75 years some people may look the Walker/Bichette/Castilla Colorado teams with the same awe and envy.

[HistoryMajor46]

Because some players have no strength and others did. I'm just saying it takes the same skill to hit a ball and get to base or around them all. Just some players are physically weak or not strong enough to knock one out of the park. Sounds good to me lol