1935 World Series: Tigers Roar

The Teams
American League: Detroit Tigers (93-58) - Fifth World Series
National League: Chicago Cubs (100-54) - Eighth World Series (Won in 1907, 1908)


What Happened
A year after coming up one win short of a World Championship, the Tigers got back to the World Series again in 1935 with mostly the same cast of characters that came so close the year before. After getting off to a slow start to the season - World Series hangover, much? - they put away the rest of the American League, then sat back to see who would win the National League. What they saw must have concerned them; sitting in third place on September 2, the Cubs won 21 games in a row, the greatest September stretch run in baseball history, to storm past the Giants and Cardinals and win the National League pennant.

So the Tigers drew not the Gashouse Gang, but the red-hot Cubs, the franchise that had beaten them in the World Series twice before. But this time, the Tigers were ready. After being so close the year before, they knew what it took to finish the job. So even after the Cubs won Game 1 - with the help of three Tiger errors - they didn't panic. Instead. they won three straight games, the first time in team history they had won three straight World Series games.

Lon Warneke won his second game of the series in Game 5 to help the Cubs avoid elimination, but the Tigers had two straight home games to try to clinch their first title. The teams went into the ninth inning of Game 7 tied at 3, and Chicago's Stan Hack lead off the top of the inning with a triple. The Cubs, however, couldn't capitalize, stranding Hack at third. Emboldened, the Tigers struck back. Player-manager Mickey Cochrane hit a one-out single in the bottom of the ninth. After Cochrane moved to second on a groundout, Goose Goslin hit a single to center. As Cochrane came around third to score, the Tiger fans went wild. After four losses, including two to the Cubs, the Tigers had finally won a World Championship.

Defining Game
Game 2 could have been devastating for the Tigers. Sure, they won 8-3, but at a heavy price, as Hall of Fame first baseman Hank Greenberg aggravated his already injured wrist on a home-plate collision in the seventh inning, knocking him out of the rest of the series. Greenberg's injury was the first bit of adversity the Tigers had face in two years; a year after their starting infield only missed one game between them in 1934, they did almost as good in '35, missing a combined 28 games.

But Greenberg was out now, and if the Tigers wanted to win the Series, they had to figure out a way to win a game in Wrigley Field without him. For a while, it didn't look like Game 3 would be that game, as the Cubs took a 3-0 lead into the sixth inning. It turns out the Tigers were simply waiting for Cubs starter Bill Lee to tire. They got one off him in the sixth, then got to him for good in the top of the eighth, knocking him out with two runs that tied the game. Detroit wasn't done, though, as they kept hitting with Warneke now on the mound, taking the lead on a Billy Rogell single, then adding an insurance run when Rogell got caught in a rundown long enough for Pete Fox to score on a double steal.

Leading 5-3, the Tigers turned to their Game 1 starter, Schoolboy Rowe, to close the door, but he couldn't get it done. Three straight singles and a sacrifice fly helped the Cubs tie the game and send the game to extra innings. In the top of the 11th, it was a Chicago error that opened the door for Detroit. With a runner on first and one out, Flea Clifton - who was only in the game because of Greenberg's injury - hit a sharp grounder to Freddie Lindstrom. Perhaps thinking about a double play, Lindstrom instead bobbled the ball, putting two runners on base. After a strike out - which should have ended the inning - Jo-Jo White singled to center to drive in the go-ahead run for Detroit. Given a second chance to shut the door, Rowe did so, giving the Tigers a vital road victory.

MVP
Charlie Gehringer wasn't much of an attention seeker. In fact, Cochrane once said that Gehringer "said hello on opening day, goodbye on closing day, and in between, hit .350." While Gehringer may have been the least known of the four Hall of Famers the Tigers sent out during the 1930s, he may have been the best. He was the star of 1935 series, his second straight great World Series. He had a batting/on-base/slugging split of .375/.423/.500, numbers that were almost identical to his performance in 1934. The biggest difference, of course, was that the Tigers won it all in '35, so Gehringer would have been a deserving MVP.


Scores
(Home team shaded; winners in Bold)

Chicago	3	3	5	1	3	3
Detroit	0	8	6 (11)	2	1	4

The List
I'm ranking all the World Series, from worst to best. Here are the ones I've done so far:

33. 1935 - Detroit (A) def. Chicago (N) 4-2
34. 1934 - St. Louis (N) def. Detroit (A) 4-3
35. 1964 - St. Louis (N) def. New York (A) 4-3
36. 2003 - Florida (N) def. New York (A) 4-2
37. 1977 - New York (A) def. Los Angeles (N) 4-2
38. 1996 - New York (A) def. Atlanta (N) 4-2
39. 1921 - New York (N) def. New York (A) 5-3
Numbers 40-49
Numbers 50-59
Numbers 60-69
Numbers 70-79
Numbers 80-89
Numbers 90-99
Numbers 100-107

1934 World Series: The Gashouse Gang

The Teams
National League: St. Louis Cardinals (95-58) - Fifth World Series (Won in 1926, 1931)
American League: Detroit Tigers (101-53) - Fourth World Series 

What Happened
The bravado started in spring training when Jay "Dizzy" Dean, the Cardinals ace known as much for his bravado as his pitching prowess, told the gathered reporters that "Me and Paul will win 50 games this year." Paul was Dizzy's younger brother, and 1934 was his first year in the Majors. For Dizzy to suggest that his rookie brother would match him in wins was beyond ridiculous, but statements like that were expected from Dizzy.

Turns out that Dizzy was something like a prophet. He won 30 games, Paul won 19, and the two brothers led the team that would become known as the Gashouse Gang. The name fit, as they looked and played like the poor, dirty, Depression-era small town fans who grew to love them. They ran their way into contention in the National League, entering the final weekend trailing the Giants by a half game. The St. Louis swept four straight from the Reds - with the Dean brothers winning three of those - while the Giants were getting swept in Brooklyn, and the Cardinals advanced to the World Series.

The 1934 Detroit Tigers didn't have a fancy nickname, but maybe they should of. Their No. 2 through 5 spots in the batting order were all occupied by Hall of Famers, and the four men comprising their starting infield missed only one game between them. They were good, and they took advantage of the aging Yankees to run away with the American League pennant with ease.

While the Tigers were good, they were inexperienced - the franchise had never won the World Series, and only two players on their playoff roster - player-manager Mickey Cochrane and outfielder Goose Goslin - had seen the promised land. That inexperience showed in Game 1, as the Tigers committed 5 errors. Since they were batting against Dizzy Dean, that was about four too many. After the Tigers evened the series in Game 2, it was Paul Dean's turn to shut them down, and the Cardinals took a 2-1 series lead.

The legend of Dizzy Dean grew in Game 4 when, sent into the game as a pinch-runner, he didn't bother to slide breaking up a double play and took a throw to the head. He was knocked unconscious and sent to the hospital, where is stay led to the famous headline "X-Ray of Dean's Head Reveals Nothing." The press got a good laugh at that, but the Cardinals weren't laughing, as they were down 3-2 in the series and heading back to Detroit for the final two games.

Paul Dean responded to the challenge in Game 6, throwing a complete game, getting the great Hank Greenberg to pop out to end an eighth-inning threat, and winning the game to force Game 7. Game 7 was ... well, the Tiger fans were throwing fruit and vegetables and paper on the field by the end of the third inning, during which the Cardinals scored seven runs to put the series away. Dizzy Dean - probably mostly recovered from his beaning - got two hits in the big inning, then threw strikes the rest of the way. With the Cardinals still piling on the runs and the crowd getting downright angry, all the tension finally came to a head in the sixth inning.

With two outs in the inning, Ducky Medwick hit a gapper and started running, not stopping until he was sliding - spikes first - into third. His slide knocked down Detroit's Marv Owen, which just made the crowd furious. They picked up the yelling and throwing stuff with a vengence, continuing as the Cardinals added two more runs, then really picking it up when Medwick took his normal spot in left field in the bottom of the inning. The umpires stopped the game twice to restore order, but to no avail; the chaos didn't end until Medwick was removed from the game by commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis. It was an unfair decision, of course, but since the Cardinals were up 11-0 nothing at that point, it didn't really matter. The Gashouse Gang had their title. And while they seemed primed for a National League dynasty, this Cardinals team fizzled out after their one glorious season. For all their fame and bravado, the Gashouse Gang only played in one World Series.

Defining Game
While the Cardinals had the Dean brothers, the Tigers had a great pitcher of their own in Schoolboy Rowe (Dizzy? Ducky? Schoolboy? What happened to all the great nicknames?) He was great for Detroit in a must-win Game 2, but he still trailed 2-1 entering the ninth inning. After Pete Fox singled to lead off the ninth for Detroit, Rowe went up to the plate himself. Naturally, the play would be to pinch-hit for the pitcher, but Rowe had batted above .300 in 1934. He knew what to do with a bat. He bunted Fox over to second, and Gee Walker - pinch hitting not for the pitcher, but the leadoff hitter - drove Fox in with the tying run. Rowe then kept the Tigers afloat until the 12th, when the Hall of Famers took over. Cochrane made the first out, but Charlie Gehringer and Greenberg drew consecutive walks, before Goslin drove home Gehringer with the game-winning run.

MVP
Medwick, Pepper Martin, and Ripper Collins all had great a great series at the plate. Any of them would have been a good choice for MVP. But this was Dizzy's team all the way. He and Paul won all four games of the series for St. Louis - for those keeping track, that put their season win total at 53 wins between them - and as the emotional leader of the Gashouse Gang (and because of his Game 7 shutout) Dizzy would have been the obvious choice.

Random Fact
With the loss, the Tigers dropped to 0-4 in World Series play in franchise history. In all four World Series, they were shut out in the clinching game. 

Scores
(Home team shaded; winners in Bold)

St. Louis	8	2	4	5	1	4	11
Detroit	3	3 (12)	1	10	3	3	0

The List
I'm ranking all the World Series, from worst to best. Here are the ones I've done so far:

34. 1934 - St. Louis (N) def. Detroit (A) 4-3
35. 1964 - St. Louis (N) def. New York (A) 4-3
36. 2003 - Florida (N) def. New York (A) 4-2
37. 1977 - New York (A) def. Los Angeles (N) 4-2
38. 1996 - New York (A) def. Atlanta (N) 4-2
39. 1921 - New York (N) def. New York (A) 5-3
Numbers 40-49
Numbers 50-59
Numbers 60-69
Numbers 70-79
Numbers 80-89
Numbers 90-99
Numbers 100-107

Game 7s
Simultaneously, I'll rank all the Game 7s. The ones that have appeared in my countdown so far:

12. 1979: Pittsburgh 4, Baltimore 1
13. 1955: Brooklyn 2, New York (A) 0
16. 1940: Cincinnati 2, Detroit 1
18. 1987: Minnesota 4, St. Louis 2
19. 1958: New York 6, Milwaukee 2
21. 1968: Detroit 4, St. Louis 1
22. 1931: St. Louis (N) 4, Philadelphia (A) 2
26. 1982: St. Louis 6, Milwaukee 3
28. 1965: Los Angeles (A) 2, Minnesota 0
29. 1964: St. Louis 7, New York (A) 5

31. 1967: St. Louis 7, Boston 2
32. 1945: Detroit 9, Chicago (N) 3
33. 1909: Pittsburgh 8, Detroit 0
34. 1934: St. Louis (N) 11, Detroit 0

1945 World Series: The 10th and Final Time

The Teams
American League: Detroit Tigers (88-65) - Seventh World Series (won in 1935)
National League: Chicago Cubs (98-56) - 10th World Series (won in 1907, 1908)

What Happened
It used to be a relatively common occurrence for the Cubs to appear in the World Series. Their National League pennant in 1945 was their 10th in the 43 years of the World Series era, which ranked second to the Giants during that span. And though they hadn't won the Series since 1908, 1945 seemed as good a year as any for that streak to end. The Cubs led the National League in team ERA and team batting average as they won the pennant by three games over St. Louis, ending the Cardinals' three-year reign atop the league.

For the fourth time, the Tigers were waiting for the Cubs in the World Series. Detroit had gotten a midseason spark from Hank Greenberg's return from the war, so it was fitting that his ninth-inning grand slam let them clinch the pennant on the final day of the season. In this series, the Tigers had the best hitter in Greenberg and the best pitcher in AL MVP Hal Newhouser, but the Cubs were deeper on all fronts.

In a way to cut down on travel during the war, the series was set up so that the Tigers would be at home for the first three games, followed by the Cubs hosting for the final four. So while the Cubs had home-field advantage, in reality, they were at a disadvantage in this setup, feeling extra pressure to steal a win on the road.

In fact, they got two. They hit Newhouser for seven runs in the first three innings of Game 1, then watched Claude Passeau throw only the second one-hitter in World Series history in Game 3. Greenberg's two-out, three-run home run in the fifth inning of Game 2 helped the Tigers salvage one of their home games, but they went to Wrigley Field trailing 2 games to 1.

That's when the Tigers bounced back. A four-run fourth inning was all they needed in Game 4 as Dizzy Trout only gave up one earned run in a complete game victory. Newhouser followed that up with a complete game in Game 5, backed by three doubles by Greenberg. Greenberg stepped up again in Game 6 with a game-tying home run in the 8th, but the Cubs bounced back to win in the 12th to force Game 7.

The Tigers had Newhouser ready for Game 7, so giving him the ball was a no-brainer. The Cubs, however, made an interesting choice by going with Hank Borowy. Sure, Borowy had thrown a complete game in Game 1, but he had also thrown four innings in relief in Game 6. If Cubs manager Charlie Grimm didn't realize before Game 7 that Borowy was likely to be tired, he realized it quickly enough as the first three Tigers to step to the plate hit solid singles. Grimm went to the bullpen but Paul Derringer, likely thrown off by not having enough time to warm up, let all those runners score, plus a couple others. With Newhouser on the mound, Game 7 was over before it even began.

Defining Game
It was the only close game of the series, and Game 6 was a true classic. The Cubs built leads of 5-1 and 7-3, but the failed chances might have been the true story; entering the 8th inning, the teams had combined to leave 18 runners left on base. That storyline went away quickly, though, as the Tigers scored four runs in the eighth to tie the game, capped by Greenberg's two-out home run. After both teams left two runners on base in the ninth - with both teams seeing their pitchers make a key out at the plate - the game trudged quietly into the 12th. After a one out single, Borowy struck out - why was he still batting, again? - but third baseman Stan Hack ripped a double down the left field line to score the game-winning run.

Hack's hit boosted the Cubs' morale, as they were now one win from their first championship since 1908. But it has become a bittersweet moment for Cubs fans. The Cubs haven't won a World Series game since Hack's walkoff hit, and their disappointing performance in Game 7 represented their last appearance in the fall classic.

MVP
There was no official World Series MVP until 1955, but had there been one in 1945, Greenberg would have been the obvious choice. It wasn't just the fine hitting numbers, but when the hits took place. His clutch hits early in the series kept the Tigers alive. He might not have been the best player throughout the seven games, but he was certainly the most valuable.

Scores:
(Home team shaded; winners in Bold)

Detroit	0	4	0	4	8	7	9
Chicago	9	1	3	1	4	8 (12)	3

The List
I'm ranking all the World Series, from worst to best. Here are the ones I've done so far:

76. 1945 -  Detroit (A) def. Chicago (N) 4-3
77. 1940 - Cincinnati (N) def. Detroit (A) 4-3
78. 2009 - New York (A) def. Philadelphia (N) 4-2
79. 1984 - Detroit (A) def. San Diego (N) 4-1
Numbers 80-89
Numbers 90-99
Numbers 100-107

Game 7s
Simultaneously, I'll rank all the Game 7s. The ones that have appeared in my countdown so far:

16. 1940: Cincinnati 2, Detroit 1
29. 1965: Los Angeles 2, Minnesota 0 
45. 1945: Detroit 9, Chicago 3

July 1, 1945: Hammerin' Hank returns

DETROIT - It was a an occasion to celebrate anyway, what with it being a Sunday afternoon doubleheader right before the 4th of July. What made it even more festive was that it marked the return of a conquering hero, a war hero returning to his team in front of his hometown fans.

There were many baseball players who interrupted their careers to fight in various American wars. Joe DiMaggio famously served in World War II, though he saw little actual combat, while Ted Williams was a fighter pilot in both World War II and the Korean War.

Hank Greenberg gets special recognition as someone who served despite getting two chances to get out of it. In his original army physical in 1940, Greenberg was declared unfit because of flat feet. Worried that he would be accused of offering a bribe or of receiving favortism, he went in again and was accepted. A year later, on December 5, 1941, Greenberg was discharged because he was about to turn 28 years old. Two days later, the bombs fell on Hawaii, and Greenberg was back in the Air Force, where he would remain until the war ended.

Early in his baseball career, Greenberg was on the receiving end of verbal taunting from players and fans as a result of his Jewish faith. Near the end of his career, he remembered that experience and went out of his way to befriend Jackie Robinson, one of the few opposing players to be openly friendly and welcoming to him.

Greenberg didn't have to worry about racial taunts on July 1, 1945, however, when he returned to the Detroit lineup in a doubleheader against Philadelphia. The Tigers were in the thick of the pennant race and were welcoming back their all-star outfielder to their lineup. To add to the festivities, and despite having nothing resembling spring training or even warmup games, Greenberg homered in his first game back.

It was just the start of his flair for the dramatic. Adding Greenberg's power gave the Tigers the boost they needed to win the American League pennant, clinching the pennant on the final day of the season on a Greenberg grand slam.

The dramatics didn't end there. Greenberg improbably drove in the run that put the Tigers ahead to stay each of their first three wins of the World Series, games 2, 4, and 5. In Game 6, he hit a game-tying home run in the 8th inning in a game the Tigers lost in the 12th. The Tigers didn't need Greenberg much in a 9-3 win in Game 7, but his season-long heroics - and the inspiration derived from his return - were a key part in their championship.