1939 St. Louis Cardinals season

Major League Baseball season March 2026 November 2013 St. Louis Cardinals 1939 National League Sportsman's Park St. Louis, Missouri 92–61 (.601) 2nd Sam Breadon Branch Rickey Ray Blades KMOX(France Laux, Cy Casper)KWK(Johnny O'Hara, Jim Bottomley) stl stl The 1939 St. Louis Cardinals season was the team's 58th season in St. Louis, Missouri and the 48th season in the National League. The Cardinals went 92–61 during the season and finished second in the National League. Regular season Season summary Shortly after the end of the 1938 season, owner Sam Breadon appointed former reserve Cardinals outfielder Ray Blades as manager. He had managed many of the organization's top young players in Columbus, Ohio, and Rochester, New York. A feisty skipper, Blades guided the Cardinals back into the pennant race. The Cincinnati Reds took over first place on May 26 and never fell back. The Cards seized second place at midseason and played at a .708 clip in the final 65 games-including a 29–6 record at home the second half, but never could catch the Reds. The Redbirds made Cincinnati work down the stretch, though. They took two games from the Reds with the third of the three-game series washed out as a tie, and that pulled the Cards to only 3 and a half games back. Twice the Cardinals drew a game closer in September. An old trade haunted the Cards: Paul Derringer, a former St. Louis farmhand, went 25–7 for the Reds. That record included a 5–3 victory in September that clinched the pennant for the Reds. The best offense in the league was at least partially responsible for the Cardinals' dramatic turn. They led the NL in runs and made the most of their speed to head the league in doubles and triples. Their .294 team batting average was 16 points higher than anyone else's. The trade that sent Dizzy Dean to the Chicago Cubs actually paid some dividends. Curt Davis, one of the two pitchers picked up in the deal, led the Redbirds' staff in almost every category. Clyde Shoun, the other ex-Cub, worked a team-high 51 games out of the bullpen. With rookie Mort Cooper winning 12 games and working more than 200 innings, the Cards pitchers posted the league's second-best ERA. Season standings St. Louis Cardinals Record vs. opponents STL Roster 1939 St. Louis Cardinals Roster Pitchers 22 Nate Andrews 18 Frank Barrett 26 Bob Bowman 25 Mort Cooper 27 Curt Davis 22 Paul Dean 32 Murry Dickson 30 Max Lanier 29 Bill McGee 23 Ken Raffensberger 24 Clyde Shoun 28 Tom Sunkel 21 Lon Warneke 20 Bob Weiland Catchers 13 Herb Bremer 12,13,15 Herman Franks 14 Mickey Owen 16 Don Padgett Infielders  3 Jimmy Brown 19 Creepy Crespi  5 Don Gutteridge 19 Johnny Hopp  2 Lyn Lary  6 Stu Martin 10 Johnny Mize  1 Lynn Myers  4 Joe Orengo 23 Bob Repass Outfielders 17 Lynn King  1 Pepper Martin  7 Joe Medwick  8 Terry Moore  9 Enos Slaughter Other batters 12 Buster Adams  4 Johnny Echols Manager 37 Ray Blades Coaches 35 Mike González 36 Buzzy Wares Player stats = Indicates team leader = Indicates league leader Batting Starters by position Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in Pos Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI C Mickey Owen 131 344 89 .259 3 35 1B Johnny Mize 153 564 197 .349 28 108 2B Stu Martin Stu Martin (baseball) 120 425 114 .268 3 30 SS Jimmy Brown Jimmy Brown (baseball) 147 645 192 .298 3 51 3B Don Gutteridge 148 524 141 .269 7 54 OF Joe Medwick 150 606 201 .332 14 117 OF Enos Slaughter 149 604 193 .320 12 86 OF Terry Moore Terry Moore (baseball) 130 417 123 .295 17 77 Other batters Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI Pepper Martin 88 281 86 .306 3 37 Don Padgett 92 233 93 .399 5 53 Lynn Myers Lynn Myers (baseball) 74 117 28 .239 0 10 Lynn King 89 85 20 .235 0 11 Lyn Lary 34 75 14 .187 0 9 Creepy Crespi 15 29 5 .172 0 6 Herman Franks 17 17 1 .059 0 3 Herb Bremer 9 9 1 .111 0 1 Bob Repass 3 6 2 .333 0 1 Eddie Lake 2 4 1 .250 0 0 Johnny Hopp 6 4 2 .500 0 2 Joe Orengo 7 3 0 .000 0 0 Buster Adams 2 1 0 .000 0 0 Johnny Echols Johnny Echols (baseball) 2 0 0 ---- 0 0 Pitching Starting pitchers Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts Player G IP W L ERA SO Curt Davis 49 248.0 22 16 3.63 70 Mort Cooper 45 210.2 12 6 3.25 130 Lon Warneke 34 162.0 13 7 3.78 59 Bob Weiland 32 146.1 10 12 3.57 63 Max Lanier 7 37.2 2 1 2.39 14 Other pitchers Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts Player G IP W L ERA SO Bob Bowman Bob Bowman (pitcher) 51 169.1 13 5 2.60 78 Bill McGee 43 156.0 12 5 3.81 56 Tom Sunkel 20 85.1 4 4 4.22 54 Relief pitchers Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts Player G W L SV ERA SO Clyde Shoun 53 3 1 9 3.76 50 Paul Dean Paul Dean (baseball) 16 0 1 0 6.07 16 Nate Andrews 11 1 2 0 6.75 6 Murry Dickson 1 0 0 0 0.00 2 Frank Barrett Frank Barrett (baseball) 1 0 1 0 5.40 3 Ken Raffensberger 1 0 0 0 0.00 1 Terry Moore Terry Moore (baseball) 1 0 0 0 0.00 1 Awards and honors Cardinals in the 1939 All-Star Game Pitcher Curt Davis Outfielder Joe Medwick First baseman Johnny Mize Outfielder Terry Moore Pitcher Lon Warneke Farm system Minor League Baseball AA Columbus Red Birds American Association Burt Shotton AA Rochester Red Wings International League Billy Southworth AA Sacramento Solons Pacific Coast League Benny Borgmann A1 Houston Buffaloes Texas League Eddie Dyer B Decatur Commodores Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League Tony Kaufmann B Asheville Tourists Piedmont League Hal Anderson B Columbus Red Birds Sally League Clay Hopper B Mobile Shippers Southeastern League Marty Purtell C Kilgore Boomers East Texas League Jimmy Dalrymple C Portsmouth Red Birds Middle Atlantic League Joe Davis C Pocatello Cardinals Pioneer League Tony Robello C Springfield Cardinals Western Association George Silvey D Johnson City Cardinals Appalachian League Ollie Vanek D Albuquerque Cardinals Arizona–Texas League Bill DeLancey D Monett Red Birds Arkansas–Missouri League Fred Hawn D Martinsville Manufacturers Bi-State League Jim Poole, Al Krupski and Harry Daughtry D Cambridge Cardinals Eastern Shore League Fred Lucas D New Iberia Cardinals Evangeline League Jimmie Sanders D Daytona Beach Islanders Florida State League Tommy West D Albany Cardinals Georgia–Florida League Johnny Keane D Union City Greyhounds KITTY League Lee Johnson D Williamson Red Birds Mountain State League Harrison Wickel D Caruthersville Pilots Northeast Arkansas League Bunny Simmons D Duluth Dukes Northern League Dutch Dorman D Fostoria Cardinals Ohio State League Jack Farmer D Washington Red Birds Pennsylvania State Association Bob Scheffing D Hamilton Red Wings PONY League Don Hurst D Gastonia Cardinals Tar Heel League Al Unser D Worthington Cardinals Western League Joe McDermott LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Rochester, Sacramento, Asheville, Kilgore, Springfield, Albuquerque, Cambridge, Albany, Washington, GastoniaJohnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007 Notes 2 References 1939 St. Louis Cardinals at Baseball Reference 1939 St. Louis Cardinals team page at www.baseball-almanac.com Category:St. Louis Cardinals seasons Saint Louis Cardinals season St Louis Cardinals