Dizzy Dean
Encyclopedia
Jay Hanna "Dizzy" Dean (January 16, 1910 – July 17, 1974) was an American
Major League Baseball
pitcher
. He was the last National League
pitcher to win 30 games in one season. Dean was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1953.
During a 13-year baseball career, he pitched for the St. Louis Cardinals
(-), the Chicago Cubs
(-), and briefly for the St. Louis Browns
.
" St. Louis team
. He had a 30–7 record with a 2.66 ERA
during the regular season. His brother, Paul
, was also on the roster, and was nicknamed "Daffy", although this was usually only done for press consumption. Though "Diz" sometimes called his brother "Daf", he typically referred to himself and his brother as "Me an' Paul".
The Gashouse Gang was the southernmost and westernmost team in the major leagues at the time, and became a de-facto "America's Team
." Team members, particularly Southerners such as the Dean brothers and Pepper Martin
, became folk heroes in Depression
-ravaged America. Americans saw in these players, dirty and hustling rather than handsome and graceful, a spirit of hard work and perseverance, as opposed to the haughty, highly-paid New York Giants
, whom the Cardinals chased for the National League
pennant.
Much like later sports legends Joe Namath
and Muhammad Ali
, Dizzy liked to brag about his prowess and make public predictions. In 1934, Dizzy predicted, "Me an' Paul are gonna win 45 games." On September 21, Diz pitched no-hit ball for eight innings against the Brooklyn Dodgers
, finishing with a three-hit shutout in the first game of a doubleheader, his 27th win of the season. Paul then threw a no-hitter
in the nightcap, to win his 18th, matching the 45 that Diz had predicted. "Gee, Paul", Diz was heard to say in the locker room afterward, "if I'd a-known you was gonna throw a no-hitter, I'd a-thrown one too!" He also bet he could strike out Vince DiMaggio
four times in one game. He struck him out his first three at bats, but when DiMaggio hit a popup behind the plate at his fourth, Dean screamed at his catcher, "Drop it!, Drop it!" The catcher did and Dean fanned DiMaggio, winning the bet. Few in the press now doubted Diz's boast, as he was also fond of saying, "It ain't braggin' if ya can back it up." Diz finished with 30 wins, the only NL pitcher to do so in the post-1920 live-ball era
, and Paul finished with 19, for a total of 49. The Cards needed them all to edge the Giants for the pennant, setting up a matchup with the American League
champion Detroit Tigers
. After the season, Dizzy Dean was awarded the National League
's Most Valuable Player Award
.
Dean was known for antics which inspired his nickname. In time, perception became reality. In Game 4 of the 1934 World Series
against the Detroit Tigers, Dean was sent to first base as a pinch runner
. The next batter hit a potential double play
groundball. Intent on avoiding the double play, Dean threw himself in front of the throw to first. The ball struck him on the head, and Dean was knocked unconscious and taken to a hospital. The storied (and possibly apocryphal) sports-section headline the next day said, "X-ray of Dean's head reveals nothing." Although the Tigers went on the win the game 10-4, Dean recovered in time to pitch in Games 5 and 7 and put the Series away for the Cardinals.
Branch Rickey
, the Cardinals executive who had developed their farm system and built the great 1930s Cardinals teams, found Dean's homespun candidness and observations refreshing. He once told a friend, with some bemusement, "Tell me why I spent four mortal hours today conversing with a person named Dizzy Dean."
, Dean faced Earl Averill
of the American League
Cleveland Indians
. Averill hit a line drive back at the mound, hitting Dean on the foot. Told that his big toe was fractured, Dean responded, "Fractured, hell, the damn thing's broken!" Coming back too soon from the injury, Dean changed his pitching motion to avoid landing as hard on his sore toe enough to affect his mechanics. As a result he hurt his arm, losing his great fastball.
By , Dean's arm was largely gone. Chicago Cubs scout Clarence "Pants" Rowland
was tasked with the unenviable job of obeying owner P. K. Wrigley's
direct order to buy a washed-up Dizzy Dean's contract at any cost. Rowland signed the ragged righty for $185,000, one of the most expensive loss-leader contracts in baseball history. Dean helped the Cubs
win the 1938 National League
pennant, and pitched gamely in Game 2 of the World Series
before losing to the New York Yankees
in what became known as "Ol' Diz's Last Stand." He limped along for the Cubs
until , when he retired. Between the ages of 23 and 27, he was arguably the best pitcher in baseball; by 28, he was just another pitcher, and at 31 he was done.
Dizzy Dean made a one-game comeback on September 28, 1947. After retiring as a player, the still-popular Dean was hired as a broadcaster by the perennially cash-poor Browns
to drum up some badly needed publicity. After broadcasting several poor pitching performances in a row, he grew frustrated, saying on the air, "Doggone it, I can pitch better than nine out of the ten guys on this staff!" The wives of the Browns pitchers complained, and management, needing to sell tickets somehow, took him up on his offer and had him pitch the last game of the season. At age 37, Dean pitched four innings, allowing no runs, and rapped a single in his only at-bat. Rounding first base, he pulled his hamstring. Returning to the broadcast booth at the end of the game, he said, "I said I can pitch better than nine of the ten guys on the staff, and I can. But I'm done. Talking's my game now, and I'm just glad that muscle I pulled wasn't in my throat."
In 1957, he appeared as a guest in the ABC
variety program
, The Guy Mitchell Show
.
, calling baseball for the Cardinals (1941–46), Browns (1941–48), Yankees (1950–51), and Atlanta Braves
(1966–68) and nationally with Mutual
(1952), ABC (1953–54), and CBS (1955–1965). As a broadcaster, Dean was famous for his wit and his often-colorful butchering of the English language. Much like football star-turned-sportscaster Terry Bradshaw
years later, he chose to build on, rather than counter, his image as a not-too-bright country boy, as a way of entertaining fans: "The Good Lord was good to me. He gave me a strong right arm, a good body, and a weak mind." He once saw Browns outfielder Al Zarilla
slide into a base, and said, "Zarilla slud into third!" "Slud" instead of "slid" became a frequently-used Dean expression. Thanks to baseball fan Charles Schulz, another Dean expression found its way into a Peanuts
strip, as Lucy commented on a batter who swung at a pitch outside the strike zone: "He shouldn't hadn't ought-a swang!" Once, describing a player who had struck out, Dean said, "he nonchalantly walks back to the dugout in disgust."
While doing a game on CBS Dean once said, over the open mike, "I don't know why they're calling this the Game of the Week
. There's a much better game, Dodgers and Giants, over on NBC." Every so often, he would sign off by saying, "Don't fail to miss tomorrow's game!" These manglings of the language only endeared Dean to fans, being a precursor of such beloved ballplayers-turned-broadcasters as Ralph Kiner
, Herb Score
and Jerry Coleman
.
An English teacher once wrote to him, complaining that he shouldn't use the word "ain't" on the air, as it was a bad example to children. On the air, Dean said, "A lot of folks who ain't sayin' 'ain't,' ain't eatin'. So, Teach, you learn 'em English, and I'll learn 'em baseball."
The Pride of St. Louis
, a motion picture loosely based on Dean's career, was released in 1952
. Dan Dailey
portrayed Dean. Chet Huntley
, who would later gain fame as an NBC News
anchorman, played an uncredited role in the movie as Dean's radio announcing sidekick.
The National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association
inducted Dean into its Hall of Fame in 1976. Dean has several times been nominated for the Ford C. Frick Award
, given each year by the Baseball Hall of Fame for excellence in baseball broadcasting.
. Dean died at age 64 in Reno, Nevada
, of a heart attack
, and was buried in the Bond Cemetery. Dean's home in Bond was named Deanash, a combination of his name and his wife's maiden name (Nash); it was willed by Dean's wife to the Mississippi Baptist Convention, which operates foster homes for children in a rural setting.
A Dizzy Dean Museum was established at 1152 Lakeland Drive in Jackson, Mississippi. The building was significantly expanded, and the Dean exhibit is now part of the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame & Museum, located adjacent to Smith-Wills Stadium, a former minor-league baseball park. On July 6, 2000, The United States Congress designated the U.S. Post Office in Wiggins, Mississippi
, as the "Jay Hanna 'Dizzy' Dean Post Office" by Public Law 106-236. On October 22, 2007, a rest area on U.S. Route 49
in Wiggins, Mississippi, five miles south of Dean's home in Bond, Mississippi, was named "Dizzy Dean Rest Area" after Dean.
In Morrison Bluff, AR; about 2 miles south of Clarksville, AR; there is a restaurant, Porky's, with Dizzy Dean memorabilia.
Dean was mentioned in the poem "Line-Up for Yesterday
" by Ogden Nash
:
Dean was referenced in the classic Honeymooners TV series by neighbor Ed Norton, who justified mooching a second dinner off of Ralph Kramden by saying, "Just like Dizzy Dean warms up in the bull pen before a game, I warm up by having my first dinner." Later in the scene, when tensions rise, Kramden quips "Shut up, Dizzy Dean, and eat your spaghetti!"
Dean is also featured prominently in some versions of Abbott & Costello's Who's on First comedy sketch. In the sketch Abbott is explaining to Costello that many ballplayers have unusual nicknames including Dizzy Dean, his brother Daffy Dean and their "French cousin Goo-fay Dean" The fictitious French cousin's name is 'goofy' pronounced with an exaggerated french accent.
Actor Ben Jones
wrote and continues to perform a one-man play about Dean, entitled "Ol' Diz".
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
pitcher
Pitcher
In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throwsthe baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw a walk. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the...
. He was the last National League
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League , is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league. Founded on February 2, 1876, to replace the National Association of Professional...
pitcher to win 30 games in one season. Dean was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1953.
During a 13-year baseball career, he pitched for the St. Louis Cardinals
St. Louis Cardinals
The St. Louis Cardinals are a professional baseball team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are members of the Central Division in the National League of Major League Baseball. The Cardinals have won eleven World Series championships, the most of any National League team, and second overall only to...
(-), the Chicago Cubs
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are a professional baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League. They are one of two Major League clubs based in Chicago . The Cubs are also one of the two remaining charter members of the National...
(-), and briefly for the St. Louis Browns
Baltimore Orioles
The Baltimore Orioles are a professional baseball team based in Baltimore, Maryland in the United States. They are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's American League. One of the American League's eight charter franchises in 1901, it spent its first year as a major league...
.
Ace of the Gashouse Gang
Dean was best known for leading the "Gashouse GangGashouse Gang
The Gashouse Gang was a nickname applied to the St. Louis Cardinals Major League Baseball team of .The Cardinals, by most accounts, earned this nickname from the team's generally very shabby appearance and rough-and-tumble tactics...
" St. Louis team
1934 St. Louis Cardinals season
The St. Louis Cardinals season was the team's 53rd season in St. Louis, Missouri and the 43rd season in the National League. The Cardinals went 95-58 during the season and finished first in the National League...
. He had a 30–7 record with a 2.66 ERA
Earned run average
In baseball statistics, earned run average is the mean of earned runs given up by a pitcher per nine innings pitched. It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number of innings pitched and multiplying by nine...
during the regular season. His brother, Paul
Paul Dean (baseball)
Paul Dee "Daffy" Dean was an American Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher. Born in Lucas, Arkansas, he pitched for the St. Louis Cardinals , the New York Giants , and the St. Louis Browns ....
, was also on the roster, and was nicknamed "Daffy", although this was usually only done for press consumption. Though "Diz" sometimes called his brother "Daf", he typically referred to himself and his brother as "Me an' Paul".
The Gashouse Gang was the southernmost and westernmost team in the major leagues at the time, and became a de-facto "America's Team
America's Team
The term America's Team is a popular nickname in American sports that refers to the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League. The nickname originated with the team's 1978 highlight film, where the narrator opens with the following introduction: The term is recognized and often used by media...
." Team members, particularly Southerners such as the Dean brothers and Pepper Martin
Pepper Martin
Johnny Leonard Roosevelt "Pepper" Martin was an American professional baseball player and minor league manager. He was known as the Wild Horse of the Osage because of his daring, aggressive baserunning abilities. Martin played in Major League Baseball as a third baseman and an outfielder for the St...
, became folk heroes in Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
-ravaged America. Americans saw in these players, dirty and hustling rather than handsome and graceful, a spirit of hard work and perseverance, as opposed to the haughty, highly-paid New York Giants
1934 New York Giants (MLB) season
- Roster :- Starters by position :Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in- Other batters :Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg...
, whom the Cardinals chased for the National League
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League , is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league. Founded on February 2, 1876, to replace the National Association of Professional...
pennant.
Much like later sports legends Joe Namath
Joe Namath
Joseph William "Joe" Namath , nicknamed "Broadway Joe" or "Joe Willie", is a former American football quarterback. He played college football for the University of Alabama under coach Paul "Bear" Bryant and his assistant, Howard Schnellenberger, from 1962–1964, and professional football in the...
and Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali is an American former professional boxer, philanthropist and social activist...
, Dizzy liked to brag about his prowess and make public predictions. In 1934, Dizzy predicted, "Me an' Paul are gonna win 45 games." On September 21, Diz pitched no-hit ball for eight innings against the Brooklyn Dodgers
1934 Brooklyn Dodgers season
Casey Stengel took over as manager for the Brooklyn Dodgers, but the team still finished in 6th place.- Offseason :* December, 1933: Art Herring was purchased by the Dodgers from the Detroit Tigers....
, finishing with a three-hit shutout in the first game of a doubleheader, his 27th win of the season. Paul then threw a no-hitter
No-hitter
A no-hitter is a baseball game in which one team has no hits. In Major League Baseball, the team must be without hits during the entire game, and the game must be at least nine innings. A pitcher who prevents the opposing team from achieving a hit is said to have "thrown a no-hitter"...
in the nightcap, to win his 18th, matching the 45 that Diz had predicted. "Gee, Paul", Diz was heard to say in the locker room afterward, "if I'd a-known you was gonna throw a no-hitter, I'd a-thrown one too!" He also bet he could strike out Vince DiMaggio
Vince DiMaggio
Vincent Paul "Vince" DiMaggio was a Major League Baseball center fielder. During a 10-year baseball career, he played for the Boston Bees , Cincinnati Reds , Pittsburgh Pirates , Philadelphia Phillies , and New York Giants...
four times in one game. He struck him out his first three at bats, but when DiMaggio hit a popup behind the plate at his fourth, Dean screamed at his catcher, "Drop it!, Drop it!" The catcher did and Dean fanned DiMaggio, winning the bet. Few in the press now doubted Diz's boast, as he was also fond of saying, "It ain't braggin' if ya can back it up." Diz finished with 30 wins, the only NL pitcher to do so in the post-1920 live-ball era
Live-ball era
The live-ball era, also referred to as the lively ball era, is the period in Major League Baseball beginning in , following the dead-ball era. During that year offensive statistics rose dramatically in what would be mistakenly attributed to the introduction of a new "lively" ball...
, and Paul finished with 19, for a total of 49. The Cards needed them all to edge the Giants for the pennant, setting up a matchup with the American League
American League
The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, or simply the American League , is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league based in the Great Lakes states, which eventually aspired to major...
champion Detroit Tigers
1934 Detroit Tigers season
The Detroit Tigers season was a season in American baseball. The season was the team's 34th since entering the American League in . The Tigers won the American League pennant with a record of 101-53, the best winning percentage in team history. The team made its fourth World Series appearance, but...
. After the season, Dizzy Dean was awarded the National League
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League , is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league. Founded on February 2, 1876, to replace the National Association of Professional...
's Most Valuable Player Award
MLB Most Valuable Player Award
The Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award is an annual Major League Baseball award, given to one outstanding player in the American League and one in the National League. Since 1931, it has been awarded by the Baseball Writers Association of America...
.
Dean was known for antics which inspired his nickname. In time, perception became reality. In Game 4 of the 1934 World Series
1934 World Series
The 1934 World Series matched the St. Louis Cardinals against the Detroit Tigers, with the Cardinals' "Gashouse Gang" winning in seven games for their third championship in nine years....
against the Detroit Tigers, Dean was sent to first base as a pinch runner
Pinch runner
A pinch runner is a baseball player substituted for the specific purpose of replacing a player on base. In the typical case, the pinch runner is faster or otherwise more skilled at base-running than the player for whom the pinch runner has been substituted...
. The next batter hit a potential double play
Double play
In baseball, a double play for a team or a fielder is the act of making two outs during the same continuous playing action. In baseball slang, making a double play is referred to as "turning two"....
groundball. Intent on avoiding the double play, Dean threw himself in front of the throw to first. The ball struck him on the head, and Dean was knocked unconscious and taken to a hospital. The storied (and possibly apocryphal) sports-section headline the next day said, "X-ray of Dean's head reveals nothing." Although the Tigers went on the win the game 10-4, Dean recovered in time to pitch in Games 5 and 7 and put the Series away for the Cardinals.
Branch Rickey
Branch Rickey
Wesley Branch Rickey was an innovative Major League Baseball executive elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1967...
, the Cardinals executive who had developed their farm system and built the great 1930s Cardinals teams, found Dean's homespun candidness and observations refreshing. He once told a friend, with some bemusement, "Tell me why I spent four mortal hours today conversing with a person named Dizzy Dean."
Injury-shortened career
While pitching for the NL in the 1937 All-Star Game1937 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
The 1937 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was the fifth playing of the mid-summer classic between the all-stars of the American League and National League , the two leagues comprising Major League Baseball. The game was held on July 7, 1937, at Griffith Stadium in Washington, D.C., the home of...
, Dean faced Earl Averill
Earl Averill
Howard Earl Averill was an American player in Major League Baseball who was a center fielder from 1929 to 1941...
of the American League
American League
The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, or simply the American League , is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league based in the Great Lakes states, which eventually aspired to major...
Cleveland Indians
1937 Cleveland Indians season
The Cleveland Indians season was a season in American baseball. The team finished fourth in the American League with a record of 83-71, 19 games behind the New York Yankees.- Regular season :...
. Averill hit a line drive back at the mound, hitting Dean on the foot. Told that his big toe was fractured, Dean responded, "Fractured, hell, the damn thing's broken!" Coming back too soon from the injury, Dean changed his pitching motion to avoid landing as hard on his sore toe enough to affect his mechanics. As a result he hurt his arm, losing his great fastball.
By , Dean's arm was largely gone. Chicago Cubs scout Clarence "Pants" Rowland
Pants Rowland
Clarence Henry "Pants" Rowland was a Major League Baseball manager for the Chicago White Sox from 1915 through 1918 who went on to become a major figure in minor league baseball. He was born in Platteville, Wisconsin...
was tasked with the unenviable job of obeying owner P. K. Wrigley's
Philip K. Wrigley
Philip Knight Wrigley , sometimes also called P.K. or Phil. Born in Chicago, he was an American chewing gum manufacturer and executive in Major League Baseball, inheriting both those roles as the quiet son of his much more flamboyant father, William Wrigley Jr. After his father died in 1932, Philip...
direct order to buy a washed-up Dizzy Dean's contract at any cost. Rowland signed the ragged righty for $185,000, one of the most expensive loss-leader contracts in baseball history. Dean helped the Cubs
1938 Chicago Cubs season
- Roster :- Starters by position :Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in- Other batters :Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg...
win the 1938 National League
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League , is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league. Founded on February 2, 1876, to replace the National Association of Professional...
pennant, and pitched gamely in Game 2 of the World Series
1938 World Series
The 1938 World Series matched the two-time defending champion New York Yankees against the Chicago Cubs, with the Yankees sweeping the Series in four games for their seventh championship and record third straight .Dizzy Dean, who had helped carry the Cubs to the National League pennant despite a...
before losing to the New York Yankees
1938 New York Yankees season
The New York Yankees season was their 36th season. The team finished with a record of 99-53, winning their 10th pennant, finishing 9.5 games ahead of the Boston Red Sox. New York was managed by Joe McCarthy. The Yankees played their home games at Yankee Stadium. In the 1938 World Series, they...
in what became known as "Ol' Diz's Last Stand." He limped along for the Cubs
1941 Chicago Cubs season
- Notable transactions :* September 2, 1941: Hank Gornicki was purchased by the Cubs from the St. Louis Cardinals.* September 22, 1941: The purchase of Hank Gornicki's contract by the Cubs from the Cardinals was voided, and Gornicki was returned to the Cardinals....
until , when he retired. Between the ages of 23 and 27, he was arguably the best pitcher in baseball; by 28, he was just another pitcher, and at 31 he was done.
Dizzy Dean made a one-game comeback on September 28, 1947. After retiring as a player, the still-popular Dean was hired as a broadcaster by the perennially cash-poor Browns
1947 St. Louis Browns season
The 1947 St. Louis Browns season involved the Browns finishing 8th in the American League with a record of 59 wins and 95 losses.- Regular season :* July 17: Hank Thompson became the first black player to appear in a game for the Browns....
to drum up some badly needed publicity. After broadcasting several poor pitching performances in a row, he grew frustrated, saying on the air, "Doggone it, I can pitch better than nine out of the ten guys on this staff!" The wives of the Browns pitchers complained, and management, needing to sell tickets somehow, took him up on his offer and had him pitch the last game of the season. At age 37, Dean pitched four innings, allowing no runs, and rapped a single in his only at-bat. Rounding first base, he pulled his hamstring. Returning to the broadcast booth at the end of the game, he said, "I said I can pitch better than nine of the ten guys on the staff, and I can. But I'm done. Talking's my game now, and I'm just glad that muscle I pulled wasn't in my throat."
In 1957, he appeared as a guest in the ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
variety program
Variety show
A variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is an entertainment made up of a variety of acts, especially musical performances and sketch comedy, and normally introduced by a compère or host. Other types of acts include magic, animal and circus acts, acrobatics, juggling...
, The Guy Mitchell Show
The Guy Mitchell Show
The Guy Mitchell Show is a short-lived half-hour television variety program hosted by and starring 30-year-old recording artist Guy Mitchell , which was broadcast from October 7, 1957, to January 13, 1958. The series aired on Monday evenings at 8 p.m. Eastern time on ABC following a half-hour...
.
Broadcasting
Following his playing career Dean became a well-known radio and television sportscasterSportscaster
In sports broadcasting, a commentator gives a running commentary of a game or event in real time, usually during a live broadcast. The comments are normally a voiceover, with the sounds of the action and spectators also heard in the background. In the case of television commentary, the commentator...
, calling baseball for the Cardinals (1941–46), Browns (1941–48), Yankees (1950–51), and Atlanta Braves
Atlanta Braves
The Atlanta Braves are a professional baseball club based in Atlanta, Georgia. The Braves are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League. The Braves have played in Turner Field since 1997....
(1966–68) and nationally with Mutual
Major League Baseball on Mutual
Major League Baseball on Mutual was the de facto title of the Mutual Broadcasting System's national radio coverage of Major League Baseball games. Mutual's coverage came about during the Golden Age of Radio in the 1930s, '40s, and '50s. During this period, television sports broadcasting was in its...
(1952), ABC (1953–54), and CBS (1955–1965). As a broadcaster, Dean was famous for his wit and his often-colorful butchering of the English language. Much like football star-turned-sportscaster Terry Bradshaw
Terry Bradshaw
Terry Paxton Bradshaw is a former American football quarterback with the Pittsburgh Steelers in the National Football League . He played 14 seasons. He is a football analyst and co-host of Fox NFL Sunday...
years later, he chose to build on, rather than counter, his image as a not-too-bright country boy, as a way of entertaining fans: "The Good Lord was good to me. He gave me a strong right arm, a good body, and a weak mind." He once saw Browns outfielder Al Zarilla
Al Zarilla
Allen Lee Zarilla was a right fielder in Major League Baseball who played for the St. Louis Browns , Boston Red Sox and Chicago White Sox . Zarilla batted left-handed and threw right-handed...
slide into a base, and said, "Zarilla slud into third!" "Slud" instead of "slid" became a frequently-used Dean expression. Thanks to baseball fan Charles Schulz, another Dean expression found its way into a Peanuts
Peanuts
Peanuts is a syndicated daily and Sunday American comic strip written and illustrated by Charles M. Schulz, which ran from October 2, 1950, to February 13, 2000, continuing in reruns afterward...
strip, as Lucy commented on a batter who swung at a pitch outside the strike zone: "He shouldn't hadn't ought-a swang!" Once, describing a player who had struck out, Dean said, "he nonchalantly walks back to the dugout in disgust."
While doing a game on CBS Dean once said, over the open mike, "I don't know why they're calling this the Game of the Week
Major League Baseball Game of the Week
The Major League Baseball Game of the Week is the de facto title for over-the-air, nationally televised coverage of regular season Major League Baseball games...
. There's a much better game, Dodgers and Giants, over on NBC." Every so often, he would sign off by saying, "Don't fail to miss tomorrow's game!" These manglings of the language only endeared Dean to fans, being a precursor of such beloved ballplayers-turned-broadcasters as Ralph Kiner
Ralph Kiner
Ralph McPherran Kiner is an American former Major League Baseball player and has been an announcer for the New York Mets since the team's inception. Though injuries forced his retirement from active play after 10 seasons, Kiner's tremendous slugging outpaced nearly all of his National League...
, Herb Score
Herb Score
Herbert Jude Score was a Major League Baseball pitcher and announcer.-Athletic career:Score came up as a rookie in with the Cleveland Indians...
and Jerry Coleman
Jerry Coleman
Gerald Francis "Jerry" Coleman is a former Major League Baseball second baseman for the New York Yankees. Currently, he is an analyst and former play-by-play radio announcer for the San Diego Padres...
.
An English teacher once wrote to him, complaining that he shouldn't use the word "ain't" on the air, as it was a bad example to children. On the air, Dean said, "A lot of folks who ain't sayin' 'ain't,' ain't eatin'. So, Teach, you learn 'em English, and I'll learn 'em baseball."
The Pride of St. Louis
The Pride of St. Louis
The Pride of St. Louis is a 1952 biographical film of the life of Major League Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Jerome Herman "Dizzy" Dean. It starred Dan Dailey as Dean, Joanne Dru as his wife, and Richard Crenna as his brother Paul "Daffy" Dean, also a major league pitcher.Guy Trosper was nominated...
, a motion picture loosely based on Dean's career, was released in 1952
1952 in film
The year 1952 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* January 10 - Cecil B. DeMille's circus epic, The Greatest Show on Earth, premieres at Radio City Music Hall in New York City....
. Dan Dailey
Dan Dailey
Daniel James Dailey Jr. was an American dancer and actor.-Early life and career:Born in New York City on December 14, 1915, to James J. and Helen Dailey, both born in New York City. He appeared in a minstrel show when very young, and appeared in vaudeville before his Broadway debut in 1937 in...
portrayed Dean. Chet Huntley
Chet Huntley
Chester Robert "Chet" Huntley was an American television newscaster, best known for co-anchoring NBC's evening news program, The Huntley-Brinkley Report, for 14 years beginning in 1956.-Early life:...
, who would later gain fame as an NBC News
NBC News
NBC News is the news division of American television network NBC. It first started broadcasting in February 21, 1940. NBC Nightly News has aired from Studio 3B, located on floors 3 of the NBC Studios is the headquarters of the GE Building forms the centerpiece of 30th Rockefeller Center it is...
anchorman, played an uncredited role in the movie as Dean's radio announcing sidekick.
The National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association
National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association
The National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association, or NSSA, is an organization of sports media members in the United States. It constitutes the American chapter of the International Sports Press Association ....
inducted Dean into its Hall of Fame in 1976. Dean has several times been nominated for the Ford C. Frick Award
Ford C. Frick Award
The Ford C. Frick Award is presented annually by the National Baseball Hall of Fame in the United States to a broadcaster for "major contributions to baseball." It is named for Ford Christopher Frick, former Commissioner of Major League Baseball...
, given each year by the Baseball Hall of Fame for excellence in baseball broadcasting.
Accomplishments
- Four time All-StarMajor League Baseball All-Star GameThe Major League Baseball All-Star Game, also known as the "Midsummer Classic", is an annual baseball game between players from the National League and the American League, currently selected by a combination of fans, players, coaches, and managers...
selection (19341934 Major League Baseball All-Star GameThe 1934 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was the second playing of the mid-summer classic between the all-stars of the American League and National League , the two leagues comprising Major League Baseball. The game was held on July 10 at the Polo Grounds in New York City, the home of the New...
, 19351935 Major League Baseball All-Star GameThe 1935 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was the 3rd playing of the mid-summer classic between the all-stars of the American League and National League , the two leagues comprising Major League Baseball. The game was held on July 8, 1935 at Cleveland Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio the home of the...
, 19361936 Major League Baseball All-Star GameThe 1936 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was the 4th playing of the mid-summer classic between the all-stars of the American League and National League , the two leagues comprising Major League Baseball. The game was held on July 7, 1936 at Braves Field in Boston, Massachusetts, the home of...
, 19371937 Major League Baseball All-Star GameThe 1937 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was the fifth playing of the mid-summer classic between the all-stars of the American League and National League , the two leagues comprising Major League Baseball. The game was held on July 7, 1937, at Griffith Stadium in Washington, D.C., the home of...
) - Four consecutive strikeout titles (1934–1937)
- Led National League in complete games for four consecutive years (1934–1937)
- World SeriesWorld SeriesThe World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball, played between the American League and National League champions since 1903. The winner of the World Series championship is determined through a best-of-seven playoff and awarded the Commissioner's Trophy...
champion - starter and winner of two games - Three time 20-game winner; won 30 games in 1934
- Elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1953
- MVP in 1934
- Inducted into the St. Louis Walk of FameSt. Louis Walk of FameThe St. Louis Walk of Fame honors well-known people from St. Louis, Missouri, who made contributions to culture of the United States. All inductees were either born in the Greater St. Louis area or spent their formative or creative years there...
- Despite having what amounted to only half a career, in , he ranked Number 85 on The Sporting NewsThe Sporting NewsSporting News is an American-based sports magazine. It was established in 1886, and it became the dominant American publication covering baseball — so much so that it acquired the nickname "The Bible of Baseball"...
list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, and was nominated as a finalist for the Major League BaseballMajor League BaseballMajor League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
All-Century Team.
Later life and recognition
After leaving sportscasting in the late 1960s, Dean settled with his wife, Patricia, in her hometown—Bond, MississippiBond, Mississippi
Bond is an unincorporated community in northern Stone County Mississippi, United States. Dizzy Dean, elected to Baseball Hall of Fame and well-known sportscaster, was a resident after his retirement in the late 1960s; Bond was the hometown of his wife, Patricia Nash...
. Dean died at age 64 in Reno, Nevada
Reno, Nevada
Reno is the county seat of Washoe County, Nevada, United States. The city has a population of about 220,500 and is the most populous Nevada city outside of the Las Vegas metropolitan area...
, of a heart attack
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
, and was buried in the Bond Cemetery. Dean's home in Bond was named Deanash, a combination of his name and his wife's maiden name (Nash); it was willed by Dean's wife to the Mississippi Baptist Convention, which operates foster homes for children in a rural setting.
A Dizzy Dean Museum was established at 1152 Lakeland Drive in Jackson, Mississippi. The building was significantly expanded, and the Dean exhibit is now part of the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame & Museum, located adjacent to Smith-Wills Stadium, a former minor-league baseball park. On July 6, 2000, The United States Congress designated the U.S. Post Office in Wiggins, Mississippi
Wiggins, Mississippi
Wiggins is a city in Stone County, Mississippi, United States. It is part of the Gulfport–Biloxi, Mississippi Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 3,849 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Stone County.-History:...
, as the "Jay Hanna 'Dizzy' Dean Post Office" by Public Law 106-236. On October 22, 2007, a rest area on U.S. Route 49
U.S. Route 49
U.S. Route 49 is a north–south United States highway. The highway's northern terminus is in Piggott, Arkansas, at an intersection with U.S. Route 62. Its southern terminus is in Gulfport, Mississippi, at an intersection with U.S. Route 90. US 49 is approximately 516 miles in length.It...
in Wiggins, Mississippi, five miles south of Dean's home in Bond, Mississippi, was named "Dizzy Dean Rest Area" after Dean.
In Morrison Bluff, AR; about 2 miles south of Clarksville, AR; there is a restaurant, Porky's, with Dizzy Dean memorabilia.
Dean was mentioned in the poem "Line-Up for Yesterday
Line-Up for Yesterday
Line-Up for Yesterday: An ABC of Baseball Immortals is a poem written by Ogden Nash for the January 1949 issue of SPORT Magazine. In the poem, Nash dedicates each letter of the alphabet to an iconic Major League Baseball player...
" by Ogden Nash
Ogden Nash
Frederic Ogden Nash was an American poet well known for his light verse. At the time of his death in 1971, the New York Times said his "droll verse with its unconventional rhymes made him the country's best-known producer of humorous poetry".-Early life:Nash was born in Rye, New York...
:
Dean was referenced in the classic Honeymooners TV series by neighbor Ed Norton, who justified mooching a second dinner off of Ralph Kramden by saying, "Just like Dizzy Dean warms up in the bull pen before a game, I warm up by having my first dinner." Later in the scene, when tensions rise, Kramden quips "Shut up, Dizzy Dean, and eat your spaghetti!"
Dean is also featured prominently in some versions of Abbott & Costello's Who's on First comedy sketch. In the sketch Abbott is explaining to Costello that many ballplayers have unusual nicknames including Dizzy Dean, his brother Daffy Dean and their "French cousin Goo-fay Dean" The fictitious French cousin's name is 'goofy' pronounced with an exaggerated french accent.
Actor Ben Jones
Ben Jones (US)
Ben Lewis Jones is an American actor, politician, playwright and essayist, probably best known for his role as Cooter Davenport in The Dukes of Hazzard. Jones was elected to be a member of the United States House of Representatives in 1988 and re-elected in 1990. He served for four years, until Jan...
wrote and continues to perform a one-man play about Dean, entitled "Ol' Diz".
Career statistics
| W | L | ERA | G | GS | CG | SHO | SV | IP | H | ER | HR | BB | SO | Win Pct. | ERA+ |
| 150 | 83 | 3.02 | 317 | 230 | 154 | 26 | 30 | 1,967 | 1,919 | 661 | 95 | 453 | 1,163 | .644 | 130 |
See also
- List of Major League Baseball leaders in career wins
- List of Major League Baseball saves champions
- List of Major League Baseball strikeout champions
- List of Major League Baseball wins champions
- Major League Baseball titles leadersMajor League Baseball titles leadersAt the end of each Major League Baseball season, the league leaders of various statistical categories are announced. Leading the league in a particular category is referred to as a title....