The Village Smithy
By Chester L. Smith, sports editor
Just as the All-Star Game, in July, substantiated the suspicion that the National League possessed greater overall strength than the American this year, so did the World Series lend plausibility to the crack that the major leagues, as of 1944, consisted of “15 poor clubs and the Cardinals.” Aside from the fact that the scores were generally close and the Browns gave it all they had, it was a Redbird show from beginning to end. And come to think of it, the Cards weren’t a high-scoring team all season long. Occasionally they would break out as they did in Pittsburgh one afternoon with a 16-run splurge, but for the most part they were modest along that line and depended largely on superlative pitching and one of the toughest defensive infields within memory.
Averages for a short series more often than not fall below those of a full campaign, and true to tradition, the Cardinals’ batting was 38 points under normal. But the Brownies slumped 70 points, which might prove the pre-Series contention that pitching in the junior wheel was on the whole of an inferior brand. George McQuinn was the lone Brown to hit with any consistency. Because the Cardinal attack was spotty, Georgie was able to make what was actually a one-sided match appear to be a hand-to-hand grapple.
It was a pitchers’ series through and through. Aside from McQuinn, Emil Verban and Walker Cooper were the only ones to better their season’s marks. Verban had a wild session at the plate, batting .412, and the catching member of the Cooper family was in the groove, with .318 for the six games against .317 during the regular campaign.
Johnny Hopp was the Nationals’ big disappointment.
On the final day it was the failure of the Browns’ infield that won the title for the Cards, but we wonder if the blow that actually killed off Luke Sewell’s men wasn’t delivered much earlier in the series – in the second game and by none other than Blix Donnelly, who has specialized in pitching his fast ball past batters for a long time but was finishing only his first season in a St. Louis uniform.
Rebuild the situation: The Browns had won the opening brush and had beaten Morton Cooper, to boot, with the ragtag Denny Galehouse. Now they had tied up the second game in the seventh inning on Max Lanier and had attacked the veteran southpaw viciously to open the eighth.
A run or two here might not only have put the Browns two-up but would have had a severe effect on the Cardinals’ nerves. They would have had every reason to believe then that what they had been hearing about their opponents being a team of destiny and a child of Lady Luck was entirely true and that nothing they could so would be enough.
In this clutch, Donnelly stepped in and began whirling his swifter. He struck out Laabs and also Verban Stephens. Now he had two down and the strategy was to pass McQuinn, who had wrecked everything the previous day. Even had the latter been a weak batter, it was good baseball to walk him and thus put a force play all around. Anyhow, that’s what Donnelly did, and then he got Mark Christman on a third strike. They went along after that until Ken O’Dea out the damper down with a pinch-hit that defeated the Browns, 3–2, and squared the series.
This, it is probable, was the left the Southworth crew needed. It showed them they could win and it also muffled the enthusiasm of the Browns, who were really in high after they had won one and overcome a lead in the second.
What happened afterward was more or less routine. The Browns had a large day on Friday but Brecheen squelched them again the next afternoon and on Sunday Cooper came back to throw the entire American League setup in reverse. Big Mort’s 2–0 victory meant only one thing: the finish was in sight. Twenty-four hours later, the Cards played as though they sensed it and so did the Browns.
And that was your ’44 World Series, although a point or two could be added. Oldtimers can’t remember when a shortstop who batted only .227 came out of the post-season melee as one of the eligibles for top honors, yet there are many who think Marty Marion deserves such a rating. Marion’s fielding was said to have been as fine as any ever seen and his few hits were timely. When the critics said earlier they would discount Stephens’ slugging and give the Cards the advantage in the short field, they weren’t idly clacking their store teeth, for if it wasn’t Marion, who was it?