RetroSimba

Joe Medwick was at home in suburban St. Louis on a Sunday morning when he got an unexpected phone call from Sam Breadon, Cardinals owner. Breadon wanted to know whether Medwick would be interested in playing again for the Cardinals.

When he recovered from his surprise, Medwick said yes.

Breadon told Medwick to get to Sportsman’s Park right away. The Cardinals wanted him available to play that afternoon.

On May 25, 1947, Medwick, who thought he was finished as a big-league player, rejoined the Cardinals, providing them with a much-needed run producer and giving him a chance to bring his career full circle.

Seven years earlier, the Cardinals had traded the moody slugger to the Dodgers.

Squire of Sappington

Medwick hit better than .300 in each of his first nine seasons (1932-40) with the Cardinals. Nicknamed “Ducky” because of how he swayed when he walked, Medwick also was known as “Muscles” because of his powerful and consistent hitting.

As the left fielder for the 1934 Gashouse Gang Cardinals, Medwick batted .319 with 40 doubles, 18 triples, 18 home runs and 106 RBI. He hit .379 (11-for-29) in the 1934 World Series, helping the Cardinals win four of seven against the Tigers.

Three years later, Medwick was named winner of the 1937 National League Most Valuable Player Award. Known for taking savage swings with a 35-ounce hickory bat, Medwick achieved baseball’s Triple Crown by leading the league that season in batting average (.374), home runs (31) and RBI (154). He remains the last NL player to earn a Triple Crown.

Medwick was traded to the Dodgers in June 1940 and played for them until July 1943. Over the next three years, Medwick was with the Giants and Braves and had a return stint with the Dodgers.

In December 1946, Medwick, released by the Dodgers, signed with the Yankees. He opened the 1947 season with the Yankees, but never appeared in a game for them. On April 29, when the Yankees arrived in St. Louis for a series with the Browns, they gave Medwick his release.

When no other team showed interest, Medwick went to his home in Sappington, Mo. “Medwick says he’s through with baseball,” the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

Ready or not

After winning the 1946 World Series championship, the Cardinals had a poor start to the 1947 season. On the morning of Sunday, May 25, they were in last place at 11-19. Left-handed pitchers were being especially tough on Cardinals batters. Eddie Dyer, Cardinals manager, suggested to Breadon that Medwick would provide a reliable right-handed bat.

The Cardinals were scheduled to play a doubleheader at Sportsman’s Park that Sunday afternoon. Breadon phoned Medwick that morning and made his offer.

“It was mounting concern over Cardinals futility against left-handed pitching … that prompted Sam Breadon to summon Medwick from his country life of leisure and daily 18 holes of golf,” the St. Louis Star-Times reported.

Medwick, 35, rushed to the ballpark, met with Breadon and signed a contract. In the clubhouse, he was issued uniform No. 21 instead of the No. 7 he had worn during most of his first stint with the Cardinals.

“We needed somebody who can get us a fly ball or a hit once in a while in the pinch,” Dyer said.

Arriving too late to take batting practice, Medwick watched from the dugout as the Cardinals won the opener, 10-5.

In the second game, the Pirates started Fritz Ostermueller, 39, a left-hander, against Jim Hearn of the Cardinals.

In the fifth inning, with the Pirates ahead, 2-0, the Cardinals had a runner, Del Rice, on first base with Hearn due to bat. Dyer decided to send up a pinch-hitter for the pitcher.

Welcome back

“A husky Redbird, bearing the numeral 21 on his back, waddled to the plate, swinging a couple of bats,” The Sporting News reported. “The number was not listed on the scorecard, but to many in the crowd the newcomer’s distinctive gait stirred memories. Then, the announcement, ‘Medwick batting for Hearn,’ brought a tremendous cheer from the throng.”

Medwick, who hadn’t had a bat in his hand since he was cut by the Yankees four weeks earlier, dug into the batter’s box and awaited a pitch to his liking.

With a familiar snap of his wrists, Medwick swung at an Ostermueller offering and drilled it off the right-field wall for a run-scoring double, missing a home run by a foot.

“Spectator reaction was close to hysteria” as Medwick, replaced by pinch-runner Jeff Cross, “trotted head down to the dugout,” wrote the Post-Dispatch.

After the inning, Ostermueller walked by Dyer and said, “That’s the last run you’ll get off me today.”

Good to his word, Ostermueller pitched a three-hitter and the Pirates won, 2-1. Boxscore

Older and wiser

Still, the Cardinals had found the hitter they needed.

Utilized as a pinch-hitter and part-time outfielder, Medwick batted .307 in 75 games for the 1947 Cardinals. His on-base percentage was .373.

“There was a time when I went up to bat that I didn’t give a whoop in Glocamorra who was pitching,” Medwick said to The Sporting News. “Half the time, I didn’t bother to learn who was out there on the mound and I didn’t care what they were throwing. A fellow can’t be young forever, but he can be smart. I study ’em now, watch what they are throwing me and where they are throwing it.”

The Cardinals surged after June 1 and finished in second place at 89-65, five games behind the Dodgers.

Medwick “was credited with contributing considerably to the dash that brought the Birds from last place into a pennant contender,” The Sporting News wrote.

Medwick returned to the Cardinals in 1948, but the skills had eroded. He batted .211 in 20 games, all as a pinch-hitter, and made his last Cardinals appearance of a Hall of Fame career on July 25.

Medwick remains the Cardinals’ all-time single-season leader in doubles (64) and RBI (154).

Previously: How Joe Medwick got traded by Cardinals to Dodgers