RetroSimba

When the Cardinals saw Dizzy Dean for the first time in the 1938 regular season, he looked a lot different to them. He was wearing the uniform of the Cubs instead of the Cardinals, he was throwing sidearm instead of overhand, and his pitches were slow instead of fast.

What remained familiar, however, was his result.

On April 24, 1938, in his first appearance at Chicago’s Wrigley Field as a member of the Cubs, Dean faced the team that traded him and pitched a shutout against the Cardinals.

Relying exclusively on off-speed pitches, or, “his dipsy-do stuff,” as the Chicago Tribune described it, because of a damaged right arm, Dean limited the Cardinals to four hits and two walks in a 5-0 Cubs victory. Dean also produced a single and scored twice.

Pitching on a Sunday afternoon before 34,520 spectators, including Cardinals owner Sam Breadon, Dean “caused clouds of gloom to gather over the Cardinals” with his performance, the St. Louis Star-Times reported.

Slow and steady

With an intimidating fastball, Dean was the ace of the Cardinals’ Gashouse Gang teams of the 1930s, leading National League pitchers in strikeouts four years in a row (1932-35) and posting win totals of 30 (1934), 28 (1935) and 24 (1936) in his peak seasons.

His career skidded off course in 1937, however, when he suffered a toe injury in the All-Star Game. Rushed back into the Cardinals’ lineup before the injury healed, Dean altered his delivery to compensate for pain in his toe and damaged his arm.

The Cardinals traded him to the Cubs on April 16, 1938, three days before the season opened. On April 20, Dean made his first regular-season appearance for the Cubs, starting against the Reds at Cincinnati, and got the win, yielding two runs over six innings in a 10-4 Chicago victory.

Before his second Cubs start, against the Cardinals, Dean met with catcher Gabby Hartnett and devised a plan for how to pitch to them. “Gabby knows them better than I do,” Dean told United Press. “All I had to do was put the ball where he said.”

Throwing sidearm, Dean “mixed a fast curve with a slow curve and a fadeaway knuckler curve that threw the Cardinals’ batters off stride,” home plate umpire Larry Goetz told the Star-Times.

Dean threw 92 pitches and, because “he didn’t have a fastball,” relied on “changing pace on a half-speed delivery,” The Sporting News reported.

The Cardinals “dug in at the plate and swung from their heels,” according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “In so doing, they helped to beat themselves.”

Said Cardinals manager Frankie Frisch: “We were too eager. We swung too hard.”

Right stuff

The Cardinals’ hits were a pair of doubles by Terry Moore and a single each by Enos Slaughter and pitcher Max Macon.

Twice, the Cardinals had two runners on the bases, but Dean worked out of both jams.

In the second inning, with Johnny Mize on third, Moore on second and two outs, Dean got Mickey Owen to fly out to left on a 3-and-2 pitch.

In the sixth, Dean retired the first two batters before Slaughter singled and Pepper Martin walked. With Mize, a power threat, at the plate, Cubs manager Charlie Grimm had Charlie Root loosen in the bullpen.

Pitching knuckle-curves away from Mize, Dean worked the count to 1-and-2. His next pitch, described by the Post-Dispatch as a “firecracker curve,” was his fastest. Mize swung at it and popped out to third.

After retiring Mize for the last out in the ninth, Dean was swarmed by teammates. “They whacked him on the back, shook his hands and jostled him into a daze,” the Tribune reported. Hartnett and shortstop Tony Lazzeri wanted to lift Dean onto their shoulders and carry him off the field, the Star-Times observed, but Dean shook them off. Boxscore

Smart guy

Dean finished his gem in one hour, 38 minutes.

“One of the smartest pitched games I have ever seen,” said Goetz. “His control was his best asset.”

When the final was posted on the scoreboard at Sportsman’s Park in St. Louis, where 11,041 had gathered to watch the Browns play the White Sox, the crowd roared its approval in support of Dean.

Surrounded by reporters and photographers in the Wrigley Field locker room, Dean said, “I’m sure glad to get over that one. That was the game I was really worried about.”

About 5,000 fans waited in a runway outside the clubhouse to applaud Dean. “Police had to be summoned to make a path for the great man to leave the park,” the Post-Dispatch reported.

Though Dean said his arm was fine, it wasn’t. He didn’t pitch from May 4 through July 16 because of arm soreness. When he did pitch, he was effective. Dean produced a 7-1 record and 1.81 ERA in 13 appearances for the 1938 Cubs, who won the National League pennant. He started Game 2 of the World Series against the Yankees, but was the losing pitcher.

Dean, who pitched for the Cubs from 1938-41, went on to make eight career appearances against the Cardinals, but the shutout he pitched was his only win against them. Dean’s career record versus the Cardinals: 1-4 with a 5.58 ERA.