RetroSimba

Decades after he pitched for the Cardinals as a member of the Gashouse Gang, Dizzy Dean was involved in a federal investigation of a gambling gang.

A grand jury indictment named Dean, 60, a co-conspirator in a gambling scandal on Feb. 24, 1970.

Dean, who placed bets for a friend and also made payoffs for him, testified as a witness for the government in the case and wasn’t charged with a crime.

Biloxi blues

Dean was the ace of the 1930s Cardinals clubs known as the Gashouse Gang, a feisty, aggressive group featuring Pepper Martin, Joe Medwick and Leo Durocher.

Dean achieved 30 regular-season wins in 1934 and two more in the World Series against the Tigers. He led National League pitchers in strikeouts for four consecutive seasons (1932-35).

After his playing career, Dean was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. He was broadcaster on Cardinals and Browns games in the 1940s and national baseball telecasts in the 1950s.

In retirement, Dean made his home in Bond, Miss. A friend, trucking executive Howard Sober of Lansing, Mich., asked Dean to place illegal bets for him with bookmakers in Biloxi, Miss. Dean agreed to place the bets and be the go-between for receiving and making payouts.

On Jan. 1, 1970, Dean was in Las Vegas when he was questioned and searched by authorities, the Associated Press reported. Dean wasn’t arrested and federal officials said he was cooperating with them.

Dean “is furnishing information,” a U.S. attorney in Detroit said to the New York Times.

According to the Associated Press, a document in federal district court in Detroit alleged Dean delivered a $6,000 gambling payoff for Howard Sober.

Suspended Tigers pitcher Denny McLain, the first big-leaguer since Dean with 30 wins in a season, met with federal attorneys to cooperate in the investigation, the Associated Press reported.

Give info, avoid charges

Ten people, arrested in Detroit and Biloxi, were indicted by the federal grand jury on one county of conspiring to use interstate commerce for illegal gambling.

Dean “was named as a co-conspirator but not as a defendant in the indictment,” the Associated Press reported. Because Dean “is named only as a co-conspirator and not a defendant, he is not charged with any crime.”

According to the indictment, the 10 defendants and six co-conspirators used telephones for “unlawful gambling purposes” from April 1969 to January 1970.

The indictment charged three of the defendants, all from Biloxi, “would knowingly accept bets from unindicted co-conspirators” Dizzy Dean and his nephew, Paul Dean Jr., “on behalf of unindicted co-conspirator Howard Sober.” Paul Dean Jr., was the son of Dizzy’s brother and Cardinals teammate, pitcher Paul Dean Sr.

Dizzy Dean’s “very helpful” information led to several arrests in the case, United Press International reported.

U.S. attorney James Brickley said being cited as a co-conspirator meant “the grand jury believed the person was involved,” but not to a sufficient degree to be indicted.

Favor for a friend

On Feb. 25, 1970, an emotional Dizzy Dean met with reporters and said, “I am happy and pleased I was not arrested, indicted and charged. I am sad for my family and friends all over the United States because I was accused of a lot of things. There is not a bit of truth to it.”

Dean said, “I have never been involved in big-time gambling.” He told United Press International he met the Biloxi defendants “through a friend (Howard Sober) who asked me to make wagers for him and I did. I was later told it was the wrong thing to do and I quit. I never received one dime, not a penny.”

Three years later, on June 20, 1973, two of the Biloxi defendants, Frank Duvic and Salvatore “Sammie” Sicuro, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Detroit They were fined and placed on probation.

Dizzy Dean, Paul Dean Jr. and Howard Sober appeared as witnesses for the government and were excused from the subpoenas after Duvic and Sicuro pleaded guilty, an Internal Revenue Service spokesman told the Associated Press.

Duvic said he accepted wagers from the Deans while working at a Biloxi club, the Associated Press reported.

“Duvic told the court he knew Dizzy Dean was placing bets for Howard Sober, who phoned them to Dean from Michigan,” according to the Associated Press. “Duvic said he accompanied Dean to a bank” and was given a check to cover Sober’s bets.

Sicuro testified he knew Dizzy Dean was placing bets for Howard Sober, the Associated Press reported. Sicuro said Dizzy Dean appeared every Monday to settle the gambling account.