Dizzy Dean
The man who once proclaimed "It ain't braggin' if you can back it up" delivered one of baseball's most dominant four-year runs before injury derailed everything. Dean's 1934-1937 stretch with St. Louis produced a staggering 102 wins and helped carry the Cardinals to two World Series titles, including their famous "Gashouse Gang" championship in '34.
That peak ERA+ of 480 tells the story of sheer dominance cut tragically short. Dean was striking out batters at an elite rate — his 1163 career strikeouts came in an era when power pitchers were rare — until a line drive broke his toe in the 1937 All-Star Game. He altered his delivery to compensate and permanently damaged his arm.
By 1938, the formerly untouchable ace was reduced to spot duty with Chicago, managing just that 7-1 record with a respectable 1.81 ERA. The Hall of Fame recognized what might have been, inducting him in 1953 based on four brilliant seasons that showcased one of the game's great "what if" stories.
Career · Hitting
12 seasons| Year | Team | G | AB | HR | RBI | AVG | OPS | OPS+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1930 | STL | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | .333 | — | — |
| 1932 | STL | 47 | 97 | 2 | 12 | .258 | — | — |
| 1933 | STL | 51 | 105 | 1 | 12 | .181 | — | — |
| 1934 | STL | 51 | 118 | 2 | 9 | .246 | — | — |
| 1935 | STL | 53 | 128 | 2 | 21 | .234 | — | — |
| 1936 | STL | 51 | 121 | 0 | 15 | .223 | — | — |
| 1937 | STL | 27 | 66 | 1 | 5 | .227 | — | — |
| 1938 | CHC | 13 | 26 | 0 | 1 | .192 | — | — |
| 1939 | CHC | 19 | 34 | 0 | 1 | .147 | — | — |
| 1940 | CHC | 10 | 18 | 0 | 0 | .222 | — | — |
| 1941 | CHC | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — |
| 1947 | SLA | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | — | — |
| Career | 325 | 717 | 8 | 76 | .225 | — | — | |
Career · Pitching
12 seasons| Year | Team | G | IP | W | L | ERA | ERA+ | SO | WHIP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1930 | STL | 1 | 9.0 | 1 | 0 | 1.00 | 480 | 5 | 0.667 |
| 1932 | STL | 46 | 286.0 | 18 | 15 | 3.30 | 125 | 191 | 1.336 |
| 1933 | STL | 48 | 293.0 | 20 | 18 | 3.04 | 127 | 199 | 1.171 |
| 1934 | STL | 50 | 311.7 | 30 | 7 | 2.66 | 161 | 195 | 1.165 |
| 1935 | STL | 50 | 325.3 | 28 | 12 | 3.04 | 143 | 190 | 1.233 |
| 1936 | STL | 51 | 315.0 | 24 | 13 | 3.17 | 145 | 195 | 1.152 |
| 1937 | STL | 27 | 197.3 | 13 | 10 | 2.69 | 161 | 120 | 1.181 |
| 1938 | CHC | 13 | 74.7 | 7 | 1 | 1.81 | 240 | 22 | 0.951 |
| 1939 | CHC | 19 | 96.3 | 6 | 4 | 3.36 | 127 | 27 | 1.194 |
| 1940 | CHC | 10 | 54.0 | 3 | 3 | 5.17 | 81 | 18 | 1.630 |
| 1941 | CHC | 1 | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 18.00 | 22 | 1 | 3.000 |
| 1947 | SLA | 1 | 4.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | — | 0 | 1.000 |
| Career | 317 | 1967.3 | 150 | 83 | — | — | 1163 | — | |
Matchups, projections, comps — grounded in Lahman, Retrosheet, and Statcast.