July 7, 1937: Baseball holds its All-Star Game at Griffith Stadium in Washington. President Franklin D. Roosevelt makes the short trip from the White House to throw out the ceremonial first ball. His action, alone, would make the game historic. But nobody knew at the time that the course of baseball history would be changed, right in front of his eyes, and those of 31,390 others. (That was a full house: Griffith Stadium was a small ballpark.)
The starting pitcher for the National League is Dizzy Dean of the St. Louis Cardinals. He was born Jay Hanna Dean, but sometimes told people his name was Jerome Herman Dean. He was born in 1910, but sometimes told people it was 1911, or 1912. He was born in Lucas, Arkansas, but sometimes told people that he was born elsewhere in Arkansas. Or places in Tennessee. Or Mississippi. Or Louisiana. Or Texas. Or Oklahoma. He was one of three, or four, or five, or more siblings. He explained that he wanted every reporter to have an exclusive.
He had a brother who was born in 1912, in Lucas, Arkansas: Paul Dee Dean. Because Jay was called Dizzy, Paul was called Daffy. And Paul really hated that, because, unlike is freewheeling brother, he was a very thoughtful man.
Dizzy was not. He once said, "The Good Lord was good to me. He gave me a strong right arm, a good body and a weak mind." He later went into broadcasting, and took his homespun talk with him. He was a lot like later football star Terry Bradshaw, figuring out that if people think you're an under-educated hick who knows nothing except his sport, but knows that very well, use it to your advantage before they can use it to theirs.
At any rate, Paul was a very good pitcher. Not as good as Dizzy, but capable of winning 19 games in 1934, including a no-hitter in the the 2nd game of a doubleheader, after Dizzy pitched a 3-hit shutout in the 1st game. Dizzy said, "Gee, Paul, if I'd a-known you was gonna throw a no-hitter, I'd a-thrown one, too!"
Another of Dizzy's quotes was, "If you can do it, it ain't braggin'." Before the 1934 season, he said, "Me an' Paul is gonna win 50 games." Not quite: Diz won 30, and Paul won 19, for a total of 49. But by going 30-7, Diz became the last National League pitcher, to this day, to win 30 games in a season. He also said, "Men an' Paul are gonna win this here World Series." This time, he was right: The Cardinals beat the Detroit Tigers, 4 games to 3, and each brother won 2 games, including Diz pitching a shutout in Game 7.
From 1933 to 1937, Diz was, along with Carl Hubbell and the Negro Leagues' Satchel Paige, 1 of the 3 best pitchers on the planet. Then, in this All-Star Game, he did fine over the 1st 2 innings, keeping the American League off the scoreboard. In the bottom of the 3rd, he gave up a single to Joe DiMaggio of the New York Yankees. DiMaggio's Yankee teammate, Lou Gehrig, took him deep for a home run.
And then, Earl Averill, the Hall of Fame center fielder for the Cleveland Indians, hit a line drive back up the middle, off his foot. It ricocheted to the 2nd baseman, Billy Herman of the Chicago Cubs, who threw Averill out. But there was no way Dean could continue.
Earl Averill
Despite a 4-for-5 with an RBI day for his Cardinal teammate, Joe Medwick, the NL didn't do much in this game. With Lefty Gomez of the Yankees, Tommy Bridges of the Detroit Tigers, and Mel Harder of the Cleveland Indians each pitching 3 innings, the AL won, 8-3.
After the game, Dean was examined, and the doctor told him his big toe was fractured. And the undereducated country boy said, "Fractured, hell, the damn thing's broken!"
He came back too soon, and, to favor the toe, he altered his pitching motion, and wrecked his elbow. At age 27, he went from one of the best pitchers in baseball to a man who couldn't pitch without pain. The Cardinals traded him to the Cubs before the 1938 season, and he was only able to make 10 starts. But he went 7-1 with a 1.81 ERA, and the Cubs made a big comeback to win the Pennant. Dean pitched well in Game 2, but the Yankees beat him.
Dizzy Dean retired after the 1941 season, plus a one-game comeback in 1947, with a record of 150-83. The injury may have cost him at least 100 wins. Ordinarily, 150 wins wouldn't be enough to get a player into the Baseball Hall of Fame. But his 5 years of dominance got him there. He became a beloved broadcaster, and died in 1974. Paul went 50-34 in a career lasting from 1934 to 1943, and died in 1981.
Earl Averill, a native of Snohomish, Washington (and thus known as the Earl of Snohomish), should have been so lucky. Despite a career that saw him bat .318, appear in the 1st 6 All-Star Games, be elected to the Hall of Fame himself, and have his Number 3 retired by the team now known as the Cleveland Guardians, he has been virtually forgotten since his death in 1983. When he is remembered at all, it is usually for accidentally curtailing Dizzy Dean's career. His son, Earl Averill Jr., also played in the major leagues.
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July 7, 1937 was a Wednesday. Since baseball was the only sport in season at the time, this was the only score on this historic day.
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