October 6, 1938: Dizzy Dean's Last Stand

October 6, 1938: The Yankees defeat the Cubs, 6-3 at Wrigley Field, and take a 2-games-to-0 lead in the World Series. Dean, now with the Cubs following an arm injury that will ultimately end his meteoric career at age 31, takes a 3-2 lead into the 8th inning, but Frank Crosetti's homer gives the Yanks a lead they will not relinquish. Joe DiMaggio added a homer in the 8th. It becomes known as Dizzy Dean's Last Stand, although he did pitch another 3 seasons.

The winning pitcher is Gomez, making him 6-0 in World Series play. Although he appears in 3 more Series with the Yankees, this will be his last Series decision. But although Whitey Ford with 10 and Bob Gibson with 7 will win more Series games, Gomez has the best winning percentage in Series history to this day.

Diz 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 the 1937 All-Star Game in Washington, Earl Averill, the Hall of Fame center fielder for the Cleveland Indians, hit a line drive back up the middle, off his foot. 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. He didn't run out of gas so much as he fell victim to the Yankees' comeback ability, known in those days of 3:00 PM starts as "Five O'Clock Lightning."

Dizzy Dean retired after the 1941 season, with a record of 150-83. 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.

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October 6, 1938 was a Thursday. Football was in midweek. The NBA wasn't founded yet. And the NHL season was a month away. So there were no other scores this day.