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The BND has endeavored to identify an objective list of the top 100 St. Louis Cardinals players of all time #8 Dizzy Dean
Dizzy Dean had already won Game 1 of the 1934 World Series with his arm, so he was sure he could give the Cardinals a Game 4 boost with his legs. The Detroit Tigers held a 4-2 lead heading into the bottom of the fourth, hoping to even the series with a victory. But Ernie Orsatti led off the Cardinals’ half with a single, then advanced on an error and scored on a one-out hit by catcher Spud Davis, who was slow as molasses on a winter’s day. St. Louis manager Frankie Frisch had platooned Davis liberally throughout the season with Bill DeLancey and saw an opportunity to pull a double switch, using a pinch runner as the go-ahead tally. Outfielder Chick Fullis, who had stolen 18 bases for the Phillies just the season before, was available, as was spry young infielder Burgess Whitehead. But Dean, 24 years old with no shortage of confidence, hopped off the bench and sprinted to first base before Frisch could call on anybody else. The next St. Louis batter, Pepper Martin, grounded a double-play ball toward Tigers’ second baseman Charlie Gehringer who flipped to the shortstop to force out at second. Dean, who barreled into the bag standing up, took Billy Rogell’s throw to first flush in the middle of the forehead. The ball “bounced high and far into right field, while Dean plunged headlong over second base, out as cold as a mackerel,” the New York Times reported. As a concerned umpire and curious Detroit players gathered around to check on the injured St. Louis pitcher, Leo Durocher scored the tying run. Thus, it was with his noggin, not his legs, that Dean would help his team. The Times led its sports section the next day using Dizzy’s own words in the now-famous headline: “They X-rayed my head and found nothing.”
