Joe Medwick

Position: Leftfielder
Bats: Right  •  Throws: Right
5-10, 187lb (178cm, 84kg)
Born: November 24, 1911 in Carteret, NJ
Died: March 21, 1975  in St. Petersburg, FL
Buried: St. Lucas Cemetery, Sunset Hills, MO
High School: Carteret HS (Carteret, NJ)
Debut: September 2, 1932 (7,517th in major league history)
vs. CHC 4 AB, 0 H, 0 HR, 1 RBI, 0 SB
Last Game: July 25, 1948
vs. BSN 0 AB, 0 H, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 0 SB
Hall of Fame: Inducted as Player in 1968. (Voted by BBWAA on 240/283 ballots)
View Joe Medwick’s Page at the Baseball Hall of Fame (plaque, photos, videos).
Full Name: Joseph Michael Medwick
Nicknames: Ducky or Muscles
View Player Info from the B-R Bullpen
View Player Bio from the SABR BioProject

Nine Other Players Who Debuted in 1932

Joe Medwick
Stan Hack
Arky Vaughan
Frankie Crosetti
Rip Sewell
Johnny Murphy
Johnny Allen
Monte Pearson
Debs Garms

 

The Joe Medwick Teammate Team

C:   Ernie Lombardi
1B: Johnny Mize
2B: Frankie Frisch
3B: Pepper Martin
SS: Pee Wee Reese
LF: Stan Musial
CF: Pete Reiser
RF: Paul Waner
SP: Dizzy Dean
SP: Paul Dean
SP: Kirby Higbe
SP: Curt Davis
SP: Carl Hubbell
RP: Hugh Casey
M:   Leo Durocher

 

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Notable Events and Chronology for his Career

Known as much for his terrible temper and surly disposition as he was for his exceptional hitting ability, Joe Medwick was arguably the National League’s finest all-around hitter for much of the 1930s.  The last N.L. player to win the triple crown, Medwick led the senior circuit in both runs batted in and doubles three straight years, from 1936 to 1938, averaging 138 RBIs and 56 doubles over that span of time.  One of the leaders of the famed “Gas House Gang” in St. Louis, the Cardinals left fielder brawled with opposing players and teammates alike as he continued to terrorize National League pitchers throughout the decade.  Medwick was so unpopular among players in the senior circuit that one former teammate who preferred to remain anonymous stated when the outfielder announced his retirement, “When he dies, half the National League will go to his wake just to make sure that son-of-a-bitch is dead.”

Biography

Born to Hungarian immigrants in Carteret, New Jersey on November 24, 1911, Joseph Michael Medwick was one of the greatest all-around athletes in the Garden State’s history.  After excelling in track, football, basketball and baseball in high school, Medwick turned down a football scholarship to Notre Dame to sign with the Cardinals organization.

Medwick experienced a great deal of success while advancing through the St. Louis farm system, posting lofty batting averages and solid power numbers in the Middle Atlantic League in 1930 and the Texas League in each of the next two seasons.  While playing in the minors, Medwick acquired the nickname “Ducky Wucky” for the unusual manner in which he waddled when he walked.  The moniker was eventually shortened to “Ducky,” one that Medwick found somewhat more tolerable, although he very much preferred to be called by his other nickname of “Muscles.”

Medwick made his major league debut with the Cardinals in September of 1932, batting .349 in the 26 games in which he appeared.  He replaced defending batting champion Chick Hafey as the team’s regular left fielder the following year, batting .306, hitting 18 home runs, driving in 98 runs, and scoring 92 others in his first full season.  Medwick also surpassed 40 doubles for the first of seven consecutive times.

Medwick had another very solid year in 1934, helping St. Louis capture the National League pennant by hitting 18 homers, knocking in 106 runs, scoring 110 others, batting .319, and topping the senior circuit with 18 triples.  It was during the World Series, though, that the outfielder truly made a name for himself.

A combative and hard-nosed player who epitomized the Gas House Gang’s aggressive style of play, Medwick typically slid hard into every base and rarely backed down from an altercation.  With the Cardinals comfortably in front of the Detroit Tigers late in Game Seven in Detroit, Medwick drove a ball off the centerfield wall and proceded to slide into third base with his spikes high, knocking Tiger third baseman Marv Owen to the ground.  After Owen said something to Medwick, the St. Louis leftfielder began kicking him, causing blows to be exchanged between the two men.  Neither player was ejected immediately, but Tiger fans, already upset because their team was on the short end of a  9-0 score, began pelting Medwick with fruits and bottles when he returned to his position in the outfield in the bottom of the inning.  Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis,who was in attendance, subsequently summoned Medwick, Cardinals manager Frankie Frisch, and the umpiring crew to his box, where he decided to remove the St. Louis leftfielder from the contest “for his own good.”  The Cardinals ended up winning the game 11-0, capturing the World Series in the process, with Medwick posting a .379 batting average during the Fall Classic.  Nevertheless, the incident provided additional fodder for critics of Medwick, who often found fault with his contentious nature.

Even Medwick’s harshest critics, though, found it difficult to criticize his performance on the field the next few seasons.  The muscular outfielder began a string of five consecutive years in 1935 that were the finest of his career.  He surpassed 100 RBIs in each of those seasons, topped 100 runs scored and 200 hits four times each, and surpassed 20 home runs and the .350-mark in batting three times each.  After placing among the league leaders with 23 home runs, 126 runs batted in, 132 runs scored, 224 hits, and a .353 batting average in 1935, Medwick batted .351 and topped the circuit with 138 runs batted in, 223 hits, and 64 doubles the following year.  He had his greatest season in 1937 when he captured the N.L. triple crown and league MVP honors.  In addition to establishing career highs with league-leading marks of 31 home runs, 154 runs batted in, and a .374 batting average, Medwick led all National Leaguers with 111 runs scored, 237 hits, 56 doubles, 406 total bases, and a .641 slugging percentage.  He led the league in both runs batted in and doubles for the third straight time the following year.

After another very strong season in 1939, Medwick was traded to the Brooklyn Dodgers early the following year in a move that likely reflected the frustration St. Louis management felt towards their confrontational star.  Medwick’s earlier behavior during the 1934 World Series was merely the tip of the iceberg.  At different times, Medwick decked teammate Ed Heusser when the St. Louis pitcher censured him for failing to hustle on a fly ball, knocked down fellow Cardinals slugger Rip Collins, and slugged pitcher Tex Carlton when he walked in front of Medwick one too many times when the latter was being photographed.  Medwick once even threatened to take out both Dean brothers with a bat.

Medwick’s violent behavior eventually caught up with him.  Six days after being traded to the Dodgers, he was hit in the head with a fastball thrown by Bob Bowman, one of his former Cardinals teammates.  Knocked out by the pitch, a concussed Medwick had to be carried off the field.  Although he remained a solid hitter the next several years, Medwick never again posted huge offensive numbers.  After hitting 18 home runs, knocking in 88 runs, scoring 100 others, and batting .318 for the pennant-winning Dodgers in 1941, he failed to hit more than seven home runs, drive in 100 runs, or score more than 69 runs in any single season the remainder of his career.  Medwick was dealt from the Dodgers to the Giants midway through the 1943 campaign.  He spent two years with the Giants before joining the Boston Braves for one season.  Medwick then returned to Brooklyn for one year, before ending his career in the place it first started with the St. Louis Cardinals.  He retired at the end of 1948 with 205 home runs, 1,383 runs batted in, 1,198 runs scored, 2,471 hits, and a .324 career batting average.

Medwick surpassed 100 runs batted in and 100 runs scored six times each, accumulated more than 200 hits four times, topped 50 doubles twice, finished in double-digits in triples eight times, and batted over .300 in each of his first 11 seasons.  He holds the major league record for most consecutive seasons (7) with 40 or more doubles.  Medwick led the National League in runs batted in, doubles, and total bases three times each, hits twice, and home runs, triples, runs scored, and batting average once each.  In  addition to capturing league MVP honors in 1937, Medwick finished in the top five in the voting two other times.  He appeared in a total of 10 All-Star games during his career.

Medwick mellowed somewhat after his playing career ended.  A mainstay at many baseball events, he became a minor league batting instructor in the Cardinals organization in 1966.  Medwick was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame by the members of the BBWAA in 1968.  He died of a heart attack in St. Petersburg, Florida two years later, at age 63.

 

 

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Factoids, Quotes, Milestones and Odd Facts

Strapping outfielder Joe Medwick starred for the “Gas House Gang” St. Louis Cardinals of the 1930s and the daffy Brooklyn Dodgers of the early 1940s, supplying power to the middle of their lineups. He won the National League’s Most Valuable Player Award in 1937 when he captured the triple crown with a .374 average, 31 homers and 154 RBI. He drove in and scored 100 runs in a season six times and posted a .324 career batting average in 17 seasons. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1968.

Played For
St. Louis Cardinals (1932-1940)
Brooklyn Dodgers (1940-1943)
New York Giants (1943-1945)
Boston Braves (1945)
Brooklyn Dodgers (1946)
St. Louis Cardinals (1947-1948)

Similar: Goose Goslin

Linked: Marv Owen… Cardinals’ pitcher Bob Bowman beaned Medwick after Joe had moved on to the Dodgers, in 1941. The former teammates had bad blood between them and the beaning nearly cost Medwick his life. Dodgers’ President Branch Rickey briefly considered suing the Cardinals over the incident.

Nicknames: “Ducky, Ducky-Wucky, Muscles”

“Medwick despised the name “Ducky,” and teammates were careful not to utter the fan-given name in his presence.”

Best Season, 1937
He was named National League Most Valuable Player when he won the triple crown and set career-highs in batting, slugging, homers, RBI, hits, OBP and total bases. On June 5, he hit a home run against the Phillies in a game hounded by rain clouds. Trailing the game, the Phillies successfully employed stall tactics as the rain increased, resulting in the game being halted and eventually cancelled. Since it had not become official, Medwick’s homer was not recorded in the official stats. At the end of the season he finished in a tie with Mel Ott for the NL homer lead.

Awards and Honors
1937 NL MVP
1937 NL Triple Crown

Post-Season Appearances
1934 World Series
1941 World Series

Description
Joe Medwick was opinionated and outspoken. It might be tempting to say that he grew sour in old age, but he was actually quite cantankerous throughout his adult life. Medwick assumed the role of bitter old baseball player late in life. In 1963, 15 years after his last game, he was upset that he had yet to be inducted to the Hall of Fame. “The young writers, they ought to do more homework,” he said. On the strike zone, which had been altered in 1963: “They are making a big deal out of that new strike zone,” he snorted. “I never cared where the strike zone was. I wasn’t looking to walk. Didn’t make no difference to me, high or low, inside or outside. If I liked it, I’d take my riffle. And .324 ain’t too bad.” Medwick had never drew more than 45 walks in a season. Medwick was also upset that none of his former teammates, some of whom were still in baseball in some capacity in 1963, had ever offered him a job.

Factoid
Joe Medwick’s 64 doubles in 1936 tied George Burns’ record for the most ever hit by a right-handed batter.

Post-Season Notes
Medwick hit .379 with 11 hits, including a triple and a homer, in the ’34 Series against Detroit. In Game Seven he tripled into deep center and slid hard into Tiger third baseman Marv Owen. Detroit fans responded the next inning with a 34-minute riot – pelting the field with rotten fruit and garbage, most of it aimed at Medwick in left field. Commissioner Landis removed Medwick from the game for his own safety, the game well in hand for the Cardinals. Years later, Owen was asked whether Medwick had slid in to hurt him. “No, it was my fault. I was on the bag, faking as if the throw was coming to me, and Joe did what any good runner would do. It was not his fault.”

 

Hitting Streaks
28 games (1935)
27 games (1942)
21 games (1936)

Transactions
June 12, 1940: Traded by the St. Louis Cardinals with Curt Davis to the Brooklyn Dodgers for Ernie Koy, Carl Doyle, Sam Nahem, Bert Haas, and $125000 cash; July 6, 1943: Purchased by the New York Giants from the Brooklyn Dodgers;

June 16, 1945: Traded by the New York Giants with Ewald Pyle to the Boston Braves for Clyde Kluttz;

February 8, 1946: Released by the Boston Braves;

April 5, 1946: Released by the St. Louis Browns; July 2, 1946: Signed as a Free Agent with the Brooklyn Dodgers;

October 9, 1946: Released by the Brooklyn Dodgers;

December 11, 1946: Signed as a Free Agent with the New York Yankees;

April 29, 1947: Released by the New York Yankees; May 26, 1947: Signed as a Free Agent with the St. Louis Cardinals;

October 14, 1947: Released by the St. Louis Cardinals;

September 30, 1948: Released by the St. Louis Cardinals.

Data courtesy of Restrosheet.org

All-Star Selections
1934 NL
1935 NL
1936 NL
1937 NL
1938 NL
1939 NL
1940 NL
1941 NL
1942 NL
1944 NL

Replaced
George Watkins

Replaced By
The younger players who returned from service in World War II.

Best Strength as a Player
Extra-base power.

Largest Weakness as a Player
Speed

 

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