Biography, Stories and Facts about Dizzy Dean
Before the media published every word of a sports star, Dizzy Dean entertained the fans, the media and the world like few other sports stars ever have. Dizzy Dean was a natural clown who loved to bring smiles to the faces of everyone around him. Few baseball players have done better, and the stories that have been told about his life are legendary.
Before the 1934 season, Dizzy made the bizarre prediction that he and his brother Paul would win more than 40 games in a season. They didn’t win 40, they won 49! Dean won 30 games in 1934 in one of the greatest seasons ever achieved by a Major League pitcher. Dean leads the infamous Gashouse Gang to the National League pennant and a World Series matchup with the Detroit Tigers. It was in Detroit that Dizzy Dean endeared himself to fans across the United States and established him as one of the greatest pitchers and most entertaining baseball players of all time.
Before Dizzy Dean released his first release, he made his presence felt. The day before Game 1, Dean joined the Detroit Tigers during batting practice. There he could be seen bragging to the Tigers team, taunting his players and batting practice with Tigers slugger Hank Greenberg’s baseball bat. He was then entertaining the media wrestling with a tiger skin and playing with the stadium band. Love him or hate him, Dizzy Dean had the ability to make everyone around him smile.
While Dizzy was a ton of fun before the game, he was all business after it started. In Game 1, Dean struck out six in an 8-3 victory. In Game 4, he entered the game as a pinch runner. When a grounder was hit to shortstop, he ran to second base to break up a double play and was hit in the head with the baseball. Dean ended up in the hospital with a head injury. The following day’s headline was both amusing and heartwarming to the Cardinal fan. The headline read “X-ray of Dean’s head reveals nothing.”
Despite his head injury, Dean returned for Game 7 and pitched a masterpiece. He allowed just one runner to reach third base and clinched the World Series for the St. Louis Cardinals.
Interesting Dizzy Dean Facts:
- One day, while being interviewed by journalists, Dizzy Dean told each of them a different story from his life. Later, he said that he did this because everyone wanted exclusive stories.
- In the 1934 World Series, Dean won two games for the Cardinals while his brother won the other two. This is the only time two brothers have won all four World Series games.
- He was so confident in his fastball that he was yelling at players that he was coming.
- Dean was one of the few white baseball players to tour with black pitcher Satchell Paige.
- Dizzy Dean made a movie in his honor called “The Pride of St. Louis.”
