1911
Born November 24, 1911
Carteret, NJ, USA
Joe Medwick Marquee Hall of Fame 1968
b. November 24, 1911 · St. Louis Cardinals 1932–1940, 1947–1948, Brooklyn Dodgers 1940–1943, 1946, New York Giants 1943–1945, Boston Braves 1945
In 1937 he led the National League in home runs with 31, in runs batted in with 154, in hits with 237, in doubles with 56 and in runs with 111. That gave him the Triple Crown and the Most Valuable Player award, and Mel Ott tied him for the home-run title. No National League batter has won the Triple Crown since.
He led the league in runs batted in three seasons running and in doubles three seasons running, and his 64 doubles in 1936 are still the most any National League batter has hit in a season. He finished with 2,471 hits, 540 doubles and a .324 average, and he walked 437 times in 7,635 at bats.
He was the hard edge of the Gashouse Gang Cardinals. In the seventh game of the 1934 World Series in Detroit the crowd threw fruit and bottles at him until Commissioner Landis removed him from the field for his own safety, and St. Louis won anyway. Traded to Brooklyn during the 1940 season, he was hit in the head by a pitch soon after and never drove in more than 96 runs again.
Honors
| Award | Times | Years |
|---|---|---|
| All-Star selection | 10 | 1934, 1935, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1940, 1941, 1942, 1944 |
| Baseball Magazine All-Star | 10 | 1933, 1935, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1940, 1941, 1942, 1944 |
| The Sporting News All-Star | 5 | 1935, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939 |
| Most Valuable Player | 1 | 1937 |
| Triple Crown (batting) | 1 | 1937 |
| The Sporting News Guide Most Valuable Player | 1 | 1937 |
Batting, season by season
| Year | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1932 | STL | 26 | 106 | 13 | 37 | 12 | 1 | 2 | 12 | 2 | 10 | 3 | .349 |
| 1933 | STL | 148 | 595 | 92 | 182 | 40 | 10 | 18 | 98 | 26 | 56 | 5 | .306 |
| 1934 | STL | 149 | 620 | 110 | 198 | 40 | 18 | 18 | 106 | 21 | 83 | 3 | .319 |
| 1935 | STL | 154 | 634 | 132 | 224 | 46 | 13 | 23 | 126 | 30 | 59 | 4 | .353 |
| 1936 | STL | 155 | 636 | 115 | 223 | 64 | 13 | 18 | 138 | 34 | 33 | 3 | .351 |
| 1937 | STL | 156 | 633 | 111 | 237 | 56 | 10 | 31 | 154 | 41 | 50 | 4 | .374 |
| 1938 | STL | 146 | 590 | 100 | 190 | 47 | 8 | 21 | 122 | 42 | 41 | 0 | .322 |
| 1939 | STL | 150 | 606 | 98 | 201 | 48 | 8 | 14 | 117 | 45 | 44 | 6 | .332 |
| 1940 | BRO/STL | 143 | 581 | 83 | 175 | 30 | 12 | 17 | 86 | 32 | 36 | 2 | .301 |
| 1941 | BRO | 133 | 538 | 100 | 171 | 33 | 10 | 18 | 88 | 38 | 35 | 2 | .318 |
| 1942 | BRO | 142 | 553 | 69 | 166 | 37 | 4 | 4 | 96 | 32 | 25 | 2 | .300 |
| 1943 | BRO/NYG | 126 | 497 | 54 | 138 | 30 | 3 | 5 | 70 | 19 | 22 | 1 | .278 |
| 1944 | NYG | 128 | 490 | 64 | 165 | 24 | 3 | 7 | 85 | 38 | 24 | 2 | .337 |
| 1945 | BSN/NYG | 92 | 310 | 31 | 90 | 17 | 0 | 3 | 37 | 14 | 14 | 5 | .290 |
| 1946 | BRO | 41 | 77 | 7 | 24 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 18 | 6 | 5 | 0 | .312 |
| 1947 | STL | 75 | 150 | 19 | 46 | 12 | 0 | 4 | 28 | 16 | 12 | 0 | .307 |
| 1948 | STL | 20 | 19 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | .211 |
| Career | — | 1984 | 7635 | 1198 | 2471 | 540 | 113 | 205 | 1383 | 437 | 551 | 42 | .324 |
On this day & linked events
1975
Died March 21, 1975
1932
Major-league debut: Joe Medwick
Joe Medwick made a major-league debut on September 2, 1932.
1935
Joe Medwick Hits for the Cycle, 1935
Joe Medwick hit for the cycle for the St. Louis Cardinals against the Cincinnati Reds on June 29, 1935.
1948
Final major-league game: Joe Medwick
Joe Medwick played a final major-league game on July 25, 1948.
Image: St Louis Cardinals / MLB, public domain