Game Seven of the 1934 World Series was held at Navin Field in Detroit on October 9. There was a famous incident in this game, but there was very little drama in the final score.
Elden Auker was the starting pitcher for the Tigers and a hit in the first and two hits in the second, but did not allow a run.
Dizzy Dean was on the mound for the Cards and the only runner to reach in his first two innings was Billy Rogell and that was on an error.
The Cardinals, who hammered Auker for ten hits in a Game Four loss to him in St. Louis, went to work in the top of the third to secure the championship.
Dean doubled with one out and St. Louis loaded the bases on a single and a walk. Frankie Frisch doubled in all three Cardinal base runners for a 3-0 lead and an end to Auker's day. But, the Tigers went with Schoolboy Rowe out of the bullpen. Rowe had allowed ten hits in a Game Six complete game loss the previous day. Rowe got the second out of the inning by retiring Joe Medwick, but then Eddie Collins singled in Frisch and Bill DeLancie doubled in Collins for a 5-0 lead.
Rowe left and on came Chief Hogsett. This Tiger reliever could not record an out. He issued a walk to Ernie Orsatti and gave up a single to Leo Durocher to load the bases. Dean had an infield single to drive in a run. Then, Hogsett forced in a run with a walk to Pepper Martin. 7-0 St. Louis and Tommy Bridges had to come into the game as the fourth Tiger pitcher of the inning to get the final out.
Then, Dean worked a 1-2-3 bottom of the third and the game was pretty much over at that point.
Dean would go on to pitch a six-hit shutout with five strikeouts for the clinching victory. But, what this game is remembered for is a hard slide, a brief altercation, the reaction of the Tiger faithful, and a commisioner's decision. Cardinalhistory.com takes over the story here:
In the top of the sixth, Medwick tripled in another run, and when Joe slid into third the Tigers' Marv Owen thought it was with too much enthusiasm and he and Medwick squared off. The combatants were quickly separated, but when Joe went out to take his left-field position in the bottom of the inning he found himself the target of the frustrated bleacher fans, who seemed to have been waiting to erupt.
They took dead aim at Joe with fruit, vegetables, soda pop bottles, and any other missile that would fly. As soon as stadium personnel cleaned up one mess, another came flying out.
"I don't know where they were getting all that stuff from," Charlie Gehringer said. "It was like they were backing produce trucks up to the gate and supplying everybody."
With the game unable to continue, Commissioner Landis summoned Medwick, Frisch, and the umpires to his box. There a decision was made to remove Joe from the game "to protect the player from injury and permit the game to continue." This action deprived the Cardinals of their top hitter, but with the score already 9-0 and Dizzy in top form, it made little difference.
The Cardinals added two more runs in the top of the seventh inning to provide the final margin of 11-0.
In the ninth, Dean got Mickey Owen to ground into a Series ending force out and the Cardinals could celebrate their third World Championship.
Complete Game Seven boxscore is HERE. Complete Game Seven play-by-play is HERE.
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