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Let’s Remember the 1937 MVP and Triple Crown Winner, Joe “Ducky” Medwick!

“When Joe Medwick dies, half the National League will go to his wake just to make sure that S-O-B is dead!” –Unnamed teammate of Joe Medwick, quoted in “The Gashouse Gang” by John Heidenry

My recent essay on the Gashouse Gang got me thinking about an often overlooked star from that dysfunctional mix of miscreants, rubes, drunks, and other assorted odd-ball personalities called loosely called baseball players that were assembled by Branch Rickey. So today let’s take a moment to remember Joe “Ducky” Medwick, a terrific hitter who, three years later, was the 1937 MVP and Triple Crown winner.

As the above quote testify, Joe Medwick was not real popular among his teammates. He was known as a hard-nosed, self-centered guy with a terrible temper. As a member of the famed “Gas House Gang,” it was said he brawled more often with his own teammates than with opposing players. 

Joe Medwick’s Outstanding Career Numbers

Medwick may not have been popular, but he was a magnificent hitter. Remembered mostly for his great years with the Cardinals from 1932-40, Medwick also played for the Dodgers, Giants, and Braves. Over his 17-year career (1932-48), the 10-time All-Star hit .324, with 2471 hits, 1198 runs, 205 home runs, 1383 RBIs, and a .362 on-base percentage. In 12 World Series games (1934,1941), he hit .326, with five runs, five RBI, and one home run. Medwick led the league for three consecutive years in RBIs and doubles (1936-38).

Medwick holds the National League record for doubles in a season (64), and the major league record for most consecutive years with 40 or more doubles (1933-39). Although a known free swinger, he struck out only 551 times in 8143 plate appearances.

Joe had a career year in 1937, his MVP-Triple Crown year. It’s one of the greatest offensive years in baseball history and he remains the last National League player to win a Triple Crown. He led the league in batting average (.374), hits (237), doubles (56), runs (111), home runs (31), RBIs (154), slugging (.641), OPS+ (182), and total bases (406). In addition, he compiled a .414 on-base percentage.  

Joe Severely Beaned in 1940

Medwick suffered a horrendous beaning in 1940. He was rendered unconscious and nearly killed by a fastball thrown by former Cardinal teammate, Bob Bowman. It happened six days after he was traded to the Dodgers along with Curt Davis. Unlike Ray Chapman, who died from a beaning by Carl Mays in 1920, Medwick survived but suffered a severe concussion and was never the same player. Dodger manager Leo Durocher had to be restrained from going after Bowman, yelling that he had hit Medwick on purpose.  

The Incident From the 1934 World Series

Medwick’s wildest moment in baseball occurred in Game Seven of the ’34 World Series. In the sixth inning, Medwick tripled off the centerfield fence, sliding hard into third with spikes high. Whether he accidentally or deliberately spiked Tiger third baseman Marv Owen isn’t known. Punches were thrown. Umpire Bill Klem broke up the struggle and neither player was ejected. Angry Tiger fans reacted by pelting Medwick with garbage and anything else they could get their hands on. Fearing for Medwick’s safety, Commissioner Landis summoned the umpiring crew, Medwick, and Cards’ Manager Frankie Frisch to his box and decided to remove Medwick from the game. He‘s still the only player ever to be thrown out of a game “for his own personal safety.”

Did His Surly Disposition Keep Him Out of the Hall of Fame for 20 years?

Joe Medwick was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1968. In 1999, he was named #79 on The Sporting News’ list of Baseball’s Greatest Players; and was nominated the same year as a finalist for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team. The Cardinals inducted Medwick among 22 former players in the Cardinals’ Hall of Fame for the inaugural class of 2014. He passed away 47 years ago on March 21, 1975, aged 63, in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Although he wasn’t very popular with the press or his teammates (which may account for why he was denied election to the Hall of fame for twenty years), today we gladly shine our baseball spotlight on a great ballplayer from the 1930s, Joe “Ducky” Medwick.

Gary Livacari 

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Information: Excerpts edited from Joe Medwick Wikipedia page; and from “The Gashouse Gang,” by John Heidenry