The 1941 Brooklyn Dodgers won the first three games of their season-opening series against the 1934 St. Louis Cardinals and led 5-1 in game four, but the Cardinals were able to come back and avoid the sweep.
Dixie Walker hit .375 (6-for-16) to lead the Dodgers, who also got two homers from Pete Reiser and great pitching from Kirby Higbe and Whit Wyatt. Frankie Frisch had a huge first week for the Cardinals, batting .625 (10-for-16).
Game #1: Brooklyn 3, St. Louis 1
Pete Reiser gave the Dodgers a 2-0 lead with a two-run homer in the top of the third, and it turned out that would be all that would need thanks to Kirby Higbe’s pitching. The Dodgers added an insurance run in the top of the ninth on Mickey Owen’s sacrifice fly. The Cardinals broke up the shutout on Joe Medwick’s solo homer in the bottom of the ninth, and they brough the tying run to the plate with two out, but Higbe got the final out.
1941 BROOKLYN DODGER AB R H BI 1934 ST. LOUIS CARDI AB R H BI
Pee Wee Reese 4 0 0 0 Pepper Martin 3 0 1 0
Billy Herman 3 1 1 0 Jack Rothrock 4 0 0 0
Pete Reiser 4 1 1 2 Frankie Frisch 4 0 2 0
Joe Medwick 4 0 0 0 Joe Medwick 4 1 2 1
Dolph Camilli 3 1 0 0 Ripper Collins 4 0 1 0
Cookie Lavagetto 2 0 0 0 Virgil Davis 2 0 0 0
Dixie Walker 4 0 2 0 Ernie Orsatti 3 0 0 0
Mickey Owen 3 0 0 1 Leo Durocher 4 0 0 0
Kirby Higbe BY 4 0 0 0 Dizzy Dean BKZ 2 0 0 0
TOTALS 31 3 4 3 TOTALS 30 1 6 1
1941 BROOKLYN DODGERS 002 000 001 -- 3
1934 ST. LOUIS CARDINALS 000 000 001 -- 1
LOB--1941 BROOKLYN DODGERS 6, 1934 ST. LOUIS CARDINALS 7.
ERR--Cookie Lavagetto, Pepper Martin, Ernie Orsatti.
2B--Billy Herman, Joe Medwick, Ripper Collins, Frankie
Frisch. HR--Pete Reiser, Joe Medwick. SACF--Mickey Owen.
SACB--Billy Herman, Dizzy Dean BKZ.
1941 BROOKLYN DODGERS IP H R ER BB SO HR
Kirby Higbe BY [W] 9.00 6 1 1 4 2 1
1934 ST. LOUIS CARDINALS
Dizzy Dean AKZ [L] 9.00 4 3 3 3 9 1
Game #2: Brooklyn 4, St. Louis 2
The Cardinals built a 2-0 lead on Jack Rothrock’s RBI single in the first and Ripper Collins’ bases-loaded hit-by-pitch in the third. The Dodgers finally got to Cardinals starter Tex Carleton in the sixth inning. Pete Reiser’s RBI triple cut the deficit to 2-1. The Dodgers went up 3-2 in the seventh on Mickey Owen’s two-run single. Billy Herman doubled and scored on an error to give them a fourth run in the eighth. Dodger starter Whit Wyatt retired the final 12 Cardinal hitters.
1941 BROOKLYN DODGER AB R H BI 1934 ST. LOUIS CARDI AB R H BI
Pee Wee Reese 4 1 1 0 Pepper Martin 4 1 2 0
Billy Herman 4 1 2 0 Jack Rothrock 4 1 2 1
Pete Reiser 4 0 1 1 Frankie Frisch 4 0 2 0
Joe Medwick 4 0 0 0 Joe Medwick 3 0 0 0
Dolph Camilli 3 1 0 0 Ripper Collins 3 0 0 1
Cookie Lavagetto 2 1 0 0 Virgil Davis 4 0 1 0
Dixie Walker 4 0 1 0 Ernie Orsatti 4 0 0 0
Mickey Owen 4 0 1 2 Leo Durocher 4 0 0 0
Whit Wyatt BKZ 4 0 0 0 Tex Carleton CYZ 3 0 0 0
Burgess Whitehead 1 0 0 0
TOTALS 33 4 6 3 TOTALS 34 2 7 2
1941 BROOKLYN DODGERS 000 001 210 -- 4
1934 ST. LOUIS CARDINALS 101 000 000 -- 2
LOB--1941 BROOKLYN DODGERS 5, 1934 ST. LOUIS CARDINALS 7.
ERR--Tex Carleton CYZ, Joe Medwick. 2B--Billy Herman (2),
Pepper Martin, Virgil Davis. 3B--Pete Reiser. HBP--Ripper
Collins. SB--Pete Reiser, Frankie Frisch.
1941 BROOKLYN DODGERS IP H R ER BB SO HR
Whit Wyatt BKZ [W] 9.00 7 2 2 1 9 0
1934 ST. LOUIS CARDINALS
Tex Carleton CYZ [L] 8.00 6 4 2 3 3 0
Jesse Haines CRZ 1.00 0 0 0 0 0 0
Game #3: Brooklyn 8, St. Louis 4
Jack Rothrock got the scoring started with a solo homer for the Cardinals in the top of the first, but the Dodgers came back with six runs in the bottom of the first. Cookie Lavagetto had a two-run double and Mickey Owen had a two-run homer to lead the attack. St. Louis cut it to 6-3 on Leo Durocher’s two-RBI double in the fourth. Brooklyn tacked on two more in the fifth on Dixie Walker’s two-run single.
1934 ST. LOUIS CARDI AB R H BI 1941 BROOKLYN DODGER AB R H BI
Pepper Martin 1 0 0 0 Pee Wee Reese 4 1 1 0
Burgess Whitehead 4 0 2 1 Billy Herman 3 1 1 0
Jack Rothrock 5 1 1 1 Pete Reiser 3 1 1 1
Frankie Frisch 4 0 3 0 Joe Medwick 5 0 1 0
Joe Medwick 4 0 0 0 Dolph Camilli 2 2 1 1
Ripper Collins 4 0 0 0 Cookie Lavagetto 5 2 2 2
Virgil Davis 3 1 0 0 Dixie Walker 4 0 3 2
Ernie Orsatti 3 1 2 0 Mickey Owen 4 1 1 2
Leo Durocher 4 0 1 2 Curt Davis BZ 3 0 0 0
Paul Dean BKZ 2 0 0 0 Jimmy Wasdell 1 0 0 0
Chick Fullis 1 0 0 0
Bill DeLancey 1 1 1 0
TOTALS 36 4 10 4 TOTALS 34 8 11 8
1934 ST. LOUIS CARDINALS 100 200 001 -- 4
1941 BROOKLYN DODGERS 600 020 00x -- 8
LOB--1934 ST. LOUIS CARDINALS 7, 1941 BROOKLYN DODGERS 10.
ERR--Joe Medwick, Billy Herman. 2B--Burgess Whitehead, Leo
Durocher, Cookie Lavagetto. HR--Jack Rothrock, Mickey Owen.
HBP--Ernie Orsatti, Pete Reiser. SB--Frankie Frisch (2),
Cookie Lavagetto.
1934 ST. LOUIS CARDINALS IP H R ER BB SO HR
Paul Dean BKZ [L] 6.00 9 8 5 6 7 1
Bill Hallahan CYW 2.00 2 0 0 1 2 0
1941 BROOKLYN DODGERS
Curt Davis BZ [W] 7.00 7 3 3 1 1 1
Hugh Casey CY 2.00 3 1 1 0 0 0
Game #4: St. Louis 6, Brooklyn 5
The Dodgers looked poised for a sweep after building a 5-1 lead after five innings, which included a two-run homer from Pete Reiser and a solo shot from Dolph Camilli. But the Cardinals chipped away at the lead. Frankie Frisch had a sacrifice fly in the sixth. Pinch-hitter Bill DeLancey drove in two runs with a single in the seventh to make it 5-4. In the top of the ninth, Chick Fullis tied it with a sacrifice fly and Frisch followed with a go-ahead RBI single. In the bottom of the ninth, the Dodgers put runners on first and third with one out. Mickey Owen tried to score on an infield grounder but was thrown out at the plate, and the Cardinals held on.
1934 ST. LOUIS CARDI AB R H BI 1941 BROOKLYN DODGER AB R H BI
Burgess Whitehead 4 1 0 0 Pee Wee Reese 4 0 1 0
Jack Rothrock 3 0 2 0 Billy Herman 4 1 1 0
Chick Fullis 1 0 0 1 Pete Reiser 4 1 2 2
Frankie Frisch 4 0 3 2 Joe Medwick 4 0 0 1
Joe Medwick 5 0 1 0 Dolph Camilli 4 1 1 1
Ripper Collins 4 1 0 0 Cookie Lavagetto 3 1 0 0
Virgil Davis 3 1 0 0 Dixie Walker 4 0 0 0
Ernie Orsatti 3 0 1 1 Mickey Owen 3 0 1 1
Leo Durocher 4 2 1 0 Luke Hamlin CYZ 3 1 1 0
Bill Walker BYW 2 0 0 0 Lew Riggs 0 0 0 0
Bill DeLancey 1 0 1 2
Buster Mills 0 1 0 0
TOTALS 34 6 9 6 TOTALS 33 5 7 5
1934 ST. LOUIS CARDINALS 010 001 202 -- 6
1941 BROOKLYN DODGERS 201 110 000 -- 5
LOB--1934 ST. LOUIS CARDINALS 7, 1941 BROOKLYN DODGERS 7.
ERR--Ernie Orsatti, Billy Herman (2). 2B--Leo Durocher.
HR--Dolph Camilli, Pete Reiser. SACF--Chick Fullis, Frankie
Frisch. SACB--Lew Riggs.
1934 ST. LOUIS CARDINALS IP H R ER BB SO HR
Bill Walker BYW 6.00 5 5 5 4 2 2
Jesse Haines CRZ [W] 2.00 1 0 0 0 0 0
Dazzy Vance DX [S] 1.00 1 0 0 1 0 0
1941 BROOKLYN DODGERS
Luke Hamlin CYZ 8.00 8 4 2 1 2 0
Freddie Fitzsimmons [L] 1.00 1 2 2 3 1 0
ROGER SPORTS & GAMES 