Highlighted by an 18-inning victory and Lefty Grove’s second consecutive one-hit shutout, the 1931 Philadelphia Athletics won their series against the 1934 St. Louis Cardinals and took three of the four games.
The Athletics (5-3) hit just .196 for the week, led by Mule Haas’ .316 average (6-for-19). The Cardinals (2-6) hit .234, but it wasn’t enough. Joe Medwick led the way with a .381 average (8-for-21).
Game #1: Philadelphia 7, St. Louis 4
The Athletics set the tone for the series by scoring four times in the top of the first, highlighted by RBI triples from Mule Haas and Jimmie Foxx. Mickey Cochrane made it 5-0 with a solo homer in the eighth. St. Louis ended the shutout in the bottom of the eighth. After the Athletics increased their lead to 7-1, St. Louis made things interesting by scoring three times in the ninth and bringing the potential tying run to the plate before Waite Hoyt came in and got the final out.
1931 PHILADELPHIA AT AB R H BI 1934 ST. LOUIS CARDI AB R H BI
Max Bishop 4 1 2 0 Pepper Martin 5 0 4 1
Mule Haas 4 1 1 1 Jack Rothrock 5 0 0 0
Mickey Cochrane 4 1 2 2 Frankie Frisch 4 0 1 0
Al Simmons 4 1 1 0 Joe Medwick 4 1 1 0
Jimmie Foxx 4 1 1 1 Ripper Collins 4 1 2 1
Bing Miller 2 1 0 1 Virgil Davis 3 1 0 0
Jimmy Dykes 3 1 0 0 Ernie Orsatti 3 0 0 0
Dib Williams 4 0 1 1 Leo Durocher 3 0 0 1
Rube Walberg BY 2 0 0 0 Paul Dean BKZ 1 0 0 0
Eric McNair 0 0 0 1 Burgess Whitehead 1 1 1 0
Bill DeLancey 1 0 0 0
TOTALS 31 7 8 7 TOTALS 34 4 9 3
1931 PHILADELPHIA ATHLETICS 400 000 012 -- 7
1934 ST. LOUIS CARDINALS 000 000 013 -- 4
LOB--1931 PHILADELPHIA ATHLETICS 4, 1934 ST. LOUIS CARDINALS
7. ERR--Pepper Martin. 2B--Pepper Martin, Joe Medwick.
3B--Jimmie Foxx, Mule Haas. HR--Mickey Cochrane. SACF--Bing
Miller, Eric McNair, Leo Durocher. SB--Pepper Martin.
1931 PHILADELPHIA ATHLETICS IP H R ER BB SO HR
Rube Walberg BY [W] 8.00 6 1 0 1 4 0
Hank McDonald CW 0.67 3 3 3 2 1 0
Waite Hoyt CR [S] 0.33 0 0 0 0 0 0
1934 ST. LOUIS CARDINALS
Paul Dean BKZ [L] 8.00 6 5 5 3 12 1
Bill Hallahan CYW 1.00 2 2 2 2 0 0
Game #2: St. Louis 6, Philadelphia 3
The Athletics got off to another good start on Al Simmons’ two-run homer in the top of the first. But the Cardinals bounced back quickly and took a 3-2 lead in the third on Virgil Davis’ two-run double, and made it 5-2 on Frankie Frisch’s two-run double in the fourth.
1931 PHILADELPHIA AT AB R H BI 1934 ST. LOUIS CARDI AB R H BI
Max Bishop 4 1 1 0 Pepper Martin 4 1 2 0
Mule Haas 4 0 1 0 Jack Rothrock 4 2 1 0
Mickey Cochrane 3 0 0 0 Frankie Frisch 5 0 2 2
Al Simmons 4 1 1 2 Joe Medwick 5 1 3 1
Jimmie Foxx 4 0 0 0 Ripper Collins 3 1 1 0
Bing Miller 3 1 1 0 Virgil Davis 4 0 1 2
Jimmy Dykes 3 0 1 0 Ernie Orsatti 3 0 1 0
Dib Williams 2 0 0 1 Leo Durocher 4 0 1 0
Roy Mahaffey CYW 2 0 0 0 Bill Walker BYW 2 0 0 0
Doc Cramer 1 0 0 0 Bill DeLancey 1 1 1 0
TOTALS 30 3 5 3 TOTALS 35 6 13 5
1931 PHILADELPHIA ATHLETICS 200 010 000 -- 3
1934 ST. LOUIS CARDINALS 102 200 01x -- 6
LOB--1931 PHILADELPHIA ATHLETICS 2, 1934 ST. LOUIS CARDINALS
10. ERR--Bing Miller. 2B--Mule Haas, Max Bishop, Pepper
Martin, Joe Medwick, Virgil Davis, Bill DeLancey, Frankie
Frisch. HR--Al Simmons. SACF--Dib Williams. SACB--Bill
Walker BYW. SB--Bing Miller.
1931 PHILADELPHIA ATHLETICS IP H R ER BB SO HR
Roy Mahaffey CYW [L] 7.00 11 5 5 4 5 0
Eddie Rommel BRZ 1.00 2 1 0 0 1 0
1934 ST. LOUIS CARDINALS
Bill Walker BYW [W] 8.00 4 3 3 0 4 1
Jesse Haines CRZ [S] 1.00 1 0 0 1 0 0
Game #3: Philadelphia 2, St. Louis 1 (18 inn.)
The longest game in league history went 18 innings. St. Louis took a 1-0 lead on Ripper Collins’ RBI double in the sixth. The Athletics tied it on Max Bishop’s sacrifice fly in the eighth. The Cardinals put runners into scoring position in the 10th, 16th and 18th but couldn’t score. The bullpens were terrific, most notably Philadelphia’s Jim Peterson, who threw the final four scoreless innings and got the win. In the bottom of the 18th, Mickey Cochrane led off with a double and scored on Al Simmons’ double.
1934 ST. LOUIS CARDI AB R H BI 1931 PHILADELPHIA AT AB R H BI
Pepper Martin 8 0 1 0 Max Bishop 4 0 1 1
Jack Rothrock 8 0 1 0 Mule Haas 7 0 3 0
Frankie Frisch 8 0 1 0 Mickey Cochrane 8 1 2 0
Joe Medwick 8 1 4 0 Al Simmons 8 0 2 1
Ripper Collins 7 0 3 1 Jimmie Foxx 7 0 0 0
Virgil Davis 7 0 1 0 Bing Miller 5 0 1 0
Ernie Orsatti 7 0 1 0 Jimmy Dykes 5 0 0 0
Leo Durocher 6 0 1 0 Dib Williams 7 1 1 0
Dizzy Dean AKZ 1 0 0 0 George Earnshaw BXYZ 2 0 0 0
Bill DeLancey 1 0 1 0 Eric McNair 0 0 0 0
Burgess Whitehead 1 0 0 0 Doc Cramer 1 0 0 0
Chick Fullis 1 0 0 0 Joe Boley 1 0 0 0
Phil Todt 1 0 0 0
Jim Peterson DXYZ 1 0 0 0
TOTALS 63 1 14 1 TOTALS 57 2 10 2
1934 ST. LOUIS CARDINALS 000 001 000 000 000 000 -- 1
1931 PHILADELPHIA ATHLETICS 000 000 010 000 000 001 -- 2
LOB--1934 ST. LOUIS CARDINALS 14, 1931 PHILADELPHIA
ATHLETICS 14. ERR--Jimmy Dykes. 2B--Ripper Collins, Mickey
Cochrane (2), Bing Miller, Al Simmons (2), Dib Williams.
HBP--Jimmy Dykes. SACF--Max Bishop. SACB--Dizzy Dean AKZ
(3), Virgil Davis, Jimmy Dykes, Eric McNair.
1934 ST. LOUIS CARDINALS IP H R ER BB SO HR
Dizzy Dean AKZ 11.00 6 1 1 3 11 0
Jesse Haines CRZ 2.00 0 0 0 1 0 0
Bill Hallahan CYW 3.00 2 0 0 1 1 0
Dazzy Vance DX [L] 1.00 2 1 1 1 1 0
1931 PHILADELPHIA ATHLETICS
George Earnshaw BXYZ 8.00 7 1 1 1 9 0
Waite Hoyt CR 2.00 2 0 0 0 0 0
Hank McDonald CW 2.00 1 0 0 0 0 0
Eddie Rommel BRZ 2.00 1 0 0 0 1 0
Jim Peterson DXYZ [W] 4.00 3 0 0 1 4 0
Game #4: Philadelphia 3, St. Louis 0
With both bullpens in shambles, both teams needed quality starts, and they got them. Lefty Grove tossed his second straight one-hit shutout. Jack Rothrock had a double in the fourth for the only hit. Thanks to walks and errors, the Cardinals put runners into scoring position two other times but Grove shut them down each time. It stayed scoreless until the seventh inning. Tex Carleton pitched almost as well as Grove, but was victimized for two unearned runs in the seventh. Jimmy Dykes and Max Bishop had RBI singles. Al Simmons added a solo homer in the eighth.
1934 ST. LOUIS CARDI AB R H BI 1931 PHILADELPHIA AT AB R H BI
Pepper Martin 3 0 0 0 Max Bishop 4 0 1 1
Jack Rothrock 3 0 1 0 Mule Haas 4 0 1 0
Frankie Frisch 4 0 0 0 Mickey Cochrane 3 0 0 0
Joe Medwick 4 0 0 0 Al Simmons 3 1 1 1
Ripper Collins 3 0 0 0 Jimmie Foxx 4 1 1 0
Virgil Davis 3 0 0 0 Bing Miller 3 0 0 0
Ernie Orsatti 3 0 0 0 Jimmy Dykes 3 1 1 1
Leo Durocher 1 0 0 0 Dib Williams 3 0 0 0
Tex Carleton CYZ 1 0 0 0 Lefty Grove ACKZ 3 0 1 0
Bill DeLancey 1 0 0 0
TOTALS 26 0 1 0 TOTALS 30 3 6 3
1934 ST. LOUIS CARDINALS 000 000 000 -- 0
1931 PHILADELPHIA ATHLETICS 000 000 21x -- 3
LOB--1934 ST. LOUIS CARDINALS 4, 1931 PHILADELPHIA ATHLETICS
6. ERR--Tex Carleton CYZ, Ripper Collins, Jimmy Dykes.
2B--Jack Rothrock, Jimmie Foxx, Mule Haas. HR--Al Simmons.
HBP--Al Simmons. SACB--Tex Carleton CYZ, Bing Miller.
1934 ST. LOUIS CARDINALS IP H R ER BB SO HR
Tex Carleton CYZ [L] 7.00 5 2 0 1 5 0
Jim Mooney DW 1.00 1 1 1 0 1 1
1931 PHILADELPHIA ATHLETICS
Lefty Grove ACKZ [W] 9.00 1 0 0 4 6 0
ROGER SPORTS & GAMES 