| St. Louis Cardinals | |
| Season: | 1944 |
| Misc: | World Series Champions National League Champions |
| League: | National League |
| Ballpark: | Sportsman's Park |
| City: | St. Louis, Missouri |
| Record: | 105–49 (.682) |
| League Place: | 1st |
| Owners: | Sam Breadon |
| Managers: | Billy Southworth |
| Radio: | WEW/WTMV (Dizzy Dean, Johnny O'Hara) |
The 1944 St. Louis Cardinals season was the team's 63rd season in St. Louis, Missouri and the 53rd season in the National League. The Cardinals went 105–49 during the season and finished first in the National League. In the World Series, they met their town rivals, the St. Louis Browns. They won the series in 6 games to win their fifth World Series championship.
Shortstop Marty Marion won the MVP Award this year, batting .267, with 6 home runs and 63 RBIs. This was the third consecutive year a Cardinal won the MVP Award, with Mort Cooper winning in 1942 and Stan Musial winning in 1943. Marion was the first shortstop in the history of the National League to win the award.[1]
| 1944 St. Louis Cardinals | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
| Pitchers | CatchersInfielders | Outfielders | ManagerCoaches | ||||||
| = Indicates team leader |
Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Pos | Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | Walker Cooper | 112 | 397 | 126 | .317 | 13 | 72 | |
| 1B | Ray Sanders | 154 | 601 | 177 | .295 | 12 | 102 | |
| 2B | Emil Verban | 146 | 498 | 128 | .257 | 0 | 43 | |
| SS | Marty Marion | 144 | 506 | 135 | .267 | 6 | 63 | |
| 3B | Whitey Kurowski | 149 | 555 | 150 | .270 | 20 | 87 | |
| LF | Stan Musial | 146 | 568 | 197 | .347 | 12 | 94 | |
| CF | Johnny Hopp | 139 | 592 | 177 | .336 | 11 | 72 | |
| RF | Danny Litwhiler | 140 | 492 | 130 | .264 | 15 | 82 |
Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ken O'Dea | 85 | 265 | 66 | .249 | 6 | 37 | |
| Augie Bergamo | 80 | 192 | 55 | .286 | 2 | 19 | |
| Debs Garms | 73 | 149 | 30 | .201 | 0 | 5 | |
| George Fallon | 69 | 141 | 28 | .199 | 1 | 9 | |
| Pepper Martin | 40 | 86 | 24 | .279 | 2 | 4 | |
| John Antonelli | 8 | 21 | 4 | .190 | 0 | 1 | |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | .--- | 0 | 0 |
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mort Cooper | 34 | 252.1 | 22 | 7 | 2.46 | 97 | |
| Max Lanier | 33 | 224.1 | 17 | 12 | 2.65 | 141 | |
| Ted Wilks | 36 | 207.2 | 17 | 4 | 2.64 | 88 | |
| Harry Brecheen | 30 | 189.1 | 16 | 5 | 2.85 | 88 | |
| Red Munger | 21 | 121.1 | 11 | 3 | 1.34 | 55 | |
| Harry Gumbert | 10 | 61.1 | 4 | 2 | 2.49 | 16 |
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Al Jurisich | 30 | 130.0 | 7 | 9 | 3.39 | 53 | |
| Bud Byerly | 9 | 42.1 | 2 | 2 | 3.40 | 13 | |
| Bill Trotter | 2 | 6.0 | 0 | 1 | 13.50 | 0 |
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Freddy Schmidt | 37 | 7 | 3 | 5 | 3.15 | 58 | |
| Blix Donnelly | 27 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2.12 | 45 | |
| Mike Naymick | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.50 | 1 |
See main article: 1944 World Series. NL St. Louis Cardinals (4) vs. AL St. Louis Browns (2)
| Game | Score | Date | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Browns 2, Cardinals 1 | October 4 | |
| 2 | Cardinals 3, Browns 2 (11 innings) | October 5 | |
| 3 | Browns 6, Cardinals 2 | October 6 | |
| 4 | Cardinals 5, Browns 1 | October 7 | |
| 5 | Cardinals 2, Browns 0 | October 8 | |
| 6 | Cardinals 3, Browns 1 | October 9 |
See also: Minor league baseball.
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Lynchburg[2]