Joe Medwick

Played For
St. Louis Cardinals (1932-1940)
Brooklyn Dodgers (1940-1943)
New York Giants (1943-1945)
Boston Braves (1945)
Brooklyn Dodgers (1946)
St. Louis Cardinals (1947-1948)

All-Time Rankings
Joe Medwick ranks #21 among the Top 50 all-time at LF. Rankings ⇒

Best Season: 1937
He was named National League Most Valuable Player when he won the triple crown and set career-highs in batting, slugging, homers, RBI, hits, OBP and total bases. On June 5, he hit a home run against the Phillies in a game hounded by rain clouds. Trailing the game, the Phillies successfully employed stall tactics as the rain increased, resulting in the game being halted and eventually cancelled. Since it had not become official, Medwick's homer was not recorded in the official stats. At the end of the season he finished in a tie with Mel Ott for the NL homer lead.

Factoids
Joe Medwick's 64 doubles in 1936 tied George Burns' record for the most ever hit by a right-handed batter.

Description
Joe Medwick was opinionated and outspoken. It might be tempting to say that he grew sour in old age, but he was actually quite cantankerous throughout his adult life. Medwick assumed the role of bitter old baseball player late in life. In 1963, 15 years after his last game, he was upset that he had yet to be inducted to the Hall of Fame. "The young writers, they ought to do more homework," he said. On the strike zone, which had been altered in 1963: "They are making a big deal out of that new strike zone," he snorted. "I never cared where the strike zone was. I wasn't looking to walk. Didn't make no difference to me, high or low, inside or outside. If I liked it, I'd take my riffle. And .324 ain't too bad." Medwick had never drew more than 45 walks in a season. Medwick was also upset that none of his former teammates, some of whom were still in baseball in some capacity in 1963, had ever offered him a job.

Born
Joseph Michael Medwick was born on November 24, 1911, in Carteret, NJ.

Died
March 21, 1975, St.Petersburg, FL

Batted:  Right
Threw:  Right

Primary Position:  OF

Primary Team:  SLN

Major League Debut
September 2, 1932

Nine Other Players Who Debuted in 1932
Joe Medwick
Stan Hack
Arky Vaughan
Frankie Crosetti
Rip Sewell
Johnny Murphy
Johnny Allen
Monte Pearson
Debs Garms

Nicknames
Ducky, Ducky-Wucky, Muscles

Medwick despised the name "Ducky," and teammates were careful not to utter the fan-given name in his presence.

Uniform Numbers
#28 (1932), #7 (1933-1940, 1943), #77 (1940-1941 Dodgers), #6 (1941-1942), #19 (1943), #3 (1944-1945 Giants, 1945 Braves), #5 (1945 Braves), #16 (1946), #21 (1947-1948), #12 (1948)

Similar Players
Goose Goslin

Related Players
Marv Owen... Cardinals' pitcher Bob Bowman beaned Medwick after Joe had moved on to the Dodgers, in 1941. The former teammates had bad blood between them and the beaning nearly cost Medwick his life. Dodgers' President Branch Rickey briefly considered suing the Cardinals over the incident.

Hall of Fame Voting Year Election Votes Pct 1948 BBWAA 1 .8% 1956 BBWAA 31 16.1% 1958 BBWAA 50 18.8% 1960 BBWAA 38 14.1% 1962 BBWAA 34 21.3% 1964 BBWAA 108 53.7% 1964 Run Off 130 57.8% 1966 BBWAA 187 61.9% 1967 BBWAA 212 72.6% 1967 Run Off 248 81.0% 1968 BBWAA 240 84.8%

Post-Season Appearances
1934 World Series
1941 World Series

Post-Season Notes
Medwick hit .379 with 11 hits, including a triple and a homer, in the '34 Series against Detroit. In Game Seven he tripled into deep center and slid hard into Tiger third baseman Marv Owen. Detroit fans responded the next inning with a 34-minute riot - pelting the field with rotten fruit and garbage, most of it aimed at Medwick in left field. Commissioner Landis removed Medwick from the game for his own safety, the game well in hand for the Cardinals. Years later, Owen was asked whether Medwick had slid in to hurt him. "No, it was my fault. I was on the bag, faking as if the throw was coming to me, and Joe did what any good runner would do. It was not his fault."

Awards and Honors
1937 NL MVP
1937 NL Triple Crown

Batting Feats

• June 29, 1935: Cycle...

Hitting Streaks
28 games (1935)
27 games (1942)
21 games (1936)

Transactions
June 12, 1940: Traded by the St. Louis Cardinals with Curt Davis to the Brooklyn Dodgers for Ernie Koy, Carl Doyle, Sam Nahem, Bert Haas, and $125000 cash; July 6, 1943: Purchased by the New York Giants from the Brooklyn Dodgers; June 16, 1945: Traded by the New York Giants with Ewald Pyle to the Boston Braves for Clyde Kluttz; February 8, 1946: Released by the Boston Braves; April 5, 1946: Released by the St. Louis Browns; July 2, 1946: Signed as a Free Agent with the Brooklyn Dodgers; October 9, 1946: Released by the Brooklyn Dodgers; December 11, 1946: Signed as a Free Agent with the New York Yankees; April 29, 1947: Released by the New York Yankees; May 26, 1947: Signed as a Free Agent with the St. Louis Cardinals; October 14, 1947: Released by the St. Louis Cardinals; September 30, 1948: Released by the St. Louis Cardinals.

All-Star Selections
1934 NL
1935 NL
1936 NL
1937 NL
1938 NL
1939 NL
1940 NL
1941 NL
1942 NL
1944 NL

Replaced
George Watkins

Replaced By
The younger players who returned from service in World War II.

Best Strength as a Player
Extra-base power.

Largest Weakness as a Player
Speed

Learn More about Joe Medwick
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