St. Louis Cardinals: Can Current Cards Repeat Gashouse Gang Magic?

As the St. Louis Cardinals continue their historic bull rush at the end of the year, closing in on the Atlanta Braves for the Wild Card, I got to wondering, have they ever come back from this kind of deficit before? The answer is yes. 

This year's version of the Cardinals were 8.5 games back on September 5th. The 1934 Cardinals were 7.5 games behind the New York Giants in the league standings. This was before there were divisions or playoffs. The teams with the best records from each league just played the World Series.

While the "1934 Cardinals" might not bring any recognition to most minds, more have likely heard the term "Gashouse Gang"—a reference to that particular year of Cardinals baseball. 

Even the state of the nation draws certain similarities, as the nation was in an uncertain period of time, just beginning to emerge form the Great Depression. Uncertainty ruled the markets, and fluctuations in the economy were wild. Baseball was a welcomed distraction for Americans. 

On September 5, 1934, the Cardinals sat on a 76-53 record. The Giants were a lofty 84-47 and looked to be the heavy favorites to defend their World Series Championship. 

The Cards got red hot then, though, winning 19 of their final 24 games. As hot as the Cards got, the Giants got just as cold. Suddenly, they were in a spiral and lost 13 of their final 22 games. During the course of both team's change of fortunes, the Cards took three of four from New York.

Entering their last series of the season, the Cardinals were two games behind the Giants. The Birds swept the Reds while the Giants dropped their last four. The Cards' two-game deficit became a two-game lead, and on the final day of the season, they clinched the NL Pennant.

The team was led offensively by their diminutive first baseman, Ripper Collins. At a less than towering 5'9" and 165 pounds, Collins was an unlikely player to lead the league in slugging, but he absolutely walloped the ball that year.

In fact, while he might not bear resemblance to Pujols in stature, his numbers from that year were positively Pujols-like. He hit a .333/.393/.615 slash and led the league in home runs with a 35. He hit 35 home runs, knocked in 128 RBI and crossed the plate 116 times.

The Gashouse Gang also had a Hall of Famer in left field, Joe Medwick. Between Collins and Medwick, they managed to carry a team that had a number of injury issues, but managed to keep plugging in players who kept hitting and it was enough to lead the NL in scoring. 

The rotation was anchored by Dizzy Dean, one of the great pitchers in Cardinals history. Dean finished the season with  30 wins. His ERA+ over the course of his career with the Cards was 133. 

The present version of the Cardinals is uncannily similar in many regards. Their record since Sept. 5th is 12-2. Their best hitter is their first baseman. They have a possible Hall of Famer playing in left field in Matt Holliday. They've had a plethora of injuries, but keep plugging in players and lead the league in scoring.

They have one of their best pitchers in their history, Chris Carpenter, anchoring their rotation this year. In fact, Carpenter's career ERA+ with the Birds is 133, the same as Dizzy Dean's.

As the '34 team beat the Giants thrice, in September, the Cards have beaten the Braves, the team they are chasing for the Wild Card, the same number of times.

Even when you look at the defending World Series Champions, in both cases, the team was the Giants, and in both cases the Cards could've been the team to stop the Giants from having the chance to repeat as champions.

So, whatever became of those 1934 Cardinals? They beat the Detroit Tigers (who have clinched their division) in seven games to claim a World Series title. It makes one wonder, can the 2011 version of the Cards continue to summon the history of the Gashouse Gang?