St. Louis Browns - The World War II Era (1940-1949)

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1940

Decade

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101

Titles:

Top Browns Players of the Forties

1944 AL Pennant (Lost to Cards in World Series)

Pitchers:

BallPark:

Bob Muncrief (15.2) - 37

Sportsman's Park

Jack Kramer (8.49) - 37

Nels Potter (19) - 35

Team Name:

Denny Galehouse (14.2) - 29

St. Louis Browns

Elden Auker (4.25) - 27

Johnny Niggeling (11.9) - 17

Owner:

Sig Jakucki (4.24) - 17

Donald F Barnes (1940-1945)

Cliff Fannin (6.23) - 16

Richard C Muckerman (1946-1948)

Al Hollingsworth (5.59) - 16

William D DeWitt (1949)

Fred Sanford (6.25) - 13

Steve Sundra (3.44) - 13

General Managers:

Ned Garver (8.72) - 13

None

Sam Zoldak (6) - 13

George Caster (4.37) - 11

Managers:

Fred Haney (1940-1941)

Catchers:

Luke Sewell (1941-1946)

Les Moss (1.84) - 13

Zach Taylor (1946-1949)

Rick Ferrell (1.53) - 12

Muddy Ruel (1947)

Frank Mancuso (0.79) - 11

No Hitters:

First Basemen:

None

George McQuinn (12.44) - 49

Hall of Famers:

Second Basemen:

Dizzy Dean

Don Gutteridge (0.19) - 20

Rick Ferrell

Jerry Priddy (5,57) - 14

John Berardino (1.55) - 13

Rookie of the Year:

Roy Sievers (1949)

ShortStops:

Vern Stephens (23.79) - 72

MVP:

None

Third Basemen:

Harlond Clift (12.03) - 30

Notable Events:

Bob Dillinger (3.64) - 29

Mark Christman (3.22) - 15

1940 - On the heels of a putrid decade where their best seasonal

mark was 67-85, the Browns have their best and last full decade

Outfield:

in their tenure in St. Louis. Of course, for the Brownies, everything is

Walt Judnich (14.13) - 50

relative. The first half of the decade, helped mightily by the fact that

Chet Laabs (10.41) - 33

every other team was depleted severely by the war, saw St. Louis

Milt Byrnes (7.08) - 26

have three above .500 seasons in the first half dozen including a

Al Zarilla (2.34) - 20

pennant in 1944. The remaining eight years in St. Louis, however,

Mike Kreevich (2.38) - 16

once everyone was back from the war and functioning normally,

Jeff Heath (4.91) - 14

would be typical Browns awfulness. They would average 58-96

Rip Radcliff (3.48) - 11

running out the string until the franchise, mercifully, shifted to

Roy Cullenbine (5.4) - 10

Baltimore

Gene Moore (0.52) - 10

1941 - Donald F Barnes tries to move the Browns to Los Angeles.

Notable Events:

As luck would have it for the luckless Browns franchise, the day of

the hearing for the move was scheduled for December 8, 1941.

1945 - The Browns have their third winning season in the last four.

Pearl Harbor was attacked on December 7th and league owners

This is the last season that other teams' players are away at war.

were now in no mood to consider franchise moves. Barnes was

stuck in St. Louis.

1945 - Donald F Barnes takes advantage of the Browns recent

success on the field to sell the ballclub to Richard C Muckerman at

1942 - Vern Stephens comes up as a twenty one year old shortstop.

top dollar. Muckerman does not infuse cash into the franchise.

He will be a vital cog in the Browns lineup in the forties.

1945 - St. Louis employs one armed outfielder Pete Gray

1942 - The Browns have their first winning season in 13 years

1947 - Star shortstop Vern Stephens is dealt to the Red Sox

1944 - St. Louis wins the pennant. They didn't add anybody new

for cash and a bunch of nothings providing a graphic display of

of significance, but while other teams lost the war of attrition to WWII,

where owner Muckerman's priorities lie.

the Browns kept their players. They lose the World Series to the

cross town Cardinals.

1949 - Bill DeWitt buys the Browns. He runs the team on the cheap.