The St. Louis Cardinals’ 50 greatest players

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#5 Dizzy Dean

Here we have the Cardinals second best pitcher of all time. One who could have been the best had it not been for a freak injury. Dean pitched for the Cardinals from 1932-1937, a total of six seasons. During that time, Dean went 134-75 in a total 273 games (196 starts), with an ERA of 2.99 (3.15 FIP). He had a 37.1 fWAR during that time, which is second most in Cardinals’ history.

Dean only pitched six seasons with the Cardinals, yet still had a fWAR of 37.1, which is extremely impressive. In those six seasons Dean’s lowest fWAR total was 4.8 in 1937, which was his final season in a Cardinal uniform.

The fantastic righty had a freak injury in the 1937 All-Star game, that he and the team mishandled. He came back too quickly, adjusting his delivery to account for the pain, and hurt his shoulder.

He was traded to the Cubs after the 1937 season and spent four seasons there totaling just 33 starts over the next four seasons. Overall, Dean’s most impressive feat was appearing in over 50 games from 1934-1936, with over 30 starts in each season. Dean was one of the best for sure.

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