1942 St. Louis Cardinals season

1942  St. Louis Cardinals
World Series Champions National League Champions
League	National League
Ballpark	Sportsman's Park
City	St. Louis, Missouri
Record	106–48 (.688)
League place	1st
Owners	Sam Breadon
General managers	Branch Rickey
Managers	Billy Southworth
Radio	KWK (Dizzy Dean, Johnny O'Hara) KXOK (France Laux)
←  1941 Seasons 1943  →

The 1942 St. Louis Cardinals season was the team's 61st season in St. Louis, Missouri and its 51st season in the National League. The Cardinals won 106 games, the most in team history. They finished first in the National League, and met the New York Yankees in the World Series. They won the series in 5 games to capture their fourth title of National League and fourth World Series title.

Pitcher Mort Cooper won the MVP Award this year, with a 1.78 ERA, 22 wins, and 152 strikeouts.

This was Branch Rickey's 24th and final year with the Cardinals, the next year, he left to become the general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Offseason

• December 1, 1941: Hank Gornicki was selected off waivers from the Cardinals by the Pittsburgh Pirates. ^[1]
• Prior to 1942 season (exact date unknown)
  • Del Rice was signed as an amateur free agent by the Cardinals. ^[2]

Regular season

Season standings

• v
• t
• e

National League

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
St. Louis Cardinals	106	48	.688	—	60‍–‍17	46‍–‍31
Brooklyn Dodgers	104	50	.675	2	57‍–‍22	47‍–‍28
New York Giants	85	67	.559	20	47‍–‍31	38‍–‍36
Cincinnati Reds	76	76	.500	29	38‍–‍39	38‍–‍37
Pittsburgh Pirates	66	81	.449	36½	41‍–‍34	25‍–‍47
Chicago Cubs	68	86	.442	38	36‍–‍41	32‍–‍45
Boston Braves	59	89	.399	44	33‍–‍36	26‍–‍53
Philadelphia Phils	42	109	.278	62½	23‍–‍51	19‍–‍58

Record vs. opponents

1942 National League record v t e Sources:
Team	BOS	BR	CHC	CIN	NYG	PHI	PIT	STL
Boston	—	6–16	13–9	5–16–1	8–12	14–8	7–12–1	6–16
Brooklyn	16–6	—	16–6	15–7	14–8–1	18–4	16–6	9–13
Chicago	9–13	6–16	—	13–9	9–13–1	14–8	11–11	6–16
Cincinnati	16–5–1	7–15	9–13	—	9–13	16–6	12–9–1	7–15
New York	12–8	8–14–1	13–9–1	13–9	—	17–5	15–7	7–15
Philadelphia	8–14	4–18	8–14	6–16	5–17	—	6–13	5–17
Pittsburgh	12–7–1	6–16	11–11	9–12–1	7–15	13–6	—	8–14–2
St. Louis	16–6	13–9	16–6	15–7	15–7	17–5	14–8–2	—

Roster

1942 St. Louis Cardinals
Roster
Pitchers 21 Johnny Beazley 27 Bill Beckmann 13 Mort Cooper 22 Murry Dickson 19 Harry Gumbert 29 Howie Krist 23 Max Lanier 34 Bill Lohrman 35 Whitey Moore 11,27 Howie Pollet 24 Clyde Shoun 18 Lon Warneke 28 Ernie White		Catchers 15 Walker Cooper 14 Gus Mancuso 32 Sam Narron 16 Ken O'Dea 38 Kenneth Saeger Infielders  2 Buddy Blattner  3 Jimmy Brown  7 Creepy Crespi  2 Jeff Cross 12 Johnny Hopp  1 Whitey Kurowski  4 Marty Marion  5 Ray Sanders		Outfielders 17 Erv Dusak  8 Terry Moore  6 Stan Musial  9 Enos Slaughter 20 Coaker Triplett 10 Harry Walker Other batters 11 Estel Crabtree		Manager 30 Billy Southworth Coaches 25 Mike González (Third base) 26 Buzzy Wares

Player stats

= Indicates team leader

Batting

Starters by position

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	125	438	123	.281	7	65
1B	Johnny Hopp	95	314	81	.258	3	37
2B	Jimmy Brown	145	606	155	.256	1	71
3B	Whitey Kurowski	115	366	93	.254	9	42
SS	Marty Marion	147	485	134	.276	0	54
OF	Stan Musial	140	467	147	.315	10	72
OF	Enos Slaughter	152	591	188	.318	13	98
OF	Terry Moore	130	489	141	.288	6	49

Other batters

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
Creepy Crespi	93	292	71	.243	0	35
Ray Sanders	95	282	71	.252	5	39
Ken O'Dea	58	192	45	.234	5	32
Harry Walker	74	191	60	.314	0	16
Coaker Triplett	64	154	42	.273	1	23
Erv Dusak	12	27	5	.185	0	3
Buddy Blattner	19	23	1	.043	0	1
Gus Mancuso	5	13	1	.077	0	1
Sam Narron	10	10	4	.400	0	1
Estel Crabtree	10	9	3	.333	0	2
Jeff Cross	1	4	1	.250	0	1

Pitching

Starting pitchers

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	37	278.2	22	7	1.78	152
Johnny Beazley	43	215.1	21	6	2.13	91
Ernie White	26	128.1	7	5	2.52	67
Lon Warneke	12	82.0	6	4	3.29	31

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Harry Gumbert	38	163.0	9	5	3.26	52
Max Lanier	34	161.0	13	8	2.96	93
Howie Pollet	27	109.1	7	5	2.88	42

Note: Harry Gumbert was the team leader in saves with 5.

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
Murry Dickson	36	6	3	2	2.91	66
Howie Krist	34	13	3	1	2.51	47
Whitey Moore	9	0	1	0	4.38	1
Bill Lohrman	5	1	1	0	1.42	6
Bill Beckmann	2	1	0	0	0.00	3
Clyde Shoun	2	0	0	0	0.00	0

1942 World Series

Main article: 1942 World Series

NL St. Louis Cardinals (4) vs. AL New York Yankees (1)

Game	Score	Date	Location	Attendance
1	Yankees – 7, Cardinals – 4	September 30	Sportsman's Park	34,769
2	Yankees – 3, Cardinals – 4	October 1	Sportsman's Park	34,255
3	Cardinals – 2, Yankees – 0	October 3	Yankee Stadium	69,123
4	Cardinals – 9, Yankees – 6	October 4	Yankee Stadium	69,902
5	Cardinals – 4, Yankees – 2	October 5	Yankee Stadium	69,052

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level Team League Manager AA Columbus Red Birds American Association Eddie Dyer AA Rochester Red Wings International League Tony Kaufmann, Estel Crabtree and Ray Hayworth AA Sacramento Solons Pacific Coast League Pepper Martin A1 New Orleans Pelicans Southern Association Pat Ankenman A1 Houston Buffaloes Texas League Clay Hopper B Decatur Commodores Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League Adel White and Tony Kaufmann B Allentown Wings Interstate League Benny Borgmann B Asheville Tourists Piedmont League Bill DeLancey B Columbus Red Birds Sally League Harrison Wickel B Mobile Shippers Southeastern League Tommy West and Adel White C Fresno Cardinals California League Lou Scoffic C Springfield Cardinals Middle Atlantic League Walter Alston C Duluth Dukes Northern League Eddie Malone C Pocatello Cardinals Pioneer League Nick Cullop C Springfield Cardinals Western Association Runt Marr

Level Team League Manager D Johnson City Cardinals Appalachian League Mercer Harris D Albany Cardinals Georgia–Florida League Joe Cusick D Union City Greyhounds KITTY League Everett Johnston D Williamson Red Birds Mountain State League Ollie Vanek D Washington Red Birds Pennsylvania State Association George Jenkins and Moose Fralick D Hamilton Red Wings PONY League Roy Pfleger, Ken Blackman and Joe Sugden D LaCrosse Blackhawks Wisconsin State League Ed Konetchy and Lou Scoffic LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Columbus (American Assn.), Pocatello California League folded, June 28, 1942; KITTY League folded, June 19 [3]

References

1. "Hank Gornicki Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 22, 2025.
2. Del Rice Trades and Transactions at Baseball Almanac
3. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007

External links

• 1942 St. Louis Cardinals at Baseball Reference
• 1942 St. Louis Cardinals at Baseball Almanac