[Big Six]

St. Louis Post, September 27, 1939

REDBIRDS WIN PENNANT PLAYOFF!!

Diz Is Sharp; Cards Pound Lucas

ST. LOUIS--The revelry continued until nearly dawn, as ecstatic Cardinals fans celebrated their team's capture of the National League pennant at Sportsman's Park yesterday. The Cards defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates in a one-game playoff, 10-3, and have earned the right to face the American League champion Boston Red Sox in the World Series.

The Pirates threw the best they have at the Cardinals in an effort to keep their season alive and earn the chance to defend their World Series crown. Red Lucas, the splendid veteran who has won over 300 ballgames and six National League Most Outstanding Pitcher awards in his storied career, told reporters before the game that he felt strong and ready. However, after retiring leadoff man Enos Slaughter, Lucas encountered trouble right away. Pepper Martin and Johnny Mize hit home runs on two consecutive pitches from the 37-year-old Tennessean.

Mize belted another home run in the fifth, a two-run job this time, giving the Cards a 5-1 run. Redbirds starter Dizzy Dean was in fine form, dispatching one Pirate after another with a potent combination of fast balls and breaking stuff. Only catcher Earl Grace, who singled in the second and drove in the Bucco run with a ringing double in the fifth, appeared able to solve Dean's slants.

The Cardinals put the game on ice by scoring four runs in the sixth inning. Willard Brown applied the exclamation point to the sentence, smashing a Lucas curve over the left-field barrier for three runs. The homer, which sent the Cardinals faithful into happy hysterics, was Willard's forty-fourth of the season.

Lucas was at that point removed from the contest, and he trudged from the mound with his head hung low. The fans applauded him warmly, with not a touch of derision; they recognize Lucas as one of the finest moundsmen the game has ever known.

The Pirates scored twice off Dean in the seventh, as Grace lofted a sacrifice fly and pinch hitter Earl Browne knocked a pinch single. "It's a good thing they don't have any more fellas on their team named Earl," Dean joked after the game. "I couldn't get nobody named that out today."

Dean could afford to be jovial, with the Cardinals advancing to the Series. "My brother Paul's pitching the first game now, and them Red Sox ain't seen nothin' like him this year. That's because they haven't had to hit against me either," Dizzy proclaimed.

For the Pirates, a club which has relied for years on a solid core of players, the playoff loss might have represented a final chance for glory. Paul Waner is 36 years old and showed signs of age this season. His brother Lloyd is 33; Grace and shortstop Joe Cronin are 32; first sacker Gus Suhr and keystoner Tony Cuccinello are 31. Will this crew of Pirates remain hale and healthy enough to challenge for another flag?

Now the Cardinals face the formidable Red Sox, whom they last faced in the Series back in 1920. Then, current Sox general manager Pat O'Farrell was the team's star, and its field general, Bill Carrigan, was behind the plate. Now, a new generation of Sox with names every bit as famous--men like Gehrig and Gibson, Dihigo and Weaver--carry on the winning tradition their "bosses" forged.

What's more, the savvy combination of O'Farrell and Carrigan have discovered and nurtured a host of talented young players. Ted Williams and Bobby Doerr are as fine a pair of young stars as there are in the game today. And, while he didn't have to look very far, O'Farrell discovered a fine right arm in his own family, that of his son Mike. O'Farrell has also, at the very least, convinced his son to continue his pursuit of a baseball career while quarterbacking the NFL champion Detroit Lions...