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Diz: The Story of Dizzy Dean and Baseball During the Great Depression

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I read this book recently and I couldn't put it down once I started reading it. I have a vast collection of baseball books and this one ranks as one of the best. The authors vivid description of baseball in the 1930's was excellent. I recommend this book to any baseball junkie.

"Diz" by Robert Gregory gives a great picture of the life and times of one of baseball's most colorful characters: Jay Hanna Dean, otherwise known as Dizzy. Gregory's book is a great mix of personal biography and play by play of Diz's career during the Great Depression. I found this to be the best aspect of the book. The balance between the intimate side of Diz's personality and Gregory's deep seated knowledge of baseball made it quite an enjoyable read, even though it stretched out to 400 pages.

I am not the most avid reader of the sports page, but Gregory's ability to conjure up the images of some baseball's greatest moments during the 1930's really drew me in to all aspects of the writing. He never fails to show the personal attributes of the players as they make the crucial game changing plays. I sure this still applies today, but it is clear that during the 1930's, the players were much less scrutinized than the stars of today. There was more room for colorful and off beat characters prior to the mass commercialization of baseball. Diz was one such man.

The early years of his life are quite interesting and show the trying times that brought the country to the brink of disaster during the Depression. Diz and his brother Paul were from a somewhat indigent sharecropping family that roamed through Arkansas. As Diz grew and developed his natural talent for baseball in Semi pro teams through Oklahoma and Texas, Gregory also shows the free wheeling spirit that Diz used to combat the awful poverty that gave the Dustbowl its name. As he would later grow into a figure of national fame, it is easy to see why the indomitable country wit of Dizzy Dean brought hope to a struggling country.

Diz was definitely one of a kind in the way he conducted himself. Gregory's inclusion of anecdotes contrasts the straight sports commentary, giving the book its charm and depth. This irreverence and playful egotism made Diz hard to handle for many managers and owners, but also endeared him to the public at large. In an era where magnates had destroyed the stock market and put millions out of work, there was a widespread feeling of distrust and anger with corporate management. Diz (with the help of his hard drinking, domineering wife) were at constant odds with St. Louis Cardinal owner Sam Breadon. Diz was a hero to many for his contractual holdouts, but he still did not break the will of the owners, as baseball still had not given the players equitable salaries (similar to big business refusal to accept workers rights).

Diz's moment of glory came in the 1934 World Series as he and his brother Paul, along with the St. Louis "Gas House Gang" defeated the Detroit Tigers in 7 games. Diz and Paul carried the pitching load, but the Cards were fortunate that year to have nearly the entire lineup batting above 300., including great base running. The Cards streak was short-lived as Paul hurt his arm and Breadon traded many of the original gang in the years after the Series victory. Diz still was one of the best pitchers in baseball, but his carrying of the Cards led to some runs of the mouth that did not endear him to his new teammates. This was a habit that Diz carried throughout his entire life, as the unique country fried, boisterous lexicon he used landed him some announcing work during the latter half of his life.

I thought Gregory's book to be excellent, although he did stretch the length a bit. It is as much a history lesson concerning Depression era personalities as it is a play by play of a great pitcher's career

I knew Dizzy Dean as a radio announcer and nothing about him as a player. This book had me glued to it from the first page. Not only does it provide a very well researched picture of Diz and the times in which he played, but clear and concise portraits of other stars as well. I'd say that if you were able to read the passages reliving legendary ball games and not get excited, it would be a good indication that you are dead.

One player that is mentioned several times is someone I'd never heard of but his exploits as presented in the book were so prodigious that I wondered how renown could have escaped him. Then I caught an episode of Ken Burn's "Baseball." Dizzy was featured in a segment and the narrator left Dean and began talking about this guy I'd been reading about, Carl Hubbell. He said if his life depended on a pitcher's performance, he would feel safer with Carl Hubbell pitching than with any other pitcher before or since. And hey, I knew who he was talking about.

If you like baseball but miss the loyalty that teams and fans alike experienced in the old days, or are just interested in knowing more about the history of the sport, I don't know how you could wrong getting this book.

When America was in the midst of economic and social melancholy, a young Arkansas farmboy came on the baseball scene to become not only the dominant pitcher of his day, but a constant source of entertainment. Everyone wanted to know what "Dizzy" was up to, whether he had made good on his promise to shut out the opposition or got on the wrong train again.

Jerome Herman Dean signed his first professional contract with the Houston farm club of the St. Louis Cardinals for $300 a month. When he met Branch Rickey, the Cards' parsimonious general manager, "Dizzy" boasted "I'm the fella that's gonna win you a lotta ballgames" and strongly suggested moving him right up to the Cardinals. He would yell out of cab windows, "I'm the Great Dean, want me to sign something for you?"

Dizzy was called up after winning eight of ten decisions at Houston and soon won his first major league start handily. Flushed from this rave performance, he went to Rickey and demanded his salary be doubled for 1931.

Dean made the big club for good in 1932 and won his first starting assignment. Dizzy could look back on his first full major league season with pride. Despite his strong efforts (he was named to the all-rookie team for his 18-15 record), the Cardinals failed to win the pennant that year.

One day he told Bill Terry, the Giant's manager and first-baseman, that he had promised to strike him out for some kids in a hospital. He made good on his vow and told reporters after the game"It ain't braggin' if you can do it."

The shadow of the Depression continued to spread over the nation. Sixteen million people were out of work. President Roosevelt praised baseball for doing "as much as anything to keep up the spirits of the people." Nevertheless, major league teams made cuts totalling $800,000. Even Babe Ruth took a $23,000 pay cut. Rickey, the majors' highest paid executive, maintained his $40,000 salary.

In 1933, Dean won 20 games but lost 18. He was among the league leaders in several categories, yet his team finished in fifth place and drew slightly more than 255,000 fans, its worst showing since 1919.

After Dean's brother Paul, a fine pitcher in his own right, joined the Cardinals, Dizzy proclaimed that they would win 45 games. They exceeded that total by four games, with the elder Dean becoming the last National League to win 30 games. The brothers led the Cardinals to pennant and World Series victories.

Following a disappointing 1935 season, Diz complained about the plan to change the team's primary catcher. Branch Rickey responded that Dean would do well to keep his mouth shut and do his job. This chastisement so angered Dean that he changed his planned salary demands from $27,500 to $40,000. Dean threatened to go into the furniture business if he didn't get it. The Cardinals countered with $18,500 which they considered quite magnanimous in lieu of Dean's "poor" season: he had won "only" 28 games and led the league in several departments. He finally signed for $22,300, making him the top-salaried player in the league.

Dean had his share of close calls on the field. He was once knocked unconscious by a line drive. The headline in the newspaper the following morning read "X-rays of Dean's Head Show Nothing."

Dean's star collapsed at the 1937 All-Star game, when a shot off the bat of Cleveland's Earl Averill smashed into his left foot. The injury forced Dean to change his arm motion which resulted in career-ending injuries. He hung on for a few seasons with the Cubs but was finished by the time he was 30 years old. Dean threatened to sue the Cards for $250,000 for forcing him to pitch too soon after his injury, but Judge Landis recommended he drop the suit for the good of the game.

His began a new career as a broadcaster, adding his own colorful style to the English language. A group of school teachers claimed he was a detriment to their students and demanded his removal from the air. "Let the teachers teach English, and I will teach baseball," countered Dean. "There is a lot of people in the United States who say "isn't," and they ain't eating."

The author has some trouble getting his facts straight, coming up with three versions of how Dean acquired his nickname. But what can you expect when a player like Dean, gives three reporters different dates and places of birth so they could each have an exclusive story? "I was helpin' [them] out," Dean would say. "Them ain't lies; them's scoops."

Dean was a star for less than ten seasons but he remained a "personality" for a years. His battles with the front office over real or imagined slights seemed heroic in a day when laborers battled management for every penny. His constant need to be in the spotlight, his boastfulness, his geniality, made him a legend in the glory years of baseball, before television and other distractions. His story makes for an entertaining biography, a sweet, old-fashioned book from the past in the current climate of the tell-all tales.

THIS IS THE STORY OF ONE OF THE GREATEST PITCHERS AND MOST COLORFUL CHARACTERS TO EVER PUT ON A UNIFORM. DIZZY DEAN WAS A SIMPLE COUNTRY BOY WHO MADE GREAT HEADLINES WITH HIS MOUTH AND HIS GREAT PITCHING ARM. DIZ WAS VERY COCKY, BRASH, AND OUTSPOKEN ABOUT HIMSELF AND HIS BROTHER PAUL'S ABILITIES. A VERY COLORFUL AND HUMOROUS CHARACTER. AFTER HIS CAREER ENDED WAY BEFORE IT SHOULD HAVE, DIZ BECAME A VERY POPULAR BROADCASTER WHO LET HIS NATURAL, COUNTRY, HUMOROUS STYLE BECOME HIS TRADEMARK AS ONE OF GREATS ON TV AND RADIO. A VERY INTERESTING BOOK ABOUT BOTH DIZ AND BASEBALL IN GENERAL DURING THE DEPRESSION. VERY RECOMMENDED.