First published in 1944, Frederick G. Lieb’s history of the St. Louis Cardinals is one of the fifteen highly regarded team histories commissioned by G. P. Putnam’s Sons in the 1940s and 1950s and written for the most part by Hall of Fame sportswriters. Of the fifteen team histories, only Lieb’s Cardinals history was expanded for a later edition.
Lieb, who covered more than eight thousand games and every World Series for a half century, devotes considerable space to the Gas House Gang and its antics, anecdotes, and humor. He covers the Cardinal pennants in 1926 and 1928 (vs. the Yankees), 1930 and 1931 (vs. the Athletics), 1934 (vs. the Tigers), 1942 and 1943 (vs. the Yankees), and the city series of 1944 (vs. the Browns). Legendary Cardinals and their illustrious opponents include Grover Cleveland Alexander, Adrian C. “Cap” Anson, Sunny Jim Bottomley, Harry “the Cat” Brecheen, Ty Cobb, Mickey Cochrane, Mort Cooper, Dizzy and Paul Dean, Bill Dickey, Joe DiMaggio, Leo Durocher, Jimmie Foxx, Frankie Frisch, Lou Gehrig, Lefty Grove, Rogers Hornsby, Miller Huggins, Napoleon Lajoie, Marty Marion, Pepper Martin, Ducky Medwick, Johnny Mize, Stan Musial, Babe Ruth, George Sisler, Enos Slaughter, Tris Speaker, Rube Waddell, and Cy Young. Chronicling the Cardinals from 1899 through the 1945 season, this book is illustrated with nineteen black-and-white photographs.
The St. Louis Cardinals: The Story of a Great Baseball Club is the first of seven baseball histories Lieb wrote for the Putnam series.
