Joe Medwick oral history interview, 1968 February 08

Joe Medwick oral history interview

Date1968 February 08

DescriptionInterview of Joe Medwick conducted by the St. Louis Cardinals in St. Louis, Missouri on February 8, 1968. Content of the interview includes: Side One -- Track 1 - On getting involved in a controversy in 1934, in the seventh inning of the World Series in Detroit, using the same slide he used all his life; (Frankie) Frisch was on first base, and he hit a ball into right-center field and it ricocheted off the right field wall, as he passed shortstop, he watched his coach, Mike Gonzales, giving him the stand-up sign, meaning there was no play and he was not going to attempt to score; as he got closer to third base, he noticed Detroit third baseman Marvin Owen was straddling third base and he made a tag at him, so he slid pretty viciously, and rolled him over, and they swung at each other, but no one hit each other; after the inning was over, he went into left field, and they threw stuff at him for about 34 minutes and the game couldn't continue; the commissioner called them in front of his box, and asked if he slid into him deliberately, which he did not, because it was just his normal slide; he asked Owens something, and after 34 minutes, they decided it would be better to take him out of the ball game so the game could continue, which was right, but if two men were supposed to participate in a fight, they both should have been ejected, but he was the only one ejected; he had one more time at bat and at that time 11 hits was a record, which he had, and he had another chance to go to bat, and he'll never know if he would have gotten a base hit or not; but the commissioner did the right thing; he came to play, not to be put out of the game, but if the game couldn't continue, it would have meant the home team had to forfeit, so it was easier to eject one man and have the game continue (00:00:00 to 00:02:54) Track 2 - On nickname "Ducky" was given to him in Houston, they had a contest for naming players, they played a lot of night baseball, and some young girl had seen him on Galveston Beach, and said he swims like a duck and walks like a duck, so his name should be Ducky Wucky and she won the contest; been called a lot of worse things (00:02:54 to 00:03:36) Track 3 - Joined the St. Louis Cardinals in 1932 and played 32 games with them; was with the Cardinals until he was traded to Brooklyn, was proud to start his career with the Cardinals and finish with the Cardinals, working with the Cardinals as the batting instructor for the Minor Leagues, has been doing it for two years and now going on a full-time basis; some good looking boys that are a few years away, but have worked with most of these boys who have come to the Cardinals and stayed, including (Ed) Spiezio, (Ted) Savage who was traded, (Jimy) Williams who was traded, (Bobby) Tolan, (Alex) Johnson, who was traded, these boys didn't fit into the plans, so they have others (00:03:36 to 00:04:44) Track 4 - On being recognized by the National Baseball Hall of Fame; '48 was his last game in the Major Leagues, he was put in because he earned it, he had a batting average of .324 over 17 years, and the records that Hornsby and Musial don't have for the Cardinals, he has; glad the sportswriters finally got him the votes and put him in; the sculpture is based on his baseball picture from the early part of his life; part of the Gashouse Gang, privilege of playing with a great bunch of men, an explosive bunch of men and never knew the meaning of defeat, they were 6 Â½ games out on Labor Day the year they won the pennant and the World Series (00:04:44 to 00:07:17) Track 5 - On the Dean brothers being colorful, won 59 games during the season and four during the World Series; the Deans were very, very colorful, the whole team was colorful and explosive, never knew what was they were going to do anywhere; Pepper Martin was usually the most explosive; he'd put a match in the middle of your newspaper while you were reading it, or drop sneezing powder, or drop a buzz bomb on someone's car; they had a lot of playful moments but when they got on the field, they came to play; other members of the gang were Rip Collins on first, Frisch on second, Leo Durocher was shortstop, Pepper Martin was third, Bill DeLancey was the catcher Medwick was in left field, Ernie Orsatti played center field and Jack Rothrock played right field, then the pitchers were the Dean boys, Bill Hallahan, Bill Walker, Dazzy Vance, Jesse Haines, Tex Carleton, and Jim Mooney, quite a bunch of boys, (Branch) Rickey did a great job when he assembled that bunch over a period of time; Frisch and Durocher went on to managerial role, Spuds Davis did, Rip Collins was with the Cubs; Durocher was lippy, quite a manager, doing a wonderful job for the Cubs (00:07:17 to 00:09:41) Track 6 - On other business interests, connected with an insurance firm in St. Louis, do radio programs on KMOX, work with Art Gaines Baseball School, makes personal appearances, worked with St. Louis University for six years, now with the Cardinals full time (00:09:41 to 00:10:13) Track 7 - Very appreciative of the sportswriters electing him to the Hall of Fame, naturally completes his career, the climax of it; on the St. Louis Hall of Fame growing nicely (00:10:13 to 00:11:05)

Object numberBL-2001-00092-017

Artist, Creator, or Manufacturer St. Louis Cardinals (Baseball team)

Subject Medwick, Joe, 1911-1975

Artist, Creator, or Manufacturer Medwick, Joe, 1911-1975

Attributes

Classificationsaudio/visual materials

Collection NumberBA RMA 003 St. Louis Cardinals oral history collection

Library Call NumberRR 389

Dimensions00:11:05|1 of 1

Copyrighthttp://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/

Public Access NotePlease note that not all works are on view at all times - their availability is subject to change per the discretion of the Museum staff. Only a portion of NBHFM's collection is currently online and the information presented here is subject to updates and additions based on research and imaging activities. The images, titles, and descriptions are products of their time. If you have corrections or additional information about this object, please email research@baseballhall.org to help improve our records. This material is made available for private study, scholarship, and research use. Every effort has been made to accurately determine the rights status of images. Please email us if you have further information on the rights status of an image contrary to or in addition to the information in our records. For more information or access to a high resolution reproduction (some fees may apply), contact: National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, Giamatti Research Center, research@baseballhall.org, 607-547-0330.