September 21, 1934: Dizzy Tosses a Gem; Paul Steals The Show

     On September 21, 1934, Dizzy and Paul Dean put on a show during a doubleheader at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn. Dizzy took the ball in the first game, and held the Dodgers hitless until the eighth inning of what turned out to be a 13-0 rout that featured a 17 hit attack by the Birds that was highlighted by a 4 for 5 performance by Ripper Collins, which included two doubles, and a home run. Ultimately, Dizzy had to settle for a three hitter in what proved to be his 27th win of the campaign, then he sat and watched his kid brother, a rookie, toss a no-hitter. It was a thing of beauty.

      The Cardinals did not pour it on in the second game like they did in the first, but they did not need to, because brother Paul turned in the no-hit performance that was nearly perfect, as he led the way to a 3-0 victory. The bid for perfection was broken up early, as he walked Len Koenecke with two out in the first, but from there the lights were turned out on the Dodgers lineup. Paul did more than toss a gem, he also picked up two of the seven Cardinals hits in the contest, and scored the first run of the ballgame in the sixth. Ducky Medwick scored the other two runs in the contest. At the end of that day Paul Dean was the just the third man in franchise history to toss a no-hitter, and just the fifth rookie in the history of the game to achieve the feat. It would not be accomplished by another Cardinals rookie until 1999 when Jose Jimenez joined the club. Bud Smith joined the club as well in 2001.

     The league leading Giants won that day against the Braves in Boston, but since the Birds played two they had moved up in the standings by a half a game, and were trailing the New Yorkers by three games. As the season winded down the Cardinals kept gaining on them, and with three days left in the campaign they tied them in the standings, Two days later they won the National League Pennant by two games, and nine days after that they were World Champions.

     The Dean brothers accounted for 49 of the Cardinals 95 wins. Dizzy won 30 of those 49, while Paul locked down 19. Paul's 18th win of that season is one that will never be forgotten, as he had achieved what most pitchers can only dream of; a coveted no-hitter. It has been said that Dizzy joked about it saying if he knew his kid brother was gonna throw one he would have threw one too. He came close, and if he would have achieved the feat they would be the only pair of brothers to do so for the same team on the same day. It's too bad it did not work out that way. However, it was still quite the day in Cardinal Nation.

Check out the box scores here
Dizzy's gem: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/BRO/BRO193409211.shtml
Daffy's no-no: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/BRO/BRO193409212.shtml

Sidenotes: The three hits allowed in the doubleheader stood as record for fewest hits during a twin bill until 1992, when Matt Young of the Red Sox no-hit the Indians, but still managed to lose the game 2-1. Young's performance was followed up by a two-hit performance by Roger Clemens that had the Sox come out on top 3-0. To date only one pair of brothers have both tossed a no-no. Bob Forsch pitched two with the Cardinals, with the first coming in '78, and the other coming in '83, while his brother Ken tossed one for the Astros in '79.