Edwin Hawley Dyer (October 11, 1899 – April 20, 1964)
The 5 ft 11 in. 168 lb Dyer was a versatile player, playing outfield and first base in addition to pitching. He made his debut with the Cardinals on the mound on July 8, 1922 and pitched twice in relief before he was farmed out to Syracuse, at the highest minor-league level.
His first start as a pitcher came on September 9, 1923. He pitched an eight hit complete game shutout and fanned five as the Cardinals defeated the Cubs 3-0. (BOXSCORE)
He languished around with the Cardinals from 1924 , when he went 8-11 and a 4.61 ERA, to 1926 when Branch Rickey sent him to Syracuse. The story goes that when Rogers Hornsby became manager, Dyer told him, “I’ll never play on this club as long as you’re the manager.” So he was gone and he missed the 1926 World Series.
He did return in 1927, as the Cardinals had a different manager, and won six games in a row before he hurt his arm on June 30th to end his playing career.
career numbers
He appeared for the Cardinals in 129 games over all or parts of six seasons (1922–1927) — although 1924 and 1925 were his only full seasons in the majors — splitting 30 pitching decisions with an earned run average of 4.78, and batting .223 in 157 at bats with two home runs and 13 runs batted in.
During much of the wartime period that followed, Dyer was director of the entire Cardinals farm system, although he left that post in the midst of the 1944 season to tend to his oil, real estate and insurance businesses in Houston.
After the war concluded, the Cardinals called upon Dyer to manage the team as Billy Southworth left to join the Boston Braves. He was successful although it was challenging in 1946. He had wartime player and several key players left the Cardinals for the Mexican League.
The 1946 team had a cast of characters including the fiery Leo Durocher. But the skillset of players like Howie Pollet, Harry Brecheen, Stan Musial and Enos Slaughter were enough for the team to get to the World Series and eventually win the game that included the “Mad Dash” of Enos Slaughter.