He made his debut with the Cardinals in 1932. By 1934, he hit .319 with 18 home runs and 106 runs batted in (RBI). Though Medwick swung at any pitch near the strike zone, he was difficult to strike out.
In the 1934 World Series, Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis had Medwick removed from the game for safety concerns. The fans in Detroit were throwing garbage at him after sliding hard into third base on a triple. Landis also had the third baseman, Marv Owen, removed from the game for personal safety. Medwick had this to say about the incident:
“Well, I knew why [the Tiger fans] threw that garbage at me. What I don’t understand is why they brought it to the park in the first place.”
Medwick’s 64 doubles in 1936 remains the National League record. He also holds the major league record for consecutive seasons with 40 or more doubles, set from 1933 through 1939. In 1940, the Cardinals traded Medwick and Curt Davis to the Dodgers for $125,000 and four lesser-known players.
Six days after the Cardinals traded him he faced his former teammates in Brooklyn and almost got killed. Never one that was liked well by his teammates, he faced pitcher Bob Bowman and was hit by a beanball that knocked him out some thought may have killed him.
Bowman had a different story: There was suspected sign stealing by Dodgers coach Chuck Dressen. He said that Dressen would whistle each time he saw the sign for a curveball. Hearing the whistle, Medwick stepped toward what he thought was a curveball, but Bowman had decided to throw a high, inside fastball to confuse them instead. When Medwick strode forward, the ball hit him in the temple and he was rendered unconscious.
Medwick stats
- Debuted on September 2, 1932
- Last played on July 25, 1948
- Career batting average .324
- 205 Home Runs
- 2471 Hits
- 1383 RBI’s
- 10 time All Star
- NL MVP in 1937
- NL Batting Champ 1937
- NL Home Run Leader in 1937
- 3 time NL RBI leader 1936-1938
- inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1968 with 84.81%
- 2014 inducted into inaugural St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame