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Joe Medwick’s big league debut came as a 20-year old for St. Louis’ Gas House Gang on September 4, 1932. In the Cardinals final 26 games of the season Medwick produced prolifically. The outfielder hit .349 with a .538 slugging percentage a 136 OPS+.

In ’33 he became the team’s everyday left fielder. Medwick again topped the .300 mark and led St. Louis in homers, RBI, and total bases. He was just getting started.

A ten-time All Star overall, Joe Medwick reeled off seven consecutive appearances in the Mid-Summer Classic from 1934-1942. His finest year came in 1937 when earned the Triple Crown. That season he led the league in runs, hits, doubles, homers, RBI, batting average, slugging percentage, OPS+, and WAR. His 406 total bases were more than all but 7 men in baseball history.

In addition to the Cardinals, the career National Leaguer also suited up for the Dodgers, Giants, and Braves. His career numbers include 2,471 hits, a .324 average, a .505 slugging percentage, and a 134 OPS+.

Medwick received baseball’s highest honor when he was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1968.

Shown here is an autograph from 1939. That year the World’s Fair in New York was attended by over 44 million people with countries from around the world participating. Among the exhibits was Academy of Sport and specifically the School of Baseball. A young man named Lee Sluiter attended Medwick’s lecture and received this Laurel Card upon completion.

The back of the card states in part, “A card similar to this one, is issue to every boy who registers and attends one or more class in sport. New York World’s Fair. Christy Walsh Director of Sports“.

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Nineteen-thirty-four was a momentous season for Joe Medwick. Just 22-years old, he made the first of seven consecutive All Star appearances. His 198 hits, 40 doubles, 18 homers, and league-leading 18 triples resulted in 328 total bases, good for fourth in the NL. Behind Medwick at the plate and 30-game winner Dizzy Dean on the hill, the Cardinals won the pennant.

In the World Series against the Tigers, Medwick hit .379. The mark was tops among St. Louis players with more than 5 at bats. The Cardinals jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the third inning of deciding Game 7 at Detroit.

With Pepper Martin on second and two out, Medwick slammed a triple to right field. His hard slide into Tigers third baseman Marv Owen sent Detroit fans into a frenzy. They relentlessly pelted Medwick with fruits and vegetables.

Commissioner Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis ordered Medwick removed from the game. Order was restored and St. Louis won the game 11-0 to claim the title. Shown here is a newspaper photo of Commissioner Landis and a disappointed Medwick as he learned about his removal from the World Series game. The Cardinals slugger remains the only player in World Series history to be ejected for his own safety.

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Joe Medwick is one of the greatest doubles hitters in National League history. A lifetime Senior Circuit man, he hit 30 or more in 11 of his 17 seasons. During a six-year run from 1934 through 1939 Medwick averaged more than 50 per season.

In 1936, Medwick slashed 64 two-base hits, breaking Paul Waner’s National League single-season record by two. The same year Medwick set the still-standing NL mark, the Tigers Charlie Gehringer hit 60. Since then no player in either league has reached the 60-double plateau.

In the collection is Paul Waner’s autographed page from Who’s Who in Baseball from 1933. Notice the listing of Waner’s home address at the time near top of the page. These books contained a page for each Major Leaguer and manager and remain a sought-after collectible in their own right.

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The National League’s final Triple Crown season of the 20th century came in 1937. That’s when Cardinals left fielder Joe Medwick hit .374 with 34 homers and 151 RBI.

The first hitter to top the Senior Circuit in batting average, home runs, and RBI was Paul Hines in 1878. Thirty-four years passed before the Cubs Heinie Zimmerman won the first crown of the new century in 1912.

Ten years later Rogers Hornsby earned the Triple Crown in 1922. Then in 1925 he became the first NL man to do it twice. Between the Rajah and Medwick, Philadelphia’s Chuck Klein captured the trifecta.

Over in the American League four men have worn the three-pointed crown since Medwick. Ted Williams did it twice in 1942 and 1947, followed by Mickey Mantle in 1956. Frank Robinson and Carl Yastrzemski dominated their leagues in back-to-back seasons starting in 1966.

Shown here is a signed photo of Chuck Klein, the man who earned the Triple Crown four years before Medwick.

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Despite a career that included ten All Star selections, a Triple Crown and MVP Award, Joe Medwick had a long wait for Cooperstown. After the required five-year wait before appearing on the ballot, the writers elected Medwick in his 15th and final time on the ballot.

“It was the longest slump I ever had,” Medwick told the S. Louis Post-Dispatch. “I’d gone 0-for-20 but not 0-for-20 years.”

When the writers finally opened the doors to Cooperstown for Medwick in 1958, he became the second player chosen in his last year of consideration. The year before the writers made pitcher Red Ruffing go the distance.

A 273-game winner Ruffing topped the 20-victory plateau in five seasons and ended his career with six World Series rings. A danger at the plate, Ruffing had 260 pinch-hitting appearances. The career Junior Circuit man boasts a lifetime .269 average with 36 homer and 273 RBI.

Ruffing’s career overlapped with 16 of Medwick’s 17 seasons as a big leaguer. A lifetime National Leaguer, Medick faced Ruffing only once, in Game 1 of the 1941 World Series. Playing for the Dodgers, Medwick went 1-for-4 with a strikeout.

Six years later in 1947 Ruffing retired. Medwick put the ball down the following season.

Ruffing witnessed Medwick’s July 22, 1968 Cooperstown acceptance speech. The two shared the day as the only players elected in their final year of eligibility.

In the collection is this government postcard signed by Ruffing in 1953.

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In 1968 the Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremony from the front steps on Main Street to the newly-constructed Hall of Fame Library. Three men received the honor, Veterans Committee choices Kiki Cuyler and Goose Goslin, along with writers selection Joe Medwick.

The July 22nd festivities were witnessed by 14 men previously-inducted. Cooperstown class of 1947 was represented nicely by Lefty Grove and Frankie Frisch with Pie Traynor (1949) as the third inductee from the decade. Four men enshrined during the 1950s were on hand in Charlie Gehringer (’50), Ray Schalk (’55), Joe Cronin (’56), and Zack Wheat (’59). The 1960’s had the strongest showing with Max Carey (’61), Edd Roush (’62), Sam Rice (’63), Heinie Manush (’64), Casey Stengel (’66), Red Ruffing (’67), and Lloyd Waner (’67).

Shown here is a photo signed by Joe Medwick’s 1968 Cooperstown classmate Kiki Cuyler.