Eddie Dyer
Encyclopedia
Edwin Hawley Dyer was an American
left-handed pitcher
, manager
and farm system official in Major League Baseball
for the St. Louis Cardinals
from 1922–44 and 1946–50. In , Dyer's first season at the helm of the Cardinals, the Redbirds defeated the Brooklyn Dodgers
in a thrilling National League
season that featured the first postseason playoff in baseball history, then bested the favored Boston Red Sox
in a seven-game World Series
.
, Dyer grew up in Houston, Texas
, where he attended what is now Rice University
. He signed with St. Louis as an outfielder
, first baseman
and pitcher in 1922. He appeared for the Cardinals in 129 games over all or parts of six seasons (1922–27) — 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 bat
s with two home run
s and 13 runs batted in. Sent to hone his mound skills with the Cards’ top farm team, the Syracuse Stars of the AA International League
, in 1927, Dyer won his first six decisions, but in his seventh appearance he sustained an arm injury that ended his pitching career. As a player, Dyer stood 5 inch tall and weighed 168 lb (76.2 kg).
From 1928 on, Dyer would manage in the Cardinal farm system, continuing his playing career as an outfielder through 1933. In addition, Dyer served as business manager or club president of the teams he managed, and in 1938 he supervised all of the Cardinal farm teams in the Southern
and Southwestern United States
. The most important of these was Dyer’s hometown Houston Buffaloes
, the Cardinals’ club in the A1 Texas League
, and two stops below the majors. He took over as the Buffs’ manager from 1939–41 and led them to three consecutive first-place finishes and one league playoff championship, averaging 102 victories. During much of the wartime
period that followed, Dyer was director of the entire Cardinals farm system, although he left that post in 1944 to tend to his oil, real estate and insurance businesses in Houston.
departure for the Boston Braves
, Dyer returned to baseball and his first major-league managing assignment in 1946. The Cardinals were a powerhouse, having won NL pennants from 1942–44 and finished second in 1941 and 1945, but ’46 was an extremely challenging season for Dyer and his team. He had to blend returning war veterans and young players with Southworth's wartime club, and lost three key players — undefeated left-handed pitcher Max Lanier
, second baseman
Lou Klein
and relief pitcher
Fred Martin
— to the marauding Mexican League.
Dyer also had to deal with the Cards' implacable foes, the Dodgers of Leo Durocher
, back at full strength after the war. Led by pitchers Howie Pollet
and Harry Brecheen
, and the hitting and leadership of future Hall of Famers Stan Musial
and Enos Slaughter
, the Cardinals made up a five-game All-Star Break
deficit and were tied with Brooklyn for the pennant on the season’s final day. The Cards then swept the Dodgers in a best-of-three playoff behind the pitching of Pollet and Murry Dickson
.
In the 1946 World Series, the Redbirds faced what would be the only World Series
in which Ted Williams
would play. The Red Sox had breezed to the American League
pennant by 12 games and featured 20-game winners Dave Ferriss
and Tex Hughson
. Idle during the NL playoffs, Boston played an exhibition game against an AL "all-star" team in an effort to tune up for the Fall Classic. Williams was struck on the elbow by a pitch, and when the Series began, he was ineffective. Brecheen won three games, the Cardinals played inspired baseball, and in the deciding seventh game, Slaughter scored from first on a double
(often mistakenly remembered as a single
) by Harry Walker
, a shocking feat
. His was the winning run
in the game and the Series.
. In May, the Cardinals became embroiled in a hotly denied rumor that they planned to strike, rather than permit Jackie Robinson
on a major league diamond — although Dyer was not implicated in the rumor. More damaging, for the next decade, the Cardinals would lag behind most of the other NL clubs in signing African-American players. Overall, the Cardinals reverted to bridesmaid status, finishing second in the National League from 1947–49, although they trailed the Dodgers by only one game in . With the team’s legendary farm system struggling without its founder — Branch Rickey
, the very man who brought Robinson to Brooklyn — the Cardinals’ quarter-century of baseball dominance was coming to an end. In 1950, they fell to fifth and Dyer turned in his resignation.
During his five years as St. Louis manager, the Cardinals won 446 games and lost 325 for a stellar .578 winning percentage. But Dyer preferred to manage his thriving Houston-area businesses rather than seek another managing job in baseball. He died at age 64 in Houston, a year after suffering a stroke
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
left-handed pitcher
Pitcher
In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throwsthe baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw a walk. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the...
, manager
Manager (baseball)
In baseball, the field manager is an individual who is responsible for matters of team strategy on the field and team leadership. Managers are typically assisted by between one and six assistant coaches, whose responsibilities are specialized...
and farm system official in Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
for the St. Louis Cardinals
St. Louis Cardinals
The St. Louis Cardinals are a professional baseball team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are members of the Central Division in the National League of Major League Baseball. The Cardinals have won eleven World Series championships, the most of any National League team, and second overall only to...
from 1922–44 and 1946–50. In , Dyer's first season at the helm of the Cardinals, the Redbirds defeated the Brooklyn Dodgers
Los Angeles Dodgers
The Los Angeles Dodgers are a professional baseball team based in Los Angeles, California. The Dodgers are members of Major League Baseball's National League West Division. Established in 1883, the team originated in Brooklyn, New York, where it was known by a number of nicknames before becoming...
in a thrilling National League
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League , is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league. Founded on February 2, 1876, to replace the National Association of Professional...
season that featured the first postseason playoff in baseball history, then bested the favored Boston Red Sox
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are a professional baseball team based in Boston, Massachusetts, and a member of Major League Baseball’s American League Eastern Division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight charter franchises, the Red Sox's home ballpark has been Fenway Park since . The "Red Sox"...
in a seven-game World Series
1946 World Series
-Game 1:Sunday, October 6, 1946 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis, MissouriThe Red Sox won Game 1 when Rudy York hit a home run into the left field bleachers.-Game 2:Monday, October 7, 1946 at Sportsman's Park in St...
.
Pitcher, outfielder, minor league manager/executive
Born in Morgan City, LouisianaMorgan City, Louisiana
Morgan City is a city in St. Martin and St. Mary parishes in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The population was 12,404 at the 2010 census....
, Dyer grew up in Houston, Texas
Houston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
, where he attended what is now Rice University
Rice University
William Marsh Rice University, commonly referred to as Rice University or Rice, is a private research university located on a heavily wooded campus in Houston, Texas, United States...
. He signed with St. Louis as an outfielder
Outfielder
Outfielder is a generic term applied to each of the people playing in the three defensive positions in baseball farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder...
, first baseman
First baseman
First base, or 1B, is the first of four stations on a baseball diamond which must be touched in succession by a baserunner in order to score a run for that player's team...
and pitcher in 1922. He appeared for the Cardinals in 129 games over all or parts of six seasons (1922–27) — although 1924 and 1925 were his only full seasons in the majors — splitting 30 pitching decisions
Decision (baseball)
A decision is a statistical credit given to a baseball pitcher.There are two types of decisions: win and loss.In order to receive a win, the starting pitcher must complete at least five innings and leave with the lead. If the pitcher's lead is preserved by the bullpen, he is credited with a win...
with an earned run average
Earned run average
In baseball statistics, earned run average is the mean of earned runs given up by a pitcher per nine innings pitched. It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number of innings pitched and multiplying by nine...
of 4.78, and batting
Batting average
Batting average is a statistic in both cricket and baseball that measures the performance of cricket batsmen and baseball hitters. The two statistics are related in that baseball averages are directly descended from the concept of cricket averages.- Cricket :...
.223 in 157 at bat
At bat
In baseball, an at bat or time at bat is used to calculate certain statistics, including batting average, on base percentage, and slugging percentage. It is a more restricted definition of a plate appearance...
s with two home run
Home run
In baseball, a home run is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to reach home safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team in the process...
s and 13 runs batted in. Sent to hone his mound skills with the Cards’ top farm team, the Syracuse Stars of the AA International League
International League
The International League is a minor league baseball league that operates in the eastern United States. Like the Pacific Coast League and the Mexican League, it plays at the Triple-A level, which is one step below Major League Baseball. It was so named because it had teams in both the United States...
, in 1927, Dyer won his first six decisions, but in his seventh appearance he sustained an arm injury that ended his pitching career. As a player, Dyer stood 5 inch tall and weighed 168 lb (76.2 kg).
From 1928 on, Dyer would manage in the Cardinal farm system, continuing his playing career as an outfielder through 1933. In addition, Dyer served as business manager or club president of the teams he managed, and in 1938 he supervised all of the Cardinal farm teams in the Southern
Southern United States
The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...
and Southwestern United States
Southwestern United States
The Southwestern United States is a region defined in different ways by different sources. Broad definitions include nearly a quarter of the United States, including Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and Utah...
. The most important of these was Dyer’s hometown Houston Buffaloes
Houston Buffaloes
The Houston Buffaloes or Buffs were an American minor league baseball team that was founded in 1888, played in the Texas League in the years 1888-90, 1892, 1895-99, and 1907-1958 ; in the South Texas League in the years 1903-06; and in the American Association from 1959-61...
, the Cardinals’ club in the A1 Texas League
Texas League
The Texas League is a minor league baseball league which operates in the South Central United States. It is classified a Double-A league. The league was founded in 1888 and ran through 1892...
, and two stops below the majors. He took over as the Buffs’ manager from 1939–41 and led them to three consecutive first-place finishes and one league playoff championship, averaging 102 victories. During much of the wartime
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
period that followed, Dyer was director of the entire Cardinals farm system, although he left that post in 1944 to tend to his oil, real estate and insurance businesses in Houston.
Skipper of postwar Cardinals
At the war’s end, and with the big league Cardinals in need of a manager upon Billy Southworth’sBilly Southworth
William Harrison Southworth was an American right fielder, center fielder and manager in Major League Baseball. Playing in and and from to , he batted left-handed and threw right-handed. Southworth managed in and from through...
departure for the Boston Braves
Atlanta Braves
The Atlanta Braves are a professional baseball club based in Atlanta, Georgia. The Braves are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League. The Braves have played in Turner Field since 1997....
, Dyer returned to baseball and his first major-league managing assignment in 1946. The Cardinals were a powerhouse, having won NL pennants from 1942–44 and finished second in 1941 and 1945, but ’46 was an extremely challenging season for Dyer and his team. He had to blend returning war veterans and young players with Southworth's wartime club, and lost three key players — undefeated left-handed pitcher Max Lanier
Max Lanier
Hubert Max Lanier was an American left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball who spent most of his career with the St. Louis Cardinals. He led the National League in earned run average in , and was the winning pitcher of the clinching game in the 1944 World Series against the crosstown St. Louis...
, second baseman
Second baseman
Second base, or 2B, is the second of four stations on a baseball diamond which must be touched in succession by a base runner in order to score a run for that player's team. A second baseman is the baseball player guarding second base...
Lou Klein
Lou Klein
Louis Frank Klein was an infielder for the St. Louis Cardinals, the Cleveland Indians, and the Philadelphia Athletics, but he was best known as one of the players that jumped to the Mexican League and was subsequently banned by Commissioner Happy Chandler for a five year span .Klein was the...
and relief pitcher
Relief pitcher
A relief pitcher or reliever is a baseball or softball pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed due to injury, ineffectiveness, fatigue, ejection, or for other strategic reasons, such as being substituted by a pinch hitter...
Fred Martin
Fred Martin (baseball)
Fred Turner Martin was an American pitcher, coach and scout in Major League Baseball. Born in Williams, Oklahoma, Martin threw and batted right-handed, stood 6'1" tall and weighed 185 pounds during his active playing career.Martin was one of a handful American Major League players who "jumped"...
— to the marauding Mexican League.
Dyer also had to deal with the Cards' implacable foes, the Dodgers of Leo Durocher
Leo Durocher
Leo Ernest Durocher , nicknamed Leo the Lip, was an American infielder and manager in Major League Baseball. Upon his retirement, he ranked fifth all-time among managers with 2,009 career victories, second only to John McGraw in National League history. Durocher still ranks tenth in career wins by...
, back at full strength after the war. Led by pitchers Howie Pollet
Howie Pollet
Howard Joseph Pollet was an American left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball during the 1940s and 1950s. A three-time All-Star in , and , he twice he led the National League in earned run average .Born in New Orleans, Pollet signed his first professional contract with the St...
and Harry Brecheen
Harry Brecheen
Harry David Brecheen , nicknamed "The Cat," was an American left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball who played most of his career for the St. Louis Cardinals...
, and the hitting and leadership of future Hall of Famers Stan Musial
Stan Musial
Stanley Frank "Stan" Musial is a retired professional baseball player who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball for the St. Louis Cardinals . Nicknamed "Stan the Man", Musial was a record 24-time All-Star selection , and is widely considered to be one of the greatest hitters in baseball...
and Enos Slaughter
Enos Slaughter
Enos Bradsher Slaughter , nicknamed "Country", was an American Major League Baseball right fielder. During a 19-year baseball career, he played from 1938–1942 and 1946-1959 for four different teams, but is noted primarily for his time with the St...
, the Cardinals made up a five-game All-Star Break
Major League Baseball All-Star Game
The Major League Baseball All-Star Game, also known as the "Midsummer Classic", is an annual baseball game between players from the National League and the American League, currently selected by a combination of fans, players, coaches, and managers...
deficit and were tied with Brooklyn for the pennant on the season’s final day. The Cards then swept the Dodgers in a best-of-three playoff behind the pitching of Pollet and Murry Dickson
Murry Dickson
Murry Monroe Dickson was an American right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball during the 1940s and 1950s...
.
In the 1946 World Series, the Redbirds faced what would be the only World Series
World Series
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball, played between the American League and National League champions since 1903. The winner of the World Series championship is determined through a best-of-seven playoff and awarded the Commissioner's Trophy...
in which Ted Williams
Ted Williams
Theodore Samuel "Ted" Williams was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played his entire 21-year Major League Baseball career as the left fielder for the Boston Red Sox...
would play. The Red Sox had breezed to the American League
American League
The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, or simply the American League , is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league based in the Great Lakes states, which eventually aspired to major...
pennant by 12 games and featured 20-game winners Dave Ferriss
Dave Ferriss
Dave Meadow Ferriss is a former pitcher for the Boston Red Sox. He was born in Shaw, Mississippi, a small town in the Mississippi Delta...
and Tex Hughson
Tex Hughson
Cecil Carlton Hughson, , was a Major League Baseball starting pitcher who played his entire career in the American League with the Boston Red Sox . He batted and threw right-handed....
. Idle during the NL playoffs, Boston played an exhibition game against an AL "all-star" team in an effort to tune up for the Fall Classic. Williams was struck on the elbow by a pitch, and when the Series began, he was ineffective. Brecheen won three games, the Cardinals played inspired baseball, and in the deciding seventh game, Slaughter scored from first on a double
Double (baseball)
In baseball, a double is the act of a batter striking the pitched ball and safely reaching second base without being called out by the umpire, without the benefit of a fielder's misplay or another runner being put out on a fielder's choice....
(often mistakenly remembered as a single
Single (baseball)
In baseball, a single is the most common type of base hit, accomplished through the act of a batter safely reaching first base by hitting a fair ball and getting to first base before a fielder puts him out...
) by Harry Walker
Harry Walker
Harry William Walker, known to baseball fans of the middle 20th century as "Harry the Hat" , was an American baseball player, manager and coach.-Early life and family:...
, a shocking feat
Slaughter's Mad Dash
The Mad Dash, or Slaughter's Mad Dash, refers to an event in the eighth inning of the seventh game of the 1946 World Series between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Boston Red Sox.-Background:...
. His was the winning run
Run (baseball)
In baseball, a run is scored when a player advances around first, second and third base and returns safely to home plate, touching the bases in that order, before three outs are recorded and all obligations to reach base safely on batted balls are met or assured...
in the game and the Series.
From baseball to the business world
The 1946 world championship was Dyer’s high-water mark as Cardinal manager. The following season, Brooklyn upset the balance of power in the NL by boldly breaking the color lineBaseball color line
The color line in American baseball excluded players of black African descent from Organized Baseball, or the major leagues and affiliated minor leagues, until Jackie Robinson signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers organization for the 1946 season...
. In May, the Cardinals became embroiled in a hotly denied rumor that they planned to strike, rather than permit Jackie Robinson
Jackie Robinson
Jack Roosevelt "Jackie" Robinson was the first black Major League Baseball player of the modern era. Robinson broke the baseball color line when he debuted with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947...
on a major league diamond — although Dyer was not implicated in the rumor. More damaging, for the next decade, the Cardinals would lag behind most of the other NL clubs in signing African-American players. Overall, the Cardinals reverted to bridesmaid status, finishing second in the National League from 1947–49, although they trailed the Dodgers by only one game in . With the team’s legendary farm system struggling without its founder — Branch Rickey
Branch Rickey
Wesley Branch Rickey was an innovative Major League Baseball executive elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1967...
, the very man who brought Robinson to Brooklyn — the Cardinals’ quarter-century of baseball dominance was coming to an end. In 1950, they fell to fifth and Dyer turned in his resignation.
During his five years as St. Louis manager, the Cardinals won 446 games and lost 325 for a stellar .578 winning percentage. But Dyer preferred to manage his thriving Houston-area businesses rather than seek another managing job in baseball. He died at age 64 in Houston, a year after suffering a stroke
Stroke
A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...
.
External links
- Baseball-Reference.com - career managing record and playing statistics
- BaseballLibrary.com - biography and career highlights
- Eddie Dyer at Find a GraveFind A GraveFind a Grave is a commercial website providing free access and input to an online database of cemetery records. It was founded in 1998 as a DBA and incorporated in 2000.-History:...