October 1, 1944: The St. Louis Browns Win Their Only Pennant

October 1, 1944, 80 years ago: The St. Louis Browns beat the New York Yankees, 5-2 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. This, combined with the Detroit Tigers' 4-1 loss to the Washington Senators at Briggs Stadium in Detroit, enables the Browns to clinch the American League Pennant. It is their first. They are the last of Major League Baseball's "Original 16" teams (a term not used back then) to do so.

Had the Tigers won, or had both they and the Browns lost, a 1-game Playoff for the Pennant would have been held between them. Sportsman's Park was renamed Busch Stadium in 1953, and Briggs Stadium was renamed Tiger Stadium in 1961.

This was only the 2nd time a team had beaten the Yankees to clinch a Pennant. It had previously happened in 1904, when the team that would become known as the Boston Red Sox did it. It would not happen again until the Kansas City Royals did it in the 1980 AL Championship Series. (It has since been done by the Red Sox in 2004, the Texas Rangers in 2010, the Detroit Tigers in 2012, and the Houston Astros in 2017 and 2019.)

Sigmund "Sig" Jakucki outpitches Mel Queen, despite falling behind 2-0 in the 3rd inning. Mike Kreevich led off the bottom of the 4th with a single, followed by a game-tying home run from Chet Laabs. In the 5th, same combination: Single by Kreevich, homer by Laabs. Vern Stephens added a homer in the 8th.

Managed by Luke Sewell, brother of Cleveland Indians Hall-of-Famer Joe Sewell, the Browns finished the season 89-65, finishing 1 game ahead of the Detroit Tigers and 6 ahead of the defending World Champion Yankees. They had previously come the closest to a Pennant in 1922, when, with what was almost certainly a better team, they went 93-61 but finished a game behind the Yankees.

For most of their history, they were terrible, losing 107 games in back-to-back seasons, 1910 and 1911; 108 in 1937; and 111 in 1939. Noting that St. Louis was the center of America's leather industry and the home of several breweries, someone countered the insult of the Washington Senators -- "Washington: First in war, first in peace, and last in the American League" -- with "St. Louis: First in shoes, first in booze, and last in the American League."

In contrast, the St. Louis Cardinals had won National League Pennants in 1926, '28, '30, '31, '34, '42 and '43, and did so again in '44. The Browns were the landlords at Sportsman's Park, the Cards the tenants, but the tenants were more successful.

And it just so happened that the Cards stood in the Browns' way in their 1st World Series. The Browns won Games 1 and 3, bringing them 2 wins from a World Championship. But this would be the high-water mark of the team, as the Cards took the next 3 games for the title.

When World War II ended, and everybody's players came back from the service, the Browns fell back into a condition where mediocrity would have been an improvement. After the 1953 season, they were moved to become the Baltimore Orioles. They did not win another until Pennant, and did not win the franchise's 1st World Championship, until 1966.

The Browns/Orioles franchise and the Cardinals have never played each other in another World Series. Both teams made the Playoffs in the seasons of 1996, 2012 and 2014, but neither team won its respective Pennant in the years in question.

After 1944, there would not be another team winning their 1st Pennant until September 23, 1957, when the Milwaukee Braves do it -- or, if you don't count moved teams, until October 6, 1969, when the Mets pull off their "Miracle."

The last survivor of the 1944 Browns was 2nd baseman Don Gutteridge -- who, ironically, started his career with the St. Louis Cardinals. He lived until 2008, age 96.