The 1931 St. Louis Cardinals was one of those rare teams that come along at the right time and captured the heart of the American public. As the nation was suffering through their third year of what would be known as The Great Depression, the St. Louis Cardinals spent the summer fighting their way to their second pennant in the history of the franchise. This ballclub was the fruits of Branch Rickey’s revolutionary “farm system.” When Rickey was made Cardinals GM he realized that the team could not compete with more affluent franchises in buying players. Thinking outside the box, Rickey devised a system of affiliated minor league clubs that would not only find young players, but also develop them and when ready, feed them to the major league Cardinals. It took some time, but by 1928 the experiment had paid off with the team’s first pennant. By the time the depression hit, the Cardinals and their low-cost farm system were better off than the other teams which suffered severe financial losses that curtailed the money they could spend on buying players.
The 1931 Cardinals roster fielded no less than seven future Hall of Famers: Dizzy Dean, Frankie Frisch, Burleigh Grimes, Jim Bottomley, Chick Hafey, Jesse Haines and Pepper Martin. And beyond the Hall of Famers were others that would go on to play a significant part in baseball for decades to come: Paul Derringer would pitch the Reds to two pennants and a World Championships while Jimmy Wilson, Ray Blades, Andy High and Mike González would become much-traveled managers and coaches. These Cardinals were the class of the National League, winning the pennant by 13 games. In the World Series they faced Connie Mack’ seemingly unstoppable Athletics, winners of two consecutive World Championships. In fact, the Cardinals had lost to the A’s the previous fall, and were now looking for revenge.
Each game was a hard-fought battle, but the Cardinals matched the heavily favored A’s game for game. Veteran spitballer Burleigh Grimes won two games as did Wild Bill Hallahan. But Cardinals rookie outfielder Pepper Martin was the undisputed star of the series, batting .500 and setting a record with 12 hits including four doubles, a home run and five stolen bases. Giants manager John McGraw called Martin’s performance "the greatest individual performance in the history of the World Series."
26 members of this Cardinals Championship team have signed this 9.5”x12.5” composite poster including Hall of Famers Dizzy Dean, Frankie Frisch, Burleigh Grimes, Jim Bottomley, Chick Hafey, Jesse Haines and Pepper Martin plus manager Gabby Street, Syl Johnson, Bill Hallahan, Jim Lindsey, Tony Kaufmann, Charley Gelbert, Gus Mancuso, Jimmie Wilson, Flint Rhem, Paul Derringer, Allyn Stout, Ray Blades, Taylor Douthit, Ripper Collins, Earl Adams, Andy High, Watty Watkins, Ernie Orsatti and coach Clyde Wares. The composite shows toning from age with edge wear and some light staining and fading. The black fountain pen signatures are bold overall, with Mancuso, Ware and the latter part of Frisch’s last name being on the lighter side. An early example of Dizzy Dean’s signature is of particular note on this particularly visually attractive World Championship composite. Frame measures 18" x 21.5" - Accompanied by a full LOA from JSA.