Jerome Hanna (Dizzy) Dean was an Arkansas native, born in the small town of Lucas in 1910. He enjoyed sports, especially baseball as a young man and became a pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals from 1930-1937. Following his time with the Cardinals, he was with the Chicago Cubs from 1938-1941, and the old St. Louis Browns in 1947. Married, but with no children, he ended his career as a sports broadcaster. During his broadcasting days, he was known for his colorful descriptions and his homespun personality.
Dizzy Dean also played a part in Clear Lake history. A story told by John Perkins in his book, Of Frogs and Friends, concerns this famous baseball player. It seems that Dizzy and his wife were staying with another couple at Clear Lake. Dizzy was playing some baseball in the area and had rented a little cottage in the Camp Grounds area. Dizzy had agreed to pitch for the Bancroft team and he and his cottage companion, Ray Doan, and a local man, Hobo Duncan, were returning to Clear Lake when something strange happened. Here is the story as John Perkins told it,
“Dean was driving his new Buick, of which he was mighty proud, when a cock pheasant flew out of the ditch and into the front of the car. Worried whether there was damage he stopped. There on the bumper, quite dead, lay the beautiful bird. Holding it up by the legs “Dizzy” shouted, ‘Let’s take it home and have it for supper.’ No, Duncan said, we could get arrested, the season isn’t open. Pshaw, ain’t nobody know we got it. I’m gonna have it for supper. So, he put it under a Chicago newspaper on the front seat. Duncan said, ‘You know Diz, if we get caught with that pheasant you may gag on it before you get a chance to eat it.’ ‘I won’t get caught,’ he says, ‘but I’ll tell you what does gag me and that’s that breakfast food I advertise. I would really gag if I have to eat any.
Back at the cottage, Duncan again cautioned Dean about the illegal bird. So, what does he do as we drive up to the cottage? Old Dizzy yells for his wife to come see what he brought home. Then he gets out of the car, instead of keeping the paper over the pheasant, he holds it up for all to see as he struts to the door. As he entered the door he yelled, ‘Hey Hobo (Duncan), how do you cook one of these things? Like a chicken?”
I guess one would assume that the group enjoyed every bite of the pheasant.
Dizzy Dean was especially known for some of his quotes. He had a charming way of butchering the English language. Here are a few of his most quotable.
After a line-drive hit his big toe, Dizzy said, “Fractured, hell, the damn things broken.”
“Let the teachers teach English, and I will teach baseball. There is a lot of people in the United States who say isn’t, and they ain’t eating.”
“It ain’t braggin’ if you can back it up.”
“Son, what kind of pitch would you like to miss?”
“He once hit a ball between my legs so hard that my center fielder caught it on the fly backing up against the wall.”
“The doctors ex-rayed my head and found nothing.”
“He slud into third.”
“It puzzles me how they know what corners are good for filling stations Just how did they know gas and oil was under there?”
Dizzy died on July 17, 1974, of a heart attack in Reno, Nevada. He was only 64 years of age. A movie made in 1952 was loosely based on his life and career. It was called, The Pride of St. Louis.
Located across the street from the Half Moon Restaurant is this house (212 7th Avenue N.) that was rented by Dizzy Dean during his visits to Clear Lake.
(Top photograph courtesy of Time Magazine, April 15, 1935 issue and bottom photograph courtesy of the author)