Jackson, Mississippi : The Dean Brothers in 1934
- Makio Mukai
- Aug 8
- 4 min read
The American novelist I consider to be the most knowledgeable about Major League Baseball is Paul Auster, who passed away in 2024 at the age of 77. He was of the same generation as me (we were both born in 1947), and I believe he, like me, was captivated by the charms of Major League Baseball at the age of eight. Because of this commonality between us, I have felt a sense of familiarity with him for a long time, and I am an avid reader of his works.
In Auster's masterpiece novel, "MR. VERTIGO" (1994), a real-life major leaguer appears and has a conversation with the protagonist. It is Dizzy Dean, a famous pitcher who played for the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1930s. In explaining about Dizzy Dean to readers who are not familiar with this old-school big leaguer, the author Auster also touched on the events of 1934, when Dizzy Dean had a spectacular year, winning 30 games and two World Series games. Furthermore, Auster also mentioned that Dizzy's younger brother Paul also won 19 games that year as a pitcher for the Cardinals. However, Auster did not mention that Paul, despite being a rookie that year, also pitched a no-hitter and won two World Series games, just like his older brother.
In the 1934 World Series, the four wins needed to win the championship came with two complete game victories by each of the Dean brothers. I was surprised that Auster didn't mention this extremely unusual event. Is Paul the younger brother not very well-regarded in the United States ?
It is true that Dizzy was a great pitcher who was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. On the other hand, Paul was not such a great pitcher, but his performance in 1934 was amazing. Still, is Paul not thought highly of in the United States?
So, during the summer vacation of 2011, I decided to look into it while taking a road trip in the United States.
The Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame & Museum in Jackson, the capital of Mississippi, has a detailed exhibit about Dizzy. The reason they have such a detailed exhibit about Dizzy, even though he wasn't from Mississippi, is because Dizzy spent his later years in Mississippi and is buried there.
I decided to visit the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame & Museum. I thought there must be an exhibit and explanation about his younger brother.
Admission was $5 for adults, but $3.50 for me as a senior (over 60).
When I entered the museum, I was first shown an 11-minute video in a fairly large room. I was the only person in the audience. The video started with footage of boys playing baseball, which continued for quite some time, then moved on to footage of various sports in Mississippi, and ended with footage of a black girl practicing basketball alone.
I was impressed by the video's stylish structure.
I was free to walk around the museum.
Famous athletes from various sports were introduced through their respective lockers. Wow, what a stylish way to introduce them, I was once again impressed. However, there was no locker for Paul, who I wanted to know the most.
As I was feeling disappointed, an elderly white male staff member called out to me. "Are you from Japan?" I answered "Yes, I am," and then asked, "Is Paul Dean not well-received in the U.S." The staff member seemed to think I was a strange guy asking unexpected questions. He had that expression on his face. Then he began to gently admonish me. "Dizzy and Paul are on different levels. ....Also, Dizzy had a very cheerful personality and was well-liked by everyone. Oh, by the way, one time a girl asked Dizzy to sign a golf ball. Dizzy gladly signed it, and the girl later won the amateur golf championship..." I ended up listening to endless stories about Dizzy Dean.
Now that I was alone and away from the staff, I wandered the museum from corner to corner, checking out each exhibit.
I was surprised and fascinated to see that the museum did not only display regular photographs of Dizzy Dean, but also a sequence of photographs of his pitching form.
There was also a drawing of Dizzy Dean in various poses. There were also some photos of him with non-baseball notables, such as President Eisenhower and Will Rogers.
I also found quotes of his younger brother talking about his older brother. They were words that spoke about what a wonderful person his brother was and how well-liked he was by those around him. So, were there any exhibits that explained what kind of person the younger brother was? There weren't any.
However, one old photograph caught my eye. It was a photo of the Dean family. Both his older brother Dizzy and younger brother Paul were in the photo. The younger brother seemed to have a weaker presence than his older brother. As it turned out, that photo was the only exhibit I could find about Paul Dean. I could not find anything that glorified Paul Dean in 1934.
In my mind, I spoke to Paul in that photo, "I will never forget your achievements in 1934. Even if others have forgotten, I will never forget."
( If I’ve made a mistake or left out something important, please let me know. I’ll try to make corrections or additions.)