Murry Monroe Dickson was an American professional baseballright-handedpitcher, who played in Major League Baseball during the 1940s and 1950s. He was known for his vast array of pitches and deliveries — one of his managers, Eddie Dyer, nicknamed him "Thomas Edison" for his inventiveness — and for the longevity of his career. Although Dickson would lead the National League in defeats for three successive seasons, he pitched the St. Louis Cardinals to the 1946 NL pennant by beating the Brooklyn Dodgers in the decisive Game 2 of the league playoffs. Then, during the 1946 World Series, he started Game 7 against the Boston Red Sox, a game the Cards would ultimately win for the world championship. Born in Tracy, Missouri, Dickson graduated from Leavenworth High School and entered professional baseball and the vast Cardinal farm system in 1937. After three outstanding minor league seasons with the 1939 Houston Buffaloes and the 1940–41 Columbus Red Birds, Dickson joined the Cardinals for good in 1942. He compiled a 14–5 record for the Cards in 1942–43 before joining the U.S. Army for military service in the European Theater of Operations during World War II. In 1946, Dickson returned to the Major Leagues and won 15 games for pennant- and world title-bound Cardinals, none bigger than his defeat of the Dodgers in the 1946 National League tie-breaker series. The two teams had finished in a dead heat after the 154-game regular-season schedule; according to National League bylaws of the time, they would play a best-of-three series to determine the league champion. St. Louis won the opening game behind Howie Pollet, and in Game 2, in Ebbets Field, Dickson shut down the home club until the ninth inning, and the Cards racked up an 8–4 victory and the league pennant. He led the league in winning percentage that season. Dickson lost Game 3 of the 1946 World Series to the Red Sox, but pitched seven strong innings in the Series' final game, with Harry Brecheen getting the win after St. Louis rallied in the eighth stanza. baseball card Dickson compiled an over.500 won-loss record only once in the next eight years, but it was a notable effort. His contract was sold to the Pittsburgh Pirates on January 29, 1949. In 1951, Dickson won 20 games for the seventh-place Pirates, who won only 64 contests for the entire season. He had 19 complete games that season, and 21 in 1952, when he won 14 and lost 21 for a last-place Pittsburgh team that won only 42 games all year. He then dropped 19 decisions in 1953 and 20 more in 1954, his first season as a member of the Philadelphia Phillies. Late in his career, however, Dickson experienced renewed success with a return to the Cardinals and as a relief pitcher in the American League for the Kansas City Athletics and New York Yankees. He retired from the game at age 43 with a career mark of 172 victories, 181 losses and an earned run average of 3.66 over 18 seasons, 625 appearances and 3,052 innings pitched. Dickson was a better than average hitting pitcher in his big league career, posting a.231 batting average with 81 runs, 34 doubles, 3 home runs, and 82 runs batted in. On September 21, 1989, Dickson died at age 73 from emphysema in Kansas City, Kansas.
