Red Munger

George David Munger

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 2", Weight 200 lb.
• High School Sam Houston High School (Houston)
• Debut May 1, 1943
• Final Game September 23, 1956
• Born October 4, 1918 in Houston, TX USA
• Died July 23, 1996 in Houston, TX USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Eighteen-year-old pitcher George "Red" Munger was signed as an amateur free agent by the St. Louis Cardinals before the 1937 season. The young righthander spent his first year in the pros with New Iberia Cardinals of the class D Evangeline League where his 19 victories led the league. He lost 11 outings but had a solid 3.39 ERA. Red accomplished this with a team that finished dead last in an eight-team circuit. He also appeared in two games with no decisions for the Houston Buffaloes of the class A Texas League.

Munger spent five consecutive years (1938-1942) in the minors before winning 16 games with the Columbus (OH) Red Birds of the American Association in 1942. This earned him a ticket to Sportsman's Park with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1943. He won 9 and lost 5 his first year up and became a regular with the National League team for the next ten seasons. Munger was 11-3 with a 1.34 ERA midway through the 1944 season when he was drafted into the Army, missing out on his team's pennant and World Series victory.

After being discharged late in the 1946 season, he won a couple of big games down the stretch in the Cardinals' torrid pennant fight with the Brooklyn Dodgers. He was the starter in Game 4 of the World Series against the American League champion Boston Red Sox. Supported by a World Series record 20 base hits, including four by batterymate Joe Garagiola, he beat Boston 12-3 to even the series at 2-2. This would be Munger's only appearance in the series as the Cardinals won the title, four games to three.

Munger won a career high 16 games in 1947, including six shutouts, and went 15-8 in 1949. He win only eleven more times in the next three seasons, however, and at age 33, in 1952, he was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Bill Werle. The Pirates sent him to the Hollywood Stars of the Pacific Coast Leaguefor three years before returning him to Pittsburgh for one last season in 1956. A three-time major league All-Star, the 37-year-old veteran went 3-4 and pitched over 100 innings in 1956, ending his major league career with a very respectable 77-56 won/loss record and a 3.83 ERA.

Munger had been in pro baseball from 1937 to 1958 and had spent 12 seasons in the minors where he rung up 152 wins against 118 losses with a 2.69 ERA. After baseball, Munger returned to his native Houston, TX and worked as a salesman for a brewery before becoming an inspector for the Department of Health. Munger died at home on July 23, 1996.

Notable Achievements

• 3-time NL All-Star (1944, 1947 & 1949)
• 15 Wins Seasons: 2 (1947 & 1949)
• 200 Innings Pitched Seasons: 1 (1947)
• Won two World Series with the St. Louis Cardinals (1944 & 1946; he did not play in the 1944 World Series)

Sources

Baseball Players of the 1950s

Related Sites

• Red Munger at the SABR Bio Project
• BR Minors page