|
The
Story of the 1926 Championship Season
| On the first day of
Spring Training, held in San Antonio, manager Rogers Hornsby
called a team meeting. "I'll never forget it," Les
Bell said. "He got us all together and in that blunt
way of his said, 'If there's anybody in this room who doesn't
think we're going to win the pennant, go upstairs and get your
money and go home, because we don't want you around here.' "
Despite Hornsby's confidence and
resolve, the Card's started slowly. By early June, they had
struggled to fifth place. Then the club engineered a couple
of deals that were going to make a difference. On June 14,
the eve of the trading deadline, St. Louis obtained outfielder
Billy Southworth from the Giants in exchange for outfielder Heinie
Mueller. The 33-year-old Southworth, a good journeyman
player, coughed up a .320 batting average as he took over right
field, giving the club, along with Hafey in left and Douthit in
center, an excellent outfield.
Eight days later, the club made
another transaction, one that would lead to one of baseball's
pinnacle moments that October. For the waiver price, the
Cardinals acquired Grover Cleveland Alexander from the Cubs.
Successor to Christy Mathewson as the league's premier pitcher,
the now 39-year-old Alex had been fighting a sad and losing battle
with epilepsy and alcoholism. When the no-nonsense Joe
McCarthy took over the Chicago Cubs as manager that spring, he
quickly lost patience with the genial but often erratic and
unpredictable Alexander. "Alex could still pitch,"
McCarthy said, "but he insisted on going by his own rules and
that wasn't very good for the rest of the team. So I had to
let him go."
With Alexander contributing nine
victories (including a 4-hit shutout of his former team in his
Cardinal debut on June 27), right-hander Flint Rhem fastballing himself to a 20-7
record, and Sherdel and Haines pitching winning ball, the
Cardinals began moving up through the standings, battling doggedly
with Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, and Chicago. The Cards whipped
the Pirates in a double-header on August 31 and went into
September in first place, faced with an unfortunate schedule
oddity - their entire September schedule was on the road
(and you thought we had scheduling problems in the modern era).
For two weeks the Cardinals bobbed
in and out of first place, then went into Philadelphia for a
six-game series with the last-place Phillies. "It was
like an oasis to us," Les Bell remembered. "We'd
just had some tough series in Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, and Boston,
and we just plowed through the Phillies."
Hornsby's boys took five out of six
from the Phillies, edged into first place, and this time stayed
there. On September 24, St. Louis clinched the pennant at
the Polo Grounds when they defeated the Giants, 6-4. The
final margin was two games over the Reds. Their 89 wins were
the lowest for a National League pennant winner, up to that point.
For the city of St. Louis, it was
the first championship since Chris Von Der Ahe's Browns had
finished on top in the old American Association in 1888.
Accordingly, the city broke into a celebration which newspapers
compared to the municipal binge which marked the Armistice of
November 11, 1918.
That spring, a gravely ill Mary
Dallas had told son Rogers Hornsby: "Your team is going
to win the pennant this year. I'll live until you win
it." On the night the Cardinals secured their spot in
the World Series, Hornsby returned to the Almanac Hotel in New
York to learn that his mother had died that afternoon. She
had left him a message: "Tell Rogers that after he wins
the pennant to go on and win the World Series. I know he'll
be able to do it." It meant beating Babe Ruth, Lou
Gehrig, and all of the New York Yankees.
An early-season collision at second
base had dislodged several vertebrae in Hornsby's back and
interfered with his swing all summer, holding the skipper to an
uncharacteristic .317 batting average. The team's top hitter
was Bell (.325), followed by Hornsby, Southworth (.317 as a
Cardinal), Douthit (.308), outfielder Ray Blades (.305), and
O'Farrell (.293). Bottomley hit .299 and led the league with
120 RBI's and 40 doubles. Hafey, playing just half the
season, batted .271. The team's 90 homeruns led the league.
Rhem's 20 wins tied him for the
league lead; no other Cardinal pitcher ranked high in any
significant category. The club received a financial break
when Phil Ball, expecting his Browns to contend for the pennant,
expanded Sportsman's Park's seating capacity from 18,000 to
34,000. The benefit was reaped by Breadon, whose Redbirds
drew a new team record 668,428, while the Browns, who disappeared
into seventh place, pulled under 300,000.
Awaiting the Cardinals in the World
Series were the New York Yankees, the team of Babe Ruth, Lou
Gehrig (completing his second full season), Earle Combs, Bob
Meusel, and rookie Tony Lazzeri - one of the most lethal lineups
ever banded together. New York also had a well-stocked
pitching staff in Waite Hoyt, Urban Shocker, Bob Shawkey, and
left-handers Herb Pennock and Dutch Ruether. And given the
often ironic byways of baseball, managing the Yankees was former
Cardinal skipper Miller Huggins, having just won his fourth
pennant is six years. |
Back
to Top
1926
Regular Season Highlights
| Manager: |
Rogers Hornsby |
| Coaches: |
Bill Killefer, Otto
Williams |
|
Road to the Pennant |
| Date |
Won |
Lost |
Pct. |
Position |
| May 1 |
8 |
9 |
.471 |
5 of 8 |
| May 15 |
13 |
17 |
.433 |
6 of 8 |
| June 1 |
23 |
25 |
.479 |
5 of 8 |
| June 15 |
30 |
26 |
.536 |
3 of 8 |
| July 1 |
39 |
31 |
.557 |
2 of 8 |
| July 15 |
46 |
39 |
.541 |
3 of 8 |
| August 1 |
53 |
47 |
.530 |
3 of 8 |
| August 15 |
62 |
50 |
.554 |
2 of 8 |
| September 1 |
76 |
54 |
.585 |
1 of 8 |
| September
15 |
82 |
60 |
.577 |
2 of 8 |
| Final |
89 |
65 |
.578 |
1 of 8 |
|
|
Typical Lineup |
| 1. |
Douthit, CF |
| 2. |
Southworth, RF |
| 3. |
Hornsby, 2B |
| 4. |
Bottomley, 1B |
| 5. |
Bell, 3B |
| 6. |
Hafey, LF |
| 7. |
Thevenow, SS |
| 8. |
O'Farrell, C |
| 9. |
pitcher |
Regular Season Offensive Performances
|
Pos. |
Name |
AVG |
OBP |
SLG |
HR |
RBI |
Runs |
SB |
Notables |
|
1B |
Bottomley |
.299 |
.364 |
.506 |
19 |
120 |
98 |
4 |
Led
NL with 40 doubles & in RBI |
|
2B |
Hornsby |
.317 |
.388 |
.463 |
11 |
93 |
96 |
3 |
|
|
SS |
Thevenow |
.256 |
.291 |
.311 |
2 |
63 |
64 |
8 |
|
|
3B |
Bell |
.325 |
.383 |
.518 |
17 |
100 |
85 |
9 |
|
|
LF |
Hafey |
.271 |
.311 |
.427 |
4 |
38 |
30 |
2 |
Only
225 AB’s |
|
CF |
Douthit |
.308 |
.375 |
.377 |
3 |
52 |
96 |
23 |
|
|
RF |
Southworth |
.317 |
.364 |
.488 |
11 |
69 |
76 |
13 |
Began
year w/NY-N (.328 overall) |
|
OF |
Blades |
.305 |
.409 |
.462 |
8 |
43 |
81 |
6 |
|
|
C |
O’Farrell |
.293 |
.371 |
.433 |
7 |
68 |
63 |
1 |
|
|
Team |
|
.286 |
.348 |
.415 |
90 |
|
817 |
83 |
|
Regular Season Pitching
Performances
|
Pos. |
Name |
W-L |
Pct. |
G |
GS |
CG |
SHO |
ERA |
Notables |
|
SP |
Rhem |
20-7 |
.741 |
34 |
34 |
20 |
1 |
3.21 |
20 Wins led NL |
|
SP |
Sherdel |
16-12 |
.571 |
34 |
29 |
17 |
3 |
3.49 |
|
|
SP |
Haines |
13-4 |
.765 |
33 |
21 |
14 |
3 |
3.25 |
|
|
SP |
Keen |
10-9 |
.526 |
26 |
21 |
12 |
1 |
4.56 |
|
|
SP |
Reinhart |
10-5 |
.667 |
27 |
11 |
9 |
0 |
4.22 |
|
|
SP |
Alexander |
9-7 |
.563 |
23 |
16 |
11 |
2 |
2.92 |
Partial season |
|
RP |
Johnson |
0-3 |
.000 |
19 |
6 |
1 |
0 |
4.22 |
|
|
Team |
|
89-65 |
.578 |
154 |
|
90 |
10 |
3.67 |
|
Team
Accomplishments
| League Leaders: |
Runs (817), Hits (1541),
HR (90), BB (478), Most SO (518), SLG (.415) |
| League Leaders: |
CG (90), H/G (9.2), OAVG
(.269) |
Individual Accomplishments
| Runs |
Hits |
Doubles |
Home
Runs |
| 3rd -
Southworth (99) |
4th - Bell
(189) |
1st -
Bottomley (40) |
2nd
- Bottomley (19)
4th
- Bell (17)
5th
- Southworth (16) |
|
Total Bases |
RBI |
Runs Produced |
Bases on Balls |
| 1st -
Bottomley (305) |
1st
- Bottomley (120)
3rd
- Bell (100)
4th
- Southworth (99) |
1st
- Bottomley (199)
4th
- Southworth (182)
5th
- Hornsby (178) |
5th - Blades
(62) |
|
Batting Average |
On Base Pct. |
Wins |
Win Pct. |
| 4th - Bell
(.325) |
2nd - Blades
(.409) |
1st - Rhem
(20) |
2nd - Rhem
(.741) |
| Complete
Games |
Hits
per Game |
BB
per Game |
Opp.
Batting Avg. |
| 4th - Rhem
(20) |
3rd - Rhem
(8.41) |
2nd -
Alexander (1.39) |
2nd
- Alexander (.250)
2nd
- Rhem (.250) |
|
Opp. On Base
Pct. |
| 1st -
Alexander (.275) |
|
|
Typical Lineup |
|
1. |
Combs, CF |
|
2. |
Keonig, SS |
|
3. |
Ruth, RF |
|
4. |
Meusel, LF |
|
5. |
Gehrig, 1B |
|
6. |
Lazzeri, 2B |
|
7. |
Dugan, 3B |
|
8. |
Severeid, C |
|
9. |
pitcher |
1926
Murderer's Row The Yankees of 1926 welcomed
back Babe Ruth, who had missed most of the 1925 season due to health
problems and suspension. They proceeded to lead the league in
slugging and runs scored, just like the Cardinals. Back
to Top Game
Summaries [Scorecards of
each game are available by clicking NYY or STL in the line scores]
October 2 at New York
(attendance: 61,658) Cardinals
Starter: Willie Sherdel (LHP), 16-12 Yankees
Starter: Herb Pennock (LHP), 23-11
BOX SCORE
| STL |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
1 |
3 |
1 |
| NYY |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
X |
|
2 |
6 |
0 |
Homeruns:
none WP:
Pennock (1-0) LP:
Sherdel (0-1) Yankees
lead Series 1-0 Highlights: Pennock
pitched a 3-hitter in the series opener. After allowing a single run
in the first, he completely shut down the Cards until allowing a hit in
the ninth. The Cardinals' Sherdel
also pitched quite effectively, except for three walks in the first
inning, and a hit, sacrifice, hit sandwich in the sixth that brought in
enough runs to beat him.
October 3 at New York
(attendance: 63,600) Cardinals
Starter: Grover Cleveland Alexander (RHP), 9-7 Yankees
Starter: Urban Shocker (RHP), 19-11
BOX SCORE
| STL |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
1 |
|
6 |
12 |
1 |
| NYY |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
2 |
4 |
0 |
Homeruns:
Southworth - St. Louis, Thevenow - St. Louis WP:
Alexander (1-0) LP:
Shocker (0-1) Series
tied 1-1 Highlights:
After falling behind
2-0 in the second inning, Alex settled down and began displaying the form
that had earned him his own special pew in the history of pitching.
From the third inning on, he completely dominated
the Yankees, striking out a total of 10 and allowing only one single after
the 2-run second. Snapping off his sharp-breaking curves with immaculate
precision, he retired the last 21 batters he faced. With the score
tied in the 7th, Southworth hit a three-run homer. Shortstop Tommy Thevenow
also homered.
October 5 at Saint Louis
(attendance: 37,708) Yankees
Starter: "Dutch" Ruether (LHP),
14-9 Cardinals
Starter: Jesse Haines (RHP), 13-4
BOX SCORE
| NYY |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
0 |
5 |
1 |
| STL |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
4 |
8 |
0 |
Homeruns:
Haines - St. Louis WP:
Haines (1-0) LP:
Ruether (0-1) St.
Louis leads Series 2-1 Highlights:
For their first home
game since August, this was the Cardinals' triumphant homecoming, and in
honor of their hero's return the city again turned on the emotional
faucets. The front page of the St. Louis Globe-Democrat included
these resounding headlines: "Tumultuous Thousands Welcome
Cardinals," and "Greatest Demonstration in City's Baseball
History as Frenzied Multitudes Lionize Baseball Heroes Amid Bedlam of
Noise and Joyous Enthusiasm." The outpouring occurred during an
open-car ticker-tape parade. "Remember now," Les Bell
said, "this was right in the middle of things. I asked Sherdel
what would happen if we son the Series." " 'The whole city
is going to jump into the Mississippi,' he said."
Clutch performances
don't get much bigger than Jesse Haines' Game 3 performance. He
pitched a gem of a game, throwing a 5-hit shutout. But that wasn't
enough. He added a 2-run homerun during the 3-run fourth inning.
October 6 at Saint Louis
(attendance: 38,825) Yankees
Starter: Waite Hoyt (RHP), 16-12 Cardinals
Starter: Flint Rhem (RHP), 20-7
BOX SCORE
| NYY |
1 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
4 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
10 |
14 |
1 |
| STL |
1 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
|
5 |
14 |
0 |
Homeruns:
Ruth (3) - New York WP:
Hoyt (1-0) LP:
Reinhart (0-1) Series
tied 2-2 Highlights:
New York's big bats
finally awoke in Game 4. Five Yankees doubled, and Babe Ruth hit
three homeruns (still a World Series
record), in a 10-run shellacking of five different Cardinal
pitchers. The Cards also recorded 14 hits, all off Hoyt, but 12 were
singles so only five runs scored.
October 7 at Saint Louis
(attendance: 39,552) Yankees
Starter: Herb Pennock (LHP), 23-11 Cardinals
Starter: Willie Sherdel (LHP), 16-12
BOX SCORE
| NYY |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
9 |
1 |
| STL |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
7 |
1 |
Homeruns:
none WP:
Pennock (2-0) LP:
Sherdel (0-2) New
York leads Series 3-2 Highlights:
Game 5 was an amazing
pitcher's duel, a re-match of Game 1. Both pitchers had given up two
runs in nine innings. But in the top of the tenth inning, rookie
Tony Lazzeri's sacrifice fly gave New York a 3-2 lead. Pennock
successfully pitched the tenth inning to preserve the victory.
October 9 at New York
(attendance: 48,615) Cardinals
Starter: Grover Cleveland Alexander (RHP), 9-7 Yankees
Starter: Bob Shawkey (RHP), 8-7
BOX SCORE
| STL |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
5 |
0 |
1 |
|
10 |
13 |
2 |
| NYY |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
2 |
8 |
1 |
Homeruns:
Bell - St. Louis WP:
Alexander (2-0) LP:
Shawkey (0-1) Series
tied 3-3 Highlights:
The Cards called on
their seasoned veteran Alexander again, and boy did he deliver. He
held the Yanks to 2 run, while Les Bell drove in four runs with a
first-inning single, and a seventh-inning homerun.
October 10 at New York
(attendance: 38,093) Cardinals
Starter: Jesse Haines (RHP), 13-4 Yankees
Starter: Waite Hoyt (RHP), 16-12
BOX SCORE
| STL |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
3 |
8 |
0 |
| NYY |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
2 |
8 |
3 |
Homeruns:
Ruth - New York WP:
Haines (2-0) LP:
Hoyt (1-1) St.
Louis wins the Series 4-3 Highlights:
The 40-year-old Alexander
had pitched nine innings the day before; nevertheless, with the team
facing the season's critical moment, not even Rogers Hornsby could resist
the allure of Grover Cleveland Alexander. There were younger and
stronger pitchers available to him, but the skipper wanted Alex.
The moment has come
down to us wreathed in mists of legend: Alexander had been drinking
the night before and been sleeping in the bullpen when the call came;
Hornsby walked out to short left field to meet him, to see if the old
boy's eyes were clear; Alexander was hung over. Bell denied that the
legend is true, instead saying "...Alex wasn't hung over - he stood
there and told us exactly how he was going to pitch Lazzeri and his mind
was sharp as a tack."
The plan was to tempt
Lazzeri with an inside fastball, which Tony would pull foul; and then Alex
would throw un-hittable curves low and away. And this is exactly
what happened. Lazzeri pulled the fastball foul, then went down
swinging on two sharp, back-breaking curveballs, just as Alexander the
craftsman supreme had planned. The tense confrontation had more than
drama in it, it also had romance and symbolism: the hard-hitting
Lazzeri was a rookie - one writer described Tony as "pawing nervously
at the dirt with his toe" and then "taking muscular practice
swings" as he waited for Alexander to complete a long, deliberately
slow walk from the bullpen to the mound. For Alexander, battered by
alcoholism and epilepsy, his spirit shattered and tormented by World War
cannon fire, it was the theft of a moment from time just as his career had
begun to slide over the horizon.
But after the crucial
strikeout, Alex still continued on. He got through the 8th
unblemished, then retired the first two batters in the ninth, but then
came to Ruth, who in a one-run game was pure menace. Pitching
carefully to Ruth, Alex walked him. With Alex pitching to Meusel,
Ruth, in what has been described as "the only mistake he ever made on
a baseball diamond," inexplicably tried to steal second base.
O'Farrell's on-the-money peg to Hornsby shot down the great man and the
Cardinals were world Champions!
St. Louis' euphoria
lasted for just two months; to be precise, until December 20. That
was the day Roger Hornsby was traded to the New York Giants.
Back
to Top Series
Composite Box Score
|
STL
(N)
|
|
PLAYER-
POS
|
AVG
|
G
|
AB
|
R
|
H
|
2B
|
3B
|
HR
|
RB
|
BB
|
SO
|
SB
|
|
Pete Alexander, p
|
.000
|
3
|
7
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
0
|
|
Hi Bell, p
|
.000
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
Les Bell, 3b
|
.259
|
7
|
27
|
4
|
7
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
6
|
2
|
5
|
0
|
|
Jim Bottomley, 1b
|
.345
|
7
|
29
|
4
|
10
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
5
|
1
|
2
|
0
|
|
Taylor Douthit, of
|
.267
|
4
|
15
|
3
|
4
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
3
|
2
|
0
|
|
Jake Flowers, ph
|
.000
|
3
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
|
Chick Hafey, of
|
.185
|
7
|
27
|
2
|
5
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
7
|
0
|
|
Jesse Haines, p
|
.600
|
3
|
5
|
1
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
2
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
|
Bill Hallahan, p
|
.000
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
Wattie Holm, of-4
|
.125
|
5
|
16
|
1
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
2
|
0
|
|
Rogers Hornsby, 2b
|
.250
|
7
|
28
|
2
|
7
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
4
|
2
|
2
|
1
|
|
Vic Keen, p
|
.000
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
Bob O'Farrell, c
|
.304
|
7
|
23
|
2
|
7
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
2
|
2
|
0
|
|
Art Reinhart, p
|
.000
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
Flint Rhem, p
|
.000
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
|
Bill Sherdel, p
|
.000
|
2
|
5
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
0
|
|
Billy Southworth, of
|
.345
|
7
|
29
|
6
|
10
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
4
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
|
Tommy Thevenow, ss
|
.417
|
7
|
24
|
5
|
10
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
4
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
|
Specs Toporcer, ph
|
.000
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
TOTAL
|
.272
|
-
|
239
|
31
|
65
|
12
|
1
|
4
|
30
|
11
|
30
|
2
|
|
