In the fall of 1926, the St. Louis Cardinals were still something of an outsider in American baseball.
The Yankees were not.
New York had Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and a lineup that was already acquiring the reputation that would make the Yankees the defining franchise of the American League. The Cardinals, meanwhile, had never appeared in a World Series. In fact, when the 1926 season began, St. Louis was not exactly the sort of baseball club that commanded the national imagination.
The Cardinals finished the regular season with an 89-65 record, good enough to win the National League pennant. Their manager was also their second baseman, Rogers Hornsby, one of the greatest hitters of his generation and a demanding figure who managed with the same intensity with which he played. St. Louis scored 817 runs during the season and led the National League in home runs with 90. More importantly, the Cardinals had developed into a team that could compete with the American League powerhouse waiting for them in October.
The Cardinals had been playing major league baseball in St. Louis for decades, but the franchise had not yet established the national identity that would eventually make the Cardinals one of baseball’s most recognizable institutions. The 1926 club changed that.
Hornsby was at the center of it. He had won the National League batting title in 1925 while hitting an extraordinary .403. His batting average fell to .317 in 1926, but his influence on the team went well beyond his performance at the plate. St. Louis had a number of productive players around him. Les Bell hit .325 and drove in 100 runs. Jim Bottomley drove in 120 runs, leading the National League. Jesse Haines provided a dependable presence on the mound, while Flint Rhem won 20 games.
But one of the most important pieces of the championship team had not even begun the season in St. Louis.
Grover Cleveland Alexander had been one of baseball’s greatest pitchers. By 1926, however, he was 39 years old and his best years appeared to be behind him. The Chicago Cubs placed him on waivers earlier in the season. The Cardinals acquired him, in part because their organization believed the veteran might still have something left. He did.
The opening game was played at Yankee Stadium on October 2. The Yankees won 2-1 behind Herb Pennock, who pitched a complete game and limited St. Louis to three hits. The Cardinals had lost the opener, but they were not overwhelmed.
Then Alexander took the mound. In Game 2, the veteran right-hander pitched a complete game as St. Louis defeated New York 6-2. Billy Southworth hit a three-run home run, while Alexander kept the Yankees under control for nine innings. The Cardinals had their first World Series victory.
The series moved to St. Louis, where Jesse Haines delivered another complete-game performance. Haines also helped himself offensively with a home run as the Cardinals defeated the Yankees 4-0 in Game 3.
New York answered in Game 4. Ruth hit three home runs as the Yankees won 10-5. The performance reminded everyone why New York had been so difficult to beat. The Yankees had the ability to turn a game into a spectacle, and Ruth was still the central attraction.
Game 5 became another New York victory. Pennock again went the distance, and the Yankees eventually won 3-2 in ten innings. The Cardinals were now one defeat away from losing their first World Series. They responded by sending Alexander back to the mound.
Game 6 On October 9, Alexander faced the Yankees again. He was magnificent. The Cardinals’ offense gave him plenty of support, scoring ten runs on thirteen hits. Alexander allowed only two runs and completed the game. St. Louis won 10-2.
The World Series was tied at three games apiece.
October 10, 1926, the seventh game was played under difficult conditions. The Cardinals led 3-2 in the seventh inning when Yankees runners reached base and the pressure on St. Louis began to build.
Jesse Haines, the Cardinals’ starter, was dealing with a blister on his pitching hand. Hornsby turned to Alexander. This decision was extraordinary because Alexander had pitched the entire game the previous day.
He was 39 years old. He was also the pitcher who had already won Games 2 and 6. Now he was being asked to protect a one-run lead against the Yankees.
With the bases loaded and two outs, Tony Lazzeri came to the plate. Lazzeri hit a ball deep toward left field that came dangerously close to becoming a grand slam. Instead, it drifted foul. Alexander then struck Lazzeri out.
The Cardinals survived. Alexander remained in the game. He retired the Yankees in the eighth inning. In the ninth, he recorded the first two outs. Then Babe Ruth walked.
That detail is sometimes lost in the retelling because the ending has become almost mythological. The story is often remembered as Alexander simply striking out the final Yankees hitter. That is not what happened. Ruth reached first base with two outs. Bob Meusel came t o the plate. Ruth attempted to steal second. He was thrown out. The game was over.
The Cardinals had won the World Series.
It is tempting to look back at the 1926 World Series simply as an upset of the Yankees. That misses something important. The Cardinals were becoming a different kind of organization. Branch Rickey had been developing a system that emphasized finding and developing players, and the Cardinals had established a network of minor league affiliations that would become increasingly important to the franchise.
By 1926, the organization was beginning to demonstrate that it could develop talent rather than simply acquire established stars. (MLB.com)
The championship therefore represented more than a single October.
It is tempting to look back at the 1926 World Series simply as an upset of the Yankees. That misses something important. The Cardinals were becoming a different kind of organization.
The organization was beginning to demonstrate that it could develop talent rather than simply acquire established stars. The championship therefore represented more than a single October.It marked the beginning of the Cardinals’ emergence as a national baseball institution.
References
https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/STL/1926.shtml
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1926_St._Louis_Cardinals_season
https://cardinalsuniformsandlogos.com/database/1926cardinals/
https://historyofcardinals.com/1926-world-champions/
https://www.baseballhistorycomesalive.com/spotlight-0n-the-world-series-cardinals-vs-yankees-1926/
https://www.baseball-reference.com/postseason/1926_WS.shtml
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1926_World_Series
https://baseballhall.org/discover/inside-pitch/alexander-1926-world-series
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