1926 WORLD SERIES


The '1926 World Series' featured the St. Louis Cardinals against the New York Yankees. The best-of-seven series, which took place at Yankee Stadium and Sportsman's Park, resulted in the Cardinals defeating the Yankees 4 games to 3.
The Cardinals were the National League pennant-winners, after finishing two games ahead of the Cincinnati Reds, with a 89-65 record. The Yankees had the best record in the American League with 91 wins and 63 losses, finishing three games ahead of the Cleveland Indians.[3] This was the first World Series appearance for the Cardinals, and it resulted the first of ten World Series championships in Cardinals team history (as of 2006), and the first of five clashes these two teams would experience during the next 38 years. The Babe Ruth-led Yankees were making their fourth World Series appearance in six years, including winning the 1923 World Series.[4] The Yankees would rebound from their 1926 World Series loss to win the title in 1927 and again in 1928.[5]

Contents
Summary
Matchups
Game 1
Game 2
Game 3
Game 4
Game 5
Game 6
Game 7
Composite line score
Notes
External links

Summary


'NL St. Louis Cardinals (4) vs. AL New York Yankees (3)'
GameScoreDateLocationAttendance
1 Cardinals – 1, 'Yankees' – 2 October 2Yankee Stadium 61,658[6]
2 'Cardinals' – 6, Yankees – 2 October 3Yankee Stadium 63,600[7]
3 Yankees – 0, 'Cardinals' – 4 October 5Sportsman's Park 37,708[8]
4 'Yankees' – 10, Cardinals – 5 October 6Sportsman's Park 38,825[9]
5 'Yankees' – 3, Cardinals – 2 (10 innings)October 7Sportsman's Park 39,552[10]
6 'Cardinals' – 10, Yankees – 2 October 9Yankee Stadium 48,615[11]
7 'Cardinals' – 3, Yankees – 2 October 10Yankee Stadium 38,093[12]

Matchups


Game 1

October 2, 1926 at Yankee Stadium in New York, New York
Team123456789RHE
St Louis (N)100000000'1''3''1'
'New York (A)'10000100x'2''6''0'
'W': Herb Pennock (1-0)   'L': Bill Sherdel (0-1)

61,658 fans packed Yankee Stadium on October 2 to watch the inaugural game of the 1926 World Series. The thousands of fans who could not get tickets for the game rushed downtown to City Hall to watch the game's progress being charted on two mammoth-sized scoreboards. Prior to the start of the game, United States Senator Robert F. Wagner threw out the ceremonial first pitch, and seated himself in the box seat next to the elegantly-dressed New York City mayor Jimmy Walker. Baseball Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis and former heavyweight champion of the world Jack Dempsey were also present at the game.[13] The St. Louis Cardinals would entrust the tough left-handed pitcher Bill Sherdel as the starting pitcher for the first game of the series. Sherdel had sixteen wins and twelve losses in nearly 235 innings of pitching in the regular season.[14] The Yankees were behind Herb Pennock, the team's only twenty-game winner for the season. The future Hall-of-Fame pitcher, nicknamed the ''The Knight Of Kennett Square'', had a 3.62 earned run average in over 266 innings of work,[15] and had finished third in the American League Most Valuable Player Award voting, behind winner George Burns and Johnny Mostil.[16]
The Cardinals came up to bat in the top of the first inning. Leadoff hitter Taylor Douthit knocked a double into left field that got by Babe Ruth.[17] Billy Southworth moved him to third base with a slow grounder to Yankees' second baseman Tony Lazzeri. Rogers Hornsby came up next and hit a grounder right back to Pennock, who threw it to first baseman Lou Gehrig. Cardinals' first baseman "Sunny Jim" Bottomley came up next, and knocked in Douthit with a bloop single. In the bottom half of the inning, Earle Combs, Babe Ruth and Bob Meusel had loaded up the bases after being walked by Sherdel. With one out, Lou Gehrig stepped to the plate and grounded the ball to the shortstop Tommy Thevenow, who flipped the ball to Hornsby. Hornsby threw to first base, but Gehrig beat the throw, and picked up his first World Series RBI after Combs scored. In the bottom of the third inning, Babe Ruth singled. On a Bob Meusel bunt, Ruth slid into second base, and split his pants. Radio announcer Graham McNamee exclaimed, "Babe is the color of a red brick house".[18] Doc Woods, the team's trainer, sowed up Ruth's pants and walked off the field, much to the hilarity of the audience.
The score remained tied at 1-1 until the sixth inning, just as rain began to fall. Ruth lined a single past third baseman Les Bell. Meusel laid down a sacrifice bunt, advancing Ruth to second base, and Gehrig followed with a single, knocking home the go-ahead run. Lazzeri lined a shot into left field, and Gehrig dove into third base headfirst, but was tagged out by Bell. Lazzeri advanced to second base on the throw. Les Bell committed an error on the next play, and with runners at first and third on the next player, Hank Severeid grounded to Thevenow, who flipped the ball to Hornsby. Hornsby then made a force play to end the inning. Pennock held the Cardinals hitless until Jim Bottomley singled in the ninth inning. However, the Cards could not advance Bottomley, and the game ended with 2-1 Yankees win in Game One. Gehrig was the Yankees' offensive star, by knocking in both of the Yankees' runs. Pennock pitched a beautiful complete game three-hitter, with four strikeouts against the Cardinals. Pennock had also held the Cardinals to hits in only two of the nine innings. Despite the loss, Cardinals' pitcher Bill Sherdel fared well in seven innings of work, giving up two runs and six hits, while striking out one batter.[19]
Game 2

October 3, 1926 at Yankee Stadium in New York, New York
Team123456789RHE
'St Louis (N)'002000301'6''12''1'
New York (A)020000000'2''4''0'
'W': Grover Alexander (1-0)   'L': Urban Shocker (0-1)
'HR': 'STL' – Billy Southworth (1), Tommy Thevenow (1)

The second game of the series was played the next day, October 3, at Yankee Stadium in front of a crowd of 63,600.[20] Urban Shocker was the starting pitcher for the Yankees in Game Two. With nineteen wins and eleven losses, Shocker had the second-best pitching record on the team, behind Game One starter, southpaw Herb Pennock. Shocker had a 3.38 earned run average in 258 innings, along with fifty-nine strikeouts in the 1926 season.[21] The Cardinals' Game Two starter was the thirty-nine year old, Grover Cleveland Alexander, who was named "Old Pete".[22] He showed signs of aging that year, after posting numbers that were considerably lower than the pitching season statistics from his prime in the late-1910s with the Philadelphia Phillies and Chicago Cubs. Alexander had pitched a 12-10 record in two hundred innings, while posting a 3.05 ERA and forty-eight strikeouts, compared to the nearly 250 strikeouts he had in 1915 with the Phillies.[23]
Game Two started off with the Cardinals' top of the order facing Shocker in the first inning. After giving up a double to the third hitter in the lineup, Rogers Hornsby, Shocker got an easy groundout from Jim Bottomley to end the potential run-scoring threat. In the Yankees' half of the inning, Mark Koenig ground into a double play and Babe Ruth followed by going down on strikes. The Cardinals threatened again in the second inning, after back-to-back singles by catcher Bob O'Farrell and Tommy Thevenow. However, "Old Pete" Alexander came up to the plate and popped up to Koenig to end the inning. The Yankees drew the first blood in the bottom of the second inning. Bob Meusel lined a single and Lou Gehrig followed by hitting a grounder to Alexander, which advanced Meusel to second base. Tony Lazzeri came to the plate and stroked a single to left field that would score Meusel from second. Joe Dugan followed with a single of his own, moving Lazzeri to third base. On the following play, Yankees' catcher Hal Severeid struck out, and Lazzeri was then caught trying to steal home plate. Alexander made an error in his throw to catcher Bob O'Farrell, and Lazzeri was able to squeeze by O'Farrell to slide into home plate for the second Yankees run of the inning. O'Farrell then threw the ball to Tommy Thevenow, but the tag was late and Dugan was called safe at second base. The inning ended when Shocker became Alexander's second strikeout victim of the game.
The Cardinals came back in the third inning. Leadoff hitter Taylor Douthit dropped an infield single to Mark Koenig at shortstop, and Billy Southworth followed with a single to left field that advanced Douthit to second base. Rogers Hornsby laid down a sacrifice bunt to the pitcher Urban Shocker, moving each runner up a base. Jim Bottomley hit a single into left field, scoring both Douthit and Southworth. The next two batters, Les Bell and Chick Hafey hit into easy outs to conclude the inning. Afterwards, both pitchers settled down until the top of the seventh inning. Bob O'Farrell lined a double, and Tommy Thevenow followed with a single into left field. Pitcher Alexander popped up to Tony Lazzeri and Taylor Douthit followed with a fly ball to left field. The second hitter in the lineup, Billy Southworth, then knocked a three-run home run, giving the Cardinals a 5-2 edge on the Yankees.[24] Hornsby grounded out to the shortstop Koening to end the inning. Gehrig, Lazzeri and Dugan all grounded out in the bottom of the seventh inning. In the top of the eighth inning, Jim Bottomley launched a single into right field. Yankees' manager Miller Huggins came out of the dugout and took Shocker out of the game, and called in Bob Shawkey from the bullpen to replace him. Shawkey struck out the first two batters he faced, and Bottomley was tagged out by Mark Koenig from a throw from catcher Hal Severeid, after attempting to steal second base. The Yankees could not produce any offense in their half of the inning.
Sad Sam Jones, who would pitch twenty-two seasons in the American League,[25] replaced Dutch Ruether (who had replaced Shawkey as a pinch-hitter in the eighth inning) as the pitcher in the ninth inning of the game. Jones gave up an inside-the-park home run to Tommy Thevenow. Thevenow had only two home runs in his career, and both of them were inside-the-park home runs in the 1926 regular season.[26][27] With the score at 6-2, Jones then walked Taylor Douthit and Rogers Hornsby, and gave up a single to Billy Southworth. With the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, Jim Bottomley hit a fly ball to center fielder Earle Combs. The Yankees could do nothing more in the bottom of the ninth inning, and lost the game to the Cardinals by a final score of six to two.[28] Just as Herb Pennock had done against the Cardinals in Game One, Alexander limited the Yankees to hits in only two of the nine innings, and did not allow a single Yankee hit after the third inning. "Old Pete" pitched a complete game with a series-high ten strikeouts, while allowing just four hits, one earned run and one walk. Meanwhile, the Yankees' starter Urban Shocker allowed ten hits and five earned runs, including a home run, in seven innings of work. Bob Shawkey had a perfect inning with two strikeouts, and Sam Jones gave up two hits, including the inside-the-park home run to Tommy Thevenow, and allowed two walks in the ninth inning.
Game 3

October 5, 1926 at Sportsman's Park III in St Louis, Missouri
Team123456789RHE
New York (A)000000000'0''5''1'
'St Louis (N)'00031000x'4''8''0'
'W': Jesse Haines (1-0)  'L': Dutch Ruether (0-1)
'HR': 'STL' – Jesse Haines (1)

After Game Two ended on October 3, the Yankees and Cardinals boarded trains for their trip to St. Louis, Missouri. The Republican mayor of St. Louis, Victor J. Miller, ordered that the workday end by three the next afternoon so that the city could fittingly welcome the Cardinals at Union Station.[29] Although the Cardinals had not won the championship just yet, the team's players were treated like champions by fans and citizens, alike. Just outside the station, Mayor Miller stood at a podium and presented club manager and player Rogers Hornsby with a brand new Lincoln sedan priced at four thousand dollars and paid for by the city's top businessmen. Each member of the Cardinals' team received a new hat, a new pair of shoes, and an engraved white-gold watch valued at a manufacturer's price of one hundred dollars. As the Cardinals were receiving their star treatment from St. Louisans, Cardinals' fans were lining up outside Sportsman's Park to buy tickets to Game Three for a price of $3.30.[30] As one man said, "I ain't got no twenty-five dollars to pay a scalper for a reserved seat."[31]
By the morning of October 5, 1926, the sky was full of gray clouds, and it was chilly outside. However, the clouds cleared out by the time the game got underway. 37,708 people packed Sportsman's Park for the third game of the series. On the mound for the Cardinals was future Baseball Hall-of-Famer right-handed knuckleball pitcher Jesse Haines, a starter who posted a 13-4 record and 3.25 ERA in a little bit over 180 innings of work.[32] Starting for the Yankees was southpaw Dutch Ruether who had fourteen wins, nine losses and a 4.60 ERA, the second-worst on the Yankees pitching staff that season.[33] Both teams were being shut down by the respective opposing pitchers until the fourth inning.
After a thirty-minute rain delay in the top half of the fourth inning, the Cardinals came to bat. Les Bell, a .325 hitter with seventeen home runs on the season, led the Cardinals with a single to center field. Chick Hafey dropped a sacrifice bunt straight to Ruether, who then threw it to second baseman Tony Lazzeri. Lazzeri tagged Les Bell, but Bell beat the throw and was called safe at second base. Bob O'Farrell followed by drawing a walk, and Tommy Thevenow hit a grounder to Lazzeri, who flipped it to Mark Koenig for the force out at second base. Koenig tagged O'Farrell out, but made an error in his throw to first baseman Lou Gehrig, which resulted in a run scored by Bell. Then, pitcher Jesse Haines took a Ruether pitch into the stands for a two-run home run.
The Cardinals were leading 3-0 on the Yankees by the end of the inning. The Yankees failed to collect hits in the fifth inning, but the Cardinals added to their lead by picking a run after Billy Southworth beat the tag at home after a Jim Bottomley grounder to second base. Ruether was then replaced by Bob Shawkey, who closed out the inning by yielding two weak ground balls in the infield. The Yankees picked up one hit in each of the next two innings, but could not produce any runs. Yankees' pitcher Myles Thomas came in to pitch a perfect ninth inning. With one out in the bottom of the ninth inning, Lou Gehrig lined a single down the right field line, but Tony Lazzeri gruonded into a double play, thus ending the game as a 4-0 Cardinals victory. Jesse Haines pitched a complete game shutout, and the Yankees could only scrounge five hits against Haines, two of which came from Gehrig.
Game 4

October 6, 1926 at Sportsman's Park III in St Louis, Missouri
Team123456789RHE
'New York (A)'101142100'10''14''1'
St Louis (N)100300001'5''14''0'
'W': Waite Hoyt (1-0)  'L': Art Reinhart (0-1)
'HR': 'NYY' – Babe Ruth (1, 2, 3)

Starting Game Four for the Yankees was future Baseball Hall-of-Famer Waite Hoyt. Hoyt had sixteen wins and twelve losses in the season. He pitched 218 innings and had a 3.85 ERA in 1926. Hoyt had thrice been part of the New York Yankees team that went to the World Series, and by the 1926 World Series, Hoyt had over thirty-five innings of pitching experience in the Fall Classic.[34] He was opposed by Flint Rhem, the Cardinals' only twenty-game winner who led the team with a .741 winning percentage and 258 innings pitched.[35]
In the first inning, after striking out Earle Combs and Mark Koenig, Rhem surrendered a solo home run to Babe Ruth. Bob Meusel followed by drawing a walk, and was tagged out at home after a relay throw from a Lou Gehrig single to right field. The Cardinals came into the bottom of the first with two straight singles to put runners at the corners for Rogers Hornsby. Hornsby singled in Taylor Douthit for a 1-1 tie, and moved Billy Southworth to second base. Jim Bottomley flied out to left field, and Les Bell followed with a sacrifice fly to center fielder Earle Combs. With the go-ahead run at third base, Hornsby stole second, but Chick Hafey struck out to put an end to the Cardinals' threat to score more runs. Two innings later, Ruth came up to the plate with two outs and no one on the bases, and took Rhem's pitch out of the park for his second home run of the game. The following inning, Gehrig started the Yankees by being called out on strikes. Following was a Tony Lazzeri walk and a Joe Dugan run-scoring double. Catcher Hal Severeid whacked a single into center field, and Dugan went full-steam towards home plate. He was tagged out at home after an accurate gun of a throw from center fielder Taylor Douthit to catcher Bob O'Farrell. The Yankees' starter, Waite Hoyt, struck out to end the inning.
The Cardinals responded by scoring three runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. With one out and no one on, Chick Hafey hit a single. Bob O'Farrell hit a ground ball to Mark Koenig, but Koenig bobbled the ball, and both O'Farrell and Hafey were safe at first and second base, respectively. Then, Tommy Thevenow followed with a hard double to right field that got by Bob Meusel, scoring Hafey and moving O'Farrell to third base. Cardinals' manager Rogers Hornsby then put in left-handed infielder Specs Toporczer to pinch-hit for Flint Rhem, who was done pitching for the game. Toporczer hit a fly ball to Earle Combs in center field, in which O'Farrell promptly tagged up to score another Cardinal run. With the game tied at three apiece, and runner at second base, Taylor Douthit followed with a double in the outfield, which scored the runner, Tommy Thevenow. Billy Southworth followed with a single to left fielder Babe Ruth, upon which, Douthit immediately tried to score. Ruth launched a bullet from left field to the catcher Hal Severeid, who then tagged Douthit out at home plate.
To start the top of the fifth inning, Art Reinhart was put in as pitcher. Reinhart first drew a walk to Earle Combs, and followed by giving up a run-scoring double to Mark Koenig. He then walked Babe Ruth and Bob Meusel successively to load the bases for Lou Gehrig. With clear pitching issues, Reinhart walked Gehrig, to score Koenig and keep the bases loaded with no outs. Hi Bell replaced Reinhart as pitcher, but was not able to suppress the Yankees' offense. Tony Lazzeri hit a sacrifice fly to right field, which scored Ruth and moved Meusel up to third base. Joe Dugan then hit a weak dribbler, and was thrown out at first by catcher Bob O'Farrell, but as a result, Bob Meusel scored and Lou Gehrig went to second base. Bell then balked, moving Gehrig to third base. Hal Severeid followed by drawing a walk, and pitcher Waite Hoyt ended the inning by hitting into a force play, that resulted in Severeid being called out at second base.
The next inning, the Yankees expanded on their three-run lead. After going through the entire Yankees' line-up in the fifth inning, Earle Combs was back at the plate to start the sixth. Combs started it off with an infield single past shortstop Tommy Thevenow. Mark Koenig followed by striking out at the hand of Hi Bell. Babe Ruth, with two home runs already in the game, came up to the plate. Ruth worked the count up to three balls and two strikes before unleashing a mammoth home run. As one of the game announcers described the situation:
It was measured at over 430 feet, and had cleared the twenty-foot wall in center field and also crashed through a window of an auto dealer on the street across the stadium. Locals claimed it was the longest home run ever hit in St. Louis. Meusel then hit a single in right field, but unsuccessfully tried to stretch it into a double, and he was tagged out at second base. Lou Gehrig followed with a double to the opposite side, but could not be sent home after Tony Lazzeri popped up to Thevenow to end the inning.
In the seventh inning, the Yankees faced a new pitcher, this time a southpaw named Bill Hallahan who served as a starter and reliever for the Cardinals. After Hal Severeid singled, and subsequently advanced on a sacrifice bunt by Waite Hoyt, he scored on a double hit into left field by Earle Combs. The Yankees led 10-4, and did not scrap up any more runs or hits in the eighth and ninth inning. The Cardinals came up to bat in the bottom of the ninth inning, with Waite Hoyt trying to hold to his six-run lead. Team leader Roger Hornbsby singled to right field, and advanced to second base on the following play. He then chugged home to score a run on a Les Bell single to center field. Chick Hafey then popped up in foul territory, and Hal Severeid made the easy grab. The game ended with a final score of 10 to 5. Waite Hoyt pitched a complete game, and allowed two earned runs on fourteen hits, while striking out eight batters. The Cardinals' five pitchers combined to give up ten Yankee runs also on fourteen hits. With the series tied at two games apiece, both teams eagerly anticipated Game Five, which featured a rematch between Herb Pennock and Bill Sherdel.
Game 5

October 7, 1926 at Sportsman's Park III in St Louis, Missouri
Team12345678910RHE
'New York (A)'0000010011'3''9''1'
St Louis (N)0001001000'2''7''0'
'W': Herb Pennock (2-0)  'L': Bill Sherdel (0-2)

Game Five featured a rematch between Game One starters Herb Pennock and Bill Sherdel. Pennock had pitched a complete game three-hitter in the 2-1 Yankees victory over the Cardinals. Sherdel had also fared well in the seven innings he pitched in the game. Just like Game One, Game Four would be a pitcher's duel between Pennock and Sherdel.
Through the first three innings of the fourth game of the series, both pitchers held the opposing team to no runs and a limited number of hits. In the bottom of the fourth inning, the Cardinals cracked through Pennock's tough pitching. Jim Bottomley started things out by knocking a one-out double past left fielder Babe Ruth. Les Bell followed with a single to right field, scoring Bottomley. Chick Hafey followed with a fly ball caught in foul territory by Ruth, and Les Bell was caught stealing at second by a throw from Hal Severeid to Mark Koenig. In the top of the sixth inning, the Yankees stormed right back. Pitcher Pennock launched a double into left field past Chick Hafey. After standing a considerable distance away from second base, Cardinals' catcher Bob O'Farrell threw to Tommy Thevenow in hopes of picking off Pennock. Thevenow made an error with his tag on Pennock, and Pennock was safe at second base. Earle Combs, the Yankees lead-off hitter, followed by drawing a walk. With runners at first and second base, shortstop Mark Koenig hit a single to left fielder Chick Hafey. Pennock scored on the play, and Combs moved to second base. Babe Ruth then struck out, and Bob Meusel followed by hitting a sacrifice fly to right fielder Billy Southworth, in which Combs promptly advanced to third base. Lou Gehrig drew a walk to load the bases for Tony Lazzeri. Lazzeri ended the threat by hitting a fly ball to center field that was easily caught by Wattie Holm.
The Cardinals came back to take the lead in the bottom of the seventh inning. Les Bell led the inning by hitting a double into left field. After a Hafey fly out, Bob O'Farrell hit a single to left fielder Babe Ruth, and Bell hustled from second base to home to score the run and give the Cardinals a 2-1 advantage in the game. The next two hitters hit into easy outs, and ended the inning. In the top of the ninth inning, the Yankees tied up the game. Lou Gehrig lined a double to left field, and Tony Lazzeri bunted a single, which also advanced Gehrig to third base. Ben Pashcal went in as a pinch-hitter for Joe Dugan and singled into center field, scoring Gehrig and advancing Lazzeri to second base. Hal Severeid laid down a weak bunt, and Cardinals catcher Bob O'Farrell threw to third base to make the force out on Lazzeri. With runners at first and second base, Herb Pennock hit a groundball to the shortstop, Tommy Thevenow, who flipped it to second base to get the force out on Hal Severeid. With Pennock at first base and Paschal at third base, leadoff hitter Earle Combs grounded to second base, and ended the Yankees' hope of taking the lead on the Cardinals. In the bottom of the ninth, Pennock shut the Cardinals down, and so the game went into extra innings.
The Yankees took immediate advantage in the top of the tenth inning, against the tired-out Sherdel. Mark Koenig led things off by singling into left field. Sherdel threw a wild pitch to Babe Ruth, and Koenig advanced to second base. Ruth then walked, and Bob Meusel followed with a sacrifice bunt straight to pitcher Sherdel. Meusel was out at first, but Koenig and Ruth were safe at third and second base, respectively. Lou Gehrig, known for his postseason heroics, was intentionally walked to load the bases. Tony Lazzeri hit a fly ball to left field, and Mark Koenig tagged up on the play to score a run and give the Yankees a one-run lead. Mike Gazella, in place of Joe Dugan at third base, came in and was hit by a pitch from Sherdel. With the bases loaded again, Hal Severeid popped up to second baseman Rogers Hornsby to end the Yankee rally. The Cardinals got a single from Tommy Thevenow in the bottom of the tenth inning, but they could not capitalize by scoring any runs in the inning. The game ended with the Yankees winning by a score of three to two.
Both pitchers, Pennock and Sherdel, pitched ten inning complete games, and the game's result came down to which pitcher could better handle throwing long innings. Sherdel ran into problems in the tenth, which ultimately resulted in the game-winning Yankees' run. Meanwhile, Herb Pennock finished the game giving up just seven hits and two runs, while striking out four batters.
Game 6

October 9 at Yankee Stadium in New York, New York
Team123456789RHE
'St Louis (N)'300010501'10''13''2'
New York (A)000100100'2''8''1'
'W': Grover Cleveland Alexander (2-0)   'L': Bob Shawkey (0-1)
'HR': 'STL' – Les Bell (1)

The teams moved back to New York's Yankee Stadium for Game Six. 48,615 fans came into Yankee Stadium to see if the Yankees could win their second World Series in franchise history. The pitching matchup for the game was between Grover Cleveland Alexander and Bob Shawkey, both of whom had made appearances in previous games of the series. Shawkey had come in relief in Game Two and Three, and Alexander had pitched a complete game against the Yankees in the Cardinals' Game Two victory. In the 1926 season, Shawkey had made most of his pitching appearances in relief, and had been an occasional starter on the Yankees rotation. He started ten of his twenty-nine overall games, and posted eight wins, seven losses and a 3.62 earned run average.[36]
The game was lopsided from the start. In the top of the first inning, Shawkey gave up three runs on three hits, with the runs coming from a Jim Bottomley double and Les Bell single. Meanwhile, Alexander cruised until he had a minor setback in the fourth inning. To open up the bottom of the inning, Bob Meusel launched a triple into left field, and scored on the following ground out by Lou Gehrig. Alexander shut down the Yankees for the rest of the inning, and the Cardinals held on to a 3-1 lead. In the top of the fifth inning, the Cardinals expanded their two run lead. Tommy Thevenow started by hitting a single to left fielder Babe Ruth. Pitcher "Pete" Alexander laid down a sacrifice bunt and was tagged by first baseman Lou Gehrig, but was successful in advancing Thevenow to second base. Wattie Holm, in center field to replace the injured Taylor Douthit, followed by hitting a single into center field, scoring Thevenow on the play. Billy Southworth and Rogers Hornsby followed with easy groundouts in the infield to end the inning.
The next run-scoring offense came from the Cardinals in top of the seventh inning. Tommy Thevenow again led the inning by hitting an opposite-side single into left field. Grover Cleveland Alexander followed by dropping a bunt right in front of the plate. Yankees' catcher Hal Severeid made the throw to second baseman Tony Lazzeri, but Lazzeri made an error on the play, and both runners were safe at their respective bases. Wattie Holm followed by hitting a weak grounder that led to a force out of Thevenow at third base. With runners at first and second base, Billy Southworth lined a double right by Babe Ruth, scoring Alexander and sending Holm to third base. At this point, Urban Shocker, the starter in Game Two, came in to relieve Bob Shawkey as pitcher. Shocker followed by giving up a single to Rogers Hornsby into center field, which led to Holm and Southworth both crossing the plate. Jim Bottomley then hit a grounder to shortstop Mark Koenig, who stepped on second base to get Hornsby out on the force play. Les Bell followed with a two-run home run, extending the Cardinals' lead to 9-1. Chick Hafey lined a double into left field, but the next batter, Bob O'Farrell struck out to end the inning. In the bottom of the seventh inning, the Yankees scored one run on an Earle Combs single to cut the Cardinals' lead to seven runs.
In the eighth inning, Myles Thomas came in to relieve Urban Shocker, who had given up three hits and two unearned runs in less than an inning of work. Meanwhile, Alexander shut down the Yankees offense for the rest of the game. In the top of the ninth inning, the Cardinals expanded their lead back to eight runs after Rogers Hornsby had an RBI groundout, scoring Billy Southworth, who had tripled to center field in the previous play. Alexander finished with his second complete game of the series, and gave up only two runs on eight hits, while striking out six batters. The three Yankee pitchers combined to give up thirteen hits, seven earned runs, three unearned runs, and one home run.
Game 7

October 10, 1926 at Yankee Stadium in New York, New York
Team123456789RHE
'St Louis (N)'000300000'3''8''0'
New York (A)001001000'2''8''3'
'W': Jesse Haines (2-0)   'L': Waite Hoyt (1-1)   'S': Grover Cleveland Alexander (1)
'HR': 'NYY' – Babe Ruth (4)

The deciding Game Seven was played at Yankee Stadium in front of a crowd of 38,093 people. The game featured two future Baseball Hall-of-Famers who were both winners in their respective pitching duels earlier in the series. Jesse Haines took to the mound for the Cardinals; he pitched in relief in Game One, and threw a complete game shutout against the Yankees in Game Three. Waite Hoyt had pitched a complete game 10-5 Yankees victory in Game Four.[37]
The Yankees scored the first run of the game in the third inning on a Babe Ruth solo home run into the right field bleachers. Half an inning later, the Cardinals had come back to take a commanding 3-1 lead over the Yankees. Jim Bottomley lined a one-out single into left field to start the Cardinals' fourth inning rally. Les Bell just barely made it to first base after shortstop Mark Koenig booted the ball, while trying to field it. With runners at first and second base, Chick Hafey hit a bloop single into left field, which loaded up the bases for catcher Bob O'Farrell. This time, left fielder Bob Meusel made an error by dropping the fly ball from O'Farrell, and so Jim Bottomley scored to tie the game up, and the bases remained loaded. Tommy Thevenow followed with a two-run single to right fielder Babe Ruth, and the next batter Jesse Haines struck out, and then Wattie Holm hit into a force play at second base. All three runs in the inning were charged as unearned on Hoyt, due to the two Yankee errors during the frame.
In the sixth inning, the Yankees cut the Cardinals lead. With two outs and no one on base, Joe Dugan lined a single. Hal Severeid followed with a double, scoring Dugan, before pinch-hitter Ben Paschal grounded to Haines to end the inning. Game One and Five winner Herb Pennock came in relief for Hoyt in the seventh inning. He yielded only one hit in the inning, and limited the Cardinals to their 3-2 advantage over the Yankees. In the bottom half of the inning, the Yankees loaded up the bases with Earle Combs, Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. At this point, there were two outs, and it appeared Haines had run into some problems. Haines had developed a blister on his pitching hand, and could no longer pitch in the game.[38]
At this point, Cardinals' player-manager Rogers Hornsby had to determine who he would put in to replace Jesse Haines as pitcher. Despite the fact that Grover Cleveland Alexander had pitched a complete game the day before, and may have spent the night drinking,[39] Hornsby decided to entrust Alexander after he said he "had it in easy in there" in Game Six. He said he would be ready whenever Hornsby needed him. The first two pitches thrown by Alexander to batter Tony Lazzeri went for a strike and a ball. On the third pitch, Lazzeri lashed the ball down the left field line. The ball initially looked like it was going into the stands for a home run, but at the last minute it curved several feet into foul territory.[40] Alexander then released a blistering fastball that Lazzeri swung late at and missed for a strikeout, to end the inning and the Yankees' threat.
Alexander retired the Yankees in order in the eighth inning. The Cardinals did nothing offensively in the top of the ninth inning, so it was up to the Alexander to preserve the Cardinals' game in the bottom of the ninth. Alexander got the first two batters of the inning, Earle Combs and Joe Dugan, to ground out to third baseman Les Bell.[41] With two outs and no runners on base, Alexander faced Babe Ruth. Ruth had hit a solo home run and walked three times in the game. Manager Rogers Hornsby walked to the mound to talk with Alexander before pitching to Ruth. Alexander urged Hornsby that he would rather face Ruth, instead of intentionally walking him. Alexander's first pitch to Ruth fell in for a solid strike in the middle of the plate. Alexander's next pitch fell outside of the strike zone for ball one. Ruth then fouled the next pitch, making the count one ball and two strikes. Alexander's next two pitches fell in for ball two and three, loading Ruth up with a full count. The following full-count pitch was noted by New York Herald Tribune sportswriter W. O. McGeehan:
With two outs and Ruth at first base, left fielder Bob Meusel came up to the plate. Meusel had been a .315 hitter that year and had knocked in eighty-one runs in just over one hundred regular season games. Meusel also had success in Game Six against Alexander -- he had a double and triple in the game. Just as soon as Meusel was about to take his first pitch, Ruth made the bold move of trying to steal second base. Ruth was known as a good but overly aggressive baserunner, with about a 50% success rate at stealing bases in his career, and his actions surprised many people throughout the stadium.[42] Meusel swung and missed at the pitch, and Cardinals' catcher Bob O'Farrell immediately gunned the ball to second baseman Rogers Hornsby. Hornsby reached for the ball, and laid the tag immediately on Ruth. Ruth was called out, and the game was over. As the game announcer described it:
As Hornsby recalled later, Ruth "didn't say a word. He didn't even look around or up at me. He just picked himself up and walked away." Ruth's failed basestealing ended the game and the 1926 World Series. Ruth explained later that he attempted to steal second base because he thought no one would expect it. He hoped that by getting to second base, he would have an easier chance at scoring if Meusel hit a single into the outfield. The Cardinals won Game Seven by clutch pitching from Jesse Haines and "Pete" Alexander, and O'Farrell's gun to second base to end the game and series. The Cardinals went back home to St. Louis to a glorious fan reception after having won their first World Series championship. Each member of the championship team collected $5,584.51, while the Yankees' players were given $3,417.75 each.[43]

Composite line score


1926 World Series '(4-3): St. Louis Cardinals (N.L.)' over New York Yankees (A.L.)
Team12345678910RHE
'St. Louis Cardinals '50210209030'31''65''5'
'New York Yankees '2222452011'21''54''7'
'Total Attendance': 328,051[44]   'Average Attendance': 46,864
'Winning Player’s Share': – $5,585   'Losing Player’s Share' – $3,418

Notes


1. The Golden Voices of Baseball, , Ted, Patterson, Sports Publishing LLC, 2002,
2. The Life That Ruth Built: A Biography, , Marshall, Smelser, Bison Books, 1993,
3. 1926 MLB Season
4. 1923 MLB Season
5. New York Yankees Team Index
6. 1926 World Series Game 1 - New York Yankees vs. St. Louis Cardinals
7. October 3, 1926 World Series Game 2 - St. Louis Cardinals vs. New York Yankees
8. October 5, 1926 World Series Game 3 - St. Louis Cardinals vs. New York Yankees
9. October 6, 1926 World Series Game 4 - New York Yankees vs. St. Louis Cardinals
10. October 7, 1926 World Series Game 5 - New York Yankees vs. St. Louis Cardinals
11. October 9, 1926 World Series Game 6 - St. Louis Cardinals vs. New York Yankees
12. October 10, 1926 World Series Game 7 - St. Louis Cardinals vs. New York Yankees
13. Eig (2005), p75
14. Bill Sherdel Statistics
15. Herb Pennock Statistics
16. Awards Voting for 1926: 1926 American League Most Valuable Player
17. Rogers Hornsby: A Biography, , Jonathan, D'Amore, Greenwood Press, 2004,
18. Cards Fans Jam Streets Getting Game by Radio
19. Alexander's Crafty Right Arm Rallies Cardinal Title Hopes
20. 1926 World Series - STL vs. NYY
21. Urban Shocker Statistics
22. Pete Alexander Statistics
23. 1915 Philadelphia Phillies Statistics and Roster
24. Billy Southworth Statistics
25. Sam Jones Statistics
26. Indiana Baseball Hall of Fame - Thomas "Tommy" Thevenow
27. The Chronology - 1926: October
28. The Seventh Game: The 35 World Series That Have Gone the Distance, , Barry M., Levenson, McGraw-Hill Professional, 2004,
29. Eig (2005), p76
30. Eig (2005), p77
31. World Series Sidelights
32. Jesse Haines Statistics
33. Dutch Ruether Statistics
34. Waite Hoyt Statistics
35. Flint Rhem Statistics
36. Bob Shawkey Statistics
37. 1926 World Series
38. Yankees Century: 100 Years of New York Yankees Baseball, , Glenn, Stout, Houghton Mifflin, 2002,
39. Finkel, Jan. "Pete Alexander", The Society for American Baseball Research - Baseball Biography Project, accessed June 5, 2007.
40. Stout (2002), p119
41. Levenson (2002), p37
42. Eig (2004), p80
43. D'Amore (2004), p71
44. World Series Gate Receipts and Player Shares

External links



★ 1926 World Series at ''WorldSeries.com (MLB.com)''

★ 1926 World Series box scores and play-by-play at Retrosheet.org

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