1926 World Series - Season Summary

Season Summary

The Cardinals won the 1926 National League pennant with 89 wins and 65 losses, two games ahead of the runner-up Cincinnati Reds, after finishing only fourth in 1925 at 77-76. Before 1926 was half over, they traded outfielder Heinie Mueller to the New York Giants for outfielder Billy Southworth. They also claimed future Hall of Fame pitcher Grover Cleveland Alexander on waivers from the Chicago Cubs. Their starting rotation was led by Flint Rhem with 20 wins and a 3.21 earned run average (ERA), far surpassing his eight wins and 4.92 ERA of 1925. Offensively, the Cardinals were led by Jim Bottomley, Rogers Hornsby (who had hit over .400 in 1925) and catcher Bob O'Farrell, 1926 National League MVP-to-be.

The 1926 NL pennant race was heated. During the second and third weeks of September, both the Cardinals and the Reds had multi-game winning streaks and traded first and second place almost every day. On September 17, the Cards took a one-game lead over the Reds and extended their lead when the Reds lost several games in a row. They lost the last game of the season to the Reds on September 26, but still finished two games ahead of them in first place in the final standings.

The Yanks had the best record in the AL at 91-63, finishing three games ahead of the Cleveland Indians and greatly improving on their 69-win, seventh-place 1925 season, making Lou Gehrig their permanent starting first baseman and trading for rookie second baseman Tony Lazzeri in the offseason. Gehrig, Lazzeri, Ruth and Earle Combs led the offense, while Pennock and Urban Shocker led the starting rotation with 42 wins between them.

In early September 1926, thousands of Cleveland fans, confident that their Indians would win the pennant even when they trailed the Yanks by six games, made World Series ticket reservations. By September 23 they were only two games behind New York, but then lost three of their final four games to finish the season three games behind.

On September 11, Baseball Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis met with representatives from four of the top teams in each of the two major leagues. The group gave home field to the AL for World Series Games 1&2 (scheduled for October 2 & 3)and 6&7, while the NL would host Games 3-5. Each game was to start at 1:30 PM local time.

Some bookmakers made the Yankees a 15-to-1 Series favorite, while others, like New York's top betting commissioners, thought the teams were evenly matched. One The New York Times wtiter found "little justification for installing either team as the favorite". Regardless of the odds, players from both teams were confident of victory. Hornsby said, "We're going to come through winners. We have the better pitching staff, the better hitters and the greater experience. That's what it takes to win. ... We're going to beat the Yankees. Any of my ball players will tell you that, and we expect to do it." Yankee skipper Miller Huggins retorted,

We're confident we're going to win. It'll be whichever team does the hitting, and we're sure we're going to do it. We're out of our hitting slump. We have a more experienced team and more experienced pitchers. We're about even in the strength of the infields, but ours is steadier. Our outfield is better, stronger and more experienced, and all the boys are cocky and ready to go. There's no doubt in their minds or in mine that the Yankees will win.