1926_St._Louis_Cardinals_season
1926 St. Louis Cardinals season
Major League Baseball team season
The 1926 St. Louis Cardinals season was the team's 45th season in St. Louis, Missouri and their 35th in the National League. The Cardinals went 89–65 during the season and finished first in the National League, winning their first National League pennant. In the World Series, they defeated the New York Yankees in 7 games, ending it by throwing out Babe Ruth at second base in the ninth inning of Game 7 to preserve a 3–2 victory. This was Rogers Hornsby's only full season as manager for the team.
| 1926 St. Louis Cardinals | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| World Series Champions National League Champions | ||||
| League | National League | |||
| Ballpark | Sportsman's Park | |||
| City | St. Louis, Missouri | |||
| Record | 89–65 (.578) | |||
| League place | 1st | |||
| Owners | Sam Breadon | |||
| General managers | Branch Rickey | |||
| Managers | Rogers Hornsby | |||
| ||||
Catcher Bob O'Farrell won the MVP Award this year, batting .293, with 7 home runs and 68 RBIs. Led by RBI champion Jim Bottomley, the offense scored the most runs in the NL.
- September 22, 1926: Tommy Thevenow hit the second and last home run of the season, and of his career. Thevenow would play for another 12 seasons and set a major league record by not hitting a home run in 3,347 at-bats.[1]
Season standings
| National League | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Louis Cardinals | 89 | 65 | 0.578 | — | 47–30 | 42–35 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 87 | 67 | 0.565 | 2 | 53–23 | 34–44 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 84 | 69 | 0.549 | 4½ | 49–28 | 35–41 |
| Chicago Cubs | 82 | 72 | 0.532 | 7 | 49–28 | 33–44 |
| New York Giants | 74 | 77 | 0.490 | 13½ | 43–33 | 31–44 |
| Brooklyn Robins | 71 | 82 | 0.464 | 17½ | 38–38 | 33–44 |
| Boston Braves | 66 | 86 | 0.434 | 22 | 43–34 | 23–52 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 58 | 93 | 0.384 | 29½ | 33–42 | 25–51 |
Record vs. opponents
Sources: | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | BOS | BR | CHC | CIN | NYG | PHI | PIT | STL | |||||
| Boston | — | 6–15 | 12–10 | 12–10–1 | 12–10 | 7–15 | 10–11 | 7–15 | |||||
| Brooklyn | 15–6 | — | 14–8 | 4–18 | 9–13 | 13–9 | 9–13–2 | 7–15 | |||||
| Chicago | 10–12 | 8–14 | — | 13–9–1 | 14–8 | 16–6 | 10–12 | 11–11 | |||||
| Cincinnati | 10–12–1 | 18–4 | 9–13–1 | — | 7–15 | 16–6–1 | 13–9 | 14–8 | |||||
| New York | 10–12 | 13–9 | 8–14 | 15–7 | — | 12–7 | 6–16 | 10–12 | |||||
| Philadelphia | 15–7 | 9–13 | 6–16 | 6–16–1 | 7–12 | — | 8–14 | 7–15 | |||||
| Pittsburgh | 11–10 | 13–9–2 | 12–10 | 9–13 | 16–6 | 14–8 | — | 9–13–2 | |||||
| St. Louis | 15–7 | 15–7 | 11–11 | 8–14 | 12–10 | 15–7 | 13–9–2 | — | |||||
Notable transactions
- June 14, 1926: Heinie Mueller was traded by the Cardinals to the New York Giants for Billy Southworth.[2]
Roster
| 1926 St. Louis Cardinals | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
| Pitchers | Catchers
Infielders |
Outfielders
Other batters |
Manager
Coaches | ||||||
| = Indicates team leader |
Batting
Starters by position
Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Pos | Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | Bob O'Farrell | 147 | 492 | 144 | .293 | 7 | 68 |
| 1B | Jim Bottomley | 154 | 603 | 180 | .299 | 19 | 120 |
| 2B | Rogers Hornsby | 134 | 527 | 167 | .317 | 11 | 93 |
| 3B | Les Bell | 155 | 581 | 189 | .325 | 17 | 100 |
| SS | Tommy Thevenow | 156 | 563 | 144 | .256 | 2 | 63 |
| RF | Billy Southworth | 99 | 391 | 124 | .317 | 11 | 69 |
| LF | Ray Blades | 107 | 416 | 127 | .305 | 8 | 43 |
| CF | Taylor Douthit | 139 | 530 | 163 | .308 | 3 | 52 |
Other batters
Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Pos | Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OF | Chick Hafey | 78 | 225 | 61 | .271 | 4 | 38 |
| OF | Heinie Mueller | 52 | 191 | 51 | .267 | 3 | 28 |
| OF | Wattie Holm | 55 | 144 | 41 | .285 | 0 | 21 |
| 2B | Specs Toporcer | 64 | 88 | 22 | .250 | 0 | 9 |
| IF | Jake Flowers | 40 | 74 | 20 | .270 | 3 | 9 |
| C | Ernie Vick | 24 | 51 | 10 | .196 | 0 | 4 |
| C | Bill Warwick | 9 | 14 | 5 | .357 | 0 | 2 |
| PH | Jack Smith | 1 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
Pitching
Starting pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flint Rhem | 34 | 258.0 | 20 | 7 | 3.21 | 72 |
| Bill Sherdel | 34 | 234.2 | 16 | 12 | 3.49 | 59 |
| Jesse Haines | 32 | 183.0 | 13 | 4 | 3.25 | 46 |
| Vic Keen | 26 | 152.0 | 10 | 9 | 4.56 | 29 |
| Pete Alexander | 23 | 148.1 | 9 | 7 | 2.91 | 35 |
Other pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Art Reinhart | 27 | 143.0 | 10 | 5 | 4.22 | 26 |
| Hi Bell | 27 | 85.0 | 6 | 6 | 3.18 | 27 |
| Bill Hallahan | 19 | 56.2 | 1 | 4 | 3.65 | 28 |
| Syl Johnson | 19 | 49.0 | 0 | 3 | 4.22 | 10 |
Relief pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Allan Sothoron | 15 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 4.22 | 19 |
| Walt Huntzinger | 9 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4.24 | 9 |
| Eddie Dyer | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 11.57 | 4 |
| Ed Clough | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22.50 | 0 |
| Duster Mails | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 |
League top five finishers
- #3 in NL in RBI (100)
- #4 in NL in home runs (17)
- #4 in NL in on-base percentage (.409)
- NL leader in RBI (120)
- #2 in NL in home runs (19)
- #3 in NL in stolen bases (23)
- NL leader in wins (20)
| Game | Date | Visitor | Score | Home | Score | Record
(NYY-STL) |
Attendance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | October 2 | St. Louis Cardinals | 1 | New York Yankees | 2 | 1–0 | 61,658 | |
| 2 | October 3 | St. Louis Cardinals | 6 | New York Yankees | 2 | 1–1 | 63,600 | |
| 3 | October 4 | New York Yankees | 0 | St. Louis Cardinals | 4 | 1–2 | 37,708 | |
| 4 | October 6 | New York Yankees | 10 | St. Louis Cardinals | 5 | 2–2 | 38,825 | |
| 5 | October 7 | New York Yankees | 3 | St. Louis Cardinals | 2 | 3–2 | 39,552 | |
| 6 | October 9 | St.Louis Cardinals | 10 | New York Yankees | 2 | 3–3 | 48,615 | |
| 7 | October 10 | St. Louis Cardinals | 3 | New York Yankees | 2 | 3-4 | 38,093 | |
| St. Louis Cardinals win 4–3 | ||||||||
| Level | Team | League | Manager |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA | Syracuse Stars | International League | Burt Shotton |
| A | Houston Buffaloes | Texas League | Joe Mathes |
| C | Fort Smith Twins | Western Association | Everitt Booe |
| D | Austin Senators | Texas Association | Chuck Miller |
- Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p. 334, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, ISBN 978-0-451-22363-0
- Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007