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 after a tight September, finished first in the National League, winning their first National League pennant. It was written that the "fans [in St. Louis] staged the wildest demonstration since the signing of the armistice" in November 1918.

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.

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.

Regular season June 22: Grover Cleveland Alexander, a 39-year-old vet and future member of the Hall of Fame, was purchased off the waiver wire from the Chicago Cubs. Alexander went 23-16 for the Cardinals and eventually closed out the World Series. September 22: 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.Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p. 334, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, Thevenow did however hit a home run in Game 2 of the 1926 World Series.Game 2 box score, Baseball Reference

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Notable transactions June 14, 1926: Heinie Mueller was traded by the Cardinals to the New York Giants for Billy Southworth. June 22, 1926: Future Hall-of-Famer Grover Cleveland Alexander was purchased off of waivers by the Cardinals from the Chicago Cubs.

Roster 1926 St. Louis Cardinals Roster Pitchers Catchers

Infielders Outfielders

Other batters Manager

Coaches

Player stats = 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 147 492 144 .293 7 68 1B 154 603 180 .299 19 120 2B 134 527 167 .317 11 93 3B 155 581 189 .325 17 100 SS 156 563 144 .256 2 63 RF 99 391 124 .317 11 69 LF 107 416 127 .305 8 43 CF 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 78 225 61 .271 4 38 OF 52 191 51 .267 3 28 OF 55 144 41 .285 0 21 2B 64 88 22 .250 0 9 IF 40 74 20 .270 3 9 C 24 51 10 .196 0 4 C 9 14 5 .357 0 2 PH 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 34 258.0 20 7 3.21 72 34 234.2 16 12 3.49 59 32 183.0 13 4 3.25 46 26 152.0 10 9 4.56 29 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 27 143.0 10 5 4.22 26 27 85.0 6 6 3.18 27 19 56.2 1 4 3.65 28 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 15 3 3 0 4.22 19 9 0 4 0 4.24 9 6 1 0 0 11.57 4 1 0 0 0 22.50 0 1 0 1 0 0.00 0

Awards and honors

League top five finishers Les Bell #3 in NL in RBI (100) #4 in NL in home runs (17)

Ray Blades #4 in NL in on-base percentage (.409)

Jim Bottomley NL leader in RBI (120) #2 in NL in home runs (19)

Taylor Douthit #3 in NL in stolen bases (23)

Flint Rhem NL leader in wins (20)

1926 World Series

GameDateVisitorScoreHomeScoreRecord (NYY-STL)Attendance1October 2St. Louis Cardinals1New York Yankees21–061,6582October 3St. Louis Cardinals6New York Yankees21–163,6003October 4New York Yankees0St. Louis Cardinals41–237,7084October 6New York Yankees10St. Louis Cardinals52–238,8255October 7New York Yankees3St. Louis Cardinals23–239,5526October 9St.Louis Cardinals10New York Yankees23–348,6157October 10St. Louis Cardinals3New York Yankees23-4 38,093 St. Louis Cardinals win 4–3

Farm system

Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007

References

External links 1926 St. Louis Cardinals at Baseball Reference 1926 St. Louis Cardinals team page at www.baseball-almanac.com