Bottomley’s 5-for-5 day helped the Cardinals rally from a 7-1 deficit after the Phillies jumped on starting pitcher Bob McGraw and a Redbirds defense that committed four errors.

Jimmie Wilson got things started for the Phillies with a two-run single in the bottom of the first. They added two more in the third inning when Cy Williams walked and scored on an error and Dick Attreau added an RBI single.

Down 4-0, the Cardinals got on the scoreboard in the fifth inning as Specs Toporcer, the first major league infielder to wear glasses on the field, hit a two-out double to right field to score Heinie Schuble.

The Phillies, however, wasted little time in responding. In the bottom of the fifth, Williams hit an RBI double, Wilson added a sacrifice fly, and Attreau hit an RBI triple that made the score 7-1.

In the top of the sixth, Bottomley started the Cardinals’ comeback. After singling in his first two at-bats, he led off with a double that hit the top of the right-field wall so hard that it ripped off the top board. Billy Southworth drove Bottomley home with a single to left and Schuble added an RBI single that scored Southworth. Wattie Holm hit a two-out RBI double to cut the Phillies lead to 7-5.

In the seventh, Bottomley hit his 10^th home run of the season over the wall and onto the site of a proposed railroad depot. With the lead down to a single run, Phillies manager Stuffy McInnis replaced Alex Ferguson with Claude Willoughby, who retired the next two batters to end the inning.

Willoughby would not be so fortunate in the eighth. Johnny Schulte led off the inning with a game-tying home run. After Schuble doubled to right for his second hit of the game, McInnis went to his bullpen again, this time calling on Jack Scott. Scott got Les Bell to ground out, but Wattie Holm hit a double to center field to score Schuble and give the Cardinals their first lead of the game.

When Bottomley stepped to the plate to lead off the top of the ninth, he was 4-for-4 with two singles, a double, and a home run. At first it looked as though he might miss the cycle as he hit a pop up behind the plate. As the Philadelphia Inquirer described it, catcher “Jimmy (Wilson) went after it, but the wind picked it up, gave the Reach a Charleston wiggle, and Jim misjudged it. On the next pitch he (Bottomley) parked the onion over Fred Leach’s new haircut for three bases.”[1]

In other words, Bottomley hit the ball over the head of Phillies center fielder Freddy Leach and reached third base safely to complete the cycle. After Dutch Ulrich retired Southworth on a pop fly, Taylor Douthit grounded to Phillies shortstop Jimmy Cooney, who threw home too late to catch Bottomley sliding into home.

With a two-run lead to hold, Bill Sherdel worked around a leadoff single to earn his first save of the season.

Bottomley was the clear star of the game as he raised his batting average 12 points to .330.

“The blows were all ‘legits,’ real base hits that whistled around the field and made Sam Payne’s orchard look like a sieve,” the Philadelphia Inquirer reported in a story beneath a headline declaring Bottomley a “terror with the ash.”[2]

Holm finished with three hits while Schulte and Schuble each finished with two. Vic Keen, who threw two innings of scoreless relief, earned his first win of the year. McGraw received no decision after allowing seven runs (four earned) in 4 2/3 innings.

Wilson led the Phillies with two hits and three RBIs. Attreau added two hits – including a triple – and two RBIs. Willoughby took the loss after allowing two runs in 2/3 of an inning.

The two teams continued on a similar trajectory the remainder of the season, as the Cardinals went 92-61 to finish second in the National League pennant race, 1 ½ games behind the Pirates. Philadelphia went just 51-103 to finish last in the eight-team league.

In franchise history, Bottomley’s cycle matched those of Tip O’Neill (who hit for the cycle twice in 1887) and Tommy Dowd (1895) during the team’s days as the St. Louis Browns. Cliff Heathcote, who hit for the cycle in a 19-inning game in 1918, was the first Cardinal to hit for the cycle (the Cardinals franchise officially begins with the collapse of the American Association and St. Louis’s return to the National League in 1892, making Bottomley’s the second in the team’s official records).

Bottomley finished the 1927 season with a .303 batting average to go with 19 homers and 124 RBIs. He finished 13^th in that year’s National League MVP voting. The following year, Bottomley won the MVP Award as he hit .325 and led the league in triples (20), home runs (31), and RBIs (136).

Bottomley played 11 of his 16 major league seasons with the Cardinals before he was traded to the Reds ahead of the 1933 season. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame posthumously in 1974.

Enjoy this post? Find similar stories listed by decade or by player.

[1] Stan Baumgartner, “Bottomley Terror With Ash As Late Flurries Top Phils,” Philadelphia Inquirer, July 16, 1927.

[2] Stan Baumgartner, “Bottomley Terror With Ash As Late Flurries Top Phils,” Philadelphia Inquirer, July 16, 1927.

The post July 15, 1927: Jim Bottomley gets five hits, becomes second Cardinal to hit for the cycle in a 9-7 comeback win first appeared on STLRedbirds.com.

One day earlier, the Cardinals forced Game 7 with a 10-2 victory in New York. Now the Yankees were counting on Waite Hoyt, the 26-year-old right-hander from Brooklyn, to capture their second World Series championship.

Hoyte had won Game 4 despite allowing 14 hits, bolstered by Ruth’s three home runs. Game 7 marked Hoyte’s eighth career World Series appearance, and he carried a 3-2 record in his seven previous Fall Classic appearances.

The Cardinals countered with 32-year-old knuckleballer Jesse Haines, making his third appearance of the series. Haines threw a scoreless inning of relief in St. Louis’s Game 1 loss before throwing a five-hit shutout in Game 3.

Hoyt looked sharp in the first two innings, working around a two-out single by Rogers Hornsby in the first inning, then retiring the side in order in the second.

Meanwhile, Haines worked in and out of trouble. In the first inning, he walked Ruth and allowed a two-out single to Bob Meusel, but got Lou Gehrig to ground out to end the inning. Joe Dugan singled in the second inning, but Cardinals catcher Bob O’Farrell threw him out attempting to steal second base. Hank Severeid singled, but Hoyt grounded out to leave him stranded.

Ruth broke the scoreless tie in the third inning with a solo home run into the right-field bleachers, but the Yankees’ lead was short-lived, as the Cardinals rallied for three runs in the fourth.

After Jim Bottomley reached on a one-out single, Les Bell hit a ground ball that appeared tailor-made for a double play, but Yankees shortstop Mark Koenig misplayed it. Chick Hafey followed with a bloop single to load the bases.

O’Farrell followed with a lazy fly ball into the left field gap. Meusel called for the ball and settled under it, but to the astonishment of the Yankees’ faithful, it popped out of his glove, allowing Bottomley to tie the score.

“When that ball popped out of his hands, the silence in that big ballpark was really stunning,” Bell said years later. “It was a hometown crowd (for the Yankees), of course, and they couldn’t believe what they had seen. Nobody could.”[1]

With the bases still loaded, Hoyt now faced the Cardinals’ eighth hitter, Tommy Thevenow. In his first full season in the majors, the 5-foot-10, 155-pound Thevenow hit .256 with 63 RBIs. The 23-year-old had been the Cardinals’ leading hitter in the World Series, going 3-for-4 with a home run in Game 2 and tallying two hits apiece in Games 4 and 6. Once again, Thevenow came through, this time with a single to right field that scored Bell and Havey.

“I want to tell everybody that Tommy Thevenow is the best shortstop in baseball,” Hornsby declared after the game. “There are no ifs or buts on this. Thevenow has them all beat. He won the ballgame.”[2]

Now holding a 3-1 lead, Haines continued to dance in and out of trouble. In the fourth, he worked around a leadoff walk to Lou Gehrig, thanks in part to Thevenow’s leaping catch of Severeid’s line drive. In the fifth, Earle Combs singled and Ruth was issued a free pass, but both were left stranded.

The Yankees finally got to Haines in the sixth, when Severeid hit an RBI double that cut the Cardinals’ lead to 3-2. With Hoyt’s place in the lineup next, Yankees manager Miller Huggins called on Ben Paschal to pinch hit and Spencer Adams to run in place of Severeid. The moves didn’t pay off, however, as Paschal bounced the ball back to Haines for the final out.

The Yankees continued to threaten Haines in the seventh. Combs led off with a single and Koenig bunted him to second. With first base now free, Haines intentionally walked Ruth. Meusel grounded into a forceout at second base. With runners on second and third, Haines looked distinctly uncomfortable as he walked Gehrig on four pitches.

When player-manager Rogers Hornsby arrived on the mound, he realized what was causing Haines’ distress. Haines’ knuckleballs had torn the skin on his fingers and left him bleeding. It was time for Hornsby to call upon his secret weapon – Alexander.

Several at the game noticed that the 39-year old, who had just thrown all nine innings the day earlier, took his time reaching the mound.

“I don’t think I’ll ever forget that day,” Alexander recalled. “The biggest moment I ever had. You know, they say I stopped to pick daisies on my way from the bullpen that day. I didn’t, but hell, what did they want me to do, run for the mound? I’d a been all out of breath.

“But you know when I started out, and you know how far that bullpen is, I could see Lazzeri already at the plate. He was knocking the dirt from his spikes and hopping around, and I just thought to myself, ‘Well, I’ll give you plenty of time to get more dirt in those spikes.’ So I did stop to look at the center fielder’s glove, and I paused to take a squint at the shortstop’s glove, but eventually I got there.”[3]

When Alexander did arrive, Hornsby greeted him by saying, “The bases are packed, Alex.”

“Well, if they’re full I’ll have to get rid of Lazerri some way, as I have no place to put him,” Old Pete Alexander replied, according to the next day’s St. Louis Globe-Democrat.[4]

Author Charles C. Alexander provided a slightly different account, in which Alexander told Hornsby that he felt fine before adding, “Three on, eh? Well, there’s no place to put Lazzeri, is there? I’ll just have to give him nothin’ but a lot of hell, won’t I?”[5]

After just three warm-up pitches, he did exactly that, but not before Lazzeri turned on an inside fastball and pulled it into the left-field bleachers, just a few feet foul. Having narrowly escaped giving up a game-altering grand slam, Alexander struck out the Yankees rookie on a curveball that dropped out of the strike zone.

“I said to myself, ‘Grover Cleveland Alexander, you’ve been in this game longer than he has. He’s up there for the first time, and he’s got to hit it. You just pitch him another wide curve and he’ll swing at it,’” Alexander recalled. “And I pitched it and he swung and he missed it.”[6]

The score remained 3-2 headed in the final innings. Alexander easily retired the Yankees in order in the eighth, and Herb Pennock did the same in the top of the ninth. Just three outs away from the championship, Alexander wasted no time, getting both Combs and Koenig to ground out to Bell at third base.

After getting ahead of Ruth with a 1-2 count, Alexander pitched carefully around the slugger, missing with his next three pitches. That brought Meusel to the plate with the tying run on first base. As Alexander released his first pitch to the Yankees left fielder, Ruth broke for second. Meusel took the pitch for a called strike and O’Farrell fired to Hornsby at second base. Hornsby tagged Ruth as he slid into the bag.

“I caught the blur of Ruth starting for second as I pitched, and then came the whistle of the ball as O’Farrell rifled it to second,” Alexander said. “I wheeled around and there was one of the grandest sights in my life. Hornsby, his foot anchored on the bag and his gloved hand outstretched, was waiting for Ruth to come in.”[7]

“I wondered why Babe tried to steal second then,” O’Farrell said. “A year or so later, I went on a barnstorming trip with the Babe, and I asked him. Ruth said he thought Alex had forgotten he was there. Also, that the way Alex was pitching, they’d never get two hits in a row off him, so he better get in position to score if they got one. Well, maybe that was good thinking and maybe not. In any case, I had him out a mile at second.”[8]

Regardless of the reason for Ruth’s ill-fated attempt, the result was clear: for the first time in franchise history, the Cardinals were World Series champions.

“Have a heart,” Alexander told teammates who pounded his back in congratulations. “I’ve got to pitch again. I haven’t retired.”[9]

Hornsby, whose mother passed away shortly before the World Series began, caught a train to St. Louis and then to Austin for her burial. Before leaving town, however, the National League’s top star was gracious in victory.

“Our victory means all the more to us because we know that we defeated a great ball club,” he said.[10]

The game proved the last World Series defeat for the Yankees’ Huggins. A former Cardinal who played for the Redbirds from 1910 to 1917, Huggins led the Yankees to World Series sweeps over the Pirates in 1927 and the Cardinals in 1928.

“There is nothing to say except that the Cardinals played wonderful defensive ball today – better than we did – and on the basis of their play, they deserved to win,” Huggins said. “We were beaten by a great ball club, and I told Rogers Hornsby so when I congratulated him as soon as the game was over.

“Of course, we did not need today’s performance to know that Alexander is a great pitcher. I have said so twice before in this series, and I say so again.”[11]

Legendary New York Giants manager John McGraw agreed.

“There you see the man who gave us the greatest pitching feat baseball has furnished since Christy Mathewson shut out the Athletics three times in a row,” McGraw said, pointing to Alexander in the Cardinals’ clubhouse.[12]

In St. Louis, fans celebrated into the early hours of the morning. As the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported, “it was as if dynamite had been planted in a hundred scattered spots and all touched off at the same instant. The downtown exploded in noise. Two minutes after victory, the din was deafening. Automobile horns and sirens, back-firing of motors, tin horns, bells that had been muffled in silence for the one moment all turned loose.”[13] Similar celebrations took place in towns in Southern Illinois, Missouri, Texas, Oklahoma, and Southeast Kansas.[14]

In the aftermath of the championship, tales began to spread that Alexander had been drunk during his Game 7 performance. Following his service in World War II, Alexander suffered from epilepsy and alcoholism; in fact, his troubles with alcohol had contributed to the Cubs’ decision to release him that summer, allowing the Cardinals to purchase him for $4,000.

In The Cardinals and The Yankees, 1926: A Classic Season and St. Louis in Seven, author Paul E. Doutrich suggests that Alexander’s epilepsy may have been caused when he was struck in the head by a pitch and exasperated by his service as an artillery sergeant during World War I.[15] To minimize the seizures, Alexander self-medicated with whiskey.

According to fellow pitcher Flint Rhem, Alexander had celebrated his Game 6 victory the night before and was dozing in the bullpen with a pint of whiskey when Hornsby called for him. Upon being summoned to the mound, Alexander “staggered a little, handed me the pint, hitched up his britches, and walked straight as he could to the mound.”[16]

Doutrich, however, argues that Hornsby had informed Alexander the night before that he planned to use him in relief of Haines if necessary. Alexander’s wife, Amy, disputed the charge, as did Bottomley, Thevenow, Bell, and Hornsby in the years to come.

Alexander himself said little on the topic. A few days after Game 7, as he prepared to leave St. Louis after a week spent at the Ambassador Theater, where adoring crowds had heartily congratulated him, Alexander was philosophical about the experience.

“You know, being an actor and shaking hands and having everybody pat you on the back can almost ruin a guy,” he said. “When baseball fans are strong for you, they’re strong for you, but – come to think of it – what if Lazzeri had hit a home run with the bases full instead of striking out?”

He already knew the answer.

“If that had happened, Lazzeri would be the hero instead of me,” Alexander continued. “I wouldn’t have been a hero. I’d have been a bum.”[17]

Shortly before hopping on a train to Chicago, Alexander offered one more bit of advice: “Don’t ever be a hero,” he said. “If you’ve got to be one, be one, but avoid it as long as you can. It’s been a long, hard week.” He paused. “But I sure appreciated it.”[18]

Enjoy this post? Then you’ll love The Trades That Made The St. Louis Cardinals, available now on Amazon!

[1] Peter Golenbock (2011), The Spirit of St. Louis: A History of the St. Louis Cardinals and Browns, HarperCollins Ebooks, Pages 112-113.

[2] Brian Bell, “Weakness of Yankees in Field Gave Title to Cardinals,” St. Louis Globe-Democrat, October 11, 1926: Page 8.

[3] Peter Golenbock (2011), The Spirit of St. Louis: A History of the St. Louis Cardinals and Browns, HarperCollins Ebooks, Page 114.

[4] “No Place to Put Lazzeri So Alec Struck Him Out,” St. Louis Globe-Democrat, October 11, 1926: Page 8.

[5] Charles C. Alexander, Rogers Hornsby (Kindle Android version retrieved from Amazon.com), Page 119.

[6] “‘What If Lazzeri Hit?’ Old Alex Asks, Quitting Town After Week As Hero,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 16, 1926: Page 3.

[7] Peter Golenbock (2011), The Spirit of St. Louis: A History of the St. Louis Cardinals and Browns, HarperCollins Ebooks, Pages 117.

[8] Peter Golenbock (2011), The Spirit of St. Louis: A History of the St. Louis Cardinals and Browns, HarperCollins Ebooks, Pages 117.

[9] Brian Bell, “Weakness of Yankees in Field Gave Title to Cardinals,” St. Louis Globe-Democrat, October 11, 1926: Page 8.

[10] Brian Bell, “Weakness of Yankees in Field Gave Title to Cardinals,” St. Louis Globe-Democrat, October 11, 1926: Page 8.

[11] Brian Bell, “Weakness of Yankees in Field Gave Title to Cardinals,” St. Louis Globe-Democrat, October 11, 1926: Page 8.

[12] James R. Dawson, “Alex’s Feat Rates Him with the Immortal ‘Matty,’ Says McGraw,” St. Louis Globe-Democrat, October 11, 1926: Page 12.

[13] “Fans in 9-Hour Rampage Give Vent to Noisy Joy Over Cardinals’ Victory,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 11, 1926: Page 3.

[14] “Cardinals Victory Observed in Suburbs,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 11, 1926: Page 3.

[15] Paul E. Doutrich, The Cardinals and the Yankees, 1926: A Classic Season and St. Louis in Seven (2021), Kindle Android version retrieved from Amazon.com, Location 1076.

[16] Charles C. Alexander, Rogers Hornsby (Kindle Android version retrieved from Amazon.com), Page 119.

[17] “‘What If Lazzeri Hit?’ Old Alex Asks, Quitting Town After Week As Hero,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 16, 1926: Page 3.

[18] “‘What If Lazzeri Hit?’ Old Alex Asks, Quitting Town After Week As Hero,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 16, 1926: Page 3.

The post 1926 World Series Game 7: Cardinals win their first World Series first appeared on STLRedbirds.com.

After falling to the New York Yankees in Game 1 of the 1926 World Series behind a complete-game, three-hit performance by Herb Pennock and two RBIs from Lou Gehrig, the Cardinals turned to 39-year-old veteran Grover Cleveland Alexander, commonly called Old Pete Alexander. Now in his 16^th major-league season, Alexander had already cemented his place in baseball history leading the league in wins six times – including 33 wins as a member of the Philadelphia Phillies in 1916 – and leading the league in innings pitched seven times.

By 1926, however, Alexander was epileptic and an alcoholic. In The Cardinals and The Yankees, 1926: A Classic Season and St. Louis in Seven, author Paul E. Doutrich suggests that Alexander’s epilepsy may have been caused when he was struck in the head by a pitch and exasperated by his service as an artillery sergeant during World War I.[1] To minimize the seizures, Alexander self-medicated with whiskey.

Alexander was 3-3 with a 3.46 ERA for the Chicago Cubs in June 1926 when he was suspended indefinitely for violating team rules. When the Cubs waived him a few days later, Branch Rickey was out of town.[2] Instead, team owner Sam Breadon, with manager and star second baseman Rogers Hornsby’s blessing, signed Alexander for $4,000.[3] Down the stretch, Alexander went 9-7 with a 2.91 ERA, helping the Cardinals capture the National League pennant by two games over the Cincinnati Reds.

The Yankees countered with Urban Shocker, a veteran spitballer who led the league with 27 wins for the St. Louis Browns five years earlier. Shocker had gone 19-11 for the Yankees during the 1926 regular season, posting a 3.38 ERA over 258 1/3 innings.

Both pitchers threw scoreless first innings. After Shocker worked around singles from Bob O’Farrell and Tommy Thevenow in the second inning, Alexander was not as fortunate. Bob Meusel led off the inning with a single and was driven in by Tony Lazzeri. Cardinals left fielder Chick Hafey made a strong throw on the play and may have thrown Meusel out at home, but in all the noise Alexander thought O’Farrell was shouting at him to cut the ball off and prevent Lazerri from advancing to second.

After Joe Dugan singled to right and Alexander struck out Hank Severeid, the Yankees attempted a double steal and the Cardinals caught Lazerri between third and home. Alexander, however, committed a throwing error that allowed Lazerri to score the second run of the game.

“I had not pitched in 12 days and in the first two innings I had some trouble in getting started,” Alexander said. “Finally, I got the range and my arm got warmed up. After that I found I had as good control as I ever had and I just worked along smoothly.”[4]

Down 2-0, the Cardinals got on the scoreboard in the top of the third. Taylor Douthit and Billy Southworth each singled to lead off the inning, and after Hornsby laid down a sacrifice bunt, Jim Bottomley singled into right to tie the game.

With the score once again even, Alexander hit his stride. After allowing a single to Earle Combs to lead off the third, Alexander retired the next 21 batters he faced. In the fourth inning, he struck out Gehrig, Lazzeri, and Dugan in order on his way to 10 strikeouts in the game.

“Alexander had more speed than usual and his curve was breaking more sharply than usual,” Hornsby wrote in a column in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “O’Farrell tells me he had more speed than he had shown all season. He also worked his change of pace very effectively.”[5]

Unfortunately for the Cardinals, Shocker was finding his groove as well. After Bottomley tied the score, Shocker retired the next 11 batters he faced.

“Shocker pitched a good game until the seventh inning but we were in a hitting mood and we were sure to find him before long,” Hornsby wrote.[6]

In the seventh, O’Farrell doubled into the left-field gap to lead off the inning and Thevenow followed with a single. Alexander popped out and Douthit flied out to shallow left field, bringing Southworth to the plate.

Southworth was another midseason acquisition for the Cardinals, who obtained him from the New York Giants in exchange for Heinie Mueller. Since arriving in St. Louis, the 12-year veteran had batted .317 with 11 homers and 69 RBIs.

“I traded Southworth for Mueller because of my friendship for Rogers Hornsby,” Giants manager John McGraw said in 1928. “Hornsby, I knew, could win a pennant if he had an old head, a steadying influence in the outfield. The Giants, I knew, did not have a chance to win, so I gave Hornsby the break and traded Southworth for Mueller.”[7]

While this was likely a convenient rewriting of history on McGraw’s part, Southworth indeed played a crucial part of the Cardinals’ success. With two on and two out, Shocker delivered a pitch that the Post-Dispatch’s J. Roy Stockton said was, “not a fast ball inside, but a half speed ball inside. Or perhaps it was a spit ball. At any rate it was inside and Southworth swung.”[8] The ball landed in the right-field seats to give the Cardinals a 5-2 lead.

Two innings later, Thevenow hit an inside-the-park home run off Sad Sam Jones to produce the final 6-2 score. With the Cardinals’ first World Series victory in franchise history on the line, Alexander retired Mark Koenig, Babe Ruth, and Meusel in order in the ninth.

“You will have to give the credit to Alexander,” Hornsby said. “He pitched a wonderful game and there wasn’t a time that every man on the team did not feel confident that Alex would be able to win. Even after the Yankees got off to their two-run lead the men were very confident and expected it in every word and action.”[9]

Yankees manager Miller Huggins agreed that Alexander, who allowed just three hits and walked one, proved the difference.

“We couldn’t hit Alexander. That’s all there is to it,” he said. “Alexander pitched an almost perfect game. He had everything on the ball and we just couldn’t connect. Against some other pitcher we probably would have done much heavier hitting.”[10]

Enjoy this post? Find similar stories listed by decade or by player.

[1] Paul E. Doutrich, The Cardinals and the Yankees, 1926: A Classic Season and St. Louis in Seven (2021), Kindle Android version retrieved from Amazon.com, Location 1076.

[2] John Heidenry, The Gashouse Gang (2007), PublicAffairs, Page 38.

[3] Charles C. Alexander, Rogers Hornsby (2013), Kindle Android version retrieved from Amazon.com, Location 1850.

[4] Vernon Van Ness, “Alexander Deserves Credit for Victory, Both Pilots Say,” St. Louis Globe-Democrat, October 4, 1926: Page 11.

[5] Rogers Hornsby, “‘We Will Be a Better Ball Club Every Way, Harder Than Ever to Beat,’ Hornsby Says,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 4, 1926: Page 19.

[6] Rogers Hornsby, “‘We Will Be a Better Ball Club Every Way, Harder Than Ever to Beat,’ Hornsby Says,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 4, 1926: Page 19.

[7] Paul E. Doutrich, The Cardinals and the Yankees, 1926: A Classic Season and St. Louis in Seven (2021), Kindle Android version retrieved from Amazon.com, Location 1041.

[8] J. Roy Stockton, “‘Old Pete’ Retires 21 Consecutive Batters And Fans 10 Yankees,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 4, 1926: Page 19.

[9] Vernon Van Ness, “Alexander Deserves Credit for Victory, Both Pilots Say,” St. Louis Globe-Democrat, October 4, 1926: Page 1.

[10] Vernon Van Ness, “Alexander Deserves Credit for Victory, Both Pilots Say,” St. Louis Globe-Democrat, October 4, 1926: Page 11.

The post 1926 World Series Game 2: The Cardinals’ first World Series win first appeared on STLRedbirds.com.

The feat came on July 6, 1929, at a time when the St. Louis Cardinals needed relief from the heat and from a season-long losing streak.

Excluding a July 1 tie with the Chicago Cubs, the Cardinals had dropped 10 consecutive games heading into their doubleheader against the Phillies. The streak would grow worse before it finally ended. In the opener, St. Louis fell 10-6 despite two home runs from first baseman Jim Bottomley.

Bottomley drove in four runs, shortstop Charlie Gelbert added three hits and two RBIs, and third baseman Andy High collected four hits. But Cardinals starter Bill Sherdel could not hold down Philadelphia’s lineup. The Phillies pounded out 13 hits, including seven for extra bases, with third baseman Pinky Whitney and right fielder Chuck Klein each homering.

The loss extended the Cardinals’ skid to 11 games, their longest of the season.

Then came one of the most explosive offensive performances in major league history.

If the first game had been lively, the second game turned into a rout almost immediately. Phillies starter Claude Willoughby opened the game by walking Taylor Douthit and Carey Selph, then gave up three consecutive RBI singles to High, Bottomley, and Chick Hafey. When Willoughby walked Wattie Holm to load the bases, Phillies manager Burt Shotton had seen enough.

He called on Elmer Miller.

Miller fared no better.

He walked Jimmie Wilson to force in a run, then walked Gelbert to make it 5-0. Shotton, showing an even quicker hook this time, replaced Miller with Luther Roy.

The Cardinals were just getting started.

Pitcher Fred Frankhouse, batting ninth, greeted Roy with a two-run single to left. Douthit followed with an RBI single, stretching the lead to 8-0. Selph then laid down a sacrifice bunt, moving the runners to second and third, and High hit into a fielder’s choice for the second out.

Roy was one out from escaping the inning.

Bottomley made sure he did not.

With two outs, the Cardinals’ slugging first baseman singled to center, scoring Frankhouse and High and giving St. Louis a 10-0 lead before the Phillies had even come to bat.

For Frankhouse, the double-digit cushion was especially welcome. He was pitching with a sore thumb that limited his curveball, and with the Cardinals already far ahead, he adjusted accordingly. The Post-Dispatch reported that Frankhouse “merely lobbed the ball over the plate.”

Philadelphia took advantage in the bottom of the first. After a single by Denny Sothern and two walks, Fresco Thompson delivered a two-run single to make it 10-2.

But this was not going to be a day when the Cardinals worried much about allowing runs.

St. Louis added another in the second when Whitney’s throwing error at third allowed Holm to reach third base and Wilson singled him home. Sothern homered in the bottom half of the inning, cutting the lead to 11-3, but the Cardinals’ offense was nowhere near finished.

Douthit drove in a run with a single in the fourth, and Selph followed with a triple to bring him home. In the fifth, Holm added a sacrifice fly, Wilson delivered his second RBI single of the game, and Frankhouse continued his big day at the plate with a run-scoring single off new Phillies pitcher June Greene.

Douthit singled and Eddie Delker walked to load the bases. Greene then hit High with a pitch, forcing in another run and pushing the Cardinals’ lead to 18-4.

That brought Bottomley to the plate with the bases loaded.

He cleared them.

Bottomley launched a grand slam to right field, his 19th home run of the season, and suddenly the Cardinals led 22-4. For a team that had spent nearly two weeks searching for a win, the breakthrough had turned into an avalanche.

The bats quieted for a few innings, but only temporarily. In the eighth, High drove in another run with a single, Bottomley walked to load the bases, and Hafey delivered the Cardinals’ second grand slam of the game.

It was Hafey’s 21st home run of the season and the final blow in a 28-6 St. Louis victory.

The Cardinals’ 28 runs set a modern major league record, surpassing the 27 scored by the Cleveland Indians against Boston on July 7, 1923. The performance also stood for decades as the only game in Cardinals history in which the team hit two grand slams, until Tatis famously hit two in the same inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1999.

The numbers from the second game were staggering. St. Louis finished with 28 hits and nine walks. Hafey collected five hits, including two doubles and his grand slam, and drove in five runs. Douthit also had five hits and reached base seven times, adding two walks. Bottomley finished with four hits, two walks, and seven RBIs.

Even Frankhouse, whose sore thumb made for an uneven day on the mound, was part of the offensive barrage. He allowed six earned runs on 17 hits and three walks, but as the Cardinals’ No. 9 hitter, he went 4-for-6 with four RBIs and two runs scored.

It was a strange way to end a losing streak: ugly on the mound, brilliant at the plate, uncomfortable in the weather, and painful on the injury report.

The Cardinals did not escape the day unscathed. Walter Roettger injured his ankle and left the first game early. Clarence Jonnard was spiked in the leg. Earl Smith pulled a leg muscle. Selph sprained an ankle sliding into third base. Frankie Frisch, already favoring one leg because of a charley horse, pulled a muscle in the other.

Still, after 11 straight losses, the Cardinals had finally won.

On a miserable Philadelphia afternoon filled with heat, injuries, and frustration, the Cardinals produced one of the wildest offensive explosions baseball had ever seen.

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