# 1926 World Series

By [Norma Jane](https://paragraph.com/@norma-jane) · 2022-07-03

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The **1926 World Series**, the 23rd playing of [Major League Baseball](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_League_Baseball)'s championship series, pitted the [National League](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_League) champion [St. Louis Cardinals](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Louis_Cardinals) against the [American League](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_League) champion [New York Yankees](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Yankees). The Cardinals defeated the Yankees four games to three in the [best-of-seven series](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Playoff_format#Best-of-seven_playoff), which took place from October 2 to 10, 1926, at [Yankee Stadium](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yankee_Stadium_\(1923\)) and [Sportsman's Park](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sportsman%27s_Park).

This was the first [World Series](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Series) appearance (and first National League pennant win) for the Cardinals, and would be the first of 11 World Series championships in Cardinals history. The Yankees were playing in their fourth World Series in six years after winning their first American League pennant in [1921](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1921_World_Series) and their first world championship in [1923](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1923_World_Series).[\[3\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1926_World_Series#cite_note-3) They would play in another 36 World Series (and win 26 of those) through the end of the 2020 season.[\[4\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1926_World_Series#cite_note-4)

In Game 1, [Herb Pennock](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herb_Pennock) pitched the Yankees to a 2–1 win over the Cards. In Game 2, pitcher [Grover Cleveland Alexander](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grover_Cleveland_Alexander) evened the Series for St. Louis with a 6–2 victory. Knuckleballer [Jesse Haines](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesse_Haines)' [shutout](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shutout_\(baseball\)) in Game 3 gave St. Louis a 2–1 Series lead. In the Yankees' 10–5 Game 4 win, [Babe Ruth](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babe_Ruth) hit three [home runs](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home_run), a World Series record equaled only four times since.[\[5\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1926_World_Series#cite_note-threeHR-5) According to newspaper reports, Ruth had promised a sickly boy named [Johnny Sylvester](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Sylvester) to hit a home run for him in Game 4. After Ruth's three-homer game, the boy's condition miraculously improved. The newspapers' account of the story is disputed by contemporary baseball historians, but it remains one of the most famous anecdotes in baseball history. Pennock again won for the Yankees in Game 5, 3–2.

Cards' player-manager [Rogers Hornsby](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rogers_Hornsby) chose Alexander to start Game 6, and used him in relief to close out Game 7. Behind Alexander, the Cardinals won the final two games of the series, and thus the world championship. In Game 7, the Yankees, trailing 3–2 in the bottom of the ninth [inning](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inning) and down to their last out, Ruth [walked](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Base_on_balls), bringing up [Bob Meusel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Meusel). Ruth, successful in half of his [stolen base](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stolen_base) attempts in his career,[\[6\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1926_World_Series#cite_note-6) took off for [second base](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseball_field#Specifications) on the first pitch. Meusel swung and missed, and [catcher](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catcher) [Bob O'Farrell](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_O%27Farrell) threw to second baseman Hornsby who [tagged Ruth out](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tag_out), ending Game 7 and thereby crowning his Cardinals World Series champions for the first time.[\[7\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1926_World_Series#cite_note-eig2005-7): 80  The 1926 World Series is the only Series to date which ended with a baserunner being [caught stealing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caught_stealing).[\[8\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1926_World_Series#cite_note-vass-8)

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*Originally published on [Norma Jane](https://paragraph.com/@norma-jane/1926-world-series)*