In December 1926, barely two months after the Cardinals had won their first World Series, St. Louis President Branch Rickey shocked the baseball world by trading his player-manager Rogers Hornsby to the New York Giants for Frankie Frisch and Jimmie Ring.
- C Bob O'Farrell served as player-manager for the 1927 season when the Cardinals finished 2nd, 1.5 games behind the Pittsburgh Pirates.
- Frisch fit in immediately and had one of the greatest seasons ever by a second baseman: .337 with 208 hits, 112 runs, 31 doubles, 11 triples, and 10 homers. He led the league in stolen bases (48). Frankie's performance vindicated the Hornsby trade, which had been widely vilified in the Mound City.
- A big factor in the Cards' failure to repeat as champions was the loss of SS Tom Thevenow, who broke his leg in June in an automobile accident and played in only 53 games.
L-R: Bob O'Farrell,
Tom Thevenow, Bill McKechnie
Under new manager Bill McKechnie,
the '28 Cardinals improved by three games to 95-59 and that was good enough to regain the pennant over the Giants by two games.
- As in 1926, the Cards showed great closing speed, a trademark of Rickey-constructed teams.
- OF Chick Hafey led the hitters with a .337 average with 1B Jim Bottomley adding a handsome .325.
- Jim also led the team in HRs (31) and RBIs (136).
- Southpaw Bill Sherdel led the pitchers with 21 wins, just one more than Jesse Haines. 41-year-old Pete Alexander added 16.
In the American League, the
New York Yankees won their third straight pennant by 2.5 games in a dogfight with the
Philadelphia Athletics.
- Between them, Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig led the AL in numerous offensive categories, including Slugging % (Ruth .709), Runs Scored (Ruth 163), Total Bases (Ruth 380), Home Runs (Ruth 54), RBI (Gehrig 147), Walks (Ruth 137), and On-Base % (Gehrig .467).
- George Pipgras topped the pitching staff with 24 wins and 139 strikeouts while Waite Hoyt was close behind in victories with 23.
The Cardinals rated a slight betting favorite, 6 to 5.
- The reasons given for putting the "hat" on the NL champs were disabling injuries to two key Yankee players - southpaw Herb Pennock and CF Earle Combs.
- Never have odds been so wrong.
- In 1926, player-manager Hornsby had his hurlers pitch around Ruth, walking him 12 times.
- But McKechnie inexplicably elected to have his pitchers challenge the Bambino, walking him onlky once.
Game One: Yankee Stadium
Attendance: 61,425
Time of Game: 1:49
Yankees 4 Cardinals 1
WP: Waite Hoyt; LP: Bill Sherdel
- The Yanks jumped ahead with a run in the first on back to back doubles by Ruth and Gehrig.
- New York increased the lead in the 4th on Bob Meusel's two-run homer.
- Bottomley avoided a shutout for the Cards by homering in the 7th.
- But the Yankees got the run back on Gehrig's single in the bottom of the 8th.
Game Two: Yankee Stadium
Attendance: 60,714
Time of Game: 2:04
Yankees 9
Cardinals 3
WP:
George Pipgras; LP:
Pete Alexander
- Alexander didn't have near the success against the Yankees that he had in '26. Gehrig socked a three-run roundtripper in the first.
- But the Cardinals bounced right back with three of their own in the top of the 2nd on a walk and a single sandwiched around C Jimmie Wilson's double, and an error followed by a double play.
- The Yankees regained the lead for good in the bottom of the 2nd on a walk, a sacrifice, and CF Cedric Durst's single.
- The Bronx Bombers drove Old Pete from the mound in the four-run 3rd when Ruth singled, Gehrig walked, and Meusel doubled for the first run. Then 3B Gene Robertson walked to load the bases, and C Benny Bengough singled in Gehrig. Clarence Mitchell replaced Alex and hit Pipgras with a pitch to force in a run. Then PH Ben Paschal singled in the final run.
- The Yanks scored a final run in the 7th on PH Joe Dugan's sacrifice fly.
Game Three: Sportsman's Park
Attendance: 39,602 Time of Game: 2:00
Yankees 7 Cardinals 3
WP: Tom Zachary; LP: Jesse Haines
- The Cardinals took their first lead of the series with two in the first on Bottomley's two-run triple.
- The visitors cut the lead in half on Gehrig's home run in the top of the 2nd.
- The Yankees took the lead in the 4th on another round-tripper by Gehrig, this one an inside-the-park liner that scored Ruth ahead of him.
- St. Louis tied the game in the 5th on 3B Andy High's double.
- The Yanks went ahead for good in the top of the 6th with three runs. SS Mark Koenig singled and was forced at 2nd by Ruth. Gehrig walked before Meusel hit into a forceout on which a throwing error scored Ruth. After Lazzeri walked, manager Miller Huggins called for a 1st-and-3rd double steal on which Meusel scored. Then Robertson's single knocked home Lazzeri.
- New York added a final run in the 7th on a dropped fly and Ruth's single.
Game Four: Sportsman's Park
Attendance: 37,331
Time of Game: 2:25
Yankees 7 Cardinals 3
WP: Waite Hoyt; LP: Bill Sherdel
- Two years earlier, Ruth clouted three homers in a World Series game at Sportsman Park. On this day, he did it again.
- The first came leading off the 4th to tie the game at one.
- The next was another solo shot in the 7th to knot the score at 2 as the Bombers added three more in the inning to take the lead.
- Finally, he socked his third one in the 8th off Alexander, who had given up another four-bagger to Durst two batters earlier.
- The Cardinal runs came on a sacrifice fly by Frisch in the 3rd and a wild throw on a pickoff attempt in the 4th
The sweep was the Yankees second in a row as they did the same to the Pirates in '27.
- The Yanks outscored the NL champs 27-10.
- They walloped nine HRs to just one for the Redbirds. Gehrig actually outhomered Ruth by 4-3.
- Pete Alexander had a decidedly different series than in '26.
1926: 20.1 IP, 12 H, 3 ER, 1.33 ERA
1928: 5 IP, 10 H, 11 ER, 19.80 ERA
St. Louis owner Sam Breadon was so incensed with his club's woeful performance in the Series that he demoted McKechnie to Rochester, the club's AAA farm club, for 1929 and bringing young Billy Southworth up from Rochester to take over the Redbirds.
1934 Cardinals Postseason
