1926 St. Louis Cardinals

 The St. Louis Cardinals are the most successful National League franchise in baseball. Their 11 championships are 2nd only to the Yankees, and their 19 NL pennants are the most of any team that never played in New York (or 3rd overall if you wanna be specific). The winning began in 1926 and the circumstances and ending to that series would go down as one of the more unique in history.

The 1926 pennant run for the NL crown turned out to be a competitive one, as no one would win even 90 games and the top half of the league was always within striking distance of the lead. The Rogers Hornsby led (his lone full season as player-manager) Cardinals would go 89-65 and hold off the 2nd place Reds by just 2 games. Waiting for them in the World Series, as it would turn out to be more often than not in those days, was the New York Yankees.

Perhaps it was the events of 1926 that would give them the drive to become Murderer's Row the next season, but the Yankees were still seen as formidable going into this series. They only had 1 title in their history to this point, but this was already their 4th World Series appearance in 6 years and they had Babe Ruth in the prime of his glory, while the Cardinals were making their WS debut.

Through the first 6 games, the teams would match each other blow for blow, going into the pivotal Game 7 tied 3-3. The Cardinals took advantage of sloppy defense to take a 3-2 lead, but Jesse Haines got into trouble in the 7th inning. With the bases loaded and 2 out, future Hall of Famer Tony Lazzeri stepped up to the plate. Into the game to pitch came another future Hall of Famer to face him in Grover Cleveland Alexander. (It's worth noting for fairness that Jesse Haines was also a future Hall of Famer). Alexander had already pitched a CG victory the day before, but there was no time to be tired, this is Game 7 of the World Series where there is no tomorrow and you have all winter to rest so get back out there!

After Lazzeri hit a heart stopping foul ball, Alexander, still seeking his first championship in his proud career, was able to take advantage of his second chance and strike Lazzeri out. After an uneventful 8th inning, Alexander was still out there to try for his only career postseason Save. With 2 outs, Babe Ruth stepped up to hit. He already had a Home Run that day but Alexander wanted no part in intentionally walking the slugger. With a full count, Alexander delivered a close pitch that Babe took for ball four, and took 1st anyway.

Grover barely had a chance to throw the first pitch to the next batter when Ruth made the bold decision to steal 2nd base, later saying (in less tasteful language, because it's Babe Ruth) that he was not doing any good standing on 1st base. 1926 MVP Bob O'Farrell caught the swinging strike and hurled it to 2nd base, where Hornsby had just enough time to apply the tag to the sliding Ruth and secure the 3rd out and the championship. To this day it remains the only time in history that a World Series ended on a Caught Stealing.

Bob O'Farrell was the unsung hero of the Cardinals title run. His 1926 MVP was the first time a Catcher pulled off the accomplishment. An elite Catcher with a killer arm (+9 defense was nothing to sneeze at), one can only question what Babe Ruth and his mere 13 speed was thinking by trying to steal 2nd Base with the World Series on the line. Before the '27 season began, O'Farrell was appointed as the new player-manager after Rogers Hornsby was traded.

1926 was a down year by Hornsby's standards, as he was in between his 1925 and 1929 MVP seasons. Despite those two awards and eventually reaching the Hall of Fame, he maintained the highlight of his baseball career was when he tagged out Ruth and won his only World Series.

In the midst of his own Hall of Fame career, Bottomley contributed to the 1926 cause by leading the NL with 40 2B and 120 RBI, while his 19 homers were only 2 off from the NL leader (and 28 behind Ruth's 47).

Billy Southworth was also a future Hall of Famer, but he'd get in to Cooperstown as a Manager. Still, he was a solid contributor for the Cardinals in their lineup.

The remaining 1926 starting lineup. Solid on-base all around. Thevenow may be your typical weak offensive SS from the era, but that +6 defense more than makes up for it. Top to bottom, the 1926 Cardinals didn't have much dead weight.

Highlighting the bench for the Cardinals is Chick Hafey. His Hall of Fame career was still getting started, and he'd have to wait one more season to truly start building his Cooperstown resume. His 1926 card,  however, shows those hints of future ability.

The rest of the bench. Not a lot of guys threatening to steal anyones starting job here. Vick and Warwick didn't get a lot of play to build cards with, the pitfall of having an MVP at Catcher who didn't need a defensive replacement.

If the World Series MVP award existed in 1926, Grover Cleveland Alexander would have won it without question. His 2 Wins (including the victory in the pivotal Game 6) and Save in Game 7 made all the difference for the Cardinals. He began the season in Chicago, in a bad situation with the Cubs, but they sold him off to the Cardinals where he would rediscover his HoF poise at the most critical time to make the Cardinals champions.

Haines was another future member of Cooperstown in the Cardinals rotation. He was the other half of the victories in the World Series, picking up 2 Wins including the Game 7 effort that only saw him walk away because a blister on his throwing hand made it impossible to pitch any longer.

The other regular Starting Pitchers. Rhem would lead the staff with 20 Wins and 72 Strikeouts. Sherdel would tie with Haines for the teams best 3 Shutouts.

The Cardinals would lead the NL with 90 Complete Games in 1926, so you can imagine them not having a huge need for a bullpen. Still, the choices they had contained an attractive assortment of high control to ensure that they usually held the advantage, even if their charts aren't eye-popping.