History of The St. Louis Cardinals - 1920s: The First World Series Championship

1920s: The First World Series Championship

The move to the National League proved problematic for a franchise that had dominated in the American Association. The 1899 season was the only time in the Cardinals' first nineteen seasons in the National League that they finished above .500. During that period St. Louis finished last or next-to-last ten times. In general, the Browns fielded more competitive teams and frequently outdrew the Cardinals at the box office.

The Cardinals showed marginal improvement in the 1910s but did not approach their American Association success until the 1920s. It was then that Branch Rickey, who had previously worked for the Browns, came to the Cardinals as general manager, developing the first farm system in baseball and stockpiling the team with talent. The Cardinals, recognizing the defects in their home ballpark (by then known as Cardinal Field), abandoned the old place in June 1920 and began leasing Sportsman's Park from the Browns. One of Rickey's recruits for the Browns, George Sisler, became a major star in the early 1920s, and the Browns came within a game of winning the pennant in 1922, outdrawing their tenants substantially. But the tide was about to turn in the Cardinals' favor.

1926 was the breakthrough year. Led by second baseman / manager Rogers Hornsby, St. Louis in 1926 won its first pennant in 39 years, and then shocked the baseball world by knocking off the powerful New York Yankees in seven games in the World Series. The storied Game 7 reached its climax in the seventh inning when the previous day's winning pitcher, the aging Grover Cleveland Alexander, was summoned in relief to face slugger Tony Lazzeri with the bases loaded (some fans feared that Alexander might have been a little "loaded" himself after celebrating the previous day's win). After giving up a long foul ball, "Ol' Pete" then struck out Lazzeri swinging on 3 low fastballs. A closely guarded secret at the time was that both men in that confrontation happened to suffer from epilepsy. In the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 7, with the Cardinals clinging to a 3–2 lead, Babe Ruth drew a walk. With two outs, and hoping to put a runner in scoring position, Ruth attempted to steal second, but was thrown out, giving the Cardinals their first World Series championship.

The Cardinals fell just short in 1927, then won the pennant again in 1928, edging out the resurging Chicago Cubs and the perennially contending New York Giants. The Cardinals did not fare so well in the World Series, as the Yankees continued their dominance from 1927 and shot down the Cardinals in four straight.

Regardless, the stage was set for the new order of the National League. Rickey's farm system would produce great players and keep the Cardinals in contention for the next two decades. Between 1926 and 1946, the Cardinals, Cubs and Giants would become fierce rivals, that trio winning 17 of the NL pennants during those 21 seasons.