Right now in the St. Louis, we are all on Stanton watch. The Hot Stove, the GM meetings, what a non-stop thrill ride. While we all are looking forward to the next big thing wearing the Birds on Bat, I wanted to take a little of your precious time and look back. Way back. To the roaring 20s. The industrial revolution was in full swing, extravagance was at an all time American high, the great war was in the rear view, and the crash had not hit yet. The Gateway to the West was one of the 5-6 largest cities in the United States and we had street cars connecting every developed part of the city. What a time.
While all of that was going on, the legendary Branch Rickey was turning the Redbirds from a laughing stock into a contender and world beater. During the decade, the Cards averaged over 82 wins a season after the teens when they only reached the 80 win plateau only twice. The second half of the 20s was when the team truly cemented itself as the class of the National League. From 1926-29 the Redbirds captured two pennants and defeated the vaunted Yankees of the Gehrig and Ruth in seven games in the 1926 World Series. Winning game seven at Yankee Stadium.
Who were the men that made up those teams? Here’s a look at some of the true stand outs of the roaring 20’s
Pete Alexander: All we need to look at is the 1926 World Series. In game 2 of the series Alexander threw a complete game, gave up 1 earned run, while striking out 10 Yankees, and only walking 1. Gehrig and Ruth went a combined 0-7 with 2 ks. In game 6 he went all 9 again, giving up 2 earned runs, struck out 6, holding Gehrig and Ruth to a combined 1-7. That's 1-14 in his two starts! Then, he came back the next day in game 7 and threw 2.1 innings in relief to get the save and close out the Cardinals first World Series championship. This may be the single greatest WS performance by any STL hurler.
Les Bell: In Game 6 of the '26 series, with the Yankees of Ruth and Gehrig trying to close out the Cards, Bell came up the biggest in his career. Bell went 3-4 with HR and 4 rbi’s. In part saving the season and pushing the series to a deciding game 7. Overall as a Card from ’23-’27 he hit .294, with 32 hrs, 267 rbi’s and that 1926 World Series ring.
Jim Bottomley: The 1928 NL MVP, hit .325, leading the league in HRs 31, rbi's 136, and triples with 20! Ol’ Bottoms was Part of 4 pennant winning teams, 26, 28, 30, 31, and took home a ring in ’26 and ’31. In the 26 Fall Classic he hit .345 with 5 rbi’s and 10 hits. In the decade of the 20s he led the league in doubles twice, RBIs twice, hr’s, triples, and hits once.
Bill Doak: The original Ace of the Birds on Bat had a career in the STL in which he posted a 144-136 record, with a 2.93 ERA, winning the 1921 ERA and earlier the 1914 title posting a miniscule 1.72. In arguably his best season in 1920, Doak went 20-12 with a 2.53 ERA over 270 innings, including 20 complete games and 5 shutouts.
Chick Hafey: Hafey won 2 rings as a Card in '26 and '31. His run of offensive output from 27-31 was tremendous. In that 5 year span, Chick had 771 hits, 116 hrs, 501 rbi's and hit .338 with an OPS of 1.009.
Jesse Haines: The Ace and the Horse of the Redbirds. He was Gibson and Dean before Gibson or Dean. In his Career as a Card he went 210-158 with 3.64 ERA, threw 209 complete games, including 23 shutouts, and he won 20 games 3 times in the decade of the 20s. Plus, he may have played the greatest game of any Redbird in the Fall Classic, EVER. In game 3 of the ‘26 series he batted 2-3 with a homerun and 2 rbi’s, all while pitching a complete game 5 hit shutout.
Rogers Hornsby: The second greatest Cardinal to ever live, behind The Man. In his 13 seasons as a Cardinal, Hornsby won 2 Triple Crowns in ‘22 and ‘25, 6 straight batting titles from 20-25, led the league in hits 4 times, doubles 4 times, triples twice, hrs twice, rbi’s 4 times... it goes on and on. He won a ring in 1926 as the player manager. He was the NL MVP in '25. His numbers are the definition of insane.
Let’s look at those 2 Triple Crown seasons:
1922: He hit .401, 42 hrs, 152 rbi's, 46 doubles, 250 hits, 131 runs
1925: He hit .403, 39 hrs, 143 rbi's, 41 doubles, 203 hits and 133 runs with a OPS of 1.245.
THOSE ARE VIDEO GAME NUMBERS.
Austin McHenry: The tragic Cardinal of the 20’s. At 25 years of age in 1921 he hit .350, with 17 hrs, 102 rbi’s, and 201 hits. He was out of baseball a year later, and then died of a brain tumor in November of 1922.
From his Wikipedia page, “By June 1922, McHenry's play had declined noticeably, and he complained of visual problems. He began to have difficulty judging and catching fly balls in the outfield, and his batting statistics also suffered. Cardinals general manager Branch Rickey was concerned enough to send McHenry home to Ohio to rest and to consult with McHenry's father, who was a physician. About a month later, McHenry returned to the team briefly, but he was still in poor condition. Sent home again, McHenry sought medical care in Cincinnati, where doctors detected a brain tumor.
McHenry underwent brain surgery, but his tumor could not be entirely removed. Writing to Rickey from the hospital, he used a baseball analogy to describe his tenuous health situation:
"I'm afraid it is three and two on me in the bottom of the ninth. I must hit the next one out." …
On November 22, 1922, newspaper reports indicated that McHenry had been released from the hospital. His physicians had determined that there was no hope for McHenry's survival, and they thought he should spent his last days at home with family members. He died at his home in Ohio a few days later.
Imagine those teams of the the late 20’s with this bat still in the lineup, in his prime. A tragic story, but an excellent Redbird, and he needs to get more of his due.
There you have it, a quick hit of nostalgia to break up the endless stream of rumors and trade possibilities this November. All I can say is this. No matter how great you think Stanton is, he is an absolute nothing compared to 5’11” 175 pound Rogers Hornsby. Eat it, Mike.