RetroSimba

(Updated June 22, 2020)

The Cubs unwittingly did the Cardinals a favor and helped them achieve their first championship season.

On June 22, 1926, the Cubs, at the urging of manager Joe McCarthy, placed pitcher Grover Cleveland Alexander on waivers.

Alexander, 39 and on the back end of a Hall of Fame career, still was effective, but McCarthy had become fed up with the pitcher’s drinking.

Claimed for the waiver price of $4,000, Alexander landed with the Cardinals and played a prominent role in stabilizing their pitching staff and lifting them to their first National League pennant and World Series championship.

Bottoms up

In June 1926, the Cubs were in Philadelphia when Alexander “appeared at the Phillies’ park apparently the worse for wear,” The Sporting News reported.

Said McCarthy: “This isn’t the first time. This is the sixth time in the last 10 days … I absolutely refuse to allow him to disrupt our team and will not have him around in that condition.”

Alexander, who had a 3-3 record and 3.46 ERA in seven starts for the 1926 Cubs, was suspended by McCarthy and sent back to Chicago.

“It’s all right to drink while you can win, but it’s not for losers,” McCarthy said.

When the Cubs placed Alexander on waivers, he was claimed by the Cardinals, Pirates and Reds. The Reds were in first place and the Pirates in second in the National League. The Cardinals, in third place, got Alexander because they were lowest in the standings among the three teams that made claims.

“This must be the Cardinals’ year,” J. Roy Stockton wrote in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “Everything is breaking for them.”

Cubs fans were stunned and disappointed by the move because Alexander “has become almost an institution in Chicago,” according to International News Service.

In the Donald Honig book “The Man in the Dugout,” McCarthy said, “He didn’t obey orders. Wouldn’t go along with me.”

Old pals

In joining the Cardinals, Alexander was reunited with his friend, Bill Killefer, a coach on the staff of manager Rogers Hornsby. Killefer was Alexander’s catcher with the Phillies from 1911-17. In December 1917, the Phillies traded Alexander and Killefer to the Cubs. Killefer was the Cubs’ manager from 1921-25.

The Sporting News described Alexander and Killefer as “a couple of Peter Pans who never have taken life very seriously.”

“I’m glad to go to St. Louis,” Alexander told the Chicago Tribune. “Hornsby and Killefer are both great fellows and I think the Cards have a good chance to finish up in the money this season.”

According to the Post-Dispatch, when the Cardinals got Alexander, he called Killefer on the phone and said, “I’m in condition and ready to pitch right now. I hope I can do something to help you boys win a pennant.”

Alexander enhanced a Cardinals rotation that included Flint Rhem, Bill Sherdel and Jesse Haines.

Harry Nelly of the Chicago American wrote, “Before Alexander went to the Cardinals, that team was shy of pitchers. It is a run-making outfit, but often found itself without a proper person to prevent the other side from scoring frequently.”

In The Sporting News, columnist John Sheridan suggested Alexander had much to offer the Cardinals: “He can lose nine-tenths of his skills and still be a greater pitcher than most of the ice-cream kids that come along in these degenerate days.”

Slyly referring to his drinking problems, the St. Louis Star-Times declared, “There is a great temptation to say Alexander, even out of condition, is a greater pitcher than most other hurlers in the pink.”

Dazzler of a debut

On June 27, 1926, Alexander made his Cardinals debut in the first game of a doubleheader against the Cubs at Sportsman’s Park in St. Louis. A crowd of 37,196 squeezed into the ballpark that seated about 34,000.

“It was the greatest throng that had ever paid to witness a baseball attraction in this city,” The Sporting News reported.

Alexander pitched a four-hitter and got the win in a 3-2 Cardinals triumph in 10 innings. “He had his old half-sidearm delivery. He had a fast-breaking curve and he had a fast one,” The Sporting News reported.

Said Alexander: “Don’t let anybody tell you that this arm hasn’t a few more good ones left in it. I’m tickled to be with the team and Hornsby and Killefer. All Rog has to do is nod his head and I’ll jump through a hoop for him.” Boxscore

Title run

Alexander won nine of his first 14 decisions with the Cardinals before losing his last two. In 23 appearances for the 1926 Cardinals, Alexander was 9-7 with a 2.91 ERA. He pitched 11 complete games and two shutouts.

In the 1926 World Series against the Yankees, Alexander started and won Game 2 and Game 6. He relieved in Game 7, struck out Tony Lazzeri with the bases loaded in the seventh and earned the save by pitching 2.1 hitless innings.