Wikipedia

1926 Major League Baseball season

The 1926 major league baseball season began on April 13, 1926. The regular season ended on September 29, with the St. Louis Cardinals and New York Yankees as the regular season champions of the National League and American League, respectively. The postseason began with Game 1 of the 23rd World Series on October 2 and ended with Game 7 on October 10. The Cardinals defeated the Yankees, four games to three, capturing their first championship in franchise history. Going into the season, the defending World Series champions were the Pittsburgh Pirates from the 1925 season.

1926 MLB season
LeagueAmerican League (AL)
National League (NL)
SportBaseball
DurationRegular season:
  • April 13 – September 27, 1926 (AL)
  • April 13 – September 29, 1926 (NL)
World Series:
  • October 2–10, 1926
Games154
Teams16 (8 per league)
Regular Season
Season MVPAL: George Burns (CLE)
NL: Bob O'Farrell (STL)
AL championsNew York Yankees
  AL runners-upCleveland Indians
NL championsSt. Louis Cardinals
  NL runners-upCincinnati Reds
World Series
Venue
ChampionsSt. Louis Cardinals
  Runners-upNew York Yankees
MLB seasons
Locations of teams for the 1923–1931 American League seasons
American League

This was the fifth of eight seasons that "League Awards", a precursor to the Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award (introduced in 1931), were issued.

Schedule

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The 1926 schedule consisted of 154 games for all teams in the American League and National League, each of which had eight teams. Each team was scheduled to play 22 games against the other seven teams of their respective league. This continued the format put in place since the 1904 season (except for 1919) and would be used until 1961 in the American League and 1962 in the National League.

Opening Day, April 13, featured all sixteen teams, continuing the trend which started with the 1924 season. The American League would see its final day of the regular season on September 27, while the National League would see its final day of the regular season on September 29 with a doubleheader between the Philadelphia Phillies and Boston Braves. The World Series took place between October 2 and October 10.

Rule changes

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The 1926 season saw the following rule changes:

Teams

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League Team City Ballpark Capacity Manager[3]
American League Boston Red Sox Boston, Massachusetts Fenway Park 27,000 Lee Fohl
Chicago White Sox Chicago, Illinois Comiskey Park 28,000 Eddie Collins
Cleveland Indians Cleveland, Ohio Dunn Field 21,414 Tris Speaker
Detroit Tigers Detroit, Michigan Navin Field 30,000 Ty Cobb
New York Yankees New York, New York Yankee Stadium 58,000 Miller Huggins
Philadelphia Athletics Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Shibe Park 27,500 Connie Mack
St. Louis Browns St. Louis, Missouri Sportsman's Park 34,023 George Sisler
Washington Senators Washington, D.C. Griffith Stadium 27,000 Bucky Harris
National League Boston Braves Boston, Massachusetts Braves Field 40,000 Dave Bancroft
Brooklyn Robins New York, New York Ebbets Field 28,000 Wilbert Robinson
Chicago Cubs Chicago, Illinois Cubs Park 20,000 Joe McCarthy
Cincinnati Reds Cincinnati, Ohio Redland Field 20,696 Jack Hendricks
New York Giants New York, New York Polo Grounds 55,000 John McGraw
Philadelphia Phillies Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Baker Bowl 18,000 Art Fletcher
Pittsburgh Pirates Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Forbes Field 41,000 Bill McKechnie
St. Louis Cardinals St. Louis, Missouri Sportsman's Park 34,023 Rogers Hornsby

Standings

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American League

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American League
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
New York Yankees 9163 .591 — 50‍–‍25 41‍–‍38
Cleveland Indians 8866 .571 3 49‍–‍31 39‍–‍35
Philadelphia Athletics 8367 .553 6 44‍–‍27 39‍–‍40
Washington Senators 8169 .540 8 42‍–‍30 39‍–‍39
Chicago White Sox 8172 .529 9½ 47‍–‍31 34‍–‍41
Detroit Tigers 7975 .513 12 39‍–‍41 40‍–‍34
St. Louis Browns 6292 .403 29 40‍–‍39 22‍–‍53
Boston Red Sox 46107 .301 44½ 25‍–‍51 21‍–‍56

National League

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National League
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
St. Louis Cardinals 8965 .578 — 47‍–‍30 42‍–‍35
Cincinnati Reds 8767 .565 2 53‍–‍23 34‍–‍44
Pittsburgh Pirates 8469 .549 4½ 49‍–‍28 35‍–‍41
Chicago Cubs 8272 .532 7 49‍–‍28 33‍–‍44
New York Giants 7477 .490 13½ 43‍–‍33 31‍–‍44
Brooklyn Robins 7182 .464 17½ 38‍–‍38 33‍–‍44
Boston Braves 6686 .434 22 43‍–‍34 23‍–‍52
Philadelphia Phillies 5893 .384 29½ 33‍–‍42 25‍–‍51

Tie games

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12 tie games (5 in AL, 7 in NL), which are not factored into winning percentage or games behind (and were often replayed again) occurred throughout the season.

American League

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  • Boston Red Sox, 1
  • Chicago White Sox, 2
  • Detroit Tigers, 3
  • New York Yankees, 1
  • St. Louis Browns, 1
  • Washington Senators, 2

National League

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  • Boston Braves, 1
  • Brooklyn Robins, 2
  • Chicago Cubs, 1
  • Cincinnati Reds, 3
  • Philadelphia Phillies, 1
  • Pittsburgh Pirates, 4
  • St. Louis Cardinals, 2

Postseason

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The postseason began on October 2 and ended on October 10 with the St. Louis Cardinals defeating the New York Yankees in the 1926 World Series in seven games.

Bracket

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World Series
   
AL New York Yankees 3
NL St. Louis Cardinals 4

Managerial changes

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Off-season

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Team Former Manager New Manager
Chicago Cubs George Gibson Joe McCarthy
New York Giants Hughie Jennings John McGraw

League leaders

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Any team shown in small text indicates a previous team a player was on during the season.

American League

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Hitting leaders[4]
Stat Player Total
AVG Heinie Manush (DET) .378
OPS Babe Ruth (NYY) 1.253
HR Babe Ruth (NYY) 47
RBI Babe Ruth (NYY) 153
R Babe Ruth (NYY) 139
H George Burns (CLE)
Sam Rice (WSH)		 216
SB Johnny Mostil (CWS) 35
Pitching leaders[5]
Stat Player Total
W George Uhle (CLE) 27
L Milt Gaston (SLB)
Paul Zahniser (BOS)		 18
ERA Lefty Grove (PHA) 2.51
K Lefty Grove (PHA) 194
IP George Uhle (CLE) 318.1
SV Firpo Marberry (WSH) 22
WHIP Herb Pennock (NYY) 1.265

National League

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Hitting leaders[6]
Stat Player Total
AVG Bubbles Hargrave (CIN) .353
OPS Cy Williams (PHI) .986
HR Hack Wilson (CHC) 21
RBI Jim Bottomley (STL) 120
R Kiki Cuyler (PIT) 113
H Eddie Brown (BSN) 201
SB Kiki Cuyler (PIT) 35
Pitching leaders[7]
Stat Player Total
W Pete Donohue (CIN)
Ray Kremer (PIT)
Lee Meadows (PIT)
Flint Rhem (STL)		 20
L Jesse Petty (BRO)
Charlie Root (CHC)		 17
ERA Ray Kremer (PIT) 2.61
K Dazzy Vance (BRO) 140
IP Pete Donohue (CIN) 285.2
SV Chick Davies (NYG) 6
WHIP Grover Alexander (STL/CHC) 1.108

Milestones

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Batters

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Cycles

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Other batting accomplishments

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Pitchers

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No-hitters

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  • Ted Lyons (CWS):
    • Lyons threw his first career no-hitter and the eighth no-hitter in franchise history, by defeating the Boston Red Sox 6–0 on August 21. Vance walked one and struck out two.[11]

Other pitching accomplishments

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  • Dutch Levsen (CLE):
    • Became the last pitcher to win both games of a doubleheader on August 28, hurling two 9 inning games against the Boston Red Sox back-to-back, winning 6–1 and 5–1.[12][13] Levsen is also the last pitcher to throw two nine-inning complete games on the same day.[13]

Other pitching accomplishments

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Awards and honors

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Home field attendance

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Team name Wins %± Home attendance %± Per game
New York Yankees[14] 91 31.9% 1,027,675 47.4% 13,702
Chicago Cubs[15] 82 20.6% 885,063 42.2% 11,347
Pittsburgh Pirates[16] 84 −11.6% 798,542 −0.7% 10,108
Philadelphia Athletics[17] 83 −5.7% 714,508 −17.8% 10,063
Detroit Tigers[18] 79 −2.5% 711,914 −13.3% 8,789
Chicago White Sox[19] 81 2.5% 710,339 −14.6% 8,992
New York Giants[20] 74 −14.0% 700,362 −10.1% 9,215
Cincinnati Reds[21] 87 8.8% 672,987 44.8% 8,740
St. Louis Cardinals[22] 89 15.6% 668,428 65.1% 8,461
Brooklyn Robins[23] 71 4.4% 650,819 −1.3% 8,563
Cleveland Indians[24] 88 25.7% 627,426 49.7% 7,843
Washington Senators[25] 81 −15.6% 551,580 −32.5% 7,454
Boston Braves[26] 66 −5.7% 303,598 −3.2% 3,943
Boston Red Sox[27] 46 −2.1% 285,155 6.5% 3,703
St. Louis Browns[28] 62 −24.4% 283,986 −38.7% 3,595
Philadelphia Phillies[29] 58 −14.7% 240,600 −21.1% 3,166

See also

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References

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  1. ↑ Gonzalez, Aimee. "1925 Winter Meetings: Different Script, Same Cast". Society for American Baseball Research. Retrieved April 1, 2025.
  2. 1 2 "MLB Rule Changes". Baseball Almanac. Retrieved April 22, 2024.
  3. ↑ "1926 Major League Managers". Baseball Reference. Retrieved February 5, 2025.
  4. ↑ "1926 American League Batting Leaders". Baseball Reference. Retrieved February 5, 2025.
  5. ↑ "1926 American League Pitching Leaders". Baseball Reference. Retrieved February 5, 2025.
  6. ↑ "1926 National League Batting Leaders". Baseball Reference. Retrieved February 5, 2025.
  7. ↑ "1926 National League Pitching Leaders". Baseball Reference. Retrieved February 5, 2025.
  8. ↑ "Detroit Tigers 11, Boston Red Sox 2 (1)". Retrosheet. September 26, 1926. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved September 8, 2011.
  9. ↑ "Lefty Grove Hurls Macks to 3-1 Win Over Sox in First". Reading Times. April 20, 1926. p. 9 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  10. ↑ "Ira Flagstead Sets Record: Red Sox Outfielder Starts Trio of Double Killings". The Winnipeg Tribune. February 5, 1927. p. 16 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  11. ↑ "Chicago White Sox vs Boston Red Sox Box Score: August 21, 1926". Baseball Reference. Retrieved March 16, 2026.
  12. ↑ World's Strangest Baseball stories. Watermill Press. 1993. p. 72. ISBN 0-8167-2850X.
  13. 1 2 Preston, JG (September 13, 2009). "A thorough account of pitchers who have started both games of a doubleheader in the major leagues". prestonjg.wordpress.com. Retrieved September 15, 2020.
  14. ↑ "New York Yankees Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball Reference. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  15. ↑ "Chicago Cubs Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball Reference. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  16. ↑ "Pittsburgh Pirates Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball Reference. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  17. ↑ "Oakland Athletics Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball Reference. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  18. ↑ "Detroit Tigers Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball Reference. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  19. ↑ "Chicago White Sox Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball Reference. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  20. ↑ "San Francisco Giants Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball Reference. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  21. ↑ "Cincinnati Reds Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball Reference. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  22. ↑ "St. Louis Cardinals Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball Reference. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  23. ↑ "Los Angeles Dodgers Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball Reference. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  24. ↑ "Cleveland Indians Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball Reference. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  25. ↑ "Minnesota Twins Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball Reference. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  26. ↑ "Atlanta Braves Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball Reference. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  27. ↑ "Boston Red Sox Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball Reference. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  28. ↑ "Baltimore Orioles Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball Reference. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  29. ↑ "Philadelphia Phillies Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball Reference. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
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