1926 – National League MVP Bob O’Farrell is named to replace Rogers Hornsby as the St. Louis Cardinals manager. The job was reportedly first offered to Bill Killefer who, out of loyalty to Hornsby turned it down, and quit. Killefer will sign on as a coach of the St. Louis Browns.
Given the outpouring of public support for the popular players and the failure of the accuser to publicly defend his claim at a hearing last month, Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis announces Ty Cobb’s former Tiger teammate Dutch Leonard had accused the Georgia Peach and Indian outfielder Tris Speaker of betting on a fixed baseball game played six years ago. The commissioner will declare the matter closed, giving both future Hall of Famers a clean bill of health.
1926 – Cleveland coach Jack McCallister is named to replace Tris Speaker as Indians manager.
1926 – Cardinals C Bob O’Farrell is named National League MVP. O’Farrell caught 146 games and batted .293. He polls 79 points. Reds 2B Hughie Critz is runner-up with 60. Critz set a major-league record amassing 588 assists, which will be topped by Frank Frisch with 643 in 1927.
On November 29, 1926, Tris Speaker resigns as manager of the Cleveland Indians. Speaker led the Indians to a respectable second-place finish in 1926. Stories of a thrown game and betting on games by Ty Cobb and Speaker gain momentum when Judge Landis holds a secret hearing with the two stars and former P-OF Joe Wood. The story and testimony…
On November 11, 1926, the Chicago White Sox fire one Hall of Famer and replace him with another. The White Sox fire Eddie Collins as both player and manager, despite his record of 81-72 and .344 average. He will rejoin the Philadelphia Athletics as a player-coach. In his place, Chicago hires catcher Ray Schalk, who will guide the White…
On November 3, 1926, Ty Cobb resigns as manager of the Detroit Tigers after a 79-75 season and announces his retirement as a player. Early in 1927, Cobb will sign a one-year contract with Connie Mack’s Philadelphia A’s and return as a player hitting .357. It will later be revealed that Cobb’s resignation in Detroit,…
On November 2, 1926 – The Detroit Tigers release Ty Cobb. The release ends his 22-year association with the team. The Georgia Peach, was Detroit’s player-manager for the past six seasons, he compiled a 479-444 (.509) winning record. Despite the winning record the club never finished closer than 16 games from first place. Mainly because…
1926 – “Ruth, by Losing 36 Baseballs, Breaks Up Game in Montreal.” The barnstorming Babe Ruth and his buddy Urban Shocker are the Yankee ringers infiltrating an exhibition game north of the border. The Associated Press reports: “Babe Ruth stopped a perfectly good ball game here today when, knocking thirty-six balls out of the grounds, he forced the game to be called shortly after the start of the 9th inning because the management had no more spheres. Ruth enjoyed a Roman holiday to the delight of 3,000 fans, who braved a chilling wind to see the home-run hero’s mighty bat give Guybourg a 4 to 3 victory over Beaurivage. Ruth’s performance included two home runs. He also played shortstop, first base, pitched and umpired.”
On October 12, 1926, Babe Ruth visited Wilkes-Barre’s Artillery Park to play in an exhibition game between Hughestown and Larksville. Suiting up for Hughestown, the Yankee slugger challenged Larksville’s hurler Ernie Corkran to throw him his “best stuff” — a fastball right down the heart of the plate. Corkran obliged and Ruth crushed the pitch…
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