1926 – At Yankee Stadium, Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth hit back-to-back homers off Tiger starter Sam Gibson, and the Yankees outscore the Tigers, 13 – 9. Herb Pennock is the winner.
Chicago’s Grover Cleveland Alexander beats the Giants, 6 – 4, with George McQuillan taking the loss. It is Alex’s last win in a Cubs uniform.
The Yankees score seven in the 2nd but lose to Detroit, 14 – 10, knocking themselves out of the lead; Washington moves into first.
A three-alarm blaze burns down Fenway Park’s grandstand roof and left field bleachers. The Boston Red Sox, desperately in need of cash, use most of the insurance proceeds to pay for operations and leave a vacant lot where the bleachers once stood.
Legendary pitcher Satchel Paige makes his debut in the Negro Southern League. Paige, at 19 years of age, leads Chattanooga to a 5 – 4 win over Birmingham.
1926 – 17-year-old Mel Ott makes his first major league appearance with the New York Giants pinch-hitting for Jimmy Ring. Ott strikes out as the Giants win, 9 – 8, over the Phillies. He won’t play regularly until 1927.
1926 – Unfazed by Forbes Field’s ample dimensions, St. Louis Cardinals player-manager Rogers Hornsby leads by example, slugging his team to a 9 – 3 thrashing of the Pittsburgh Pirates. 3 for 3 with a single, double, sacrifice fly and tape-measure IPHR good for 5 RBI, the Rajah’s exploits are documented by Lou Wollen of the Pittsburgh Press: “Manager Rogers Hornsby is an ideal leader. Not only does he pilot the Cardinals in expert fashion, getting all the baseball possible out of his players, but he shows them on the ball field how the game should be played. Yesterday, for instance, he demonstrated the latest approved methods in clouting, leading his club in this department. He batted perfectly and saw his team vanquish the Pittsburgh world’s champions by a 9 to 3 score.” Hornsby finishes with a flourish, as Wollen can attest: “The Cardinals wound up by tallying twice in the 9th when Heinie Mueller tripled past Clyde Barnhart in left center and Hornsby smashed a home run to the (450-foot-distant) flagpole in center.”
April 13, 1926, one of the greatest Opening Day pitchers’ duels ever occurs, 25,000 fans filled Griffith Stadium to see, 38-year-old Walter Johnson of the Washington Senators battle Eddie Rommel and the Philadelphia Athletics. Johnson the aging future Hall of Famer was playing in his second to last season. Johnson and Rommel matched goose eggs…
More than 45,000 fans at the Polo Grounds watch Jess Petty of the Brooklyn Robins post an Opening Day, 3 – 0, one-hitter over the New York Giants. The Giants will win seven in a row after the opener, only to be beaten again by Petty, 2 – 1, on April 24th.
Tris Speaker, player-manager for the Indians, takes some swings on March 11, 1926 as the Indians go through their spring training paces in Lakeland, Fla.
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