The Indians seemed to have the American League pennant ready to hoist but had to fight off a couple of late season challengers before claiming the flag. With a ten-game lead in mid-August, the Indians were expected to waltz home, but Chicago and Washington made Cleveland work for their repeat of the title. The White Sox, led by Bill Barrett and rookie Lloyd "Little Poison: Waner, came within 5 games shortly after Labor Day before the Indians stiffened.
The Senators relied on a strong and talented lineup, led by Sam Rice and Lou Gehrig, and a pitching staff led by AL Rookie of the Year Larry Benton, to finish in third. The Indians blended established stars like Shoeless Joe Jackson with the younger talents like Paul "Big Poison" Waner to field a lineup which lead the league with a team batting average of .307.
The National League pennant picture once again was a dogfight between the defending Robins, the Phillies, the Pirates and the Braves. Philadelphia, led by Frankie Frisch, held a 3 1/2 game lead on Labor Day but this was one of the rare occurances that the team leading on Labor Day doesn't win the title. The defending Brooklyn Robins, led by Babe Ruth, winner of his ninth straight Outstanding Hitter award, caught fire and took control with a week and a half remaining as they broke for the top and never looked back, clinching the title with a half a week to go. Pittsburgh, led by the pitching of the league's Outstanding Pitcher award winner, Dazzy Vance, finished in third, six games behind the Robins.
The World Series was all Cleveland as they swept past Brooklyn, winning 4 games to none.
The major leagues said goodbye to pitcher Grover "Pete" Alexander, who had announced his decision to retire at the end of the season during June. Alexander won 250 games during his career with a career 3.10 ERA and was inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Code:
American League W L PCT GB National League W L PCT GB
Cleveland 98 56 .636 -- Brooklyn 92 62 .597 --
Chicago 92 62 .597 6 Philadelphia 89 65 .578 3
Washington 82 72 .532 16 Pittsburgh 86 68 .558 6
Philadelphia 76 78 .494 22 Boston 83 71 .539 9
Boston 75 79 .487 23 St.Louis 74 80 .481 18
St.Louis 68 86 .442 30 Chicago 67 87 .435 25
New York 63 91 .409 35 New York 66 88 .429 26
Detroit 62 92 .403 36 Cincinnati 59 95 .383 33
Batting AVG AVG Batting AVG AVG
J.Jackson-CLE .361 F.Frisch-PHI .339
A.Simmons-NY .354 B.Ruth-BRO .336
C.Christensen-CHI .344 H.Manush-BOS .331
Homeruns HR Homeruns HR
C.Williams-PHI 21 B.Ruth-BRO 46
L.Gehrig-WAS 18 K.Williams-CHI 23
R.Hornsby-STL 18 J.Bottomley-CIN 14
Runs Batted In RBI Runs Batted In RBI
A.Simmons-NY 103 B.Ruth-BRO 145
J.Jackson-CLE 100 K.Williams-CHI 110
P.Waner-CLE 100 H.Manush-BOS 92
Runs Scored RS Runs Scored RS
J.Jackson-CLE 125 B.Ruth-BRO 139
L.Gehrig-WAS 111 L.Blue-BRO 112
J.Neun-CHI 103 H.Manush-BOS 104
Stolen Bases SB Stolen Bases SB
J.Jackson-CLE 33 L.Blue-BRO 41
T.Lazzeri-PHI 24 R.Chapman-STL 24
J.Evans-WAS 23 L.Richbourg-PIT 23
Earned Run Average ERA Earned Run Average ERA
D.Leonard-STL 2.60 D.Vance-PIT 2.26
B.Grimes-CHI 3.21 J.Miller-BRO 2.63
U.Shocker-CHI 3.24 W.Hoyt-PHI 2.79
Wins W Wins W
L.Benton-WAS 19 D.Vance-PIT 23
R.Comstock-BOS 19 H.Carlson-BOS 22
B.Sherdel-CLE 19 R.Lucas-PIT 19
Saves SV Saves SV
F.Fussell-CLE 17 O.Enzmann-PHI 15
B.Geary-NY 10 D.Hankins-STL 15
J.Russell-STL 10 G.Braxton-CHI 14
Strikeouts SO Strikeouts SO
L.Grove-DET 168 D.Vance-PIT 236
T.Thomas-DET 149 W.Johnson-BRO 136
R.Comstock-BOS 144 E.Whitehill-CHI 120
1926 World Series
Game #1
Brooklyn 0 0 0 3 0 1 2 0 0 1 0 - 7 14 4
Cleveland 2 1 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 - 8 17 1
S.Harris, T.Odenwald (8), J.Miljus (10) and H.McCurdy.
B.Sherdel, F.Fussell (11) and G.Hartnett.
WP - F.Fussell (1-0)
LP - J.Miljus (0-1)
HR - BRO: B.Ruth (1)
Game #2
Brooklyn 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 - 3 8 1
Cleveland 5 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 x - 8 13 1
J.Miller and H.McCurdy
J.Morrison and G.Hartnett
WP - J.Morrison (1-0)
LP - J.Miller (0-1)
HR - CLE: D.Farrell (1)
Game #3
Cleveland 2 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 - 5 10 2
Brooklyn 1 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 - 4 10 3
D.McWeeny, F.Fussell (9) and G.Hartnett
W.Johnson and H.McCurdy
WP - D.McWeeny (1-0)
LP - W.Johnson (0-1)
SV - F.Fussell (1)
HR - none
Game #4
Cleveland 3 1 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 - 7 12 2
Brooklyn 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 4 0 - 6 13 1
B.Sherdel and G.Hartnett
S.Harris, T.Odenwald (8) and H.McCurdy
WP - B.Sherdel (1-0)
LP - S.Harris (0-1)
HR - none