For the Cardinals, It All Began in the 1926 World Series

First, Tom Lasorda pitches to Jack Clark with first base open. Then, Dick Howser leaves Dan Quisenberry in the bullpen and lets Terry Pendleton do a number on Charlie Leibrandt.

The St. Louis Cardinals really don’t deserve that much help, but it’s nothing new. It started in 1926, the first year they appeared in the Fall Classic. That was the Series that made a folk hero of Grover Cleveland Alexander, but Ol’ Alex might merely have been a footnote had it not been for some incredible strategy on the part of New York Yankee Manager Miller Huggins.

In the seventh game, with the Cardinals leading 3-2, the Yankees had the bases loaded with Tony Lazzeri at the plate. Alexander, who already had won two games, was summoned from the bullpen. The 39-year-old Alexander, supposedly suffering from a hangover, proceeded to strike Lazzeri out.

The score was still 3-2 with two out in the bottom of the ninth when Babe Ruth drew a walk for the Yankees. Huggins suddenly had an inspiration. A light went on in his head, and you could just see him thinking, “They’d never expect Ruth to steal. It would catch them completely off guard. If he gets to second, we can tie it up with a single.”

So, Ruth tried to steal. He was thrown out. Game over. Series over. Alexander’s immortality was insured.

From Herb Caen’s column in the San Francisco Chronicle: “John Griffin says that Tommy Lasorda broke one of baseball’s cardinal rules when he let Tom Niedenfuer pitch to Jack Clark: ‘You never pitch to anyone whose name is on a candy bar in the month of October.’ ”

Trivia Time: Has there ever been a World Series in which all of the games were played in the same stadium? (Answer below.)

Said John Robinson, when asked how LeRoy Irvin and Gary Green of the Rams ranked with the more “famous” cornerbacks in the NFL: “Famously.”

For What It’s Worth: The last time the Rams were 7-0 was in 1978 under Ray Malavasi. They won the NFC West at 12-4, then beat Minnesota, 34-10, in a divisional playoff. Then Dallas knocked them out in the NFC title game, 28-0.

In 1969 under George Allen, they went 11-0 before losing the last three games of the regular season. In the Western Conference playoff, they lost to Minnesota, 23-20.

Dept. of Incidental Information: In case anybody asks, the Rams’ magic number is six.

Would-you-believe-it dept.: Daniel Hunter, the Denver defensive back who intercepted the pass that set up Sunday’s game-winning field goal against Seattle, was cut last year by the Express. He’s from Henderson State in Arkansas.

Colorado State running back Steve Bartalo, who gained 207 yards in the 35-19 loss to the Air Force, said he almost became a Falcon.

“I got as far as filling out the forms,” Bartalo told the Denver Post. “I always liked the way Air Force played. But when I sat down to fill out the forms, they told me everything had to be in triplicate. I figured if it took that long, then the military wasn’t for me.”

Trivia Answer: Yes. In 1921 and 1922, all the World Series games between the New York Yankees and New York Giants were played in the Polo Grounds. In 1944, all the games between the St. Louis Cardinals and St. Louis Browns were played in Sportsman’s Park.

Quotebook

St. Louis Manager Whitey Herzog, on the proliferation of contracts with deferred salaries: “We’re going to have an old-timer’s game pretty soon where everybody’s being paid.”