The two pennant winners in 1926, the National League's Cardinals and the American League's Yankees, were a study in contrasts. The Yankees were heavily composed of first- and second-generation Americans and based in New York, the epicenter of baseball; the Cardinals, on the other hand, were mostly a collection of farm boys playing at the western fringe of the major leagues. But both teams arrived battle-tested, as St. Louis had fought a long, close race with Cincinnati and New York had survived a dramatic late-season run by Cleveland. Their classic World Series meeting went seven games and produced one of the legendary pitcher-batter confrontations of baseball history.

Chronicles the history and tradition of the St. Louis Cardinals, from the era when they were managed by Branch Rickey in the years following World War I to the present day.

Wee Willie Sherdel was a very humble, courageous left-handed pitcher who became one of the all-time great southpaws in St. Louis Cardinals history. The son of a German blacksmith in a small Pennsylvania village, Willie’s dream was to become a major league pitcher – a rather big dream for a small boy. Not the most talented or biggest, he worked hard and learned from greats like Eddie Plank, Branch Rickey and Grover Cleveland Alexander. Sherdel’s best years were in the 1920s while Rickey was developing the farm system concept and the Cards were playing in two World Series. Known for his slow ball, Willie was given the honor of pitching the first game against Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and the powerful Yankees in both Series. Although labeled a hard-luck pitcher in the Series, Sherdel performed many great feats on the diamond. Since his retirement in 1932, he remains the Redbirds’ winningest left-hander and fourth all-time winner. Willie also has pitched the third-most games and the fourth-most innings. Like all pitchers, he loved to talk about his hitting. Among Cardinals’ pitchers, Sherdel owns the fourth-most career home runs and the fifth-best batting average for his .337 in 1923. His contemporaries included over 90 Hall of Famers and some of the greatest players of all-time including Ruth, Gehrig, Ty Cobb and Rogers Hornsby.

Explore over a century of Cardinals baseball in this illustrated tour of the players, teams, ballparks, and historic moments! With a legacy that goes back to the Brown Stockings of the old American Association, the St. Louis Cardinals have one of the longest and greatest traditions in the history of baseball. Winners of ten World Series titles (second only to the New York Yankees) and twenty-one pennants dating back to 1885, the Redbirds have established a dynasty across the decades—from Charlie Comiskey’s four-time AA champs, through the “Gashouse Gang” of the 1930s and the “Runnin’ Redbirds” in the 1980s, up to the 2006 World Champions. Front-office pioneers like Chris von der Ahe and Branch Rickey have put the Cardinals franchise at the forefront of innovation, while bringing in some of baseball’s greatest talent—pitchers Dizzy Dean to Bob Gibson, sluggers Johnny Mize to Mark McGwire, and all-around superstars like Rogers “Rajah” Hornsby, Stan “the Man” Musial, and Albert Pujols. Pairing historic black-and-white photos and contemporary images of the modern game, St. Louis Cardinals: Past & Present explores the ballparks and the fans, the players and the teams that have defined Cardinals baseball.

The 2011-2012 volume in the Cooperstown Symposium series is a collection of new scholarly essays that use baseball to examine topics whose import extends beyond the ballpark. The essays represent 16 of the leading presentations from the two most recent proceedings of the annual Cooperstown Symposium on Baseball and American Culture, held on June 1-4, 2011, and May 30-June 1, 2012. The essays are divided into six parts. "Baseball History, Myth, and the American Past" considers the distinction between reality and remembrance. "Decade of Transition: The 1960s in Baseball and America" explores a critical passage in the evolution of the nation and the game. "Baseball Economics: Owners, Profits, and the Public" provides perspectives on sports as business. "Out of the Bleachers: Women Umpiring and Playing" links the game to those who participate and care about it despite the expectations of atavistic gender roles. "Casting the Game: Stage and Screen" examines theatrical and cinematic treatments of baseball. Part 6, "Game of Numbers: Statistical Baseball," examines the sport and its artifacts quantitatively.

He was not much of a player and not much more of a manager, but by the time Branch Rickey (1881?1965) finished with baseball, he had revolutionized the sport?not just once but three times. In this definitive biography of Rickey?the man sportswriters dubbed ?The Brain,? ?The Mahatma,? and, on occasion, ?El Cheapo??Lee Lowenfish tells the full, colorful story of a life that forever changed the face of America?s game. From 1917 to 1942, Rickey was the mastermind behind the Saint Louis Cardinals who enabled small-market clubs to compete with the rich and powerful by creating the farm system . Under his direction in the 1940s, the Brooklyn Dodgers became the first true ?America?s team.? By signing Jackie Robinson and other black players, he single-handedly thrust baseball into the forefront of the civil rights movement. Lowenfish evokes the peculiarly American complex of God, family, and baseball that informed Rickey?s actions and his accomplishments. His book offers an intriguing, richly detailed portrait of a man whose life is itself a crucial chapter in the history of American business, sport, and society.