Rookie Manager
By the ’28 series, Bill McKechnie had replaced Rogers Hornsby as A’s manager; the results proved disastrous.
"The difference between the 1926 Cardinals and their 1928 counterpart was one of managerial philosophy. While Rogers Hornsby had decided to keep the ball away from Ruth, walking him 11 times, McKechnie favored pitching to the big guy. It was a major tactical mistake. In the first three games, the Yankees outscored the Cardinals 20-7. Ruth had seven hits and had scored six runs."
The Yanks took the first two at home and then the series shifted location. But not momentum.
"The Yankees would carry a 2-0 lead to Sportsman’s Park in St. Louis, where they had so often thumped the hapless AL St. Louis Browns. The Cardinals briefly led when Bottomley lined a two-run triple to center off Tom Zachary (starting in place of the injured Pennock), but Gehrig led the charge back against Haines with a solo homer over the right field fence in the second and a two-run inside-the-park job to deep center that scored Ruth (who had singled), and gave the Yankees a 3-2 lead. Andy High hit an RBI double in the fifth to tie it up, but the Yankees notched three runs in the sixth, highlighted by Meusel’s steal of home, to re-take the lead. Ruth added an RBI single in the seventh, and Zachary matched his rotation-mates by also completing what he started."
All Over But the Crying
By the end, it was clear to everyone that the oddsmakers were wrong. And in game four, Babe Ruth was going to make sure of it. Before he could though, this was the last part of the pre-game ceremonies that day.
"But the grand climax of the antebellum ceremonies came when Alt-Rock gathered the band in centre field and then paraded up to the home plate with the band playing “Sidewalks of New York” at his heels and a brown derby on his head."
Once that was done, so were the Cards.