As the Yankees rode a seemingly charmed winning streak, baseball writers also reflected on the passing of an older generation. Heinie Groh, Milton Stock and Grover Hartley were among the veterans leaving center stage as younger stars reshaped the game in 1926.
Babe Ruth chases another home run record while the Reds, Cubs and Pirates reshape the National League race. The Sporting News from May 27, 1926 captures baseball at a turning point, with pennant contenders rising, dynasties wobbling and legends still commanding the spotlight.
The Cardinals roared back from a five-run deficit behind Rogers Hornsby, Heinie Mueller, and a rare triple play, while the Browns staggered home in last place and the St. Louis Stars edged the Cuban Stars in extra innings.
The defending Pirates battered the first-place Reds, 7–2, behind Emil Yde, Glenn Wright, and Pie Traynor, while the Cincinnati Enquirer captured the mood of May 1926 with baseball notes, humor, and sports-page verse.
Babe Ruth keeps hammering home runs, Rogers Hornsby prepares for “Hornsby Day” in St. Louis, and the Reds, Robins, Yankees, and Athletics all surge in the 1926 pennant races in this packed Sporting News special edition from May 20, 1926.
Red Lucas crushed a game-winning triple, Adolfo Luque outpitched Jack Scott, and the Reds stretched their winning streak to six games before more than 30,000 fans at Redland Field. Meanwhile, Billy Evans explained why Lefty Grove finally looked worth Connie Mack’s $100,000 investment.
The Giants dropped their third straight in Cincinnati after a disastrous eighth inning, while Babe Ruth’s Yankees sat idle in the rain and Brooklyn lost a lucrative one-day stand to the weather. Baseball writers of May 1926 captured panic, frustration, and pennant-race tension coast to coast.
John McGraw signs a new Giants contract as The Sporting News dives into 1926 baseball rumors, pennant races, Ty Cobb’s Tigers, Lefty Grove’s rise, Red Lucas, and major league chatter coast to coast.