This Date In St. Louis Cardinal History: Hot Stove circa 1926

It has been an eventful offseason for baseball. Free agent signings. Teams trading big names and prospects to try to stay ahead in the game. Or get in the game. The Hot Stove has never been so warm. But it is nothing new.

Let’s take a little trip back in time. Back before Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and other forms of social media. Long before anyone with a keyboard and internet connection could become a pundit and share their opinion on every trade or player movement. Back before there was a cable channel devoted to around-the-clock coverage of the national pastime. Even before there was television, for that matter.

Eighty-eight years ago today, on December 20, 1926, the St. Louis Cardinals traded Rogers Hornsby.

In what has to be considered the first major blockbuster player-for-player trade, the newly crowned World Champion Cardinals shipped their best player to the New York Giants for Frankie Frisch and Jimmy Ring. But let’s be honest here. Ring was a non-factor. This was a trade between Rajah and the Fordham Flash.

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Well, it wasn’t happy then. Cardinal faithful did not take kindly to the move when it happened. After 12 years, how do you trade a 3-time .400 hitter, winning six batting titles along the way, and the leader, as player and manager, of the team that brought St. Louis their first league pennant and World Series title? Can you imagine the social media frenzy over this trade had there been, say, social media. It would have been off-the-charts!

Well, it turned out just fine for Cardinal Nation. Frisch was a bonafide star in his own right, leading the Giants to four pennants and World Series appearances from 1921-1924. And he won over the hearts of Cardinal fans with his skilled hitting, fielding and base running. His eleven year stint in St. Louis would bring four more pennants and two world titles to a city that embraced him and his work ethic. As it turned out, Hornsby only played one season with the Giants, then wandered to the Boston Braves and Chicago Cubs before coming back to town with the St. Louis Browns. He was still a great hitter. But Frisch remained a star in St. Louis as a player, manager and member of the storied Gas House Gang.

One trade. Two Hall of Famers. Two all-time Cardinal greats. Eighty-eight years ago. Hot Stove history at its finest.

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