May 21, 1926: The Bats Come Alive In The Seventh as The Cards Bury The Phillies

     On May 21, 1926, with the help of a seven run explosion during seventh inning of a contest against the Phillies at Sportsman's Park the Cardinals sailed to a 12-4 victory over the visiting Phillies. The team's ace, Flint Rhem got the call to start the contest, and was roughed up a bit through the first three, as he gave up three runs in the first, and another in the third. Philadelphia's starter, Willard Dean had just about the same luck as his counterpart, as he gave up a run in the second, and two more in the bottom of the third that evened the score at 4 apiece. Rhem settled in after his early hiccups and held the visitors off the board the rest of the contest, while Dean looked to be doing the same until he allowed a run in the sixth that gave the Birds a 5-4 advantage. In the seventh the hit parade began that had the Cardinals marching around the bases, and across home plate one after another. Dean was charged with each of the runs, and he gave up another in the eighth, before Rhem turned the lights out on the Phillies in the ninth.

     Rhem is an interesting character from the Cardinals' past. The '26 season was a career year for the hurler, as he went 20-7 with a 3.21 e.r.a for the club who was destined to claim their first World Series crown. He never did reach that level again. In fact, he often found himself in trouble with a drinking issue he battled with, and never did post an e.r.a. better than 3.50 throughout the rest of his time in the big leagues. While his big league career was not always the smoothest, it is safe to say that the flag that flies at the ballpark with the words "1926 World Champions" across it would not exist if not for the career year that Flint Rhem put together in 1926.

You can view Rhem's career numbers here: http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/rhemfl01.shtml