October 5, 1942. Bottom of the ninth at Yankee Stadium. The New York Yankees had runners on base with nobody out, trailing 4-2, and for a moment it felt like the old script was about to reassert itself -- the way it always did in October, the way it had in eight straight World Series. Then Cardinals pitcher Johnny Beazley picked off at second base, retired the next two hitters, and ended the most dominant postseason streak in baseball history. St. Louis 4, New York 2. Series over. Sixteen years of October invincibility, gone.
The Streak That Died
The Yankees' last World Series loss had come in 1926 -- against these same Cardinals. In the 16 years since, the club had appeared in eight Fall Classics and won every single one: 1927, 1928, 1932, 1936, 1937, , , and . They'd swept five of those eight opponents. No franchise in any sport had strung together anything like it.
The club looked like another chapter in the same book. A 103-51 record. Nine games clear of Boston. Joe DiMaggio, Gordon, and Charlie Keller had all driven in 100 or more runs. , Spud Chandler, and Hank Borowy all carried ERAs under 2.55. The Yankees were heavy favorites.
The Cardinals had other plans.
Game by Game
Game 1 -- September 30, Sportsman's Park, St. Louis Yankees 7, Cardinals 4. Red Ruffing got the start and the win, and the series felt like it was following the usual blueprint. The Yankees scored early and held on through a Cardinals rally. After the game, the press box consensus was unanimous: five games, maybe six.
Game 2 -- October 1, Sportsman's Park Cardinals 4, Yankees 3. Beazley beat Bonham in a game that was tighter than anyone in pinstripes wanted. The momentum that had felt so secure after Game 1 shifted to the other dugout.
Game 3 -- October 3, Yankee Stadium Cardinals 2, Yankees 0. Ernie White threw a complete-game shutout against the most dangerous lineup in baseball. Two runs were all St. Louis needed. A shutout in the World Series -- against three 100-RBI hitters and a .669 ballclub -- was the performance that changed the tenor of the whole series. The Cardinals weren't just hanging around. They were in control.
Game 4 -- October 4, Yankee Stadium Cardinals 9, Yankees 6. St. Louis blew the game open and took a 3-1 series lead. Max Lanier got the win. The Yankees were facing elimination at home for the first time since Grover Cleveland Alexander struck out Tony Lazzeri in 1926.
Game 5 -- October 5, Yankee Stadium Cardinals 4, Yankees 2. The game that ended an era.
| Series Result | Cardinals win, 4 games to 1 |
| Cardinals Regular Season | 106-46 (franchise record) |
| Yankees Regular Season | 103-51 |
| Series MVP | No official award (pre-1955) |
| Beazley (Cardinals) | 2 wins, including Game 5 clincher |
| White (Cardinals) | CG shutout, Game 3 |
| Kurowski (Cardinals) | .267 / 1 HR / 5 RBI (series-clinching HR) |
| Gordon (Yankees) | .095 / 2-for-21 / 7 K |
The Ninth Inning
Ruffing -- the same pitcher who'd won Game 1, the 37-year-old warhorse who'd been winning World Series games since the 1930s -- was on the mound protecting a 2-2 tie in the top of the ninth. Whitey Kurowski stepped in. On a 1-1 count, Ruffing threw a change-of-pace pitch. Kurowski drove it just inside the left-field foul pole and into the bleachers. Two-run homer. Cardinals 4, Yankees 2. Inches decided a championship.
The Yankees didn't quit. In the bottom of the ninth, a single and an error put runners on with nobody out. The old script seemed ready to reassert itself -- runners on, nobody out, Yankee Stadium, the season on the line. But Beazley picked off Gordon at second, killing the rally before it could build. The AL MVP, the best player on a 103-win team, caught leaning. The next two batters went down quietly.
The Cardinals had their first championship since 1934. The Yankees' winning streak was finished.
Rickey's Kids Beat the Dynasty
The detail that gave this upset its lasting weight was organizational. Every Cardinals player on the roster except Harry Gumbert had come through Branch Rickey's farm system. St. Louis hadn't bought a championship. They'd grown one -- developing talent through the minor leagues, stockpiling it, and unleashing it on the richest franchise in baseball.
The philosophical contrast between Rickey's model and the Yankees' spending-power approach became a front-office debate that lasted decades. Could patient development beat star acquisition? In October 1942, Rickey had his answer.
Game 1: Business as Usual
Ruffing wins at Sportsman's Park, 7-4. The Yankees have won Game 1 of the World Series. The sun rises in the east.
Game 2: The Shift
Beazley beats Bonham, 4-3. The Cardinals even the series and take the momentum back to New York.
Game 3: White's Shutout
Ernie White shuts out the Yankees 2-0 at Yankee Stadium. A complete game against a 103-win lineup. The turning point.
Game 4: St. Louis Pours It On
Cardinals 9, Yankees 6. One loss from elimination for the first time in 16 years.
Game 5: Kurowski Ends It
Kurowski's ninth-inning two-run homer off Ruffing clinches the series. Beazley picks off Gordon to snuff the last rally. Eight-series winning streak, over.
DiMaggio's Only October Defeat
Across his career, DiMaggio played in 10 World Series. The Yankees won nine of them. The 1942 loss was the only exception -- and it came in what turned out to be his last October for four years. He enlisted in the Army Air Force on February 17, 1943, and didn't play another game in pinstripes until 1946. The .305 season and the five-game loss to St. Louis lingered as the final image of the pre-war DiMaggio.
Phil Rizzuto and Bill Dickey watched the same dynasty end from different vantage points -- Rizzuto as a 25-year-old whose career was about to be interrupted by Navy service, Dickey as a 35-year-old catcher wondering how many Octobers he had left.
The gave the Yankees their revenge -- a five-game win over the Cardinals with dominating on the mound. But that was a different team, a wartime roster stripped of DiMaggio and Rizzuto and Ruffing. The 1942 club -- McCarthy's last fully loaded machine -- went home in October for the first time in 16 years, and the version of the dynasty that had ruled baseball since the days of Ruth and Gehrig went home with it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who won the 1942 World Series?
The St. Louis Cardinals defeated the Yankees 4 games to 1, winning the last four games after dropping the opener. Whitey Kurowski's ninth-inning two-run home run in Game 5 clinched the championship. It was the Cardinals' first title since 1934 and the Yankees' first World Series loss since 1926.
How did the Yankees lose the 1942 World Series?
After winning Game 1 behind Red Ruffing, the Yankees dropped four straight. Ernie White shut them out 2-0 in Game 3, and the Cardinals blew Game 4 open with a 9-6 win. In Game 5, Kurowski's home run off Ruffing in the ninth inning broke a 2-2 tie. Johnny Beazley then picked off Joe Gordon at second base to kill the Yankees' last rally.
Did the 1942 World Series end the Yankees' winning streak?
Yes. The Yankees had won eight consecutive World Series appearances -- 1927, 1928, 1932, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, and 1941. The 1942 loss to the Cardinals snapped that streak. Their previous Series defeat had also come against St. Louis, in 1926.