When Rogers Hornsby was traded away on Dec. 20, 1926, the St. Louis Chamber of Commerce appealed to baseball's commissioner to stop the deal. Post-Dispatch sports columnist Bob Broeg reflected on the trade years later.
On Dec. 20, 1926, Cardinals' clubowner Sam Breadon dealt the biggest baseball bombshell, prompting St. Louis' Chamber of Commerce to denounce him by resolution and angry fans to festoon his Pierce-Arrow automobile agency with black funereal crepe. His fashionable Washington Terrace home, too.
Even though Rogers Hornsby just had player-managed the Redbirds to their first pennant and world championship, Breadon dealt The Rajah to the New York Giants for another second baseman, Frank Frisch, and a throw-in pitching veteran, Jimmy Ring.