It's finally here, the first regular season meeting of the Yankees and the Cardinals at Busch Stadium. The two franchises hold 35 World Series titles between them in a combined 55 appearances. 5 times the two teams have faced each other head-to-head in the Fall Classic.

The Cardinals took the 1926 series 4 games to 3. Grover Cleveland Alexander was the Redbirds hero, winning games 2 and 6 and saving game 7 (even though the save was not an official stat in 1926).

The Yankees applied payback with a 4 games to none sweep in 1928, Babe Ruth batting .625 and Lou Gehrig batting .545 to lead the onslaught.

In 1942, pitching led the way again for the Cardinals as Johnny Beazley grabbed complete game victories in Games 2 and 5, for the Cardinals to take the series 4 games to 1.

In 1943, the rematch went to the junior circuit team from the Big Apple. Because of World War II travel restrictions, games 1, 2, and 3 were played in Yankee Stadium, with the Yanks taking 2 out of 3, and completing their 4-1 series victory with two wins in St. Louis. Spud Chandler won 2 games for the Yankees, and the Cardinals managed only 9 runs in the 5-game series.

And finally, a series that is a little fresher in some of our memories, the 1964 Cardinals took the series from the Yankees in 7 games. Bob Gibson was the series MVP, winning complete games in game 5 and 7.

My thanks to MLB.com for all of this World Series history.

Through the innovation (gimmick?) of interleague play, the Cardinals visited Yankee Stadium during the summer of 2003, and were swept away by the Rocket's 300th victory in the first game, and outscored 21-8 during the three-game series, losing all 3.

So overall, in World Series and regular season play, the Cardinals have a 13-18 record against the Evil Empire (but a 3-2 edge in head-to-head World Series). Let's hope the Birds are as hospitable this weekend as the Yankees were in 2003.

TSF