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The1931World Series featured the two-time defending championPhiladelphia Athletics and theSt. Louis Cardinals. The Cardinals beat the Athletics in seven games, a rematch and reversal of fortunes of theprevious World Series.

The same two teams faced off during the 1930 World Series and the Athletics were victorious. The only day-to-day player in the Cardinals' lineup who was different in 1931 was the "Wild Horse of the Osage",Pepper Martin—a 27-year-old rookie who had spent seven seasons in the minor leagues. He led his team for the Series in runs scored, hits, doubles, runs batted in and stolen bases, and also made a running catch to stifle a ninth-inning rally by the A's in the final game.

Thespitball pitch had been banned byMajor League Baseball in 1920, but those still using it at that time were "grandfathered", or permitted to keep throwing it for the balance of their big-league careers. One of those who "wet his pill" still active in 1931 wasBurleigh Grimes, with two Series starts, two wins and seven innings of no-hit pitching in Game 3. "Wild"Bill Hallahan started and won the other two for the Cards, and saved Game 7.

The Athletics had captured their third straightAmerican League pennant, winning 107 games (and 313 from 1929–31). But this would prove to be the final World Series for longtime A'smanagerConnie Mack. As he did after the Boston "Miracle Braves" swept his heavily favored A's in the1914 Series, Mack would break up this great team by selling off his best players, this time out of perceived economic necessity rather than pique and competition from the short-livedFederal League. It would be the A's last World Series appearance inPhiladelphia and it would be41 years—and two cities—later before the A's would return to the Fall Classic, after their successive moves toKansas City in 1955 andOakland in 1968. This would also be the city of Philadelphia's last appearance in the Series until1950, and as of 2023 the only Series involving a Philadelphia team to last seven games. It was also the last World Series until the2017 edition in which both teams who had won at least 100 games in the regular season went the maximum seven games.

This was the first World Series to feature a team with numbers on the back of the uniform (Philadelphia).

NLSt. Louis Cardinals (4) vs. ALPhiladelphia Athletics (3)

The A's scored four runs in the third, enabling Lefty Grove to win Game 1 despite giving up 12 hits, three by Pepper Martin. The Cardinals struck first in the first inning on three consecutive one-out singles, the last of which toJim Bottomley scoring a run. After a strikeout, Martin's double scored another run. In the top of the third with runners on first and second,Mule Haas's double scored Philadelphia's first run. Two consecutive walks byPaul Derringer loaded the bases and tied the game, thenJimmie Foxx's single scored two more runs. In the top of the seventh,Al Simmons's two-run home run put Philadelphia up 6–2, the game's final.

Pepper Martin's two hits and two stolen bases, scoring both Cardinal runs, supported Hallahan's three-hit shutout. The Cardinals scored the game's first run in the second whenPepper Martin doubled offGeorge Earnshaw, stole third and scored onJimmy Wilson's sacrifice fly, and the game's second run in the seventh when Martin hit a leadoff single, stole second, moved to third on a groundout and scored onCharlie Gelbert's fielder's choice.

Grimes pitched a two-hitter and contributed a two-run single in the fourth. He had a shutout until Al Simmons hit a two-run homer with two outs in the ninth. St. Louis struck first in the second when with runners on first and third via a walk and single,Jimmie Wilson's single andCharlie Gelbert's lineout scored a run each. They added to their lead in the fourth offLefty Grove onBurleigh Grimes's two-run single with runners on second and third, and added another run in the ninth offRoy Mahaffey onJim Bottomley's double.

George Earnshaw pitched a brilliant two-hit shutout, walking one and striking out eight. Simmons RBI double in the first inning after a walk and two groundouts was all Earnshaw needed. Philadelphia added to their lead in the sixth off Syl Johnson onJimmie Foxx's home run andJimmy Dykes's single after aBing Miller double. Martin had both Cardinal hits.

Martin was a thorn in the A's side in the series, getting three hits and four RBI to lead St. Louis to a 5-1 victory. Through five games, Martin leads all regulars with a .667 (12-18) average. St. Louis struck first in the first on Pepper Martin's sacrifice fly with runners on second and third. Martin's home run after a double in the sixth made it 3–0 Cardinals. The A's scored their only run in the seventh onBing Miller's groundout after two one-out singles. The Cardinals added to their lead in the eighth whenGeorge Watkins walked offRube Walberg, stole second and scored on Martin's single and in the ninth offEddie Rommel onCharlie Gelbert's single with two on.

The Athletics broke a scoreless tie with four runs in the fifth, Grove winning his second game of the series with a five-hitter, tying the series. After an error and walk off Paul Derringer,Dib Williams's RBI single scored the game's first run. Two two-out walks loaded the bases and scored another run.Mickey Cochrane's RBI single scored a run, then a walk toAl Simmons scored another. St. Louis scored their only run in the sixth whenJake Flowers doubled and scored onFrankie Frisch's single. The A's added to their lead in the seventh offJim Lindsey.Max Bishop hit a leadoff single, moved to second on a bunt groundout, and scored onAl Simmons's single. After a single and hit-by-pitch loaded the bases, a walk toJimmy Dykes scored a run and an error scored two more.

The Cardinals struck first in the first when with runners on second and third via two single and a bunt groundout, a wild pitch by George Earnshaw toPepper Martin scored a run and a strike three wild pitch toErnie Orsatti scored another. A two-run home run by George Watkins in the third gave the Cardinals a 4-0 lead, but the Athletics scored two in the ninth onDoc Cramer's bases loaded two-run single, Hallahan getting the last out, saving the victory for Grimes. Despite going 0–for–6 in Games 6 and 7, Pepper Martin was the leading hitter of the series with a .500 (12–for–24) batting average.

1931 World Series(4–3):St. Louis Cardinals (N.L.) overPhiladelphia Athletics (A.L.)

• Cohen, Richard M.; Neft, David S. (1990).The World Series: Complete Play-By-Play of Every Game, 1903–1989. New York: St. Martin's Press. pp. 137–141.ISBN 0-312-03960-3.
• Reichler, Joseph (1982).The Baseball Encyclopedia (5th ed.). Macmillan Publishing. p. 2139.ISBN 0-02-579010-2.

• 1931 World Series atWorldSeries.com viaMLB.com
• 1931 World Series atBaseball Almanac
• 1931 World Series atBaseball-Reference.com
• The 1931 Post-Season Games (box scores and play-by-play) atRetrosheet
• History of the World Series - 1931 atThe Sporting News. Archived fromthe original in May 2006.
• Video of 1931 World Series

• World Series
• 1931 Major League Baseball season
• St. Louis Cardinals postseason
• Philadelphia Athletics postseason
• 1931 in sports in Missouri
• 1931 in sports in Pennsylvania
• 1931 in Philadelphia
• 1930s in St. Louis
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• October 1931 sports events in the United States

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