The 1953 Yankees and the 1943 Yankees split their six game series. The '53 Yankees stayed 12 games over .500 at 27-15 while the '43 Yankees finished their play in season with a record of 62-94, next to last of the Yankee championship teams.
Vic Raschi won two of the three games for the '53 Yankees, including Game One 6-5; Raschi not only got the win, but he also scored two runs. The '43 Yankees won the next two games 3-2 and 5-3. Spud Chandler capped his fantastic season in Game Three with a win and a 2-3, double and RBI performance at the plate. The '53 Yankees tied the series with a vengeance in Game Four with a 25-3 blowout. They tallied 29 hits with no homeruns. Hank Bauer, Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, and Phil Rizzuto all had four hits, and Berra and Don Bollweg has six RBI apiece. The '43 Yankees came back to win a thriller in Game Five 8-7 in 10 innings in a game in which the game was tied or the lead changed hands six times. Bill Dickey won the game with a two-out bases-loaded walk-off walk. Raschi won the final game to earn a split for the '53 Yankees 16-0. Raschi pitched a four-hit shutout while the offense cranked out another 21 hits. Berra went 4-5 with two homeruns, four RBI, and four runs scored.
The 1943 Yankees hit .230 as a team, third from the bottom, and scored 576 runs, an average of 3.69 runs a game. They hit just 78 homeruns as a team. Here are the final numbers for the starters.
C: Bill Dickey: .316, 41 doubles, 92 RBI, .410 OBP.
1B: Nick Etten: .222, 16 HRs, 77 RBI, 91 runs scored.
2B: Joe Gordon: .220, 13 HRs, 93 runs scored, 98 walks.
SS: Frankie Crosetti: .196, 1 HR, 36 RBI.
3B: Billy Johnson: .247, 5 HRs, 66 RBI.
LF: Charlie Keller: .258, 23 HRs, 89 RBI, 17 triples, 93 walks.
CF: Johnny Lindell: .203, 3 HRs, 33 RBI.
RF: Bud Metheny: .230, 10 HRs, 62 RBI.
The '43 Yankees had a team ERA of 4.38, 18th best, and gave up 180 homeruns, currently second worst. Here are the final numbers for the top five starters and closer.
Spud Chandler: 16-10, 1.98 ERA, 13 complete games, 175 Ks.
Butch Wensloff: 9-15, 3.58 ERA, 32 homeruns
Hank Borrowy: 7-11, 4.91 ERA.
Tiny Bonham: 9-11, 3.68 ERA, 32 homeruns.
Atley Donald: 3-10, 5.19 ERA.
Johnny Murphy: 5-5, 27 saves, 2.74 ERA.
Hank Bauer hit .379 in the series with five RBI to raise his average to .341 with a .990 OPS. Berra hit .346 in the series with 11 RBI to raise his average to .220 . Gene Woodling hit .400 in the series with seven RBI to raise his average to .340 with a .957 OPS. Mantle hit his 10th homerun of the season; he is hitting .327 with a .997 OPS. With his two wins, Raschi improved his record to 6-2 with a 2.99 ERA. Johnny Sain and Ed Lopat picked up their first loss of the season. The '53 Yankees will move on to play another team finishing their season, the 1977 Yankees who are 60-90.
