The 1941 Yankees defeated the 1923 Yankees four games to two in their six game series by winning the final three games. The '41 Yankees went over .500 at 49-47 while the '23 Yankees drifted back towards .500 at 38-34.
Waite Hoyt led the '23 Yankees in a 5-4 Game One win with getting the win on the mound and going 2-2 with two RBI at the plate. The '41 Yankees evened the series in Game Two with a wild 11-8 slugfest in 10 innings. The '23 Yankees led early 4-0 on the strength of two Babe Ruth solo homeruns. The '41 Yankees came back and went ahead 6-5 in the 9th on a two-run dinger by Joe Dimaggio. Elmer Smith tied the game in the bottom of the 9th with a pinch-hit solo homerun. The '41 Yankees struck back in the 10th with five runs and held on for the win. The '23 Yankees retook the series lead in Game Three with another high scoring affair, 13-8. Amazingly, all of the runs were driven in by the 6-9 hitters. Wally Schang, subbing for the injured Fred Hoffman 3-3 with five RBI. The '41 Yankees won the final three games, including a thrilling 8-7 contest in the last game. They trailed 6-1 in the 8th when Joe Dimaggio hit a two-run homer to cut the lead to 6-4. Lou Gehrig hit a pinch-hit solo homerun in the 9th to extend the '23 Yankees lead to 7-4, but Ken Silvestri countered for the '41 Yankees in the bottom of the 9th with a pinch-hit walk-off three run homer for the win.
Dimaggio hit .550 with four homeruns and 12 RBI in the series to raise his overall average to .339 with 34 homeruns, 96 RBI, 85 runs scored, and a 1.128 OPS. Charlie Keller is hitting .282 with 24 homeruns, 79 RBI and a .975 OPS. Tommy Henrich is hitting .238 with 21 homeruns and 79 runs scored. Marius Russo and Red Ruffing each have 10 wins.
Ruth hit .458 in the series with three homeruns to raise his average to .407 with 29 homeruns, 72 RBI, 74 runs scored, and a 1.430 OPS. Hoyt’s win improved his record to 9-2, but his ERA went above 2 and 2.16. The '23 Yankees will take on the 43-35 1947 Yankees in the next series.
