The 1941 Yankees won their series with the 1978 Yankees four games to two to even their overall record at 30-30. The '78 Yankees fell to 23-19.
The '41 Yankees won the first four games of the series. Joe Dimaggio was the hero in their 9-4 win in Game Two with two homeruns and four RBI. They needed 10 innings to take Game Three 4-2 on a two-run double in the 10th by Joe Gordon off Goose Gossage. The '78 Yankees who scored only eight runs in the first four games broke out the bats to win 15-5 and 9-5 in the final two games. In Game Five, Reggie Jackson and Mickey Rivers helped stir the drink; Jackson went 3-5 with a homerun and six RBI while Rivers went 4-6 with a double, triple, and four RBI.
Dimaggio had a ridiculous series, hitting .462 with five homeruns and seven RBI. He leads the team in just about everything: .347, 25 HRs, 59 RBI, 52 runs scored, 1.179 OPS. Marius Russo had a complete game win to improve his record to 7-3 with a 2.46 ERA.
Jackson hit .375 with three homeruns and eight RBI in the series to raise his average to .315 with 14 homeruns, 36 RBI and a 1.006 OPS. Rivers hit .440 with six RBI to raise his average to .305. Ed Figueroa picked up his first loss; he is now 7-1 with a 2.45 ERA. After giving up two runs in a loss, Gossage’s ERA ballooned to 3.32. The '78 Yankees will take on the 36-36 1996 Yankees in the next series.