The 1951 Yankees battled back from a 3-1 deficit to the 1950 Yankees and won the final two games to earn a six game split. The '50 Yankees are now 49-35 while the '51 Yankees are 60-54.
It looked the '50 Yankees would lay waste to the '51 squad in the series with 11-1 and 11-0 butt kickings in the first two games. The '50 Yankees scored seven runs in the 7th inning of Game One to blow the game open; Joe Dimaggio was 3-5 at the plate with a home run, three RBI, and three runs scored. Ed Lopat pitched a three hit shutout and Dimaggio and Yogi Berra each drove in three runs. The '51 Yankees won a tight Game Three 8-7. They led 4-1 early. The '50 Yankees scored six unanswered runs to take a 7-4 lead in the 8th. The '51 Yankees tied the game with a Joe Collins RBI triple and a Mickey Mantle two-run homer. Gil McDougald won the game in the 9th on a walk-off single. The '50 Yankees took a 3-1 lead in the series with a 9-5 win in Game Four. Berra went 3-5 with a home run, four RBI, and three runs scored. The ‘51 Yankees’ pitching enabled them to win the last two games 7-2 and 6-2.
Dimaggio hit .423 in the series with seven RBI to raise his average to .349 with 17 home runs, 91 RBI, 72 runs scored, and a 1.015 OPS. Johnny Hopp is hitting .329 with 60 runs scored. Hank Bauer is hitting .311 with 12 home runs and 52 RBI. Berra is hitting .310 with 12 home runs, 81 RBI, and 65 runs scored. Phil Rizzuto is hitting .309 with 69 runs scored. Jerry Coleman is hitting .254 with 50 RBI. Lopat’s shutout improved his record to 12-2 with a 2.99 ERA.
Berra’s average continued to fall for the '51 Yankees to .277 with 21 home runs and 89 RBI. Lopat is 14-5 with a 2.66 ERA. The Lopats from 1950 and 1951 are a combined 26-7 with a 2.79 ERA. Not bad. The '51 Yankees will play the 50-34 1938 Yankees in the next series.