Greatest American League
-
The 1951 Yankees ended their brief skid by defeating the 1923 Yankees in their six game series four games to two. The '51 Yankees improved their record to 41-37 while the '23 Yankees fell to 47-43.
Phil Rizzuto had no homeruns going into this series. He hit two in Game One. The first one helped build a 4-2 lead. The '23 Yankees rallied to tie the game in the top of the 9th. The scooter hit his second of the game to walk off with the win. The '23 Yankees evened the series in Game Two with a 5-0 win. Joe Bush pitched a four-hit shutout and hit a solo homerun. The '51 Yankees bounced back with a 15-0 pounding in Game Three. Spec Shea pitched a three-hit shutout. Yogi Berra went 4-6 at the plate with a homerun and five RBI. Mickey Mantle went 4-5 with a double, homerun, and four RBI. After losing Game Four 5-4, the '23 Yankees won Game Five 3-2 in 10 innings. Whitey Witt hit a walk-off homerun for the victory. The '51 Yankees clinched the series with an 8-4 win. The game was scoreless until the 8th inning when they scored six runs and held on for the win. Bobby Brown led the attack, going 2-5 with a homerun, three RBI, and two runs scored.
Berra hit .393 in the series with a homerun and six RBI to raise his average to .272 with 15 homeruns and 63 RBI. Shea’s shutout improved his record to 4-5 with a 5.68 ERA. It was his first complete game of the season.
Babe Ruth leads the '23 Yankees in hitting at .388 with 31 homeruns, 85 RBI, 85 runs scored, and a 1.359 OPS. Bob Meusel is hitting .295 with 51 RBI and 10 stolen bases. Witt is hitting .264 with 56 runs scored. Aaron Ward is hitting .248 with 53 RBI. Bush’s shutout improved his record to 7-11 with a 3.28 ERA. The '23 Yankees will take on the 43-35 1999 Yankees in the next series.
-
After dropping their first two games, the 1923 Yankees took out the 1999 Yankees by winning the final four games in a row. The '23 Yankees improved their record to 51-45 while the '99 Yankees fell to 45-39.
The '23 Yankees put on a dominant pitching performance in this series, giving up only 11 runs in regulation. 10 of those runs were scored in Game Two in a 10-6 win by the '99 Yankees Tino Martinez hit a homerun and drove in four RBI. They won Game One 5-0 in 11 innings, but all of those runs were scored in the 11th; Martinez hit a two-run dinger after Derek Jeter opened the floodgates with a three run shot. After they scored their only run in the 5th inning of Game Three, a 2-1 loss, the '99 Yankees did not score another run for the remaining 31 innings of the series. Waite Hoyt got the win and scored the go-ahead run on a Babe Ruth double. Herb Pennock, Bob Shawkey, and Joe Bush pitched shutouts in wins of 4-0, 4-0, and 3-0 in the final three games. For Bush, it marked his 27th straight scoreless inning covering his last three starts.
Ruth hit .474 in the series to raise his average to .393 with 32 homeruns, 89 RBI, 88 runs scored, and a 1.363 OPS. Bob Meusel maintained his .295 average and drove in six RBI to give him 57 for the season. Bush reduced his ERA to 2.87 while improving his record to 8-11. Shawkey and Pennock picked up their 10th wins with their shutouts; Shawkey’s ERA dropped to 3.92 and Pennock’s fell to 3.44.
Jeter leads the '99 Yankees in hitting at .330 with 12 homeruns, 52 RBI, 63 runs scored, and a .945 OPS. Paul O’Neill is hitting .315 with 54 RBI. Bernie Williams is hitting .309 with 21 homeruns, 74 RBI, 52 runs scored, and a .962 OPS. Chuck Knoblauch is hitting just .226 but has 12 homeruns, 13 stolen bases, and 69 runs scored. El Duque Hernandez had two quality hard-luck starts with no run support to leave him with a 11-6 record and a 2.84 ERA. The '99 Yankees will face the 53-49 1941 Yankees in the next series.
-
After a run scoring drought in their last series, the 1999 Yankees bounced back to win their series with the 1941 Yankees four games to two. The '99 Yankees improved their record to 49-41 while the '41 Yankees fell to 55-53.
After scoring only 16 runs in their last series (11 in regulation), the '99 Yankees doubled that output with 32. That said, the first few games were low scoring. In Game One, David Cone pitched a three hit shutout as the '99 Yankees prevailed 2-0. The '99 Yankees scoreless streak ended at 32 innings after Paul O’Neill’s two run double in the second, which would be the only runs scored in the game. They hit four homeruns as a team in Game Two for a 5-4 win. Chuck Knoblauch hit two of them, the second gave them a 5-4 lead in the 8th. The '41 Yankees won a tight Game Three 4-1; Tommy Henrich and Joe Dimaggio hit back-to-back homeruns in a three run 8th inning to break a 1-1 tie. The final three games were dominated by Bernie Williams. Over Games Four, Five, and Six, Williams hit safely in 10 consecutive at bats! His heater started in Game Four, a 7-5 win by the '99 Yankees. Williams and O’Neill homered to give them an early 3-0 lead. The '41 Yankees came roaring back with five runs on six hits in the 5th inning to take a 5-3 lead. The '99 Yankees struck back in the 7th with three runs to go back out in front; Williams tripled in the tying run and scored on a sac fly. In Game Five, Williams was a perfect 5-5 with a double, two RBI, and two runs scored in a 10-7 win. He ended the series with a 3-5, homerun, three RBI and three runs scored performance in a losing cause as the '41 Yankees won the final game 8-6.
Williams hit a ridiculous .625 in the series (15 for 24) with three homeruns and 11 RBI. He raised his average 21 points to .330 with 25 homeruns, 85 RBI, 63 runs scored, and a 1.026 OPS. Derek Jeter held steady at .328 with 13 homeruns, 56 RBI, 69 runs scored, and a .941 OPS. O’Neill raised his average to .317 with 11 homeruns and 61 RBI. Knoblauch now has 15 homeruns and 73 runs scored. Mariano Rivera picked up three saves to give him 21 for the season. Cone’s shutout improved his record to 9-8 with a 4.50 ERA.
Dimaggio leads the '41 Yankees in hitting at .354 with 39 homeruns, 107 RBI, 97 runs scored, and a 1.164 OPS. Charlie Keller is hitting .279 with 25 homeruns, 89 RBI, 78 runs scored, and a .959 OPS. Henrich is hitting .239 with 25 homeruns, 80 RBI, and 92 runs scored. Johnny Murphy picked up his 25th save in this series. The '41 Yankees will battle the 46-38 1947 Yankees in the next series.
-
The 1941 Yankees and 1947 Yankees split their six game series which featured several high scoring games. The '41 Yankees stayed two games over .500 at 58-56 while the '47 Yankees remained eight games over .500 at 49-41.
84 runs were scored combined by both teams in this series, an average of 14 total runs scored a game. After losing Game One 5-4, the '47 Yankees evened the series with a 13-5 win in Game Two. Phil Rizzuto led the '47 Yankees with a 3-5 game featuring two doubles and five RBI. The '41 Yankees retook the lead in the series in Game Three with an 11-3 win; Charlie Keller and Joe Gordon had three RBI each. The '47 Yankees evened the series again in Game Four with an easy 9-1 win. Spud Chandler pitched a complete game and hit two doubles and scored two runs at the plate. The '41 Yankees took a 10-0 lead in Game Five and held off a furious comeback by the '47 Yankees for an 11-6 win, a game where both teams combined for 35 hits. Johnny Sturn hit a homerun with three RBI and two runs scored. The '47 Yankees completed the back-and-forth pattern win an 11-4 win in the final game. Snuffy Stirnweiss had five RBI and hit a homer.
Rizzuto leads the '47 Yankees in hitting at .292 with 14 stolen bases. Joe Dimaggio is hitting .287 with 13 homeruns, 66 RBI, and 62 runs scored. George McQuinn is hitting .286 with 64 runs scored. Yogi Berra is hitting .269 with 10 homeruns. Allie Reynolds won both of his starts to boost his record to 16-5 with a 2.60 ERA.
Dimaggio hit .433 in the series for the '41 Yankees to raise his average to .360 with 40 homeruns, 112 RBI, 103 runs scored, and a 1.166 OPS. Joe Gordon is hitting .268 after hitting .440 in the series with a couple of dingers and seven RBI. He has 18 homeruns and 78 RBI overall. The '41 Yankees will face the 36-24 1953 Yankees in the next series.
-
The 1953 Yankees dominated their series with the 1941 Yankees, winning five of six games. The '53 Yankees now sit at 41-25, 6th best out of the 27 teams. The '41 Yankees fell below .500 at 59-61 with six more series left to play.
The '53 Yankees won Game One 7-4 on the strength of a Yogi Berra two-run triple and a Mickey Mantle two-run homer. The '41 Yankees picked up their only win in Game Two by a score of 4-3; Charlie Keller drove in three of the four runs with a triple and a homerun. The '53 Yankees won the remaining four games by scoring seven or more runs in three of them. Mantle hit two homeruns in a 10-1 romp in Game Three. They pounded out 16 hits in a 7-4 win in Game Four. In a bonkers Game Six, the '53 Yankees won 10-9 in 10 innings; it was a game with big flies and big momentum swings. Gil McDougald hit a grand slam in the 4th to give them a 4-2 lead. The '41 Yankees scored six runs in the 7th to take an 8-4 lead. The '53 Yankees trailed 9-4 in the 9th, but Berra capped an amazing five run rally with the team’s second grand slam of the game! Hank Bauer slashed a walk-off single with two outs in the 10th for the win.
Mantle hit .386 in the series with four homeruns and seven RBI, raising his overall average to .327 with 20 homeruns, 59 RBI, 62 runs scored, and a 1.014 OPS. Berra hit .393 with 10 RBI to raise his average to .248 with 12 homeruns and 61 RBI. Gene Woodling leads the team in hitting at .346 with 50 RBI, 54 runs scored and a .972 OPS. Bauer is hitting .307 with 58 runs scored and a .908 OPS. Allie Reynolds is 3-1 out of the bullpen with 17 saves and a 1.93 ERA.
Joe Dimaggio raised his average to .364. Keller is hitting .273 with 26 homeruns, 13 triples, 98 RBI, 83 runs scored, and a .939 OPS. Johnny Murphy picked up his 27th save but blew another in the wild Game Six. The '41 Yankees will battle with the 35-19 1938 Yankees in the next series.
-
The 1941 Yankees ended their slide by beating the 1938 Yankees four out of six games to even their record to 63-63 with five series left to play. The '38 Yankees dropped back to 37-23.
The '38 Yankees won two of the first three games in the series. Red Ruffing led them to a 10-3 win in Game Two both on the mound and at the plate with two hits and two RBI. The '41 Yankees won the final three games of the series. One reason why was poor defense from the '38 Yankees. The '41 Yankees won Game Four 10-1 in a game in which six of their runs scored were unearned. Charlie Keller was 3-5 at the plate with a triple, three RBI, and two runs scored. Keller led the offensive attack again in the final game of the series, a 5-3 win; Keller went 3-4 with a triple and four RBI. Game Five was bananas, a 16-8 schitzo slugfest win for the '41 Yankees. They led 4-0 early, but surrendered eight runs in the 6th inning. The '38 Yankees scored the final 12 runs in the game, including seven runs in the 8th inning to retake the lead. Joe Dimaggio mashed for the '41 Yankees offense, going 3-6 with a triple, two homeruns, five RBI, and three runs scored while the '38 Yankees helped by committing five errors which lead to eight unearned runs.
Dimaggio hit .467 in the series for the '41 Yankees to raise his average to .370 with 42 homeruns, 120 RBI, 116 runs scored, 11 triples, and a 1.174 OPS. Keller hit .379 in the series with nine RBI to raise his average to .283 with 27 homeruns, 107 RBI, 88 runs scored, 10 stolen bases, and a .959 OPS.
Dimaggio leads the '38 Yankees in hitting at .316 with 15 homeruns, 55 RBI, and a .994 OPS. Bill Dickey is hitting .314 with 18 homeruns, 62 RBI, and a 1.020 OPS. Ruffing improved his record to 5-5 with a 2.94 ERA. Johnny Murphy picked up his 10th save in this series; he is 2-0 with a 1.00 ERA. The '38 Yankees will take on the 50-58 2009 Yankees in the next series.
-
After losing three of the first four games, the 1938 Yankees won their final two games with the 2009 Yankees to split the series and stay 14 games over .500 at 40-26. The 2K9 Yankees stayed eight games under .500 at 53-61.
Red Ruffing won two of the three games for the '38 Yankees, starting with a three-hit shutout in Game One for a 5-0 win. Joe Gordon broke the game open with a three run homer. The 2K9 Yankees won the next three games. They trailed 4-1 in Game Three until Derek Jeter hit a solo homerun in the eighth followed by a Jorge Posada two-run blast to tie the game. They scored three runs in the 10th for a 7-4 win. In Game Four, Nick Swisher and Alex Rodriguez broke a 3-3 tie in the 9th with RBI doubles for a 5-3 win. The '38 Yankees came roaring back in Game Five; they trailed 3-0 and 8-4 but exploded with five runs in the 9th for a come-from-behind 9-8 win. Ruffing picked up his second win of the series in the last game with a 7-2 win; Bill Dickey went 3-5 with a homerun, three RBI, and two runs scored.
Jeter and Robinson Cano lead the 2K9 Yankees in hitting at .281. Jeter has 26 stolen bases and 16 homeruns while Cano has 18 homeruns. Posada is hitting .277 with 24 homeruns and 90 RBI. A Rod is hitting .248 with 22 homeruns, 78 RBI, and 85 runs scored. Mariano Rivera picked up three saves and a blown save that led to a loss; he is 3-3 with 23 saves and a 2.94 ERA.
Dickey raised his average to .319 with 19 homeruns, 68 RBI, 50 runs scored, and a 1.016 OPS. Lou Gehrig hit .417 in the series to raise his average to .254 with 11 homeruns and 60 runs scored. Ruffing gave up two runs in his two starts to improve his record to 7-5 with a 2.60 ERA. The '38 Yankees will face the 67-71 1961 Yankees in the next series.
-
The 1938 Yankees defeated the 1961 Yankees four games to two in their six game series to improve their record to 44-28, 7th best among the Yankee teams. The '61 Yankees dropped to 69-75 with two series left to play.
Whitey Ford landed both wins for the '61 Yankees in this series, starting with Game One. Ford surrendered just one run in a 4-1 win, had three hits at the plate, and scored the go-ahead run in the 8th inning. Later in Game Five, he pitched a four-hit shutout in a 9-0 win. The '38 Yankees had different heroes carry them in their wins. In Game Two, they trailed 3-0 in the 6th inning when Joe Dimaggio exploded with a three-run homer and two-run single as part of an eight run inning on their way to a 13-3 win. Game Three was a lower-scoring affair; the '41 Yankees led 2-0 until Elston Howard tied the game in the 8th with a two-run homer, Bill Knickerbocker hit a walk-off pinch hit double in the 9th for a 3-2 win. The '38 Yankees clinched the series in the final game with a 7-4 win led by Joe Gordon who went 3-5 at the plate with a homerun and five RBI.
Dimaggio leads the '38 Yankees in hitting at .315 with 17 homeruns, 65 RBI, 52 runs scored, and a .974 OPS. Three starting pitchers, Lefty Gomez (2.58), Red Ruffing (2.85), and Monte Pearson (2.90) have ERAs under 3. Johnny Murphy’s ERA shrunk below 1 at 0.88 while picking up his 12th save.
Elston Howard leads the '61 Yankees in hitting at .339 with 34 homeruns, 99 RBI, 102 runs scored, and a .942 OPS. Mickey Mantle is hitting .317 with 49 homeruns, 107 RBI, 123 runs scored, and a 1.086 OPS. Roger Maris hit two more homers in this series to give him 58 for the season with 130 RBI, 107 runs scored and a .927 OPS. Ford improved his record to 17-7 with a 3.46 ERA. The '61 Yankees will battle the 37-17 1928 Yankees in the next series.
-
The 1928 Yankees dominated their six game series with the 1961 Yankees, winning five of six games. The '28 Yankees are now 42-18, second place among the 27 Yankee Championship teams. The '61 Yankees fell to 70-80 with one series left to play against the 22-8 1998 Yankees.
Tony Lazzeri got the party started for the '28 Yankees in Game One with a triple, grand slam, and six RBI in a 12-2 rout. Bob Meusel added four hits, including a double, and four RBI. They won a tighter Game Two 3-1; Lou Gehrig scored all three runs from a solo homerun and two walks. They won Game Three 5-2 and Game Four 9-7. Gehrig went 3-4 in Game Four with a double, three RBI, and two runs scored. The '61 Yankees won their only game of the series 7-2 in Game Five; Tony Kubek hit two homers. The '28 Yankees won a wild Game Six 13-11 to cap off a healthy offensive series; Gehrig and Babe Ruth combined to drive in six of their runs.
Lazzeri leads the '28 Yankees in hitting at .366 with 21 doubles, 11 triples, 50 RBI, 55 runs scored, and a 1.048 OPS. Ruth is hitting .317 with 25 homeruns, 64 RBI, 71 runs scored, and a 1.239 OPS. Gehrig is hitting .326 with 57 RBI, 50 runs scored, and a 1.020 OPS. George Pipgras and Waite Hoyt remain undefeated in their combined 24 starts; Pipgras is 11-0 with a 2.81 ERA while Hoyt is 9-0 with a 1.63 ERA. Wilcy Moore has 16 saves with a 1.42 ERA.
Elston Howard raised his average to .344 with 37 homeruns, 103 RBI, 109 runs scored, and a .959 OPS. Mickey Mantle now has 51 homeruns with 111 RBI, 127 runs scored, and a 1.077 OPS to go with a .314 average. Roger Maris now has 60 homeruns with six games remaining.
-
The 1961 Yankees finished their season with a win, beating the 1998 Yankees four games to two. They end their season with a 74-82 record while the '98 Yankees drop from first place (by percentage) to third with a 24-12 record.
The '61 Yankees took Game One 6-1. Jim Coates pitched a complete game and struck out nine; Yogi Berra broke the game open with a three run homerun. The '98 Yankees evened the series in Game Two in dramatic fashion. After trailing 1-0 in the 9th inning, Derek Jeter hit a two-out two-run homer to give the '98 Yankees a 2-1 win. They took a 2-1 lead in the series with an emphatic 14-0 slaughter. David Wells pitched a five-hit shutout, and Paul O’Neill went 3-6 at the plate with a homerun and five RBI. The '61 Yankees won the final three games of the series. In Game Four Johnny Blanchard, Mickey Mantle, and Roger Maris all homered and combined for seven RBI in a 8-5 win. It was Maris’s 61st. homerun of the season. Blanchard struck again in Game Five; he hit a two-run homerun in the 9th inning to break a 4-4 tie for a 6-5 win. In the final game of the series, Maris hit his 62nd homerun to lead the '61 Yankees to a 8-7 win.
The '61 Yankees finished the season with a team batting average of .251, 18th best with 775 runs scored for an average of 4.97 runs per game. They hit 257 homeruns; currently the most among all Yankee teams. Here are the final numbers for their starting lineup:
C: Elston Howard: .338, 37 HRs,104 RBI,112 runs scored,.939 OPS
1B: Bill Skowron: .250, 29 HRs, 105 RBI
2B: Bobby Richardson: .199, 10 stolen bases
SS: Tony Kubek: .263, 12 HRs, 62 RBI
3B: Clete Boyer: .193, 60 RBI
LF: Yogi Berra: .239, 34 HRs, 81 RBI, 101 runs scored
CF: Mickey Mantle: .319, 52 HRs, 115 RBI, 132 runs, 1.077 OPS
RF: Roger Maris: .231, 62 HRs, 136 RBI, 114 runs, .921 OPS
DH: Johnny Blanchard: .363, 15 HRs, 1.270 OPSThe '61 Yankees finished with a 4.60 team ERA, 22nd best. Here are the final numbers for their top five starters and closer:
Whitey Ford: 19-9, 3.35 ERA, 10 complete games, 195 strikeouts
Ralph Terry: 12-14, 3.72 ERA
Bill Stafford: 11-9. 3.78 ERA
Rollie Sheldon: 7-9, 4.74 ERA
Bud Daley: 3-11, 5.77 ERA
Luis Arroyo: 4-5, 36 saves, 3.12 ERAJeter leads the ‘98 Yankees in hitting at .365 with a 1.030 OPS. Bernie Williams is hitting .329 with 12 HRs and a 1.034 OPS. Wells’ shutout improved his record to 5-0 with a 2.14 ERA. El Duque Hernandez is also undefeated at 4-0 with a 2.20 ERA. Mariano Rivera has nine saves in 12 appearances with a 1.42 ERA. The '98 Yankees will face the 65-85 1996 Yankees in the next series.