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.
