Greatest American League
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The 1961 Yankees moved two games closer to .500 after defeating the 1937 Yankees four out of six games in their series. The '61 Yankees are now 32-34 while the '37 Yankees dropped to 32-28.
The first two games each lasted 10 innings. The '61 Yankees won Game One 4-3 after Roger Maris tied the game with a solo homerun in the 9th inning. Yogi Berra won the game with a walk-off sac fly the next inning. Mickey Mantle sent Game Two into extra innings with a two-out two-run homer after a Tony Lazzeri error kept the inning alive. The '37 Yankees scored three in the 10th on a two-out triple by Lou Gehrig and a two-run blast by Joe Dimaggio to give the '37 Yankees a 5-2 win. The '61 Yankees won the next two games that were equally close. Bill Skowron hit two homeruns and drove in five RBI in a 6-4 win. Elston Howard hit a go-ahead solo homerun in the 8th on their way to a 3-2 win. The '37 Yankees won Game Five convincingly 9-3 on the strength of Dimaggio who went 4-5, a triple, two homeruns, 3 RBI and 3 runs scored. The '61 Yankees clinched the series in the final game with a 2-1 win despite a 12 strikeout outing by Lefty Gomez. Hector Lopez drove in the go-ahead run in the 9th with a single.
Howard’s average dropped to .333, still tops on the '61 Yankees. Maris didn’t do much after Game One but leads the team in homeruns with 28 and RBI with 59. Mantle raised his average to .329 with 24 homers, 54 RBI, and 64 runs scored. Whitey Ford lowered his ERA to 3.73 to go along with a 6-2 record. Luis Arroyo picked up a win and three saves in this series to improve his record to 1-4 with 17 saves and a 3.95 ERA.
Gehrig leads the '37 Yankees in hitting at .328 with 19 homeruns, 48 RBI and a team leading 59 runs scored. Dimaggio hit .360 in the series with four homeruns and six RBI in the series. He raised his overall average to .283 with a team leading 23 homeruns and 67 RBI. Gomez and Red Ruffing are a combined 13-4 with a 2.12 ERA. The other starters are 17-19. Johnny Murphy has had an awful start as the closer. He is 1-6 with 9 saves and a 7.82 ERA. The '37 Yankees will battle with the 31-41 1952 Yankees in the next series.
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The 1937 Yankees swept the 1952 Yankees in their six game series to move to 10 games over .500 at 38-28. The 1938 Yankees at 17-7 are the only other team with a plus 10 win/loss differential. The '52 Yankees plummeted to 31-47, third worst among the 27 Yankees teams.
The most entertaining game by far was Game Three which the '37 Yankees won 12-11. The lead changed hands five times in that game. Lou Gehrig and Red Rolfe each drove in three RBI in Game Five for a 8-1 win, and closer Johnny Murphy started and scattered seven hits in a 6-0 shutout. The '52 Yankees left 10 men on base in that game.
Gehrig hit .381 in the series with a couple of homers and seven RBI. He raised his team-leading average to .332 with 21 homeruns, 55 RBI, and a team-leading 66 runs scored and a 1.190 OPS. Joe Dimaggio’s average climbed to .286 with a team high 24 homeruns and 74 RBI. Murphy had a nice bounceback series; he picked up three saves along with the shutout in a spot start to give him 12 saves and drop his ERA from 7.82 to 5.31.
Mickey Mantle is the top hitter for the '52 Yankees at .305 with 10 homeruns, 56 RBI, and 54 runs scored. Hank Bauer is hitting .303 with 51 RBI. Gene Woodling is hitting .297 and leads the team in runs scored with 56. Joe Collins is hitting .278 and leads the team in homeruns (16) and RBI (69). Allie Reynolds has been far and away their best pitcher with an 11-3 record and a 2.88 ERA. The '52 Yankees will face the 14-10 1941 Yankees in the next series.
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The 1952 Yankees beat the 1941 Yankees four games to two after winning the final three games of the series. The '52 Yankees improved their record to 35-49 while the '41 Yankees fell to 16-14.
Game One went to extras and featured some 10th inning heroics. Joe Dimaggio hit a solo homerun in the top of the inning to give the '41 Yankees a 2-1 lead, but Mickey Mantle countered with a walk-off two-run triple in the bottom of the inning for a 3-2 win. Dimaggio led the '41 Yankees to win the next two games. In Game Two, Dimaggio went 4-5 with two homeruns and three RBI in a 4-2 win. In Game Three, he capped off a three-run rally in the third inning with a two-run homer for a 3-1 win. The '52 Yankees won the final three games by holding the '41 Yankees to five runs. Game Five went 12 innings after Gene Woodling tied the game 2-2 in the 8th inning with a solo homerun. Billy Martin hit a two-out two-run double in the 12th to put them ahead for good for a 4-2 win.
Hank Bauer remained steady at .303 to lead the '52 Yankees in hitting. Mantle dropped to .300 with 10 homeruns and 61 RBI. Despite hitting just .239, Yogi Berra took over the team lead in runs scored with 62. Joe Collins now has 18 homeruns and 75 RBI to lead the team in both categories while hitting .275. Allie Reynolds picked up another win to move to 12-3 with a 2.73 ERA.
Dimaggio hit .391 in the series with four homers and six RBI for the '41 Yankees. He raised his overall average to .375 with 13 homeruns, 33 RBI, and a 1.241 OPS. In his eight starts, Red Ruffing is hitting .300 with three homeruns and a 1.100 OPS. On the mound, he has struggled; Ruffing is 5-1 with a 4.64 ERA. Spud Chandler is 3-2 with a 1.81 ERA. The '41 Yankees will take on the 31-35 1996 Yankees in the next series.
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The 1996 Yankees evened their play-in season record at 36-36 after beating the 1941 Yankees five out of six games. The '41 Yankees dropped under .500 at 17-19.
All of the games but one were decided by three runs or less. Joe Girardi was an unlikely catalyst at the plate for this series. He went 4-5 with a homerun, three RBI and three runs scored in the '96 Yankees 13-10 win in Game Two followed by a 2-4, double and three RBI performance in their 5-4 Game Three victory. Dwight Gooden sprinkled in some pitching with a four-hit shutout in Game Four for a 2-0 win. The only win for the '41 Yankees was also the only blowout, 10-1 in Game Five; Buddy Rosar was the offensive star, going 3-5 with a double, homer and four RBI. The '96 Yankees snatched victory away in the final game of the series 4-3; they trailed 3-0 in the bottom of the 9th but tied the game on a solo homerun by Darryl Strawberry and a two-run blast by Tino Martinez. Bernie Williams hit the kill shot with a walk-off bases loaded single.
Girardi hit .478 in the series with 10 RBI to raise his average to .278 with 33 RBI. Mariano Duncan continues to lead the team in hitting at .309 with 59 RBI. Gooden’s shutout reduced his ERA to 2.96 to go with a 4-5 record. John Wetteland notched his 16th save in the series and lowered his ERA to 1.89.
Joe Dimaggio cooled off in this series, dropping his average 20 points to .355, still best on the team. His 14 homeruns, 36 RBI and 1.141 OPS still leads the team as well. Closer Johnny Murphy’s rough start continued in the Game Six flameout; he is now 1-3 in 13 appearances with seven saves and a 5.84 ERA. The '41 Yankees will face the 32-34 1961 Yankees in the next series.
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The 1941 Yankees evened their record to 21-21 after beating the 1961 Yankees four out of six games; the '61 Yankees dropped to 34-38.
The first two games went extra innings. Roger Maris got the party started for the '61 Yankees in Game One with a two-run homer in the first inning. They built a 5-1 lead early, but the '41 Yankees rallied with seven runs in the sixth, capped by a Joe Dimaggio grand slam, to give them a 9-5 lead. The '61 Yankees countered with three runs in the 7th on Maris’s second homer of the game and one in the 8th to tie the game. Maris won the game with a go-ahead RBI single in the 13th. He finished 3-6 with the two homers and seven RBI. Dimaggio hit two homeruns with five RBI in a losing cause. Game Two was another back-and forth affair. The '61 Yankees led 2-0 until Johnny Blanchard tied the game with a pinch-hit two run homer in the 8th inning. Dimaggio put the '41 Yankees back in front in the bottom of the inning with a solo homer only for Tony Kubek to tie the game again in the top of the 9th with a RBI single. Dimaggio led off the 10th with a double and scored the winning run on a walk-off single by Phil Rizzuto for a 4-3 win. The '61 Yankees won Game Three with no drama 10-1. The '41 Yankees won the final three games of the series. Red Rolfe hit a go-ahead RBI double in the 9th for a 3-2 win in Game Four. They clinched the series in the final game in typical wild fashion. The '61 Yankees scored seven runs in the 4th inning, capped off by a three-run homerun by Elston Howard, to take a 7-2 lead. The '41 Yankees came back with four runs in the sixth, two in the seventh, and one in the eighth to win 9-7.
Dimaggio’s average dropped to .349, but his four homeruns and nine RBI in the series upped his total to 18 homeruns and 45 RBI with a 1.198 OPS. Marius Russo boosted his record to 5-3 with a 2.39 ERA. Johnny Murphy picked up two saves to give him nine for the season and reduced his ERA to 5.04.
Howard leads the '61 Yankees in hitting at .334 with 16 homeruns, 47 RBI, and 50 runs scored. Mickey Mantle is hitting .320 with 27 homeruns, 60 RBI, 69 runs scored and a 1.116 OPS. Maris is hitting .251 with 31 homers, 67 RBI, 53 runs scored, and a 1.034 OPS. Bill Stafford improved his record to 8-3 with a 3.82 ERA. The '61 Yankees will battle with the 21-15 1932 Yankees in the next series.
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The 1932 Yankees had their offense cooking in their series with the 1961 Yankees, winning five of six games while scoring over nine runs a game. The '32 Yankees jumped to 10 games over .500 at 26-16 while the '61 Yankees dropped to 35-43.
Their scoring average is even more remarkable considering they won Game One in a 2-0 pitcher’s duel. Lefty Gomez pitched a two-hit shutout while the offense scored both of their runs in the 9th inning on a Bill Dickey RBI double and a Frankie Crosetti RBI single. Pitching went to bed the rest of the series while hiding under the covers. The '61 Yankees had a 4-1 lead in Game Two on the strength of two homeruns by Roger Maris. The '32 Yankees came back and tied the game in the 9th on a Yogi Berra error. They scored six more runs in the 10th and held on to win 10-7. The '32 Yankees won Game Three 15-13 with basic level video game stats: Maris hit two more homeruns and drove in seven RBI. Mickey Mantle also hit two homers. Earle Combs went 6-7 at the plate with four doubles, four RBI, and four runs scored. Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig each homered and drove in four RBI. The only win for the '61 Yankees came in Game Five, another slugfest (11-9). Mantle helped them overcome a 7-1 deficit with three homeruns; his second was a grand slam that tied the game at seven. His last one was a two-run shot that gave them a 9-8 lead. Overall, he went 4-5 with seven RBI. The '32 Yankees put their final stamp on this series with a 10-5 win on the strength of Combs and Tony Lazzeri who EACH hit two homeruns and combined for seven RBI in the game. It was Combs’s first two homeruns of the season.
Ruth hit .476 in the series with two homers and nine RBI to raise his overall average to .390 with 20 homeruns, 52 RBI, and a 1.340 OPS. Lazzeri hit .320 which dropped his overall average to .372, but he hit two homers and drove in nine RBI to give him eight homeruns and 42 RBI for the season. Combs hit .370 with two homeruns and nine RBI to boost his average to .323. Gomez’s gem improved his record to 2-3 with a 2.53 ERA.
Mantle hit .500 in the series with SEVEN homeruns and 13 RBI to raise his overall average to .335 with 34 homeruns and 73 RBI. That would normally be the team leader in homeruns except Maris countered with .409, four homeruns, and 10 RBI to raise his average to .264 with 35 homeruns and 77 RBI. Ralph Terry lost both of his starts to give 10 losses on the season with a 4.22 ERA. The '61 Yankees will take on the 18-12 1956 Yankees in the next series.
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The 1956 Yankees lost three of their first four games against the 1961 Yankees but won the last two games to earn a split and remain six games over .500 at 21-15. The '61 Yankees stayed eight games under at 38-46.
Roger Maris powered the '61 Yankees to a 10-6 win in Game One with a 2-3, double, homerun and five RBI performance. His three-run homer in the 7th inning broke a 6-6 tie. Yogi Berra took over for the '61 Yankees in their 8-4 win in Game Two. Berra went 3-4 with two homeruns, three RBI, and three runs scored. The '61 Yankees took a 3-1 lead in the series in Game Four with a tight 3-2 win, thanks to Mickey Mantle’s two-run homerun in the 8th inning that broke a 1-1 tie. Tom Sturdivant led the comeback for the '56 Yankees in Game Five with a 7-1 complete game win in which he struck out 10 batters. The '56 Yankees completed the split in the last game with a 4-2 win. Enos Slaughter hit two triples, one with the bases loaded in the first to give them a 3-2 lead, the other that lead to their other run.
Slaughter is one of three '56 Yankee hitters batting over .300; Berra leads at .319 and leads the team in RBI with 36. Mantle is hitting .305 and leads the team in homeruns with eight. Slaughter is hitting .305. Whitey Ford picked up his first loss; he is 5-1 with a 2.18 ERA. Sturdivant’s gem improved his record to 4-2 with a 3.87 ERA.
Elston Howard regained the lead in average for the '61 Yankees at .331 with 21 homeruns, 56 RBI, and 63 runs scored. Mantle cooled slightly in this series but is still hitting .328 and hit two more homeruns to give him 36 along with 77 RBI. Maris also hit two homeruns in the series to give him 37 for the season and 83 RBI. Luis Arroyo picked up his 21st save to go along with a 3.80 ERA. The '61 Yankees will face the 18-12 1936 Yankees in the next series.
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The 1936 Yankees won four of six games from the 1961 Yankees to improve their record to 22-14 while the '61 Yankees dropped to 40-50.
Pitching controlled the first two games with the '61 Yankees winning game One 2-1 and the '36 Yankees winning Game Two 3-0; Monte Pearson pitched a two-hit shutout and struck out 10. The bats exploded in Game Three as both teams combined to hit eight homeruns. The '36 Yankees won the slugfest 14-5 despite two homeruns from Roger Maris. Lou Gehrig hit a double, homerun and drove in five RBI. The '61 Yankees evened the series with a 6-1 win in Game Four thanks to two-run dingers by Yogi Berra, Elston Howard, and Mickey Mantle. The '36 Yankees won the final two games of the series 6-0 and 8-3. Bump Hadley pitched the second two-hit shutout of the series in Game Five.
Bill Dickey leads the '36 Yankees in hitting at .344 with 41 RBI and a 1.015 OPS. Joe Dimaggio is close behind at .340 with 12 HRs and a 1.075 OPS. Gehrig leads the team in HRs and RBI with 16 and 47 respectively while hitting .309 with a 1.179 OPS. Pearson improved his record to 2-3 with a 4.10 ERA. Hadley’s shutout raised his record to 2-1 with a 5.23 ERA.
Mantle is back as the team leader for the '61 Yankees at .324 with 38 homeruns and 80 RBI. Maris now has 39 homers and 86 RBI to go with a .260 average. Whitey Ford and Ralph Terry have both given up 20 or more homeruns in their starts. The '61 Yankees will take on the 11-7 1951 Yankees in the next series.
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The 1951 Yankees and the 1961 Yankees split their six game series. The '51 Yankees stayed four games over .500 at 14-10 while the '61 Yankees stayed 10 games under .500 at 43-53.
The '51 Yankees won the odd games while the '61 Yankees won the even games. Gil McDougald led the '51 Yankees to an 11-1 win in Game Three while going 3-5 with a double, homerun, and five RBI. Spec Shea picked up the win in Game Five while doing more than his share at the plate; Shea hit TWO homeruns with five RBI in a 10-4 win. The '61 Yankees pounded the '51 Yankees 14-2 in Game Four thanks to a monster game by Elston Howard: 5-6, double, homerun, and four runs scored. Game Six was the only game decided by less than three runs. The '61 Yankees scored four in the first inning, three coming on a bases-clearing double by Moose Skowron. The '51 Yankees came back and tied the game in the 6th on a two-out, two-run double by Joe Dimaggio. The game went to 11 innings where Clete Boyer’s two-run homer broke the tie, and the '61 Yankees held on for a 6-5 victory and the series split.
Mickey Mantle leads the '51 Yankees in hitting at .321 but is homerless in 95 at bats. Yogi Berra leads the club in homeruns (5) and RBI (25) while hitting .284. In four starts, Allie Reynolds is 2-1 with a 1.54 ERA.
Howard hit .407 in the series to raise his average to .328 with 24 homeruns, 64 RBI, and 71 runs scored. Roger Maris hit his 40th homerun in this series and now has 88 RBI. Mantle is hitting .322 with 39 homeruns, 81 RBI, 88 runs scored and a 1.134 OPS. Bill Stafford picked up his ninth win and reduced his ERA to 4.05. The '61 Yankees will battle with the 15-9 1939 Yankees in the next series.
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After losing or splitting five straight series, the 1961 Yankees won their series, four games to two, against the 1939 Yankees to improve their record to 47-55. The '39 Yankees dropped to 17-13.
Pitching was the reason the '61 Yankees won this series as they held the '39 Yankee offense to 14 runs and shut them out twice. After dropping Game One 4-0, the '61 Yankees won Game Two 5-4 in a game where the lead changed hands four times. Moose Skowron put them ahead for good with a two-out, two-run triple in the 7th. Bill Stafford and Luis Arroyo pitched a combined shutout for a 1-0 win in Game Three. Bobby Richardson drove in the only run with a walk-off single, made possible because of an error by Frankie Corsetti. After the '39 Yankees tied the series in Game Four with a 5-3 win, the '61 Yankees dominated the final two games, 10-1 and 2-0. Whitey Ford scattered six hits for the shutout in the final game.
Elston Howard raised his average to .330 to lead the '61 Yankees. with 25 homeruns and 66 RBI. Mickey Mantle dipped slightly to .320 and didn’t add to his 39 homeruns. Roger Maris extended his lead for homeruns with three in this series to give him 43 for the season along with 92 RBI. Stafford’s combined shutout dropped his ERA to 3.80 to go with a 9-5 record. Ford is 9-3 with a 4.15 ERA. Arroyo picked up a win and a save, his 25th, and reduced his ERA to 3.47.
Charlie Keller leads the '39 Yankees in hitting at .347. He and Red Rolfe lead the team in runs scored with 25. Joe Dimaggio is hitting .331 and leads the team in homeruns (9) and RBI (35). Red Ruffing gave up one unearned run in two starts; he is 3-1 with a 2.30 ERA. Atley Donald has been even better; he is 4-1 with a 1.28 ERA. The '39 Yankees will face the 35-49 1952 Yankees in the next series.
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The 1939 Yankees and the 1952 Yankees split their six game series. The '39 Yankees remained four games over .500 at 20-16 while the '52 Yankees stayed 14 games under .500 at 38-52.
The teams traded wins the entire series; the '39 Yankees won games 1, 3 and 5 while the '52 Yankees won games 2, 4, and 6. Lefty Gomez pitched a three-hit shutout in a 7-0 Game One win while Bill Dickey went 2-4 with a double and five RBI at the plate. In Game Three, Monte Pearson pitched a complete game with two RBI at the plate in a 8-2 win. Dickey had another five RBI outing in Game Five, a 10-2 blowout in which eight of the team’s runs were scored in the 7th and 8th innings. The '52 Yankees won Game Two 4-2 in a game that went back-and-forth. They won Game Four 6-2 by scoring a run in every inning from the 3rd to the 8th. They earned the split in Game Six with a 3-2 win thanks to a two-out walk-off double by Phil Rizzuto.
Hank Bauer leads the '52 Yankees in hitting at .294. Joe Collins is hitting .272 at leads the team in homeruns (19) and RBI (77). Yogi Berra is hitting .242 with 11 homeruns, 43 RBI, and a team-leading 63 runs scored. Allie Reynolds picked up a win and his first save in this series. He is now an amazing 14-3 with one save and a 2.69 ERA.
Dickey hit .333 in the series with three homeruns and 15 (!) RBI. He raised his average to .273, is now tied for the team lead in homeruns with Joe Dimaggio at nine, and leads the team in RBI with 36. Dimaggio is hitting .315 with a 1.018 OPS. Red Rolfe is hitting .282 and he leads the team in runs scored with 32. The shutout by Gomez helped reduce his ERA to 2.45 with a 3-4 record. The '39 Yankees will take on the 35-37 1958 Yankees in the next series.