Greatest American League
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The 1927 Yankees dominated their six game series with the 1977 Yankees, winning five of six games to improve their record to 26-10, the identical record of the 1928 Yankees at the top of the standings. The '77 Yankees moved to the second worst record at 54-84.
Murderer’s Row scored double figures in three of their four wins, starting with Game One. Earle Combs went 3-5 with a triple, homerun, three RBI, and three runs scored in a 10-5 win. They won Game Three 13-1 thanks to Bob Muesel who went 2-4 with a homerun, three RBI, and three runs scored. The lone '77 Yankee win was in Game Four, a thrilling 7-6 battle in which the game had six times where the score was tied or the lead changed hands. The '77 Yankees went ahead for good in the eighth on a Bucky Dent two-run homer to go-ahead 7-6. The '27 Yankees clinched the series with a 14-4 walloping after trailing 4-3 in the 6th inning. They scored 10 runs in the sixth and seventh innings to pull away. The '27 Yankees pulled off a unique offensive feat in the final game of the series, a 6-1 win; They broke a 1-1 tie in the fifth inning with five runs while hitting the cycle as a team. Combs tripled, Muesel doubled, Babe Ruth homered, Lou Gehrig singled and Tony Lazzeri homered for good measure.
Ruth’s average actually dropped to .388, but he continues to rake nonetheless with 21 homeruns, 59 RBI, 53 runs scored, and a 1.457 OPS. Gehrig is hitting .372 with 10 homeruns, 41 RBI, 46 runs scored, and a 1.271 OPS. Combs is hitting .351 with 42 runs scored. Muesel is hitting .315 with 42 RBI and a .951 OPS. Lazzeri is hitting .309 with 37 RBI and a .922 OPS. Waite Hoyt remains undefeated at 7-0 with a 1.52 ERA. Wilcy Moore picked up a save and a complete game win; he is now 1-0 with seven saves and a 1.05 ERA.
Reggie Jackson raised his average slightly to .283, hit his 35th homerun, and scored five runs to give him 92 for the season. Ed Figueroa lost again, making him 6-20 on the season with a 4.86 ERA. Sparky Lyle picked up his 20th save in the series. He is 4-2 with a 2.81 ERA. The '77 Yankees will take on the 13-5 1953 Yankees in the next series.
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The 1953 Yankees outlasted the 1977 Yankees four games to two in their six game series. The '53 Yankees improved their record to 17-7 while the '77 Yankees dropped to 56-88.
After losing the first game 6-1, the '53 Yankees won the next four games in a row. They needed 12 innings to win Game Two 8-4; Joe Collins hit two homeruns including a three-run blast to cap off the four run 12th inning. The clinching win, Game Five, was a real back breaker for the '77 Yankees. The '53 Yankees trailed early 4-0 and 5-3 in the bottom of the ninth. Then Phil Rizzuto, Billy Martin, and pinch hitter Andy Carey hit back-to-back-to-back doubles to tie the game. Roy White misplayed Irv Noren’s fly ball for an error and a walk-off 6-5 win.
Hank Bauer leads the '53 Yankees in hitting at .349 with seven homeruns, 22 runs scored, and a 1.049 OPS. Gene Woodling is hitting .337 with a .980 OPS. Mickey Mantle is hitting .305 with seven homeruns, 25 RBI, 25 runs scored, and a 1.018 OPS. Collins is hitting .284 with 24 RBI and a .915 OPS. Johnny Sain and Ed Lopat have identical 3-0 records; Sain’s ERA is 2.90 while Lopat’s is 3.94. Allie Reynolds has pitched eight scoreless innings in eight appearances with seven saves.
Reggie Jackson’s average fell below .280 at .276. He is stuck on 35 homeruns with 87 RBI and 93 runs scored. Thurman Munson is hitting .271 with 18 homeruns and leads the team in RBI with 91. Ron Guidry picked up his 12th win in this series and is the only starter with at least 10 starts to have an ERA under 4 (3.83). The '77 Yankees will take on their next door neighbors, the 13-5 1978 Yankees in the next series.
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The 1977 Yankees lost the first two games of their six game series with their next door neighbors, the 1978 Yankees. After that, they reeled off four straight wins to win the series and improve their record to 60-90. The '78 Yankees fell to 15-9.
A Reggie Jackson defensive blunder cost the '77 Yankees in Game One as his error led to two unearned runs in a tight 2-1 win for the '78 Yankees. The '78 Yankees won Game Two 7-2, but the '77 Yankees locked it down after that. They tied the series in Game Four with a 11-5 slugfest in which Lou Pinella homered and drove in five RBI. Jackson redeemed himself for the '77 Yankees in Game Five when he hit a solo homerun off Goose Gossage in the 9th to break a 2-2 tie for a 3-2 win. They clinched the series in the final game by scoring three off Ron Guidry in the first inning, two by a two-run triple by Mickey Rivers, for a 4-1 win.
Jackson’s average held steady at .276 with 36 homeruns, 91 RBI, and 98 runs scored. Thurman Munson raised his average slightly to .273 and drove in a couple of more runs to give him 93 for the season. Sparky Lyle picked up three saves to give him 23 for the season to go with a 4-3 record and a 2.82 ERA.
Jackson continues to stir the drink for the '78 Yankees at the plate as well; he is hitting .312 after 24 games with seven homeruns, 18 RBI, 20 runs scored, and a .978 OPS. Willie Randolph is hitting .268 with 16 runs scored and 11 stolen bases. '78 Ed Figueroa is undefeated at 4-0 with a 1.62 ERA. 21 game loser '77 Figueroa is jealous. Gossage suffered his first loss and his ERA jumped to 2.25, but he has 10 saves in 12 appearances. The '78 Yankees will play the 38-52 1952 Yankees in the next series.
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The 1952 Yankees and 1978 Yankees split their six game series. The '78 Yankees remain six games over .500 at 18-12 while the '52 Yankees stay 14 games under at 41-55.
The '52 Yankees won two of the first three games in the series they won Game Three 13-6 despite two Reggie Jackson homeruns; Joe Collins and Irv Noren each homered and combined for nine RBI. The '78 Yankees evened the series in Game Four 9-5 thanks to a six run onslaught in the 5th inning. The '52 Yankees took a 3-2 lead in the series in Game Five with a 1-0 11 inning win. Ron Guidry’s 11 strikeout, nine shutout inning performance was ruined when Collins hit a walk-off triple in the 11th. The '78 Yankees came back to even the series in the final game with a 9-8 that was a back-and-forth affair. Graig Nettles blasted two homeruns to give them an early 5-1 lead. The '52 Yankees came back to tie the game with four runs in the 4th. The '78 Yankees used key hits by Willie Randolph to build the lead back up to 9-5 before holding off a late '52 Yankee comeback for the win. Both Nettles and Randolph ended up with four RBI in the game.
Mickey Mantle leads the '52 Yankees in hitting at .293 with 10 homeruns, 63 RBI, and 60 runs scored. Collins drove in seven runs in the series to give him 84 for the season to go with a .268 average, 21 homeruns and 10 triples. Gene Woodling is hitting .288 with 69 runs scored. Allie Reynolds picked up another win to improve his record to 15-3 with a 2.59 ERA.
Jackson hit .409 in the series with three homeruns and seven RBI to boost his overall average to .330 with 10 homeruns, 25 RBI, and a 1.045 OPS. Ed Figueroa picked up two more win for a 6-0 record with a 2.25 ERA. Goose Gossage notched a couple of more saves to give him 12 with a 1.93 ERA. The '78 Yankees will face the 47-55 1961 Yankees in the next series.
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The 1978 Yankees and the 1961 Yankees split their six game series. The '78 Yankees remain six games over .500 at 21-15 while the '61 Yankees stay eight games under .500 at 50-58.
After losing the first game 4-3, the '61 Yankees won the next three games. Johnny Blanchard’s eighth inning homerun gave them a 4-3 win in Game Two. Yogi Berra went 3-5 with a double, homer and four RBI to power a 9-3 win in Game Three. In Game Four, they trailed 5-3 in the eighth until Elston Howard’s solo homerun cut the deficit to one in the 8th inning, and Bobby Richardson’s RBI single off Goose Gossage sent the game into extras. Roger Maris then hit a two-run walk-off homerun in the 10th for a thrilling 7-5 win; the loss spoiled Roger Guidry’s brilliant start in which he struck out 14 batters in eight innings. The '78 Yankees won the final two games to even the series. In Game Five, Mickey Mantle made two costly errors in the same inning for the '61 Yankees which led to two runs in a 3-1 defeat. Dick Tidrow pitched a four-hit shutout in the final game, a 6-0 victory. Graig Nettles was a perfect 3-3 at the plate with two doubles and three runs scored.
Mantle leads the '61 Yankees in hitting at .326 with 42 homeruns, 85 RBI, 99 runs scored, and a 1.143 OPS. Howard is right behind at .323 with 27 homeruns, 75 runs scored, and a .922 OPS. Maris is hitting .245 with 45 homeruns, 97 RBI, 93 runs scored, and a .979 OPS. Bill Stafford picked up his 10th win in this series; overall, he is 10-5 with a 3.70 ERA.
Reggie Jackson cooled off in this series for the '78 Yankees as his average dropped to .304 with 11 homeruns 28 RBI, and 32 runs scored. After the shutout, Tidrow is now 3-1 with a 3.34 ERA. Guidry has struck out 73 batters in 64 innings. The player with the next highest strikeout total is 7-0 Ed Figueroa with 19. Gossage blew another save in this series but saved two others to give him 14 for the season. The '78 Yankees will battle the 26-28 1941 Yankees in the next series.
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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.
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The 1978 Yankees put an end to their skid by defeating the 1996 Yankees four games to two in their six game series. The '78 Yankees are now six games over .500 at 27-21 while the '96 Yankees fell to two games under .500 at 38-40.
The '78 Yankees won four of the first five games in the series; the only reason they didn’t win five straight was because Goose Gossage blew a 2-1 lead in the 9th inning of Game Two when Cecil Fielder homered and Joe Girardi hit a two-out RBI double for a 3-2 loss. The '78 Yankees rebounded in Game Three with an easy 8-3 win; six of their runs were scored in the fourth inning, and every player either scored or drove in a run. They had a comeback win of their own in Game Four when they trailed 3-0 and scored four runs in the 8th inning on two-run doubles by Thurman Munson and Mickey Rivers en route to a 5-3 win.
Reggie Jackson raised his average to .319 with 15 homeruns, 40 RBI, and a .994 OPS. Mickey Rivers raised his average to .306 and has 12 stolen bases. Graig Nettles hit three homeruns and drove in eight RBI in the series to give him 10 homeruns and 31 RBI to go with a .271 average. Ed Figueroa picked up another win to up his record to 8-1 with a 2.52 ERA. Gossage picked up three saves along with the loss to give him an 0-3 record with 17 saves and a 3.65 ERA.
Mariano Duncan leads the '96 Yankees in hitting with a .299 average and 61 RBI. Andy Pettite won his 10th game in this series; he is now 10-3 with a 2.88 ERA. John Wetteland is 1-2 with 17 saves and a 1.82 ERA. The '96 Yankees will face the 30-24 1939 Yankees in the next series.
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The 1939 Yankees defeated the 1996 Yankees four games to two in their six game series to raise their record to 34-26. The '96 Yankees fell to four games under .500 at 40-44.
The '96 Yankees got off to a good start with a 5-4 comeback win in Game One. They overcame 2-0 and 4-2 deficits and went ahead for good in the 8th inning when a two-out error by Joe Dimaggio led to a RBI single by Wade Boggs. The '39 Yankees won the next four games, mainly because of dominant pitching. Lefty Gomez scattered six hits and struck out seven in 5-0 win in Game Two. Bump Hadley 1-hit the '96 Yankees in Game Five for a 8-0 win. Boggs broke up the no-no with one out in the 9th with a single. Monte Pearson didn’t pitch a shutout in their Game Four 7-4 victory, but he got the win and drove in two runs with a double.
Charlie Keller leads the ‘39 Yankees in hitting at .335 with a .973 OPS. Bill Dickey is hitting .264 and leads the team in homeruns with 12 and RBI with 51. Red Rolfe is hitting .267 and leads the team in runs scored with 46. Gomez’ shutout improved his record to 4-7 with a 2.98 ERA. Hadley evened his record to 4-4 with a 3.41 ERA. At 4.60, Pearson is the only starter currently with an ERA over 3.50!
Mariano Duncan’s average dipped slightly to .296; he added four RBI in the series to give him a team leading 65 for the season. Mariano Rivera logged a three-inning save in the final game of the series to give him a 3-2 record with four saves and a surprisingly high 3.02 ERA. The '96 Yankees will battle the 41-31 1937 Yankees in the next series.
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The 1937 Yankees won five of their six games against the 1996 Yankees to improve their record to 46-32. The '96 Yankees fell to 41-49.
While the series was lopsided most of the games were close, four of the games were decided by two runs or less. The '37 Yankees won Game One 3-1. Their offense picked up in Game Two with a 7-3 win; George Selkirk was 2-5 with a double, homerun, and four RBI. The offense peaked in Game Three with a 20-6 bloodletting; all eight '96 Yankee pitchers that appeared in the game gave up at least one run. The '96 rebounded with their lone win in Game Four, a 2-1 nailbiter. The '37 Yankees won the final two games on a couple of walk-offs. In Game Five, Tony Lazzeri scored from second on a costly Mariano Duncan error in the 9th for a 3-2 win. They trailed 3-1 in the final game until Joe Dimaggio tied it in the 8th with a two-run homer. Tony Lazzeri hit a walk-off single in the 10th after a triple by Myril Hoag for a 4-3 extras win.
Lou Gehrig leads the '37 Yankees in hitting at .333 with 22 homeruns, 62 RBI, 76 runs scored, and a 1.162 OPS. Selkirk is right behind at .324 with 20 homeruns, 57 RBI, 58 runs scored, and a 1,087 OPS. Dimaggio is hitting .288 with 26 homeruns, 88 RBI and a .952 OPS. Red Ruffing is 10-2 with a 2.32 ERA to lead the pitching staff. Lefty Gomez is 7-3 with a 2.18 ERA.
Mariano Duncan raised his average a point to .297 with a team-leading 68 RBI. Andy Pettite got the lone win for the '96 Yankees and continues to carry the staff at 11-4 with a 2.87 ERA. The '96 Yankees will face the 25-17 1956 Yankees in the next series.
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The 1996 Yankees beat the 1956 Yankees four games to two to improve their record to 45-51. The '56 Yankees dropped to 27-21.
The '96 Yankees won the first three games of the series. Their pitching held the '56 Yankee offense to three runs over those games. In Game One, Tino Martinez hit a two-run homer in the 5th which was all the offense they needed in a 2-1 win. Ramiro Mendoza scattered nine hits for a complete game shutout for a 1-0 win in Game Two. The offense for the '56 Yankees finally opened up in Game Four with five runs in the first inning, including a three-run homerun by Hank Bauer and a solo balst by Billy Martin. They went on to win 7-3. Tom Sturdivant starred on the mound for the '56 Yankees in Game Five, a 1-0 win, as he pitched a one-hit shutout and drove in the only run of the game with a single. The '96 Yankees won the final game 5-4 to take the series.
Mariano Duncan’s average fell slightly to .294 but crossed the 70 RBI plateau for the season. Mendoza’s shutout gave him his first win of the season; he is 1-4 with a 6.89 ERA. Andy Pettitte picked up his 12th win and John Wetteland saved three games to give him 22 for the season with a 1.81 ERA.
Mickey Mantle leads the '56 Yankees in hitting at .315 with 10 homeruns and a .963 OPS. Yogi Berra is hitting .298 and leads the team in RBI with 43. Sturdivant’s shutout improved his record to 6-2 with a 3.13 ERA. The '56 Yankees will battle the 30-30 1941 Yankees in the next series.