Greatest American League
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The 1941 Yankees and 1949 Yankees split their six game series. The '41 Yankees remain two games over .500 at 7-5 while the '49 Yankees stay 40 games under .500 at 49-89.
Game One was a thriller; the '49 Yankees jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning. The '41 Yankees scored the next six runs, but the '49 Yankees tied the game 6-6 in the 8th on a two-run single by Joe Dimaggio. The hit capped off an amazing game for Dimaggio who went 5-5, hit the cycle, and drove in four RBI. The game went to extra innings , and Joe Gordon gave the '41 Yankees the lead for good on a solo homerun to win the game 7-6. The '49 Yankees won Game Two in a 12-4 blowout in which every player scored or drove in a run. Pitching dominated Game Three; Despite Tommy Byrne’s 14 strikeouts, the '41 Yankees won 2-0 on a three-hit shutout pitched by Spud Chandler. '41 Dimaggio provided the only runs on a two-run homer. The '49 Yankees won two close games 6-4 and 4-2 to come within a game of finally winning another series. However, the '41 Yankees quickly ruined that plan with a 16-4 beating in the final game. Red Ruffing got the win and went 2-5 at the plate with a homerun and three RBI.
The '41 Yankees have three players with an OPS over 1 after 12 games: Red Rolfe is hitting .441 with nine RBI and a 1.075 OPS. Dimaggio is hitting .429 with seven homeruns, 15 RBI, and a 1.418 OPS. Charlie Keller is hitting .319 with four homers, 12 RBI, and a 1.067 OPS. Chandler’s shutout was his second win in as many starts and lowered his ERA to 1.13.
'49 Dimaggio hit .375 in the series with three homeruns and 10 RBI. His average rose to .284 with 32 homeruns, 107 RBI, and 101 runs scored. Tommy Henrich continues to match Dimaggio in power numbers with 32 homeruns and 108 RBI despite hitting just .229. Vic Raschi picked up his 15th win and Joe Page picked up his 21st save to go with a 1.96 ERA. The '49 Yankees next series will be against the 4-2 1961 Yankees.
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After losing or splitting 12 straight series, the 1949 Yankees finally won a series. They beat the 1961 Yankees four games to two to improve their record to 53-91 while the '61 Yankees dropped back to .500 at 6-6.
The '49 Yankees won the first three games of the series. In Game One, Eddie Lopat allowed only two runs and scored and drove in a run to lead his team to a 3-2 win. Yogi Berra went 4-4 in Game Two with two triples, a homer, and seven RBI in an 8-3 win. Joe Dimaggio drove in six runs in Game Three on a 2-4 day at the plate with a double and homerun for an 11-6 win. The '61 Yankees won the next two games. In game Four, Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris each hit two homeruns and drove in five RBI apiece for a 12-7 win. Game Five was a thriller; The '61 Yankees led 3-1 and 7-3 thanks to two homeruns by Elston Howard, but the '49 Yankees came back to tie the game each time. Hector Lopez hit a solo homer in the bottom of the 8th to give the '61 Yankees an 8-7 win. Game Six was the Dimaggio show as he hit two two-run homers to lead the '49 Yankees to a 4-2 series win.
Dimaggio had a monster series: .455, four homeruns, 15 RBI to raise his overall average to .291, 36 HR, 122 RBI, 111 runs scored and a 1.016 OPS. Tommy Henrich raised his average to .230 with 33 homeruns and 113 RBI. Yogi Berra raised his average to .218 with 23 homeruns and 105 RBI. Joe Page struck out the side to save Game Six to give him 23 for the season with a 1.87 ERA.
Mantle is hitting .457 after 12 games with seven homers, 13 RBI, 15 runs scored and a 1.502 OPS. Howard is hitting .327 with four homers and 10 RBI. Maris has matched Mantle with homeruns and leads the team in RBI with 15. Whitey Ford is 1-1 in three starts with a 2.45 ERA. The '61 Yankees will take on the 31-53 1977 Yankees in the next series.
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The 1961 Yankees and 1977 Yankees split their six game series that went back and forth. The '61 Yankees remained at .500 at 9-9 while the '77 Yankees remained 22 games under .500 at 34-56.
The '77 Yankees won Game One 7-2 thanks to a five run rally in the 9th; three of the runs were plated by a bases-loaded triple by Bucky Dent. The '61 Yankees won the next two games 9-1 and 12-9. They scored seven of their nine runs in game Three in the third inning. The '77 Yankees tied the series in Game Four 6-5 on a walk-off homerun by Graig Nettles. The '77 Yankees got another walk-off win in Game Five 3-2 to take a 3-2 lead in the series. Chris Chambliss provided the dramatics with a two-run double in the bottom of the 9th after trailing 2-1. The '61 Yankees earned the split by smashing the '77 Yankees 17-3 in the final game.
Reggie Jackson leads the '77 Yankees in hitting at .299, homeruns with 23, and runs scored with 59. Jackson and Thurman Munson both have 59 RBI to lead the team. Ron Guidry (7-7) is the only starting pitcher with an ERA under 4 at 3.84.
After 18 games, Mickey Mantle is still hitting over .400 for the '61 Yankees at .407, and he leads the team in runs scored with 20. Roger Maris raised his average to .262 and leads the team in homers and RBI with 9 and 20 respectively. Starting pitching has been on the mediocre side so far; ace Whitey Ford is 1-1 in four starts with a 3.86 ERA. The 1961 Yankees will compete with the 19-29 1952 Yankees in the next series.