The newsletter spends several months examining the greatness of the past. It focuses on 50 baseball clubs in history (collectively the best 50), which is determined by my new book The best team in baseball. We reached No. 37 on the 1938 New York Yankees' all-time roster.
Here is a quick boilerplate note attached to each story I have in this series:
I compiled the best 50 by analyzing 2,544 major league teams from 1903 to 2024. (The historical percentile for a given club is the percentage of its other 2,543 teams.)
Please refer to my book to explain my TS calculations. The book also offers a separate breakdown of the best and worst clubs every decade, along with a comprehensive overview of the best 50 (including a position-by-position lineup and more information than you will find in this newsletter), and a similar summary of the 10 worst teams of all time.
Now enter today's profile.
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Team: 1938 New York Yankees
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Team Score: 85.854 points
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Ranking History: 37 of 2,544
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Historical percentile: 98.58%
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Seasonal record: 99-53 (.651)
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Season position: No. 1 in the American League
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Final identity: World Champion
Yankees installed Tony Lazzeri As the second baseman in 1926, he still held a job ten years later. Lazzeri crossed 0.297 in the 11 seasons of 1936, reaching a peak of .354 in 1929.
One week after the World Series, Yanks released Lazzeri. He was fascinated with the Cubs and New York managers in 1938 Joe McCarthy Digged 23 years old Joe Gordon As his replacement. This is one of two major lineup changes, the other is Tommy Henrichi Take the role of the starting point outfield and replace Jack Powell.
The two new immigrants showed hope, although the pace was still set by three tried-and-tested veterans: Lou Gehrig,,,,, Bill Dickyand Joe Dimaggio. The Yankees dominated 174 home runs in 1938. No other major league club hits up to 140.
New York's third consecutive American League color flag is not as easy as the first two. On June 24, the Yankees struggled for 4.5 games in the first game of Cleveland, but the rest was 67-28 (.705).
Get a complete low in 50 greatest (and 10 weakest) clubs of all time
No team has ever won three consecutive World Series. The question in 1938 was whether the Yankees could resist the odds. Sports News Editor Edgar Brands doubts. He picked the Cubs to win, citing “average law rarely fails.”
The Yankees didn't pay attention to his mathematical logic and swept the Cubs with a collective score of 22-9. pitcher Red ruffled edges The series was booked with a complete victory in the first and fourth games.
Manager Joe McCarthy was happy to go to the mess of the Cubs, a franchise that relaxed him eight years ago. “We're beyond their power, pitching, stability and everything else,” he said.
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Lou Gehrig lost one step. He still ran to first base every day, expanding his streak to 2,122 by the end of 1938, but he is no longer the main force. Most players would be happy with Gehrig's 29 home runs and an average of 0.295, but none of these statistics meet his lofty standards. He admits his hits lack “proper zoom”.
Age is a clear factor. Gehrig turned 35 in June 1938. The Yankees also revealed that their star suffers from lumbar aga, an outdated term for back pain. Later, doctors would realize that Gehrig had suffered from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), which would take his life in 1941.
New York fans are temporarily shocked by Gerieg's heir. Joe Dimaggio asked for a $40,000 contract in 1938. General Manager Ed Barrow retorted that Gehrig made only $43,000. “In this case,” Dimaggio replied, “Mr. Gehrig is a very low-paying player.” The young star kept it in spring training and then settled for $25,000. New Yorkers serenade with jokes and hate mail. “You would think I kidnapped Lindber's baby,” Dimaggio said tiredly.
Red Ruffles have been pitching for the Yankees since 1930, reaching a trade from the Red Sox. He refused to blame him for his 39-96 record in Boston. “The D-level players have just graduated from college,” he said. “No one can win their victory.”
But he can win in New York. Ruffing averaged 16.6 wins in his first eight seasons with the Yankees before being hit 21 times in 1938. Historian Bill Deane believes he deserves the hypothetical Cy Young Award for the year.
