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New York Yankees 20’s: A Dynasty Begins

                                              One of our posters asked me during the World Series if I would mind doing a post about the Yankees and their dominance in the major leagues.  But to do this properly, one has to split it into different decades. Over their long history, the Yankees have been to the postseason 58 times. By far the most appearances in MLB history.  They have won 41 pennants. They have 27 World Series wins, both again, way ahead of the second-place team. The Cardinals, with their 11 wins, are in second. 

                                             They are the only teams with double figure wins. Oakland-Philadelphia is third with 9. The Dodgers and Giants both have 8.  With their win this year, the Dodgers now stand 8-14 in World Series play. They were 1-8 in Brooklyn. The Yankees joined the American League in 1903.  For the first 10 years of their existence, they were known as the Highlanders. In 1913, they changed to the New York Yankees. 

                                           The Highlanders finished 2nd, three times in their existence, the closest they came to winning a pennant was in 1904 when they finished 1.5 games behind the Boston Americans, now the Red Sox. But for most of the first 18 years of the organization, they were never the league champs. All of that changed in 1921. And it changed because they traded for a LHP who also played the outfield, kid by the name of Ruth. 

                                            After the 1919 season, the Red Sox owner, wanting to finance a Broadway play, sold Ruth to the Yankees for the outrageous sum of 100,000.00 dollars. Ruth, who had started out as a pitcher with the Sox, had transitioned to a part-time pitcher and outfielder. He shattered the MLB record for homers in a season by crushing 29 in 1919. His value as a hitter was becoming very clear. And the Yankees put that value to good use as they made Ruth their everyday RF. 

                                           Babe hit 54 homers his first season in New York, once again shattering the record. But the Yankees were putting together a pretty good team around Ruth. They had Carl Mays as the Ace of the staff, he too had come from Boston in a trade, but he was acquired mid-season in 1919. He would win 26 games in 20 and 27 more in 21. Bob Shawkey was the other Ace on the staff. He won 20 that year. Babe would post a WAR of 11.8 that year. The year was marred by the death of Ray Chapman, who was hit by a pitch from Mays on August 16th. Chapman tried to go to first base, but he collapsed twice. Tris Speaker went out to help him and Chapman was taken to a hospital where he died the next morning. Still the only MLB player ever to die after being hit by a pitch. Mays never left the mound and said later he regretted that. 

                                          Bob Meusel, who would become one of the Murderers Row members, made the team as a 23-year-old and played in 119 games hitting .328.  Second only to Ruth. In 21 they would win their first pennant. They won 98 games and beat Cleveland by 4.5 games. They would lose the World Series to the Giants in 8 games.  Ruth hit his first WS homer that year. 21-year-old, Waite Hoyt made his debut that year and won 19 games. 

                                          In 1922 the Yankees won their second title in a row. Again, they faced the crosstown Giants. And again, the Giants won the World Series. This time they lost 4 games without a win. They did tie in game 2, 3-3. Ruth had an awful series batting just .118 with no homers. His 1922 season was not a great one by Ruthian standards. He hit .315 and had 35 homers. Wally Schang, Wally Pipp and Meusel had higher BAs. Their best pitcher was Bullet Joe Bush who went 26-7. Shawkey was their other 20 game winner, 20-12. 

                                         In those days, players were usually found by scouts, and they were found in all sorts of places. There were town and factory teams. Lou Gehrig was a New York boy. He was discovered while he was playing for Columbia University in New York City. The local press made Gehrig pretty famous before he ever played a major league game. In 1923, the 20-year-old Gehrig would get his first taste of the majors coming up and playing in 13 games. The soon to be superstar hit .423 with a homer and 8 RBIs. 

                                         The Yanks moved into their new home, Yankee Stadium and won their third pennant in a row, and once again faced the Giants. After losing 2 of the first 3 games, the Yankees won the next 3 for their first World Series win. Ruth had 3 homers in the series. Gehrig did not play. Sad Sam Jones was the Yankees only 20 game winner in 23. Herb Pennock won 19, Hoyt, 17, Bush 19 and Shawkey 16. Ruth hit .393 that year with 41 homers and 130 RBIs. He led the league in walks with 170, OPS, 1.309, OPS+ was an unreal 239, He also led in OBP and slugging. Amazingly, he did not win the batting crown, Harry Heilmann of the Tigers hit .403. 

                                          Aaron Ward was the only other Yankee with double figure homers in 23, he had 10. That would soon change. Baseball was leaving the dead ball era, and the home run would soon be king. At this point in time though, Ruth was the biggest thing on the planet baseball wise. This infuriated purists like Cobb. Despite Ruth’s heroics with the bat, the Yankees finished second to the Senators in 1924. They lost the pennant by two games. The Big Train, Walter Johnson, finally made it to the big stage. Johnson won 23 games, the 11th time in his illustrious career. He would win 20 just once more. Ruth hit .378 with 46 homers and 124 driven in. It was his only batting title in his career. 

                                        1925 was not a good year for the Yankees. After finishing second to the Senators in 24, the Yankees sank to 7th place. One of the main reasons was the Babe’s famous bellyache. At least that is what the press called it.  Ruth, who never really looked like an athlete, had worked hard in 23-24 to be in shape for spring training, but in 1925, he had reportedly ballooned to 260 pounds. His usual routine was to go to Hot Springs Arkansas, where he would exercise and use saunas to take off any weight. 

                                       Unfortunately, his carousing in town eventually led to him falling ill. He then relapsed during spring training. Many attributed his medical issues to overeating, and so it became a bellyache. He was actually hospitalized and collapsed a couple of times, once in North Carolina, and later in New York. His actual medical problem was never diagnosed and remains a mystery to this day. Needless to say, he played in only 98 games, hitting .290 with 25 homers. By far his worst season as a Yankee. There was a silver lining though, Wally Pipp was beaned and began having headaches. He asked out of a game, and was replaced by Lou Gehrig, who for the next 14 years would start every Yankee game. Gehrig hit .295 with 20 homers. And the Yankees would not have another losing season until 1965. 

                                       The Yanks rebounded in 26, winning the pennant by 3 games over the Indians.  They had 3 young guys on the infield, Gehrig, Mark Koenig and Tony Lazzeri. Joe Duggan, whom they had pried from the Red Sox in 22, was at third. Urban Shocker and Herb Pennock, both vets acquired in trade, led the staff. Gehrig, 16, Lazzeri, 18, Meusel 12, and Ruth, 46, were the home run guys. They faced the Cardinals in the series and lost in 7 games. 

                                       They went up 3-2 but lost the last two games at Yankee Stadium. Game 6 they were thumped 10-2. But game 7 was a nail biter. Jesse Haines started for St. Louis, and Waite Hoyt for the Yanks. The Yankees scored first on a homer by Ruth, his 4th of the series. But the Cardinals got 3 in the 4th, the first one scoring on an error by Bob Meusel, who was usually sure handed. A single by SS Tommy Thevenow scored the next two. 

                                      The Yanks got 1 back in the sixth. But in the seventh, Haines, a knuckleballer, got into real trouble. Combs singled and Koenig sacrificed him to second. Haines intentionally walked Ruth. Meusel grounded into a force out and Haines, who was obviously laboring at this point, walked Gehrig. Rogers Hornsby, the Cardinal manager, who was also the second baseman, went to the mound and noticed that Haines fingers were torn and bleeding from his knuckleballs. He called to the bullpen for Grover Cleveland Alexander. 

                                     Alexander had pitched the day before throwing a complete game. He was not expecting to be used, so he took his time coming in from the pen. By the way, that complete game took him 108 pitches. With the bases juiced and two out, he would be facing Tony Lazzeri. Alexander threw just 3 warmup pitches. He would get a scare when Lazzeri slugged one down the line that was foul by inches, but then he got the rookie on a curveball that dropped straight down.  In the ninth inning, 3 outs from a win, Ol Pete got the first two hitters to ground out to third. Being careful with Ruth, he ended up walking him. Bob Meusel came up to the plate. On his first pitch to Meusel, Ruth broke for second, and the Cardinal catcher, Bob O’Farrell fired the ball to Hornsby and Ruth was tagged out. The only time the series has ended on a runner being thrown out. 

                                      But in 1927, the Yankees became an unstoppable force, putting together one of the greatest seasons in baseball history, and Murderers Row became their nickname.  The 1927 Yankees were a well-oiled machine. They would win 110 games and lose only 44. Five of their starting 8 position players hit over .300. They hit 158 homers as a team, tame by today’s standards, but a lot back then. But look at it this way, the AL as a league hit only 439.  The Yankees hit 102 more homers than the #2 team, the A’s. The only other MLB team with 100 or more homers that year was the New York Giants who hit 105. Gehrig and Ruth combined hit 107. 

                                    I would bet few people could name any of the reserves on that team. Their best bench player was a guy named Ben Paschal, a reserve outfielder who played in 50 games and hit .317 with a couple of homers and 16 driven in. Their main starting catcher, Pat Collins, caught 92 games, his backups were Johnny Grabowski and Benny Bengough. Hoyt was their only 20 game winner, but all of the starters had winning records and won in double figures.  Dutch Ruether, a former Dodger, was the second lefty in the rotation with Pennock. The big gun out of the pen was Wilcy Moore.  He won 19, lost 7 and his adjusted stats give him 13 saves. 

                                   They steamrolled the league and then beat the Pirates four straight to win their second title. Although two of the games were decided by just 1 run, the Yankees never trailed by more than 1 run, and then that happened just twice. Ruth hit .400 with 2 homers and 7 driven in. They won again in 1928. This time the margin was much closer, the A’s were only 2.5 games back. A couple of future Hall of Famers were part of that team, 22-year-old SS, Leo Durocher played in 102 games. And 21-year-old, Bill Dickey played in 10 games. 

                                    They polished off the St. Louis Cardinals with their second 4-game sweep. They avenged the 1926 defeat. The Cardinals were simply no match for Ruth and Gehrig. Gehrig hit .545 for the series with 4 homers and 9 driven in. Ruth hit .625 with 3 homers and 4 driven in. He was 10-16.  In game two, they knocked Hall of Famer, Grover Alexander out of the game in the third inning. They expected to do the same thing in 1929. 

                                   A funny thing happened; the Yankees were not the best team in baseball in 1929. The Philadelphia A’s were. Led by Al Simmons and Double X, Jimmy Foxx, the A’s bested the Yanks by 16 games. They had solid pitching with George Earnshaw winning 24 games and Lefty Grove 20. Not that the Yankees did not have any stars, they did, but the A’s were just that much better. Dickey and Durocher became the regulars at their positions. Dickey hitting .324 his first season as the primary catcher. The infield was young, but the outfield was getting a little long in the tooth. Ruth, 34, Meusel, 32 and Combs, 30. Sam Byrd was a backup; he was 21 and he got into 62 games and hit .312. But the pitching was just not that great. They finished with a team ERA of 4.14. 

                                 As the decade ended, the Yankees still had some horses in the race, but there would-be new blood in the 30’s that would begin a domination of the AL that would last into the sixties. 

Born June 14th, 1948, in Los Angeles California. AKA The Bear

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dodgerram

If I am the Dodgers I go to Soto and offer him 13 years for 600 million.
Tell him to make his decision quickly if he wants to come to LA and have a shot at winning every year. If he does not take it turn to other options immediately.

In 10 years those 600 million will look like a bargain. And it is so rare to get a shot at a generational player like that in free agency.

I have no problem with his defense. Hide him in LF until FF contract is up. Then move him or Shohei to 1b and make the other the DH.

Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

Last edited 4 days ago by dodgerram
Bobby

Max Fried had dinner Sat night in LA with 5-6 Dodger players.

I’m sure it’s not just because he went to high school with Jack Flaherty (who was one of the attendees)

Bobby

Mets offer Adames 7 years, $160mil. However, they want him to play 3b, and he still prefers SS

Last edited 5 days ago by Bobby
Bumsrap

Glasnow for Lindor.  😆 

Pee Wee Grogan

Cool….no way LAD matches that….

Keith

we could do that and let him play SS

Keith

MLBTR predicted Adames at 6/160, and also talked about Swanson’s
177 mil being a comparable.

Last edited 5 days ago by Keith
Bluto

Where was that reported?

Singing the Blue

Based on this link, the Mets have offered him a little under 23 mil per year to play third base.

I’d be shocked if he doesn’t get somewhere in the 25-28 mil range from someone to play shortstop, with the possible understanding that he’d be willing to switch to 2B or 3B somewhere during the length of the contract.

In the Dodgers’ case it would be 3B.

Badger

119 wRC+, projects 111 next year. That’s a lot of money for a 3 WAR shortstop. Do the Dodgers need him that badly?

Bluto

Exactly, he’s not good enough for Friedman.

Keith

Badger, if we don’t get a SS we would move Edman there, most likely, but I don’t think we can get a CF that can put up better numbers than Adames, I’ve looked at the CF FAs, I just don’t see one that compares to Adames output.

the only CF I see that could put up that kind of offense is Luis Robert Jr, but would we get the 2023, or 2024 version. I like Robert, I wanted AF to trade for him and Crochet at the dead line, (thank god I didn’t get what I wanted) but I don’t have the confidence in Robert that I do in Adames.

Last edited 5 days ago by Keith
Badger

I follow your logic Keith and I find it sound.

I believe the Dodgers would like to “run it back” and so with better pitching. So, who plays centerfield? If they don’t sign Adames, then what? Rushing in left, Outman in center and Teo in right?

I don’t know what the plan is. But I think it starts with re-signing Teo. I also believe, even at the inflated cost, Friedman wants Adames. Ohtani won’t be pitching for a good part of the season so I would also try to get Flaherty and Fried into the rotation. I also would not be surprised to see Lux and a package of prospects (Josue being one of them) in a blockbuster for Robert and Crochet.

No matter how this shakes out I see payroll going up.

Last edited 4 days ago by Badger
Keith

whether they sign Adames or Edman plays SS, I think Teoscar, or an OFer at least as good, if not better is a must. I don’t want to see an OF of Pages Outman and Rushing next season, one is Ok, but all of them, that’s a pass for me

Duke Not Snider

How much do the Dodgers care about payroll?
Adames is a good fit now–and also 4-5 years from now, after he moves over to 3B. (Four of the Dodgers top ten prospects play shortstop. One is bound to pan out, right?)
Just for grins, here’s the 2029 post-Freddie lineup:

Shohei DH
Mookie 2B
De Paula LF
Rushing 1B
Pages RF
Adames 3B
Smith/Cartaya C
Jeondry Vargas SS (or Freedman or Morales or Lindsey)
Zyhir Hope CF

Actually, I wouldn’t be surprised if Freddie, now 35, is still playing at 40.
And maybe Shohei slows out of the lead-off spot…

Keith

MLBTR list of top 50 free agents

Duke Not Snider

I was bit scandalized when I first heard about how, through some business ownership entanglements, the Kansas City Athletics served as quasi-farm club for the Yankees in the ’50s.
From Reddit:
Arnold Johnson the owner of the Athletics that brought the team to KC in 1955 had been business associates with the Yankees owners Webb, Macphail and Topping. Johnson even bought Yankee Stadium in 1953. After the team arrived in KC and under the ownership of Johnson the A’s and Yankees made 19 trades involving 59 players.More often than not the Yankees received valuable young players and KC received aging veterans and cash. This ended when Arnold Johnson passed away on March 10, 1960. Charles Finley bought the team and moved it to Oakland in 1968. The 1961 Yankees that won the World Series had 10 ex KCA’ s on their team.
One of those ex-KCA Yankees was Roger Maris…

Keith

That is a really interesting piece of information, I’d never read or heard any of that . Thanks DNS.

philjones

I remember thinking the A’s were the Yankees AAA franchise.

Duke Not Snider

Ken was the better Boyer…but Clete had a great baseball name.

Badger

I lived in Raytown Missouri as a kid. On the shore of Wildwood Lake. Even as a youngster I was aware of the fact Duke refers to here. Our parents talked about it. The A’s were never going to be any good but we didn’t care. They were our team.

Roger Maris, the A’s starting right fielder used to fish Wildwood Lake. We were told to leave him alone, so we did. We watched him from a distance, but none of us approached him.

My favorite player on the team in 1958 was left fielder Bob Cerv. He came to a local market to sign autographs one hot muggy day in July. Me and buddy stood in a long line to get his autograph and I will never forget the experience. We were so excited. We were going to meet the slugger Bob Cerv. When we finally got to him he was sitting there wearing a white paper hat on that had Armour Meats on it. He was sweating and had a scowl on his face. He looked like an overweight guy who worked behind the meat counter. I asked him a question he remained silent. He didn’t even look at me. And just like that it was over. What a moment for a 10 year old kid. That was 66 years ago and that picture is seared into my memory.

I’ve told the story of the first game I ever attended. Against the Yankees. Yankees won 14-7. 7 home runs were hit. 2 by Mickey Mantle, 2 by Gil McDougald, 2 by Bob Cerv, 1 by Hal Smith. The 2 by Mantle were very different than the others. The sound, the height, the distance. Every kid in the neighborhood wanted to be Mickey Mantle. Including me.

Last edited 4 days ago by Badger
Singing the Blue

Great stuff, Badger. Just another example of that old expression, “never meet your hero. “

Make Mine Blue

Maybe Bob Cerv was just a good judge of character. lol

philjones

Great story Badger. We had a Class D League local team where I grew up. I went to their games as a kid and idolized those players. I too remember to this day which players were friendly and interacted with the fans, especially the kids, and which ones were assholes.
Those memories influenced me as a small-time minor leaguer. I never once was rude or ignored fans and happily signed every autograph request from a kid. I still think it’s important.

Wally Moonshot

In 1970 I was on the Colt League all star team in Orange Ca. One of our coaches was Bud Daley who was another player traded to the Yankees from K.C. He had a good career as a pitcher in New York. He was a lefty and had a right arm that was shorter than his left. Anyway I remember him being a really nice man who treated us like adults not kids. I had hit a home run in the first game but was on the bench for the second game. Daley took me aside and told me that the other team was starting a lefty and since I batted left handed I wasn’t starting but to be ready. Sure enough, the lefty came out of the game and I went right back in. I just remember him talking to me so I would understand the reasoning for me not starting. I never forgot it.Daley died a couple of weeks ago at the age of 92.

Badger

Did you play for Walla Walla Phil? If so, I found your stats.

Bumsrap

I never had a desire to get an autograph. A couple of times one of my kids surprised me and asked someone for an autograph, the Governor of Oregon for one. I discouraged asking for autographs except when there was an event specifically for autographs. Mike Marshal signed my son’s baseball glove.

Badger

I am not a collector of autographs but I happened to be in Palm Springs for Don Drysdale’s inaugural Hall of Fame Golf Tournament. It was amazing to see so many stars from several different sports. So, I started asking at the first tee. I got several to sign on the program. Johnny Bench, Jim Taylor, John Havlicek, Otto Graham. The only one to turn me down was Willie Mays.

I also have a couple of Maury Wills autographs. I had Joe DiMaggio and Tommy Davis but don’t know where they ended up. I gave away an autographed Ernie Banks card to a young Cubs fan in Sedona. He nearly fell over when I handed it to him. Also sent something to Bear a while back. Lou Brock?

Last edited 4 days ago by Badger
OhioDodger

Awesome article Bear. Thanks.

OhioDodger

Growing up as a kid, I did not hate the Yankees as I did not become a Dodger fan until 1965. I did not experience the frustration of Brooklyn against them. I did marvel at their dominance having read about them and being somewhat of a student of the history of baseball, my favorite sport at the time. Who could not be a fan of Ruth, Gehrig, DiMaggio, Berra, and Mantle. In the 60’s every kid wanted to be Mickey Mantle. I did not start disliking the Yankees until 1977 and 1978.

Bluto

Which outlets?

Bluto

OK.
Yahoo Sports and Google Sports are just aggregators. They neither report nor research, they just recycle from elsewhere.

DodgerNation seems to have one reporter.
Katrina Stebbins has been an MLB Staff Writer since October 2023, after spending a year and a half as a video editor at the MLB Network. She covers the Dodgers and, as a proud Michigan Wolverine, the Tigers for the FanSided Network, with a particular fondness for opinionated takedowns. Outside of baseball, she enjoys movies, F1, theater, and hanging out with her cat.

Badger

I don’t know how important it might be but there are a lot more Dominicans in New York than LA. 10 times more. New York has a shortstop, LA needs a shortstop. He has a connection with Friedman.

He had a down year defensively, but before that he was very good. He’s a 3 WAR everyday shortstop. Not my money. He’s another middle of the order hitter. I hope it happens.

Bobby

The best outlets in LA area are at Cabazon.

But Dodger related, I think it will boil down to: is Alex Freeland a legit SS prospect who possibly could take the role sometime in 2025 and can Adames play a good 3b starting possibly in 2026, when Muncy’s contract expires?

Last edited 4 days ago by Bobby
Bluto

I think it will boil down to:
Adames isn’t a value..

Last edited 4 days ago by Bluto
Keith

Aww come on Bluto can’t I say anything to change your mind, and get you on the Adames band wagon.😀

Badger

Well, you may be right, but it would appear AF has interest. I trust his judgment on such issues.

Keith

I read somewhere that a bunch of Adames errors all happened within a short span of something like 17 games, can’t remember exactly, which to me says he was probably playing through an injury.

Badger

I suppose that’s possible. Do you know where you read that?

Bluto

Longenhagen chat:

PB: How much do teams actually value the fall league? Feels like there’s a lot of variance and noise associated with the results.

Eric A Longenhagen: With the stats there is, but the look can move the needle. Handful of potential Rule 5 guys solidify a spot or not here, you’re looking at the Eriq Swans of the world and considering the way he’s been changed by an org that’s good at this, etc. Lots to see, basically none of it anyone’s ISO.

Benjamin: Zyhir Hope or Walker Jenkins?

Eric A Longenhagen: Jenkins, not close. Hope has real hit tool risk. He’s got power and speed but is gonna K a ton.

Eminor3rd: Have you had a chance to get looks/opinions on Shunpeita Yamashita (Orix) or Takahisa Hayakawa (Rakuten) in NPB? The looked like a potential generational guy before taking a step backward last year, and the latter finally broke out a year or two after being pretty hyped.

Eric A Longenhagen: Yamashita is the real deal for me. Struggled and was demoted early, came back with a vengeance late. Three plus pitches and a QB build at age 22? Yes please. I think he’s pitching “prospect” no. 2 in NPB behind Sasaki… I like Hayakawa but there are a lot of guys like him over there, smaller-framed with sneaky 89-91mph heaters, breaking stuff that lives off axis/slot, and a good changeup. More generic backend type. Inoue is my favorite guy over there who fits this description, think he’s a special athlete.

Fangraphs Top 50 Free Agents: ($$)

2025 Top 50 MLB Free Agents

I’m really warming to the prospect of Tyler O’Neill, Ha-Seong Kim and….

Maybe Bieber/Buehler or maybe complete the starting roster with internal options.

Baseball America on the AFL Futures Game: ($$)
https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/2024-fall-stars-game-rosters-top-100-prospects-hitters-pitchers-to-watch/

Once Dodgers prospect Eriq Swan gets in the game, pay attention. The tall righthander has used his Fall League time to show off a devastating pitch mix…

Dodgers outfielder Zyhir Hope had a high amount of helium entering the Fall League, and he’s shown flashes of his potential..

Last edited 4 days ago by Bluto
Bumsrap

Baltimore wants to win now. They couldn’t score in the 2024 playoffs and were eliminated quickly. They pushed Jackson Holliday and he wasn’t ready. There infield is loaded and I have read or heard somewhere that Jackson Holliday could be available.
He would make the Dodgers younger. I would want him at third for the Dodgers if in fact he is touchable. He can be Muncy’s heir apparent

Bluto

Zero chance he’s available.

IIRC he was the #1 prospect in all of baseball.

Bumsrap

Lux and Miller should be of interest to Baltimore. Just mentioning names.

Bluto

Oh! Baltimore has players of interest, especially at SS (Mayo and Westburg) but no chance of getting Holliday.

Ron Fairly fan

There was an interesting discussion on another blog about Ohtani going forward. On days that he pitches does he also DH. I could see him just pitching on those days as the Dodgers don’t need him to pitch and hit as the Angels did. But by the same token that’s part of why he was brought in as a two way player. Maybe a split of 50 50 with him getting some time off from hitting and being able to get someone like Smith some DH time.

Bumsrap

He probably would love to have his bat in the lineup when he pitches. Most pitchers would.

Badger

He could probably still do it, but I’d rather he didn’t.

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