PTWSW #33: The 1936 New York Yankees

Manager: Joe McCarthy
Record: 102-51
Ballpark: Yankee Stadium
Owner: Col. Jacob Ruppert
GM: Ed Barrow
Coaches: Earle Combs, Art Fletcher, Johnny Schulte

Future Hall of Famers: Joe DiMaggio, Bill Dickey, Lou Gehrig, Lefty Gomez, Tony Lazzeri, Red Ruffing

All-Stars: Frankie Crosetti, Joe DiMaggio, Bill Dickey, Lou Gehrig, Lefty Gomez, Monte Pearson, George Selkirk

Team Leaders, Batting

BA: Bill Dickey, .362
OBP: Lou Gehrig, .478 (AL leader)
SLG: Lou Gehrig, .696 (AL leader)
OPS: Lou Gehrig, 1.174 (AL leader)
2B: Joe DiMaggio, 44
3B: Joe DiMaggio, Red Rolfe, 15 (AL leaders)
HR: Lou Gehrig, 49 (AL leader)
RBI: Lou Gehrig, 152
BB: Lou Gehrig, 130 (AL leader)
SB: Frankie Crosetti, 18

Team Leaders, Pitching

W: Red Ruffing, 20
SO: Monte Pearson, 118
ERA: Monte Pearson, 3.71
IP: Red Ruffing, 271
CG: Red Ruffing, 25
SHO: Red Ruffing, 3
K/BB: Johnny Broaca, 1.27
SV: Pat Malone, 9 (AL leader)

Tidbits

Oldest Player: Ted Kleinhans (b. April 8, 1899)

Youngest Player: Joe DiMaggio (b. November 25, 1914)

First to Leave Us: Lou Gehrig (d. June 2, 1941)

Last Survivor: Frankie Crosetti (d. February 11, 2002)

First in Majors: Lou Gehrig (debut June 15, 1923)

Last in Majors: Joe DiMaggio (final game September 30, 1951). DiMaggio actually bowed out after playing in that year's World Series.

First to Play For the Franchise: Lou Gehrig (June 15, 1923)

Last to Play For the Franchise: Joe DiMaggio (September 30, 1951)

Pre-union Team: None had more than two. Most of these guys were originally brought up by the Yankees.

Reunion Team: Two teams from 1939 had three. The Browns had Joe Glenn, Don Heffner and Myril Hoag. The Giants had Jumbo Brown, Tony Lazzeri and Bob Seeds.

Accomplishments

Lou Gehrig, AL MVP
Lou Gehrig, 400 career home runs
Tony Lazzeri, two grand slams in one game, May 24
182 home runs, new Major League record

Season Summary

Everything clicked for the Yankees in 1936. They allowed the AL's fewest runs per game and had its best DER. They were partially aided by their pitcher-friendly ballpark, which meant their 112 ERA+ was only second in the league. On offense no one was close. Their 115 OPS+ and 6.87 runs per game were both easily atop the pack. Their main weapons were the good old-fashioned Sabermetric principles of on-base percentage and slugging. They led the league in both categories, and outhomered the second-best Indians by 59 (thanks to a new Major League record 182 round-trippers).

With rookie Joe DiMaggio roaming the outfield and just about every other regular improving on his 1935 performance, the Yankees took less than a month to make their way into first place, where they'd remain the rest of the year. In late June they began to run away with the lead, never letting it get below seven games in the last three months. When it was all said and done they had 19.5 games on their closest competitor.

The Yankees faced their rivals across the river, the Giants, in the World Series. The Giants won Game 1 behind their ace, Carl Hubbell, but the Yankees answered with an 18-4 blowout in Game 2, a Fall Classic record for run-scoring prolificacy that still stands. The only other victory the Giants managed was an extra-inning win in Game 5. The Yankees finished them off with another blowout in Game 6. Overall, the Yanks outscored the Giants 43-23 for the Series.

Acknowledgements:

Baseball Reference
Baseball Almanac
Google News Archives