PTWSW #50: The 1953 New York Yankees

Manager: Casey Stengel
Record: 99-52
Ballpark: Yankee Stadium
Owner: Dan Topping and Del Webb
GM: George Weiss
Coaches: Frankie Crosetti, Bill Dickey, Ralph Houk, Jim Turner

Future Hall of Famers: Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford, Mickey Mantle, Johnny Mize, Phil Rizzuto

All-Stars: Hank Bauer, Yogi Berra, Mickey Mantle, Johnny Mize, Allie Reynolds, Phil Rizzuto, Johnny Sain

Team Leaders, Batting

BA: Gene Woodling, .306
OBP: Gene Woodling, .429 (AL leader)
SLG: Yogi Berra, .523
OPS: Gene Woodling, .898
2B: Gil McDougald, 27
3B: Gil McDougald, 7
HR: Yogi Berra, 27
RBI: Yogi Berra, 108
BB: Gene Woodling, 82
SB: Mickey Mantle, 8

Team Leaders, Pitching

W: Whitey Ford, 18
SO: Whitey Ford, 110
ERA: Ed Lopat, 2.42 (AL leader)
IP: Whitey Ford, 207
CG: Whitey Ford, 11
SHO: Vic Raschi, 4
K/BB: Johnny Sain, 1.87 (AL leader)
SV: Allie Reynolds, 13

Tidbits

Oldest Player: Johnny Mize (b. January 7, 1913)

Youngest Player: Mickey Mantle (b. October 20, 1931)

First to Leave Us: Ray Scarborough (d. July 1, 1982)

Last Survivor: Art Schallock is the last one living as of October 9, 2020.

First in Majors: Johnny Mize (debut April 16, 1936)

Last in Majors: Mickey Mantle (final game September 28, 1968)

First to Play For the Franchise: Phil Rizzuto (April 14, 1941)

Last to Play For the Franchise: Mickey Mantle (September 28, 1968)

Pre-union Team: The 1946 Indians and 1950-51 Senators each had three.

Reunion Team: The 1955 Orioles had eight: Bob Kuzava, Ed Lopat, Jim McDonald, Bill Miller, Willy Miranda, Art Schallock, Gus Triandos and Gene Woodling. Five of them were part of a humongous seventeen-player swap the Yankees and Orioles made in November 1954.

Season Summary

The final team of the Yankees' five-year title streak may have been the best of them all. The 1953 Bronx Bombers were never out of first place after April 21, and an early 33-6 run (which included an 18-game winning streak) gave them a cushion that allowed them to withstand the nine-game losing streak that followed. On offense the Yankees were without peer, as they led the AL in OPS+, runs scored per game, walks and each of the slash stats. Their run prevention was also great, as they allowed the fewest runs per game and were second in ERA+ and strikeout-to-walk differential. After all was said and done they'd won the AL pennant by 8.5 games.

Their World Series opponent was the Brooklyn Dodgers for the fourth time in seven years. The Yankees had won each previous matchup, but Brooklyn had set a franchise record with 105 wins that season. After the Yankees won the first two games the Dodgers bounced back to win the next two, highlighted by Carl Erskine's then-record 14 strikeouts in Game 3. The Yankees took back the series lead with a slugfest in Game 5, and they led the Dodgers in the ninth inning of Game 6 before Carl Furillo's two-run homer tied it. Undeterred, the Yankees won it in the bottom half of the inning on Billy Martin's RBI single. Several records for a six-game World Series were set, including 17 homers and 120 hits between the two teams, and 12 hits by Billy Martin.

Acknowledgements:

Baseball Reference
Baseball Almanac
Google News Archives