The Postwar Yankees: Baseball's Golden Age Revisited

1. Those Damn Yankees

Almost every American has heard of the mighty New York Yankees. Even those who are not baseball fans know that the Yankees epitomize championship baseball. The team’s resurgence beginning in 1996 has created the usual hand-wringing and cries to “break up the Yankees.” Yet the current team has a long way to go before rivaling the records of past Yankee teams, particularly those that won fifteen pennants in eighteen seasons between 1947 and 1964. The Boston Celtics’ eleven National Basketball Association titles in thirteen years is the only skein in professional sports that comes close to rivaling the Yankees. Between 1996 and 2003 the Yankees appeared in six World Series, winning four of them. Since then, the team has disappointed its owner, George Steinbrenner, and its fans, despite its gaudy collection of stars (with matching salaries). Judging from statistical data drawn from the Yankees championship runs, the current streak of success is not as illustrious as previous streaks have been, especially in terms of win-loss records (see table 1.1 in the appendix). The “games ahead” figures for both the 1976–78 and 1998–2001 eras in table 1.1 are inflated by the divisional structure, in which only four to six teams compete directly for a divisional title instead of eight to ten teams competing for a league title. At least the current Yankees dominance over baseball has paid off in terms of attendance. Those Damn Yankees Dominance and Submission in the American League 1 This chapter provides a brief history of the New York Yankees, from their modest beginnings through the Jacob Ruppert ownership and Babe Ruth. I examine the team’s record on the field during the postwar era and consider the effect of the team’s repeated pennant success on fans’ interest and appreciation. Despite being the only team at the time in New York City, having four more home games than in previous seasons, and featuring Mickey Mantle’s and Roger Maris’s pursuit of Babe Ruth’s single-season homerun mark, attendance at Yankee Stadium in 1961 failed to recover to the levels of 1946–51. The New York Yankees’ Early Record The New York Yankees’ early history was one of disappointment. The team failed to win any pennants during the American League’s first two decades. From 1903 to 1918 the Yankees won fewer than 48 percent of their games. Thanks to the alleged impecuniousness of Boston Red Sox owner, Harry Frazee, the new Yankee owners, Capt. Tillinghast Huston and Col. Jacob Ruppert, were able to buy virtually an entire starting lineup and pitching staff. The Red Sox had been the American League’s most victorious franchise between 1903 and 1918. According to legend, in 1920 Frazee supposedly needed money to fund his Broadway efforts, so he sold Babe Ruth for a reputed $125,000 (plus a $300,000 loan). In fact, according to the New York Yankees’ financial records, the team paid four installments of $25,000 for Ruth, and there is no evidence of a loan.1 Before this sale, the Yankees had purchased Duffy Lewis, Carl Mays and Ernie Shore from the Red Sox for a combined $55,000; the Yankees also threw in some players who would help the Red Sox to second-division finishes. After purchasing Ruth, the Yankees bought Joe Dugan, Herb Pennock, George Pipgras, and Elmer Smith and traded for Waite Hoyt and Wally Schang. Many of these players joined holdovers Frank Baker, Wally Pipp, and Bob Shawkey, who had been purchased from the Philadelphia Athletics and Detroit Tigers, to form the bulk of the Yankees’ first pennantwinning squad in 1921. Later the Yankees would buy Red Ruffing from the Red Sox.2 The Yankees began successfully to introduce new talent such as Bob 12 t Those Damn Yankees Meusel and, later, Lou Gehrig and Tony Lazzeri. By the 1930s the growing Yankees farm system and judicious purchases of some Minor League players produced Bill Dickey, Lefty Gomez, and Joe DiMaggio as well as a host of lesser-known players. The talent probably peaked with the 1936–39 editions, led by DiMaggio and Dickey (see table 1.1 in the appendix). In each of the four years the Yankees led the league not only in scoring but also in fewest runs allowed. The Yankees also outscored their opponents by 2.14 runs per game during this period, topped by...