Number 2
1927 New York Yankees, 126 wRC+
110-44, .714, won the World Series
.307/.384/.488, .400 wOBA—Yankees
.286/.352/.399, .351 wOBA—League Average
Here we have the 1927 Yankees, also known as “Murderers’ Row.” This is the gold standard of hard-hitting baseball teams. This was the year Babe Ruth hit 60 home runs and out-homered every other team in the AL. He also had 158 runs scored and 164 RBI, with a .356/.486/.772 batting line. As good as his season was, Lou Gehrig was right there with him: .373/.474/.765, 149 runs, 47 homers, 175 RBI.
The term “Murderers’ Row” was used by a sportswriter in 1918 to describe the Yankees lineup even before Babe Ruth joined the team. Over the years, it has come to stand for the mid-1920s Yankees and, more specifically, to this 1927 team. The first six batters in the lineup make up the core contributors: Earle Combs (141 wRC+), Mark Koenig (83 wRC+), Babe Ruth (212 wRC+), Lou Gehrig (209 wRC+), Bob Meusel (134 wRC+), and Tony Lazzeri (125 wRC+). Koenig was a well below average hitter who still scored 99 runs this season because he hit in front of Ruth, Gehrig, and Meusel. He was the least murderous member of Murderers’ Row, the guy who brought a butter knife to a gunfight.
The 1927 Yankees won 110 games and had a run-differential of 376, still the all-time record. They won the AL pennant by 19 games before sweeping the Pittsburgh Pirates in the World Series. When baseball fans talk about the greatest teams of all-time, the 1927 Yankees are always in the conversation and that is due in large part to their big guns on offense.