The New York Yankees series shifts ten years to 1938, and a championship in a season of change. When it was over, more than one Hall of Fame career was through. And the Yankees everlasting air of invincibility firmly established.
New York Yankees/Chicago Cubs World’s Series, Game Two; October 6th, 1938:
"“Dizzy Dean shuffled down baseball’s “last mile” today. From the sunshine that bathed the pitching mound at Wrigley Field he walked into the shadows of the dugout and on through the green door that leads to the showers. Let it be said that Dizzy Dean walked it gloriously.”"
The 1938 Yankees team (99-53) is not the most talented of all time. It did not set records for wins, or home runs in a season. No Yankee won the MVP that year or starred in the six-year old All-Star game.
And on no list of the greatest teams, Bronx born or otherwise does the 1938 iteration appear.
Its championship does more to define the words, The Yankees, than perhaps any other. And it gave birth to the Bronx Bombers biggest accomplishments.
1938 Regular Season
The Yankees knew from the start that this would be a season of transition. Any long championship run is fueled by mid-run replacements; those of the early Fifties and late Nineties give proof to the assertion.
And after winning titles in ’36 and ’37, changes were in order.
So during the off-season the team got rid of Tony Lazzeri of Murderer’s Row fame. Instead, they replaced him at second with Joe Gordon. It turned out to be a great move as before the season was over, 1B Lou Gehrig had seen enough to offer this glowing assessment.
"“Gordon is the best defensive second basemen in our league,” Gehrig said. “Joe is going to be around a long time. He has a wonderful future…is an exceptionally good fielder now, but he is going to get better with experience. He is on the way to developing into the greatest defensive second basemen the American League ever had.”"
Gordon would go on to win the AL MVP in 1942. That came as no surprise to manager Joe McCarthy.
"“The greatest all-around player I ever saw, and I don’t bar any of them, is Joe Gordon,” McCarthy told St. Petersburg Times reporter Bob Considine. “When we need him; when we need a hit from him, or a great play, or a great piece of base-running, that guy will come through for you better than any ball player I ever saw.”"
But, after two years serving in WWII and one season back in the Bronx, Joe was traded to Cleveland so that the Yankees could start their next dynastic run.
Auld Lang Syne
And Tommy “Old Reliable” Henrich was elevated from part-time player to full-time. His 92 walks but only 32 strikeouts helped set a fuller table all year long for stalwarts Joe DiMaggio and Lou Gehrig.
Even DiMaggio got into the spirit of change. He vowed that 1938 would be his last year of annually holding out for more money. As good as his word, he reported without issue in ’39.
These Yankees, however, never knew how true the title of a team in transition was until the following spring: 1938 was Lou Gehrig’s last full season.