New York Yankees: The All-Time Bracket
No. 4 vs. 5 seed
DiMaggio was a 21-year-old rookie in 1936; he debuted with a .323 average, 29 home runs and 125 runs batted in. The only reason he wasn’t a unanimous Rookie of the Year selection was that the award hadn’t been invented yet.
Gehrig, the team veteran, batted .354 with 49 homers and 152 RBIs. Catcher Bill Dickey added a .362 average, 22 homers and 107 RBIs. Lazzeri and outfielder George Selkirk also topped 100 in that department.
The team batting average was .300.
With that kind of offense, pitching was essentially optional. Still, the Yanks offered up Red Ruffing, 20-12, 3.85, and Monte Pearson, 19-7, 3.71.
Gehrig was also a feature of the great 1932 team that won 107 games, captured the pennant by 13 games, then swept the Chicago Cubs in a World Series made memorable by the legend of Babe Ruth’s Called Shot. Still operating as supporting actor to Ruth, Gehrig batted .349 with 34 homers and 151 RBIs. The Babe? He hit .341 with 41 and 137. Lazzeri again topped 100 RBIs, as did outfielder Ben Chapman.
Lefty Gomez that year was 24-7 despite a 4.21 ERA. Ironically, Ruffing only managed an 18-7 record despite an ERA that was more than a point better than Gomez at 3.09.
Game 1: The 1932 Yankees’ 107-47 regular-season record works out to a .694 percentage. In 1936 the Yanks were 102-51, .667. How .667 is a losing percentage is a subject for greater minds than this one, but it is.
Game 2: The 1936 Yanks knocked off the Giants in five games. But the 2932 team dispatched the Cubs in four. That makes it 2-0 for 1932.
Game 3: The 1936 team produced a 115 team OPS+. But the 1932 team produced a 119 OPS+. This series is on the verge of a sweep.
Game 4: Not yet. In 1932 Yankee pitchers put together a 103 ERA+. But the 1936 staff had a 111 ERA+. We move along.
Game 5: The 1936 DiMaggio Yankees had a 54.6 team WAR. In 1932 the Yanks rolled up a 53.8 WAR, less than one point short of what they needed.
Game 6: The 1932 team fielded .969, exactly at the league average. The 1936 team fielded .973, two points above the league average. Fittingly this series will boil down to Hall of Famers.
Game 7: Both teams can count an abundance of immortals. From the 1936 team, that count includes Dickey, DiMaggio, Gehrig, Gomez, Lazzeri and Ruffing. That’s six. But the 1932 club…now that’s a roster of immortals. That team included Ruth, Gehrig, Ruffing, Gomez, Lazzeri, and Dickey as well as outfielder Earle Combs, infielder Joe Sewell, pitcher Herb Pennock. That’s nine immortals. And that’s a classic win for 1932.
Result: 1932 in seven games