1943 New York Yankees: Still Winning

1943 New York Yankees: Still Winning

[paypal_donation_button]1943 New York Yankees: Still Winning

Around this time World War II had surfaced to the limelight as young men would need to enlist for the war. Baseball teams were not exempt from having its players enlisting, and the New York Yankees were certainly one of those teams. The Yankees were missing very talented players such as Joe DiMaggio, Phil Rizzuto, Red Ruffing and Buddy Hassett because of World War II. Robert “Red” Rolfe, a successful pitcher for the pinstripes, had retired to become a coach for the baseball and basketball teams at Yale University. Rolfe would eventually become the Athletic Director for Dartmouth University from 1954 to 1967.

The Yankees went 98-56 in 1943 with a roster that still had solid talent from top to bottom, still winning the American League pennant by 13.5 games over the Washington Senators. The Yankees went 11-11 against the Senators in head-to-head play. The Yankees remained steady from month to month having winning records as they went 19-11 in April, 15-11 in June, 21-11 in July, 22-11 in August and 18-10 in September.

Catcher Bill Dickey batted .351 with 85 hits and 18 doubles in 85 games. Third baseman Billy Johnson batted .280 with 94 RBI’s, 166 hits, 24 doubles and 6 triples. Having the nickname of “King Kong”, left fielder Charlie Keller was a key anchor of the New York offense as he batted .271 with 31 home runs and 86 RBI’s off 139 hits, 15 doubles, 11 triples and 7 stolen bases. First baseman Nick Etten batted .271 with 14 home runs and 107 RBI’s off 158 hits, 35 doubles and 5 triples. Right fielder Arthur “Bud” Metheny had 9 home runs, 94 hits and 18 doubles in 103 games.

Second baseman Joe “Flash” Gordon had 17 home runs and 69 RBI’s off 135 hits, 28 doubles and 5 triples. Center fielder Johnny Lindell had 108 hits, 17 doubles and 12 triples in 122 games. Shortstop Frankie Crosetti had 81 hits and 8 doubles in 95 games. Center fielder Cyril Roy “Stormy” Weatherly had 7 home runs, 74 hits and 8 doubles in 77 games. Middle infielder and third baseman George “Snuffy” Stirnweiss had 11 stolen bases in 83 games.

At the age of 35 starting pitcher Spurgeon “Spud” Chandler became the oldest player in the 20th Century to win the American League Most Valuable Player award because of his stellar play on the mound. Chandler carried the New York starting rotation, going 20-4 with 134 strikeouts and a Yankees single season record for the lowest ERA with 1.64. 20 complete games and 5 shutouts went along with Chandler’s great 1943 campaign.

Ernest “Tiny” Bonham went 15-8 with a 2.27 ERA, recording 17 complete games, 4 shutouts and 1 save. Hank Borowy went 14-9 with 113 strikeouts and a 2.82 ERA, recording 14 complete games and 3 shutouts. Charles “Butch” Wensloff went 13-11 with 105 strikeouts and a 2.54 ERA, recording 18 complete games, 1 shutout and 1 save. Atley Donald went 6-4 with 2 complete games. Marius Russo had a 3.72 ERA, 5 complete games, 1 shutout and 1 save despite going 5-10.

Closer Johnny Murphy went 12-4 with 8 saves and a 2.51 ERA. Relief pitcher Bill Zuber went 8-4 with 1 save and a 3.89 ERA. Jim Turner went 3-0 with 1 save and a 3.53 ERA. Tommy Byrne went 2-1 from the bullpen.

The Yankees would go on an impressive 9-game winning streak during the regular season, a streak which began on September 6 with an 11-4 win over the Philadelphia Athletics in the back half of a doubleheader, and it ended on September 16 with a 5-1 win over the same Athletics club.

The 1943 World Series was a true test for the Yankees as they would be pitted against the National League Champion St. Louis Cardinals. This would be a rematch of the 1942 World Series in which the Cardinals stunned the Yankees 4 games to 1 to win it all. Successfully flipping things around, the Yankees defeated the Cardinals 4 games to 1 to win the 1943 World Series. A fun fact about this Fall Classic would be that this would be the first World Series to be sent to American troops as a highlight package for theaters.

In Game 1 on October 5 at Yankee Stadium, the Yankees beat the Cardinals 4-2. Spud Chandler pitched a complete game, giving up 7 hits, 1 walk and 2 runs while recording 3 strikeouts. In the top of the 2nd inning shortstop Marty Marion put St. Louis on the board first with an RBI double. In the bottom of the 4th Charlie Keller grounded into a double play to score Frankie Crosetti, and then Joe Gordon followed by hitting a solo home run. Pitcher Max Lanier had an RBI single for the Cardinals in the top of the 5th, but then in the bottom of the 6th a wild pitch scored Crosetti, and Bill Dickey followed with an RBI single.

The Cardinals claimed their only victory of the World Series in Game 2 on October 6 by beating the Yankees 4-3. In the top of the 3rd inning Marion hit a solo home run, and in the top of the 4th third baseman Whitey Kurowski had an RBI single, and first baseman Ray Sanders followed by smacking a 2-run home run. In the bottom of the 4th Keller had a sacrifice fly to score Crosetti. Keller came back in the bottom of the 9th to get an RBI triple, and Nick Etten had an RBI groundout, but the Yankees fell one run short.

The Yankees would bounce back to win Game 3 on October 7 by the score of 6-2. St. Louis got on the board first again as left fielder Danny Litwhiler had a 2-run single in the top of the 4th inning. In the bottom of the 6th Billy Johnson reached on an error to score Hank Borowy. In the bottom of the 8th Johnson would come back to get a bases-clearing 3-run triple, and Gordon and Etten followed with a pair of RBI singles.

Due to World War II the World Series would only make one trip in between the switching of sites, so after 3 games at Yankee Stadium, the plan was to schedule 4 games at Sportsman’s Park in St. Louis should the Fall Classic go that far. The Yankees had their own ideas as they won Game 4 on October 10 by the score of 2-1. Marius Russo pitched a complete game, giving up 7 hits, 1 walk and 1 run while recording 2 strikeouts. In the top of the 4th inning Dickey had an RBI single, and in the bottom of the 7th pinch hitting outfielder Frank Demaree reached on an error to score Sanders. Crosetti’s sacrifice fly in the top of the 8th which scored Russo was all that the Yankees needed to win.

In Game 5 on October 11 the Yankees shut the door on the Cardinals with a 2-0 victory to capture their 10th World Series Championship in 21 seasons. Spud Chandler, fittingly enough, would close the curtain on the successful campaign, pitching a complete game and giving up 10 hits and 2 walks while recording 7 strikeouts. All that the Yankees needed to win was a booming 2-run home run shot by Bill Dickey in the top of the 6th inning.

The 1943 World Series would be the last postseason triumph in the career of manager of Joe McCarthy, who would walk away from the game of baseball after the early part of the 1946 regular season. However, the Yankees were still winning at a steady pace, and that winning would continue well past the 1940’s.