1950 New York Yankees: Another Dominant Decade

1950 New York Yankees: Another Dominant Decade

1950 New York Yankees: Another Dominant Decade

When the 1950’s began the landscape of baseball had not changed all that much as the New York Yankees were still the talk of the town, the main headliners of professional baseball. The Yankees would experience their best run as multiple time defending World Series Champions. They had a core group of talent that was impossible to compare to the rest of baseball for most of the 1950’s.

The Yankees went 98-56 in 1950 to claim yet another American League pennant, finishing 3 games ahead of the Detroit Tigers and 4 games over the Boston Red Sox. The Yankees went 11-11 against the Tigers and 13-9 against the Red Sox in head-to-head play. The Yankees went 53-24 at home and 45-32 on the road. For the first season in a long time the Yankees had an uncharacteristically below .500 month during the regular season, but pushing June aside they played the same dominant baseball fans had grown accustomed to seeing. The Yankees were 37-14 in blowout games that finished with margins of 5 or more runs.

Shortstop Phil Rizzuto batted .324 with 66 RBI’s, 200 hits, 36 doubles, 7 triples and 12 stolen bases. Catcher Peter Laurence “Yogi” Berra batted .322 with 28 home runs and 124 RBI’s off 192 hits, 30 doubles and 6 triples. Right fielder Hank Bauer batted .320 with 13 home runs and 70 RBI’s off 133 hits and 16 doubles. Center fielder Joe DiMaggio batted .301 with 32 home runs and 122 RBI’s off 158 hits, 33 doubles and 10 triples.

Second baseman Jerry Coleman batted .287 with 69 RBI’s, 150 hits, 19 doubles and 6 triples. Left fielder Gene Woodling batted .283 with 60 RBI’s, 127 hits, 20 doubles and 10 triples. Third baseman Billy Johnson had 85 hits and 16 doubles in 108 games. Outfielder Cliff “Tiger” Mapes had 12 home runs and 61 RBI’s off 88 hits, 14 doubles and 6 triples in 108 games. First baseman Johnny Mize batted .277 with 25 home runs and 72 RBI’s off 76 hits and 12 doubles in 90 games.

Starting pitcher Vic Raschi went 21-8 with 155 strikeouts and a 4.00 ERA, recording 17 complete games, 2 shutouts and 1 save. Eddie Lopat went 18-8 with a 3.47 ERA, recording 15 complete games, 3 shutouts and 1 save. Allie Reynolds went 16-12 with 160 strikeouts and a 3.72 ERA, recording 14 complete games, 2 shutouts and 2 saves. Tommy Byrne went 15-9 with 118 strikeouts, recording 10 complete games and 2 shutouts. Edward Charles “Whitey” Ford went 9-1 with a 2.81 ERA, recording 7 complete games, 2 shutouts and 1 save.

Closer Joe Page recorded 13 saves. Relief pitcher Tom Ferrick went 8-4 with 9 saves and a 3.65 ERA. Joe Ostrowski went 1-1 with 3 saves. Bob Porterfield went 1-1 with 1 save. Fred Sanford went 5-4 with 79 strikeouts.

Joe DiMaggio, Jerry Coleman and Vic Raschi all made the American League All-Star team for the 1950 MLB All-Star Game. Raschi started the game on the mound for the American League. Phil Rizzuto would be named the American League Most Valuable Player while Yogi Berra would finish 3rd in the AL MVP voting process.

The 1950 World Series pitted the New York Yankees against a surprise representative of the National League, the Philadelphia Phillies. In Game 1 on October 4 at Shibe Park the Yankees blanked the Phillies 1-0. Vic Raschi pitched a complete game, giving up 2 hits and 1 walk while recording 5 strikeouts. In the top of the 4th inning Jerry Coleman had a fly ball out, which allowed third baseman Bobby Brown to score.

In Game 2 on October 5 the Yankees beat the Phillies 2-1. Allie Reynolds and Robin Roberts battled to the very end on the mound. Reynolds pitched 10 innings and gave up 7 hits, 4 walks and 1 run while recording 6 strikeouts. Roberts pitched 10 innings and gave up 10 hits, 3 walks and 2 runs while recording 5 strikeouts. In the top of the 2nd inning Gene Woodling had an RBI single, and in the bottom of the 5th center fielder Richie Ashburn tied the game at 1-1 with a fly ball out which scored second baseman Mike Goliat. In the top of the 10th Joe DiMaggio hit a solo home run which gave the Yankees the win.

In Game 3 on October 6 at Yankee Stadium the Yankees beat the Phillies 3-2. Eddie Lopat pitched 8 innings and gave up 9 hits and 2 runs while recording 5 strikeouts. In the bottom of the 3rd inning Coleman had an RBI single. In the top of the 6th left fielder Dick Sisler had his own RBI single, and Goliat then had his own RBI single in the top of the 7th. Down 2-1 the Yankees battled back in the bottom of the 8th as Brown reached on an error to score Coleman. In the bottom of the 9th Coleman had the walk-off RBI single to win the game in thrilling fashion.

The Yankees proceeded to complete the sweep with a 5-2 win in Game 4 on October 7. Whitey Ford pitched 8.2 innings and gave up 7 hits, 1 walk and 2 runs while recording 7 strikeouts. In the bottom of the 1st inning Yogi Berra had an RBI single, and Joe DiMaggio would follow with an RBI double. Berra came back to hit a solo home run in the bottom of the 6th while Bobby Brown followed with an RBI triple and Hank Bauer lined out deep in the outfield to score Brown. Catcher Andy Seminick reached on a fly ball error to score third baseman Willie Jones in the top of the 9th, but Philadelphia wouldn’t capitalize on this play.

Jerry Coleman would receive the Babe Ruth Award for his great performances in the World Series. Nicknamed “The Colonel” for serving as a marine pilot in both World War II and the Korean War, Coleman served the Bronx pinstripes well at a time when the team needed significant lifts in games.