The Last Surviving ’23 Yankees
Posted by Raphy on September 21, 2008
How far off were the Yankees from having a representative from 1923 in attendance for tonight's ceremony? The answer is 20 years too late. At the time of his passing in 1988, Whitey Witt was the last member of the '23 Yankees to pass away. Here is the complete list. (De year is year of death)
Cnt Player **DeYr** Year Age Tm Lg G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB IBB SO HBP SH SF GDP SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS Positions +----+-----------------+--------+----+---+---+--+---+---+---+---+---+--+--+--+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+-----+-----+-----+-----+---------+ 1 Whitey Witt 1988 1923 27 NYY AL 146 685 596 113 187 18 10 6 56 67 0 42 3 19 0 0 2 7 .314 .386 .408 .794 *8 2 Oscar Roettger 1986 1923 23 NYY AL 5 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 /*1 3 George Pipgras 1986 1923 23 NYY AL 8 10 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .100 .000 .100 /*1 4 Waite Hoyt 1984 1923 23 NYY AL 37 93 84 7 16 0 1 0 4 3 0 15 0 6 0 0 0 0 .190 .218 .214 .432 *1 5 Elmer Smith 1984 1923 30 NYY AL 70 208 183 30 56 6 2 7 35 21 0 21 0 4 0 0 3 1 .306 .377 .475 .852 *9 6 Joe Dugan 1982 1923 26 NYY AL 146 684 644 111 182 30 7 7 67 25 0 41 2 13 0 0 4 2 .283 .311 .384 .695 *5 7 Bob Shawkey 1980 1923 32 NYY AL 36 102 99 8 20 1 1 0 10 0 0 15 0 3 0 0 0 0 .202 .202 .232 .434 *1 8 Hinkey Haines 1979 1923 24 NYY AL 28 30 25 9 4 2 0 0 3 4 0 5 0 1 0 0 3 1 .160 .276 .240 .516 /897 9 Mike Gazella 1978 1923 27 NYY AL 8 15 13 2 1 0 0 0 1 2 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 .077 .200 .077 .277 /*645 10 Bob Meusel 1977 1923 26 NYY AL 132 503 460 59 144 29 10 9 91 31 0 52 2 10 0 0 13 15 .313 .359 .478 .837 *79 11 Joe Bush 1974 1923 30 NYY AL 38 116 113 12 31 5 3 2 19 3 0 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 .274 .293 .425 .718 *1 12 Carl Mays 1971 1923 31 NYY AL 23 31 27 2 4 0 1 1 3 3 0 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 .148 .233 .333 .566 *1 13 Benny Bengough 1968 1923 24 NYY AL 19 58 53 1 7 2 0 0 3 4 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 .132 .193 .170 .363 *2 14 Sam Jones 1966 1923 30 NYY AL 39 98 85 13 19 3 0 0 6 10 0 28 0 3 0 0 0 0 .224 .305 .259 .564 *1 15 Wally Pipp 1965 1923 30 NYY AL 144 634 569 79 173 19 8 6 108 36 0 28 6 23 0 0 6 13 .304 .352 .397 .749 *3 16 Mike McNally 1965 1923 29 NYY AL 30 44 38 5 8 0 0 0 1 3 0 4 0 3 0 0 2 0 .211 .268 .211 .479 6/54 17 Wally Schang 1965 1923 33 NYY AL 84 315 272 39 75 8 2 2 29 27 0 17 9 7 0 0 5 2 .276 .360 .342 .702 *2 18 Fred Hofmann 1964 1923 29 NYY AL 72 263 238 24 69 10 4 3 26 18 0 27 4 3 0 0 2 1 .290 .350 .403 .753 *2 19 Aaron Ward 1961 1923 26 NYY AL 152 640 567 79 161 26 11 10 82 56 0 65 3 14 0 0 8 8 .284 .351 .422 .773 *4 20 Everett Scott 1960 1923 30 NYY AL 152 568 533 48 131 16 4 6 60 13 0 19 2 20 0 0 1 3 .246 .266 .325 .591 *6 21 Ernie Johnson 1952 1923 35 NYY AL 19 40 38 6 17 1 1 1 8 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 .447 .462 .605 1.067 *6/5 22 Babe Ruth 1948 1923 28 NYY AL 152 699 522 151 205 45 13 41 131 170 0 93 4 3 0 0 17 21 .393 .545 .764 1.309 97/83 23 Herb Pennock 1948 1923 29 NYY AL 35 100 83 11 16 3 0 0 7 9 0 8 0 8 0 0 0 0 .193 .272 .229 .501 *1 24 Harvey Hendrick 1941 1923 25 NYY AL 37 69 66 9 18 3 1 3 12 2 0 8 0 1 0 0 3 0 .273 .294 .485 .779 7/8 25 Lou Gehrig 1941 1923 20 NYY AL 13 29 26 6 11 4 1 1 9 2 0 5 0 1 0 0 0 0 .423 .464 .769 1.233 /*3
September 21st, 2008 at 11:30 pm
B-b-but I saw them all out there in center field!
September 21st, 2008 at 11:36 pm
If I'm not mistaken, there's 4 HOFers on that team (Ruth, Gehrig, Hoyt, Pennock). Mays is on the Vets Committee ballot this year. Shawkey wouldn't be the worst pitcher in the Hall. Anyone know why Meusel retired so early? Not a HOFer but a very good player in the '20s, as was Schang.
September 22nd, 2008 at 10:05 am
At first glance, I thought perhaps Raphy had truncated the list or left off the pitchers, but the list is correct. The Yankees went through that season using only 25 players.
And only 8 of those were pitchers. Does anyone know what the roster limit was then? How many of those 25 were active at a given time?
September 22nd, 2008 at 10:14 am
Joe Hauser was the last surviving AL opponent to play at Yankee Stadium in the 1923 season, He passed away on 7-11-97 at the age of 98. He played 146 games for PHA that year, so one can say with certainty he appeared in at least 1 game there.
September 23rd, 2008 at 7:48 am
by the way, the closing of Yankee Stadium is one of the largest travesties in the history of baseball. The ONLY reason it closed was sheer greed. That Stadium was fine. And they've been getting 40,000 and 50,000 regularly through the decade. The Yankees and MLB should be ashamed of themselves for closing down Yankee Stadium.
September 24th, 2008 at 6:37 am
wow is that last comment serious? i'm amazed that anyone who's been to yankee stadium would think the following comment is untrue:
The seats/field area are perfect. the inside, bathrooms, concession area, ect... probably the worst i've ever been to. and i frequented the vet for many many years.
September 24th, 2008 at 11:15 am
There's nothing wrong with the inside of the Stadium. The reasons for a new one are sheer greed, how can you deny that? And while the Yankees seem to be paying for more of their new park than other teams have of theirs, it's disgraceful that the public has to carry any of the load.
September 24th, 2008 at 12:44 pm
damethe, i disagree. i think that yankee stadium was just fine. i had no complaints. i went to the old tiger stadium before it was shut down. that stadium i could see why it was shut down. the seats were very uncomfortable, and there were all sorts of things obstructing views. yankee stadium was just fine for me.