1939 New York Yankees

1939 New York Yankees
Major league affiliations
American League (Since 1901)
1939 Uniform
Location
Yankee Stadium (Since 1923) New York City, New York (Since 1903)
1939 Information
Owner(s)	Mrs. J. Basil Hollern, Mrs. Joseph Maguire, Miss Helen Weyant, George Ruppert, & Edward G. Barrow
Manager(s)	Joe McCarthy
Local television	none
Local radio	WABC (770)
Baseball-Reference	1939 New York Yankees

1939 New York Yankees / Franchise: New York Yankees / BR Team Page

Record: 106-45-1 Finished 1st in American League (1939 AL)

Clinched Pennant: September 16, 1939, vs. Detroit Tigers

World Series Champs

Managed by Joe McCarthy

Coaches: Earle Combs, Art Fletcher and Johnny Schulte

Ballpark: Yankee Stadium

History, Comments, Contributions

The 1939 New York Yankees played the 37th season in team history. They finished with a record of 106-45, winning their 11th pennant, finishing 17 games ahead of the Boston Red Sox. New York was managed by Joe McCarthy. The Yankees played at Yankee Stadium. In the World Series, they beat the Cincinnati Reds in 4 games. This marked the first time any team had won four consecutive World Series.

They are one of only three Yankees teams to post a winning percentage of .700 or better, but are much less well remembered than the other two: the 1927 Yankees often regarded as the best of all time and led by Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig; and the 1998 Yankees who won 114 games and encountered only meek resistance in winning a World Series title behind Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera, who were starting off their careers. The 1939 Yankees did have a young Joe DiMaggio and Hall of Famers Bill Dickey, Lefty Gomez and Red Ruffing, but tend to be more remembered as the last team for which an ailing Gehrig played, ending his consecutive games played streak after 2,130 games when he asked not to be in the starting line-up on May 2nd, ending his career.

They are the only team since 1900 to win ten consecutive games by four or more runs, bettering their 1938 selves, who had done so in nine straight games, while a couple of 19th Century teams, the 1884 St. Louis Maroons (13 games) and 1876 Chicago White Stockings (11 games) were the only ones ever to do better. The streak started with a 5-1 win over the Phialdelphia Athletics in the second game of a doubleheader on August 20th, and included wins by such lopsided scores as 14-5, 16-4, 11-0, 8-2, 13-3 and 18-2 before they lost again, to the Detroit Tigers on August 29th. They outscored their opponents 109-25 during that incredible ten-game stretch.

Awards and Honors

• All-Stars: Frankie Crosetti, Bill Dickey, Joe DiMaggio, Lou Gehrig, Lefty Gomez, Joe Gordon, Johnny Murphy, Red Rolfe, Red Ruffing and George Selkirk
• AL MVP: Joe DiMaggio

Season standings

American League	W	L	Pct.	GB
New York Yankees	106	45	.702	--
Boston Red Sox	88	61	.591	9½
Cleveland Indians	86	66	.566	13
Detroit Tigers	84	70	.545	16
Washington Senators	75	76	.497	23½
Chicago White Sox	65	83	.439	32
Philadelphia Athletics	55	97	.362	44
St. Louis Browns	43	111	.279	64½

World Series

AL New York Yankees (4) vs. NL Cincinnati Reds (0)

Game	Score	Date	Location	Attendance
1	Reds – 1, Yankees – 2	October 4	Yankee Stadium	58,541
2	Reds – 0, Yankees – 4	October 5	Yankee Stadium	59,791
3	Yankees – 7, Reds – 3	October 7	Crosley Field	32,723
4	Yankees – 7, Reds – 4 (10 innings)	October 8	Crosley Field	32,794

Further Reading

• Stanley Cohen: Yankees 1936–39, Baseball's Greatest Dynasty: Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio and the Birth of a New Era, Skyhorse Publishing, New York, NY, 2018. ISBN 978-1510720633
• John Drebinger: "CLUB TIES RECORD; As the Yankees Triumphed Yesterday to Win Flag", New York Times, September 17, 1939, Section Sports, Page 85
• Lew Freedman: DiMaggio's Yankees: A History of the 1936-1944 Dynasty, McFarland, Jefferson, NC, 2011. ISBN 978-0-7864-5906-3
• Douglas Jordan: "The .700 Club: Blessedly Good Baseball", The Baseball Research Journal, SABR, Volume 45, Number 2 (Fall 2016), pp. 26-33.

Source

• 'Gary Gillette and Pete Palmer: The Ultimate Yankees Companion'