Ruth's Last Hurrah
1932 New York YankeesHome Field: Yankee Stadium
World ChampionsHit: #1 R; #2 BA
W - 107 L - 47Pitch: #2 OR; #1 ERA
Manager: Joe McCarthyDef: #3t FA

The Murderers Row Yankees of 1927 are considered by many experts to be the greatest team ever. Five years later, Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig were still leading the Bronx Bombers. Gehrig was in his prime at age 29, batting .349 and driving in 151. Ruth, at 37 years of age, was nearing the end of a brilliant career. He hit .341 with 41 homers and 137 RBIs. This would be his last championship team.

After dominating the American League throughout much of the 1920s, New York watched as the Philadelphia Athletics won three consecutive pennants beginning in 1929. This year the Yankees reclaimed the pennant with 107 wins, 13 more than Philadelphia.

In addition to Ruth and Gehrig, two other holdovers from the 1927 crew contributed mightily to the cause. Center fielder Earle Combs hit .321 and scored 143 runs while second sacker Tony Lazzeri batted .300 and drove in 113. Lefty Gomez and Red Ruffing anchored the pitching staff. Gomez finished the season at 24-7 while Ruffing contributed a 18-7 mark.

The World Series wasn't much of a contest. New York steamrolled the Chicago Cubs, scoring 37 runs during a four game sweep. The series is best remembered for a Babe Ruth incident, the famous called home run. During Game 3 at Wrigley Field, Ruth is said to have pointed to the outfield bleachers as if to say that's where the ball would end up. Ruth did homer, but eyewitness accounts differ as to whether Ruth actually called the blast. That famous home run, for all intents and purposes, was Ruth's last hurrah. He was out of baseball three years later.


Pos Player Bats AB H R HR RBI BA    AL Rank
C Bill Dickey L 423 131 66 15 84 .310  
1B Lou Gehrig L 596 208 138 34 151 .349    #3 BA; #2t RBI; #4 HR, R
2B Tony Lazzeri R 510 153 79 15 113 .300  
SS-3B Frank Crosetti R 398 96 47 5 57 .241  
3B Joe Sewell L 503 137 95 11 68 .272  
LF Ben Chapman R 581 174 101 10 107 .299  
CF Earle Combs L 591 190 143 9 65 .321    #3 R
RF Babe Ruth L 457 156 120 41 137 .341    #2 HR; #5 BA; #4 RBI
                   
SS Lyn Lary R 280 65 56 3 39 .232  
OF Sammy Byrd R 209 62 49 8 30 .297  
C Art Jorgens R 151 33 13 2 19 .219  
OF Myril Hoag R 54 20 18 1 7 .370  
2B-SS Doc Farrell R 63 11 4 0 4 .175  
                   
Total: Team   5477 1564 1002 160 955 .286  
  League Average   43430 12017 6436 708 5995 .277  

Pitcher Throw G IP W L ERA PCT    AL Rank
  Lefty Gomez L 37 265 24 7 4.21 .774    #3 W, K
  Red Ruffing R 35 259 18 7 3.09 .720    #2 ERA, #1 K
  George Pipgras R 32 219 16 9 4.19 .640  
  Johnny Allen R 33 192 17 4 3.70 .810  
  Herb Pennock L 22 147 9 5 4.59 .643  
  Danny MacFayden R 17 121 7 5 3.94 .583  
                   
Total: Team       107 47 3.98    
  League Average           4.48    

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