1923 New York Yankees: Empire Begins

1923 New York Yankees: Empire Begins

The Sale That Changed Baseball History

After the 1919 season concluded, the Boston Red Sox made a move that would alter baseball history forever, and this change wouldn’t benefit the Red Sox. The team that did benefit from this move would start its empire of baseball success just a few years later. The Red Sox sold the rights to outfielder George Herman “Babe” Ruth to the New York Yankees for a price of $100,000. This deal sent shock waves throughout the game of baseball, and for the Yankees, it meant they would get to enjoy Ruth’s services for years to come. That single transaction set the stage for the rise of the 1923 New York Yankees.

A New Home and a Pennant-Winning Season

1923 marked the year when the original Yankee Stadium opened, and on Opening Day, April 18, Babe Ruth essentially unlocked the doors to a new baseball palace by hitting a home run in a 4-1 Yankee victory over the Red Sox.

In 1923 the Yankees went 98-54, winning the American League pennant by 16 games over the Detroit Tigers. The Yankees went 12-10 against the Tigers in head-to-head play. The Yankees went 46-30 at their new home and 52-24 on the road.

The 1923 New York Yankees by the Numbers

Position Players

Babe Ruth immediately made his presence felt in the Bronx as he batted .393 with 41 home runs and 130 RBIs off 205 hits, 45 doubles, 13 triples and 17 stolen bases. Outfielder Lawton Walter “Whitey” Witt batted .314 with 187 hits, 18 doubles and 10 triples. Outfielder Bob Meusel batted .313 with 9 home runs and 91 RBIs off 144 hits, 29 doubles, 10 triples and 13 stolen bases. First baseman Wally Pipp batted .304 with 109 RBIs, 173 hits, 19 doubles and 8 triples.

Second baseman Aaron Ward batted .284 with 10 home runs and 81 RBIs off 161 hits, 26 doubles, 11 triples and 8 stolen bases. Third baseman Joe Dugan batted .283 with 65 RBIs, 182 hits, 30 doubles and 7 triples. Catcher Wally Schang batted .276 with 75 hits and 8 doubles in 84 games. Shortstop Everett Scott had 61 RBIs, 131 hits, 16 doubles and 4 triples. Catcher Fred Hoffman batted .290 with 69 hits, 10 doubles and 4 triples in 72 games.

Pitching Staff

Starting pitcher “Bullet” Joe Bush went 19-15 with 125 strikeouts and a 3.63 ERA, recording 22 complete games and 3 shutouts. Bob Shawkey went 16-11 with 125 strikeouts and a 3.51 ERA, recording 17 complete games and 1 shutout. “Sad” Sam Jones went 21-8 with a 3.63 ERA, recording 18 complete games, 3 shutouts and 4 saves. Waite Hoyt went 17-9 with a 3.02 ERA, recording 19 complete games and 1 shutout. Herb Pennock went 19-6 with 93 strikeouts and a 3.13 ERA, recording 21 complete games, 1 shutout and 3 saves. Relief pitcher Carl Mays went 5-2 with 2 complete games. George Pipgras had 2 complete games despite going 1-3.

The 1923 World Series: Yankees vs. Giants

The 1923 World Series would be the first indication that the “Yankee Empire” had started and was in baseball to stay. The Yankees faced one of their bitter New York City rivals in the National League champion New York Giants.

Games 1-3: A Series Deadlocked

In Game 1 on October 10 at Yankee Stadium, the Giants struck first by beating the Yankees 5-4. In the bottom of the 1st inning, Bob Meusel had an RBI double, and in the bottom of the 2nd, Whitey Witt had a 2-run single. However, the Giants took over in the top of the 3rd when shortstop Dave Bancroft grounded into a forceout at second base to score first baseman George “High Pockets” Kelly. Third baseman Henry “Heinie” Groh had a 2-run triple to follow Bancroft, and then second baseman Frankie Frisch had an RBI single. In the bottom of the 7th, Joe Dugan had an RBI triple, but in the top of the 9th, center fielder Casey Stengel had an inside-the-park home run.

In Game 2 on October 11 at Manhattan’s Polo Grounds V, the Yankees won 4-2. Herb Pennock pitched a complete game, giving up 9 hits, 1 walk and 2 runs while recording 1 strikeout. In the top of the 2nd inning, Ward hit a solo home run, and in the bottom of the 2nd, left fielder Emil “Irish” Meusel, the brother of Bob Meusel, hit a solo home run. In the top of the 4th, Babe Ruth hit a solo home run, and Everett Scott followed with an RBI single. Ruth came back to hit another solo home run in the top of the 5th, and though right fielder Ross Youngs had an RBI single for the Giants in the bottom of the 6th, it wouldn’t be enough offense.

Back at Yankee Stadium for Game 3 on October 12, the Giants blanked the Yankees 1-0 behind the superb pitching of Art Nehf. Pitching a complete game, giving up 6 hits and 3 walks while recording 4 strikeouts, Nehf kept the powerful Yankee lineup at bay. To his credit, however, “Sad” Sam Jones pitched a good game of his own, going 8 innings deep and giving up 4 hits, 2 walks and 1 run while recording 3 strikeouts. It only took a solo home run by Casey Stengel in the top of the 7th to secure a Giants victory.

Games 4-6: New York Seals Its First Title

In Game 4 on October 13 at Polo Grounds V, the Yankees stormed back to win 8-4. In the top of the 2nd inning, Scott had a 2-run single, Bob Shawkey had a sacrifice fly, Witt had an RBI double, and Bob Meusel had a 2-run triple. In the top of the 3rd, Witt had an RBI double, and in the top of the 4th, Ward had an RBI single. The Giants attempted a comeback that began in the bottom of the 8th, as Stengel had an RBI single, and then High Pockets Kelly and catcher Frank Snyder both followed with RBI groundouts. In the bottom of the 9th, Youngs had an inside-the-park home run, but the Giants fell well short.

Game 5 on October 14 at Yankee Stadium proved to be the pivotal game of the Fall Classic as the home team finally won. The Yankees won by a score of 8-1. “Bullet” Joe Bush pitched a complete game, giving up 3 hits, 2 walks and 1 run while recording 3 strikeouts. In the bottom of the 1st inning, Bob Meusel had a 2-run triple, and Wally Pipp followed with a sacrifice fly. In the top of the 2nd, Stengel had an RBI groundout. In the bottom of the 2nd, Joe Dugan broke the game open with a 3-run inside-the-park home run, and Pipp followed by hitting into a fielder’s choice to score Ruth. In the bottom of the 4th, Bob Meusel had an RBI single to finish the scoring.

Going back to Polo Grounds V for Game 6 on October 15, the Yankees sealed the deal and beat the Giants 6-4 to claim the first-ever World Series championship in the history of the pinstriped organization. Dominating the Fall Classic with a .368 batting average while walking 8 times, scoring 8 runs, hitting 3 home runs and recording a 1.000 slugging percentage, Babe Ruth started the scoring of Game 6 with a solo home run in the top of the 1st inning.

In the bottom of the 1st, Ross Youngs had an RBI single. In the bottom of the 4th, center fielder Bill Cunningham had an RBI single, Frank Snyder hit a solo home run in the bottom of the 5th, and Emil Meusel had an RBI single in the bottom of the 6th. The Giants appeared to have grabbed the momentum, but the Yankees put their stamp on the game in the top of the 8th when Joe Bush drew a bases-loaded walk to score Wally Schang, Joe Dugan drew a bases-loaded walk to score Everett Scott, and then a single by Bob Meusel scored 3 runs along with the help of a Giants fielding error.

1923 would only be the beginning of fantastic results for the 1923 New York Yankees, as the franchise steadily embraced what would become known as the Babe Ruth Era of its history.