New York Yankees - The Golden Age (1950-1959)

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1950

Decade

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Championships

Top New York Players of the Fifties

1950 - World Champs (Beat Philadelphia)

1951 - World Champs (Beat the Giants)

Pitchers:

1952 - World Champs (Beat the Dodgers)

Whitey Ford (26.26) - 70

1953 - World Champs (Beat the Dodgers)

Allie Reynolds (13.07) - 53

1955 - A.L. Champs (Lost to the Dodgers)

Vic Raschi (9.82) - 52

1956 - World Champs (Beat the Dodgers)

Ed Lopat (12.7) - 50

1957 - A.L. Champs (Lost to the Braves)

Bob Turley (9.12) - 41

1958 - World Champs (Beat the Braves)

Bob Grim (4.74) - 24

Johnny Kucks (0.14) - 24

BallPark:

Johnny Sain (3.78) - 24

Yankee Stadium

Tom Sturdivant (6.04) - 21

Tommy Byrne (1.81) - 18

Team Name:

Ryne Duren (6.1) - 16

Yankees

Don Larsen (4.57) - 16

Art Ditmar (3.24) - 15

Owner:

Tom Morgan (2.13) - 12

Del Webb & Dan Topping

Bobby Shantz (5.36) - 11

General Managers:

Catchers:

George Weiss

Yogi Berra (47.12) - 115

Elston Howard (5.39) - 28

Managers:

Casey Stengel

First Basemen:

Moose Skowron (14.72) - 34

Hall of Famers:

Joe Collins (12.29) - 31

Whitey Ford

Norm Siebern (5.63) - 17

Yogi Berra

Johnny Mize

Second Basemen:

Phil Rizzuto

Billy Martin (6.02) - 13

Joe DiMaggio

Jerry Coleman (4.05) - 7

Mickey Mantle

Enos Slaughter

ShortStop:

Phil Rizzuto (20.18) - 44

Rookie of the Year:

Tony Kubek (7.53) - 16

Gil McDougald (1951)

Bob Grim (1954)

Third Base:

Tony Kubek (1957)

Gil McDougald (37.64) - 70

Andy Carey (9.11) - 28

MVP:

Phil Rizzuto (1950)

Outfield:

Yogi Berra (1951)

Mickey Mantle (68.05) - 138

Yogi Berra (1954)

Hank Bauer (28.77) - 69

Yogi Berra (1955)

Gene Woodling (15.1) - 39

Mickey Mantle (1956)

Joe DiMaggio (8.18) - 28

Mickey Mantle (1957)

Irv Noren (7.95) - 22

Cy Young

Notable Events

Bob Turley (1958)

1954 - The only year in a ten year stretch (1949-1958) where the

No Hitters

Yankees do not win the pennant (they finish second).

Allie Reynolds (1951)

Ironically, it is the only season that they top 100 wins (103)

Allie Reynolds (1951)

during that ten year stretch.

Don Larsen (1956 World Series Perfect Game)

1955 - Catcher Ellie Howard, 26, the Yankees first black player is a rookie

Notable Events

1955 - second baseman Bobby Richardson, 19, is a rookie out of Denver

1950 - The Yankees embark on a decade where they win eight pennants

and six world series.

1955 - The Yankees and Orioles complete a seventeen player trade,

Early on in the streak, when the Yanks won five world titles in a row from

the largest in baseball history.

1949 to 1953, each season came right down to the wire with the Yankees

Paul Richards had just taken over running Baltimore and he

winning the clutch games at the end to take the pennant. The Bronx Bombers

needed major league callibre bodies.

weren't bludgeoning their closest rivals.

He was also a former catcher and coveted a couple of the kids

Starting in 1949, they beat Boston by a game, Detroit by three, and Cleveland by

the Yankees had behind Yogi - Gus Triandos and Hal Smith.

five, two, and eight and a half. The thing was that, on paper, the Yankees didn't

Conversely, the Yankees pitching had gotten old all at once -

look better than any of them. The Red Sox were loaded with hitters such as Ted

Reynolds, Raschi and Lopat - and the Yankees needed a

Williams, Dominic DiMaggio, Bobby Doerr and Johnny Pesky;

couple of live young arms - Turley and Larsen.

Cleveland loaded with pitching that was one of the top rotations in baseball history

The rest of the deal was gravy

with Bob Lemon, Bob Feller, Early Wynn and Miguel Garcia.

The White Sox were brimming with talent with guys like Nellie Fox, Jim Rivera,

1955 - Arnold Johnson buys the A's and moves them to Kansas City.

Sherman Lollar, Minnie Minoso, Chico Carrasquel, Billy Pierce and Dick Donovan.

Normally, this wouldn't be mentioned in the Yankees section,

The Yanks beat the great Brooklyn teams in the World Series three times

but Arnold was friends with the Yankee's ownership who were

during that run. Brooklyn, with a team full of Hall of Famers such as Jackie Robinson,

a major player in getting Johnson the franchise.

Roy Campanella, Pee Wee Reese and Duke Snider and other great talents such as

Kansas City had been the Yankees' top farm team and,

Gil Hodges, Carl Furillo, Carl Erskine and Don Newcombe dominated the Yankees

unfortunately for the rest of the American League,

on paper. New York was big underdogs talentwise to Brooklyn, yet, remarkably,

continued to be that even tho' they were now in the American League.,

would come out on top. A huge reason for the Bombers' success was Casey Stengel.

thanks to Johnson. Arnold wasn't crooked, he just was happy to have

Stengel was a pioneer with platooning lineups and made the most out of the

a club in the big leagues and he was also a Yankee fan. Anyway,

talents of players like Joe Collins, Gene Woodling and Hank Bauer.

once Johnson became owner of the A's, the Yankees were assured of a

He also did something with his infield that we've never seen anywhere else.

steady stream of major league callibre ballplayers that they could plug

He had a number of his infielders interchangable. None of them were great hitters,

into their squad on demand. Meanwhile, Johnson got to field what almost

and only Casey knew why he had someone somewhere at any point in time,

amounted to a Yankees old-timers squad in return.

but it worked. These were players like Gil McDougald and Jerry Coleman,

The pipeline continued until Johnson's untimely death in 1960.

Casey also managed to keep three slugging catchers in the lineup, without a DH,

The top players that the Yankees obtained from KC:

by spotting them in the outfield. Yogi Berra, Ellie Howard and John Blanchard all

□ 1956 HOF outfielder Enos Slaughter, 40

rotated in left field and they somehow pulled it off. It also helped save their legs.

was on loan to the A's, essentially, in '55

Stengel also was very intuitive with his pitchers.

□ 1957 outfielder Harry Simpson, 31

Initially, he was pretty well set with Reynolds, Ford, Lopat and Raschi as his starters,

□ 1957 lefty Bobby Shantz, 31

but after most of those guys aged out, the Yankees had a staff of very different types

□ 1957 righty Art Ditmar, 28

of pitchers and Casey adjusted, moving them in and out of starting and relieving roles

□ 1958 righty Ryne Duren, 28

and spotting them versus different teams. What Casey did would make management

□ 1958 righty Duke Maas, 28

cringe in today's game. It all worked, but it must be said that a lot of these guys

□ 1958 righty Virgil Trucks, 41

hurt their arms and ended up being exiled to Kansas City. It was nice to have a

□ 1958 righty Murry Dickson, 41

seemingly unlimited set of young arms to burn thru from the farm system.

□ 1959 righty Mark Freeman, 28

One guy who Casey saved, however, was Whitey Ford. Stengel would spot Whitey

□ 1959 outfielder Hector Lopez, 29

up against the contenders and not wear him out by skipping him against the

□ 1959 infielder Cletis Boyer, 22

also rans. Makes Whitey's record a bit more impressive knowing this.

□ 1959 righty Ralph Terry, 23, was on loan to the A's, essentially, in '58

Others like Don Larsen, Bob Grim, Tom Sturdivant and Johnny Kucks would be

□ 1960 1B Kent Hadley, 25

started more against the weaker teams in the league and also spotted in relief.

□ 1960 infielder Joe DeMaestri, 31

Also, some of Casey's moves in the World Series are stuff of legend.

□ 1960 outfielder Roger Maris, 25

Ironically, later in the decade, the Yankees started winning the pennant by

larger margins, but were no longer dominant in the World Series -

1955 - It's not like the A's got nothing in return from New York.

maybe they lost their edge by clinching early?

The Yankees had the best farm system in baseball thanks to the

leadership of George Weiss and Lee MacPhail. The issue was that

1950 - With Yogi Berra on the club and a great farm system, the Yankees sprinkled

when the Yankees had a hole at the major league level, Johnson was

around a a bunch of useful catchers to other AL teams in Fifties

there with a plug to that hole.

□ 1949 - Sherman Lollar, 24, to the Browns who then sent him to Chicago

The Yankees sent back some real good young players such as:

□ 1952 - Clint Courtney, 25, to Browns who sent him to Washington and then

1B Norm Siebern; 1B Vic Power; 2B Jerry Lumpe; SS Woody Held;

went on to Kansas City

OF Deron Johnson; and OF Bob Cerv.

□ 1955 - Hal Smith, 24, to Orioles and then to KC and then to the Pirates

There was also a litany of washed up or never was Yankees that

(where his homer beat NY in the '60 WS)

Johnson gladly took:

□ 1955 - Gus Triandos, 24, Baltimore, he became a star

RHP Johnny Sain; LHP Mickey McDermott; RHP Tom Morgan;

□ 1956 - Lou Berberet, 26, to Washington who then sent him on to Detroit

RHP Johnny Kucks; RHP Bob Grim; RHP Tom Sturdivant;

and then to Boston

RHP Tom Gorman; RHP Don Larsen; RHP Vic Raschi (via St. Louis);

□ 1956 - Cal Neeman, 27, Rule 5 Draft to Cubs (National League)

SS Billy Hunter; CF Irv Noren; OF Lou Skizas;

OF Bob Martyn; OF Zeke Bella; OF Hank Bauer;

1950 - HOF Lefty Whitey Ford, 21, is a rookie

1B Marv Throneberry; 3B Andy Carey; and 2B Billy Martin.

1950 - Outfielder Jackie Jensen, 23, is a rookie. In a horrific trade,

1955 - The Dodgers finally beat the Yankees in the World Series

he is dealt to Washington for centerfielder Irv Noren.

after losing to New York in '41, '47, '49, '52 and '53

1951 - Pitcher Bob Porterfield, 26, is dealt to Washington for Bob Kuzava

1956 - Don Larsen tosses a perfect game against the Dodgers in the

Porterfield will go 22-10 for the Nats in '53

World Series as the Yanks make it 6-1 vs Brooklyn in the Fall Classics.

1951 - New York deals RHP Lew Burdette, 24, to the Braves for Johnny Sain

1957 - shortstop Tony Kubek, 21, is a rookie out of Denver.

Lew would haunt the Yanks in the '57 World Series winning three games.

He ends up being ROY

1951 - Infielder Gil McDougald, 23, is a rookie and goes on to win ROY

1957/1958 - The Yankees and the Braves square off in these two World

Series with each team winning one, coming from being down 3-1 to do it.

1951 - HOF centerfielder Mickey Mantle, 19, is a rookie

1959 - The Yankees finish third -

1952 - HOF Joe DiMaggio retires

after nine pennants in the previous ten seasons.

The White Sox, under manager Al Lopez, win the pennant.

1954 - 1B Moose Skowron, 23, is a rookie out of Kansas City

Coincidentally, Lopez was also the manager of the only other team

that won an AL pennant in the Fifties, Cleveland in 1954.

1954 - New York deals CF Bill Virdon, 23, to the Cards for Enos Slaughter

The Yankee Farm System hasn't been producing top level big league

replacements lately.

1954 - Thirty year old lefthander Tommy Byrne is acquired from Washington.

Tommy had a few of stints with new York -

1959 - There are several slugging young outfielders in the Yankee

1943, before the war, 1946-1951 after the war, and 1954-1957

system that they let slip thru their fingers in the next decade.

He always had a live arm and great stuff, but struggled with severe control problems.

They could have used some of these guys once the farm system

dried up after George Weiss and Larry MacPhail left:

1954 - Rookie RHP Bob Grim, 24, wins twenty games and also wins ROY

□ Ken Hunt, 24, Lost in '61 expansion draft to Angels

□ LeRoy Thomas. 23. traded to Angels in '61 for Bob Cerv

□ Deron Johnson, 20, traded to KC in '61 for Bud Daley

□ Don Lock, 22, traded to Washington in '62 for Dale Long