1951 New York Yankees season
Season for the Major League Baseball team the New York Yankees
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The 1951 New York Yankees season was the 49th season for the team. The team finished with a record of 98–56, winning their 18th pennant, finishing five games ahead of the Cleveland Indians. New York was managed by Casey Stengel. The Yankees played at Yankee Stadium. In the World Series, they defeated the New York Giants in 6 games.
| 1951 New York Yankees | |
|---|---|
| World Series champions American League champions | |
| League | American League |
| Ballpark | Yankee Stadium |
| City | New York City |
| Record | 98–56 (.636) |
| League place | 1st |
| Owners | Dan Topping Del Webb |
| General managers | George Weiss |
| Managers | Casey Stengel |
| Television | WABD/WPIX |
| Radio | WINS (AM) (Mel Allen, Bill Crowley, Dizzy Dean, Art Gleeson) |
This year was noted for a "changing of the guard" for the Yankees, as it was Joe DiMaggio's final season[1] and Mickey Mantle's first. The 1951 season also marked the first year of Bob Sheppard's long tenure as Yankee Stadium's public address announcer.
Offseason
- Prior to 1951 season (exact date unknown)
- Jerry Lumpe was signed as an amateur free agent by the Yankees.[2]
- Don Taussig was acquired from the Yankees by the New York Giants.[3]
Regular season
- April 17, 1951: Mickey Mantle makes his big league debut for the New York Yankees. The Yankees opponent is the Boston Red Sox.
- May 1, 1951: Mickey Mantle hits his first major league home run. The game was played against the Chicago White Sox and the pitcher who gave up the home run was Randy Gumpert. The home run was in the sixth inning and was measured at 450 feet.
- September 18, 1951: Allie Reynolds threw a no-hitter to clinch the American League pennant. It was the first time that a pitcher threw a no-hitter to clinch a pennant.[4]
Season standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York Yankees | 98 | 56 | .636 | — | 56–22 | 42–34 |
| Cleveland Indians | 93 | 61 | .604 | 5 | 53–24 | 40–37 |
| Boston Red Sox | 87 | 67 | .565 | 11 | 50–25 | 37–42 |
| Chicago White Sox | 81 | 73 | .526 | 17 | 39–38 | 42–35 |
| Detroit Tigers | 73 | 81 | .474 | 25 | 36–41 | 37–40 |
| Philadelphia Athletics | 70 | 84 | .455 | 28 | 38–41 | 32–43 |
| Washington Senators | 62 | 92 | .403 | 36 | 32–44 | 30–48 |
| St. Louis Browns | 52 | 102 | .338 | 46 | 24–53 | 28–49 |
Record vs. opponents
Sources: | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | BOS | CWS | CLE | DET | NYY | PHA | SLB | WSH | |||||
| Boston | — | 11–11 | 8–14 | 12–10 | 11–11 | 15–7 | 15–7 | 15–7 | |||||
| Chicago | 11–11 | — | 12–10–1 | 12–10 | 8–14 | 9–13 | 15–7 | 14–8 | |||||
| Cleveland | 14–8 | 10–12–1 | — | 17–5 | 7–15 | 16–6 | 16–6 | 13–9 | |||||
| Detroit | 10–12 | 10–12 | 5–17 | — | 10–12 | 13–9 | 12–10 | 13–9 | |||||
| New York | 11–11 | 14–8 | 15–7 | 12–10 | — | 13–9 | 17–5 | 16–6 | |||||
| Philadelphia | 7–15 | 13–9 | 6–16 | 9–13 | 9–13 | — | 14–8 | 12–10 | |||||
| St. Louis | 7–15 | 7–15 | 6–16 | 10–12 | 5–17 | 8–14 | — | 9–13 | |||||
| Washington | 7–15 | 8–14 | 9–13 | 9–13 | 6–16 | 10–12 | 13–9 | — | |||||
Notable transactions
- May 14, 1951: Billy Johnson was traded by the Yankees to the St. Louis Cardinals for Don Bollweg and $15,000.[5]
Roster
| 1951 New York Yankees | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
|
Catchers
Infielders
|
Outfielders
|
Manager
Coaches
| ||||||
Player stats
Batting
| = Indicates team leader |
Starters by position
Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Pos | Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | Yogi Berra | 141 | 547 | 161 | .294 | 27 | 88 |
| 1B | Joe Collins | 125 | 262 | 75 | .286 | 9 | 48 |
| 2B | Jerry Coleman | 121 | 362 | 90 | .249 | 3 | 43 |
| 3B | Bobby Brown | 103 | 313 | 84 | .268 | 6 | 51 |
| SS | Phil Rizzuto | 144 | 540 | 148 | .274 | 2 | 43 |
| OF | Gene Woodling | 120 | 420 | 118 | .281 | 15 | 71 |
| OF | Joe DiMaggio | 116 | 415 | 109 | .263 | 12 | 71 |
| OF | Hank Bauer | 118 | 348 | 103 | .296 | 10 | 54 |
Other batters
Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gil McDougald | 131 | 402 | 123 | .306 | 14 | 63 |
| Mickey Mantle | 96 | 341 | 91 | .267 | 13 | 65 |
| Johnny Mize | 113 | 332 | 86 | .259 | 10 | 49 |
| Jackie Jensen | 56 | 168 | 50 | .298 | 8 | 25 |
| Johnny Hopp | 46 | 63 | 13 | .206 | 2 | 4 |
| Billy Martin | 51 | 58 | 15 | .259 | 0 | 2 |
| Cliff Mapes | 45 | 51 | 11 | .216 | 2 | 8 |
| Charlie Silvera | 18 | 51 | 14 | .275 | 1 | 7 |
| Billy Johnson | 15 | 40 | 12 | .300 | 0 | 4 |
| Bob Cerv | 12 | 28 | 6 | .214 | 0 | 2 |
| Jim Brideweser | 2 | 8 | 3 | .375 | 0 | 0 |
| Ralph Houk | 3 | 5 | 1 | .200 | 0 | 2 |
| Archie Wilson | 4 | 4 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Clint Courtney | 1 | 2 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
Pitching
Starting pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vic Raschi | 35 | 258.1 | 21 | 10 | 3.27 | 164 |
| Ed Lopat | 31 | 234.2 | 21 | 9 | 2.91 | 93 |
| Allie Reynolds | 40 | 221.0 | 17 | 8 | 3.05 | 126 |
| Bob Wiesler | 4 | 9.1 | 0 | 2 | 13.50 | 3 |
Other pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tom Morgan | 27 | 124.2 | 9 | 3 | 3.68 | 57 |
| Spec Shea | 25 | 95.2 | 5 | 5 | 4.33 | 38 |
| Bob Kuzava | 23 | 82.1 | 8 | 4 | 2.40 | 50 |
| Art Schallock | 11 | 46.1 | 3 | 1 | 3.88 | 19 |
| Stubby Overmire | 15 | 44.2 | 1 | 1 | 4.63 | 14 |
| Jack Kramer | 19 | 40.2 | 1 | 3 | 4.65 | 15 |
| Johnny Sain | 7 | 37.0 | 2 | 1 | 4.14 | 21 |
| Fred Sanford | 11 | 26.2 | 0 | 3 | 3.71 | 10 |
| Tommy Byrne | 9 | 21.0 | 2 | 1 | 6.86 | 14 |
Relief pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joe Ostrowski | 34 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 3.49 | 30 |
| Tom Ferrick | 9 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7.50 | 3 |
| Bobby Hogue | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 2 |
| Bob Muncrief | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9.00 | 2 |
| Ernie Nevel | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.00 | 1 |
| Bob Porterfield | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15.00 | 2 |
1951 World Series
AL New York Yankees (4) vs. NL New York Giants (2)
| Game | Score | Date | Location | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Giants – 5, Yankees – 1 | October 4 | Yankee Stadium | 65,673 |
| 2 | Giants – 1, Yankees – 3 | October 5 | Yankee Stadium | 66,018 |
| 3 | Yankees – 2, Giants – 6 | October 6 | Polo Grounds | 52,035 |
| 4 | Yankees – 6, Giants – 2 | October 8 | Polo Grounds | 49,010 |
| 5 | Yankees – 13, Giants – 1 | October 9 | Polo Grounds | 47,530 |
| 6 | Giants – 3, Yankees – 4 | October 10 | Yankee Stadium | 61,711 |
Awards and honors
Farm system
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Quincy, Norfolk, LaGrange, McAlester
Newark club folded, July 17, 1951[6]