The New York Yankees

New York Yankees

The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...

 season was the team's 47th season in New York, and its 49th season overall. The team finished with a record of 97-57, winning their 16th pennant

Pennant (sports)

A pennant is a commemorative flag typically used to show support for a particular athletic team. Pennants have been historically used in all types of athletic levels: high school, collegiate, professional etc. Traditionally, pennants were made of felt and fashioned in the official colors of a...

, finishing 1 game ahead of the Boston Red Sox

1949 Boston Red Sox season

The 1949 Boston Red Sox season involved the Red Sox finishing second in the American League with a record of 96 wins and 58 losses.- Regular season :...

. New York was managed by Casey Stengel

Casey Stengel

Charles Dillon "Casey" Stengel , nicknamed "The Old Perfessor", was an American Major League Baseball outfielder and manager. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in ....

. The Yankees played their home games at Yankee Stadium. In the World Series

1949 World Series

The 1949 World Series featured the New York Yankees and the Brooklyn Dodgers, with the Yankees winning in five games for their second defeat of the Dodgers in three years, and the twelfth championship in team history...

, they defeated the Brooklyn Dodgers

1949 Brooklyn Dodgers season

The Brooklyn Dodgers held off the St. Louis Cardinals to win the National League title by one game. The Dodgers lost the World Series to the New York Yankees in five games.- Offseason :...

 in 5 games.

Offseason

• November 15, 1948: Grant Dunlap
  Grant Dunlap
  Grant Lester Dunlap is a former Major League Baseball player. He played in 16 games for the St. Louis Cardinals in...
  
   was drafted by the Yankees from the Cleveland Indians
  Cleveland Indians
  The Cleveland Indians are a professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. Since , they have played in Progressive Field. The team's spring training facility is in Goodyear, Arizona...
  
   in the 1948 minor league draft.
• Prior to 1949 season: Lou Skizas
  Lou Skizas
  Louis Peter Skizas , is a former professional baseball player who played in Major League Baseball primarily as an outfielder and third baseman from 1956-1959.-Fast Facts:* Skizas is of Greek ancestry....
  
   was signed as an amateur free agent by the Yankees.

Regular season

The 1949 Yankees team was seen as "underdogs" who came from behind to catch and surprise the powerful Red Sox on the last two days of the season, a face off that fueled the beginning of the modern Yankees – Red Sox rivalry.

The Red Sox needed just one win in two games and were to pitch Mel Parnell

Mel Parnell

Melvin Lloyd Parnell is a former Major League Baseball left-handed starting pitcher.Parnell spent his entire ten-year career with the Boston Red Sox , compiling a 123-75 record with 732 strikeouts, a 3.50 earned run average, 113 complete games, 20 shutouts, and 1752.2 innings pitched in 289 games...

 in the first game. After trailing 4-0, the Yankees came back to beat Parnell 5-4, as Johnny Lindell

Johnny Lindell

John Harlan Lindell was an American professional baseball player. He played as an outfielder and pitcher in the Major League Baseball from to and from to . Lindell played for the New York Yankees, St...

 hit an eighth-inning, game-winning, home run

Home run

In baseball, a home run is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to reach home safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team in the process...

 and Joe Page

Joe Page

Joseph Francis Page , nicknamed Fireman and The Gay Reliever, was a former Major League Baseball relief pitcher. Page, who was left-handed, played with the New York Yankees from to and with the Pittsburgh Pirates in .-Professional career:Page was signed by the New York Yankees as an amateur free...

 had a great relief appearance for New York. And so it came down to the last game of the season. It was Ellis Kinder

Ellis Kinder

Ellis Raymond Kinder , also nicknamed "Old Folks", was a Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher who played for the St. Louis Browns , Boston Red Sox , St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago White Sox...

 facing Vic Raschi

Vic Raschi

Victor John Angelo "Vic" Raschi was a Major League Baseball pitcher. He was responsible for allowing Hank Aaron's first career home run....

.

The Yankees led 1-0 after seven innings, having scored in the first. In the eighth inning, manager Joe McCarthy lifted Kinder for a pinch hitter

Pinch hitter

In baseball, a pinch hitter is a substitute batter. Batters can be substituted at any time while the ball is dead ; the manager may use any player that has not yet entered the game as a substitute...

 who did not come through. Then he brought in Mel Parnell in relief, and Parnell yielded a homer to Tommy Henrich

Tommy Henrich

Thomas David "Tommy" Henrich , nicknamed "The Clutch" and "Old Reliable", was a Major League Baseball right fielder. He played his entire baseball career for the New York Yankees . He led the American League in triples twice and in runs scored once, also hitting 20 or more home runs four times...

 and a single to Yogi Berra

Yogi Berra

Lawrence Peter "Yogi" Berra is a former American Major League Baseball catcher, outfielder, and manager. He played almost his entire 19-year baseball career for the New York Yankees...

. Parnell was replaced by Tex Hughson

Tex Hughson

Cecil Carlton Hughson, , was a Major League Baseball starting pitcher who played his entire career in the American League with the Boston Red Sox . He batted and threw right-handed....

, who had been on the disabled list and said his arm still hurt. But he came on and, with the bases loaded, Jerry Coleman

Jerry Coleman

Gerald Francis "Jerry" Coleman is a former Major League Baseball second baseman for the New York Yankees. Currently, he is an analyst and former play-by-play radio announcer for the San Diego Padres...

 hit a soft liner that Al Zarilla

Al Zarilla

Allen Lee Zarilla was a right fielder in Major League Baseball who played for the St. Louis Browns , Boston Red Sox and Chicago White Sox . Zarilla batted left-handed and threw right-handed...

 in right field tried to make a shoestring catch, but he missed and it went for a triple and three runs. In the ninth inning the Red Sox rallied for three runs but still fell short. The post-season proved to be a bit easier, as the Yankees defeated the Brooklyn Dodgers four games to one.

In 1949, Boston Red Sox owner Tom Yawkey

Tom Yawkey

Thomas Austin Yawkey, born Thomas Austin , was an American industrialist and Major League Baseball executive. Born in Detroit, Michigan, Yawkey became president of the Boston Red Sox in 1933, and was the sole owner of the team for 44 seasons, longer than anyone else in baseball history.-Early...

 and Yankees GM Larry MacPhail

Larry MacPhail

Leland Stanford "Larry" MacPhail, Sr. was an American lawyer, and an executive and innovator in Major League Baseball.-Biography:...

 verbally agreed to trade DiMaggio for Ted Williams

Ted Williams

Theodore Samuel "Ted" Williams was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played his entire 21-year Major League Baseball career as the left fielder for the Boston Red Sox...

, but MacPhail refused to include Yogi Berra

Yogi Berra

Lawrence Peter "Yogi" Berra is a former American Major League Baseball catcher, outfielder, and manager. He played almost his entire 19-year baseball career for the New York Yankees...

. Phil Rizzuto

Phil Rizzuto

Philip Francis Rizzuto , nicknamed "The Scooter", was an American Major League Baseball shortstop. He spent his entire 13-year baseball career for the New York Yankees...

 moved from eighth to first in the batting lineup and finished the season second in voting for the American League MVP Award.

Notable transactions

• April 28, 1949: Grant Dunlap
  Grant Dunlap
  Grant Lester Dunlap is a former Major League Baseball player. He played in 16 games for the St. Louis Cardinals in...
  
   was returned by the Yankees to the Indians.

Roster

1949 New York Yankees
Roster
Pitchers		Catchers Infielders		Outfielders Other batters		Manager Coaches

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		116	415	155	.277	20	91
1B		115	411	118	.287	24	85
2B		128	447	123	.275	2	42
3B		104	343	97	.283	6	61
SS		153	614	169	.275	5	65
OF		111	304	75	.247	7	38
OF		112	296	80	.270	5	44
OF		103	301	82	.272	10	45

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
	113	329	82	.249	8	56
	76	272	94	.346	14	67
	78	211	51	.242	6	27
	54	177	52	.294	1	27
	70	157	41	.261	0	11
	58	130	41	.315	0	13
	60	116	29	.250	3	16
	45	91	28	.308	1	10
	32	43	12	.279	0	6
	10	27	5	.185	0	2
	13	23	6	.261	1	2
	9	20	7	.350	1	3
	7	10	1	.100	0	4
	5	7	4	.571	0	1
	1	1	1	1.000	0	0

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
	38	274.2	21	10	3.34	124
	31	215.1	15	10	3.26	70
	35	213.2	17	6	4.00	105
	32	196	15	7	3.72	129

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
	29	95.1	7	3	3.87	51
	12	57.2	2	5	4.06	25
	12	37.1	2	4	4.34	9

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
	60	13	8	27	2.59	99
	21	3	0	3	5.11	13
	20	1	1	1	5.33	22
	14	0	1	2	4.05	14
	4	1	0	0	8.22	5
	4	0	2	1	5.87	3
	2	0	0	0	0.00	2

1949 World Series

AL New York Yankees (4) vs. NL Brooklyn Dodgers

1949 Brooklyn Dodgers season

The Brooklyn Dodgers held off the St. Louis Cardinals to win the National League title by one game. The Dodgers lost the World Series to the New York Yankees in five games.- Offseason :...

 (1)

Game	Score	Date	Attendance
1	New York 1, Brooklyn 0	October 5	66,224
2	Brooklyn 1, New York 0	October 6	70,053
3	New York 4, Brooklyn 3	October 7	32,788
4	New York 6, Brooklyn 4	October 8	33,934
5	New York 10, Brooklyn 6	October 9	33,711

Awards and honors

• Joe Page
  Joe Page
  Joseph Francis Page , nicknamed Fireman and The Gay Reliever, was a former Major League Baseball relief pitcher. Page, who was left-handed, played with the New York Yankees from to and with the Pittsburgh Pirates in .-Professional career:Page was signed by the New York Yankees as an amateur free...
  
  , Babe Ruth Award
  Babe Ruth Award
  The Babe Ruth Award is given annually to the Major League Baseball player with the best performance in the postseason. The award, created by the New York chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America in honor of Babe Ruth, was first awarded in 1949 to the MVP of the World Series, one...
  
  

All-Star Game

1949 Major League Baseball All-Star Game

The 1949 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was the 16th annual midseason exhibition game between the all-stars of Major League Baseball's American and National Leagues. The American League continued its early dominance of the Midsummer Classic with an 11-7 win at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn. The...

Farm system

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Binghamton, Joplin, Independence

Manchester club folded, July 19, 1949