1953 Yankees

 I was thinking about your convincing article from the Historical Abstract about why the 1961 Yankees were not a great team.  

 

And so I got to wondering what the best postwar Yankees team was, excluding the 1998 team, that is the 1947-1964 era when the franchise was ubiquitous in the World Series.  

 

The 1960-1964 teams either lost the Series, or won it by a hair, excepting 1961. The Giants seem like a better team in '62.  

 

They lost the Series in 1957, won it in 7 in 58 (why do these two Series seem forgotten by Baseball History?). Lost in 1955 and won in 7 in '56, in each case against the team that had beaten them the year before. In '53 they beat a great Dodgers team, but they probably were not as good as Brooklyn.  

 

What would you say was the best Yankees team of that era? And would any of the 1976-78 teams stand higher than the postwar ones?

Asked by: MidnighttheCat

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Answered: 11/26/2020

 1953, beyond question.   It's hard to explain, but. . people remember the 1953 Dodgers as a fantastic team, which they were; they finished 105-49 and have a lot of great individual stats.  But the 1953 Yankees beat them in the World Series, and also, the 1953 Yankees had a better record until late August.  The Yankees were 82-38 on August 21; the Dodgers were 81-38, but the Yankees had a far better run/opposition run ratio at that time, 1.54 - 1 for the Yankees, 1.375 -1 for the Yankees.  Neither team had a serious challenger.  Stengel completely took his foot off the gas at that time, coasted in; Charlie Dressen continued to push until the end, so the Dodgers pulled a few games ahead although the Yankees still had a better run ratio.   The 1953 Yankees BACKUP team--guys NOT in the regular lineup--would be C--Gus Triandos or Charlie Silvera, 1B--Johnny Mize on Don Bollweg; 2B--Jerry Coleman, 3B--Andy Carey, SS--Willie Miranda, OF--Bill Renna, Irv Noren, Bob Cerv.    Their backup team was at least a .500 team.   Bollweg had 155 at bats with an .887 OPS.  Catchers, Silvera hit .280 and was a career .282 hitter as Berra's backup; Triandos was a really good catcher when he got a chance to play, in 1957 threw out 42 of 63 baserunners, 2/3.   It may be the highest percentage ever for that many chances.  Coleman was a terrific player in 1950, went into the military for two years and never got his job back.  (Like Ted Williams, Coleman was a World War II pilot who was recalled for service in Korea.)  Andy Carey was a Gold Glove quality third baseman and hit .321 with a .900+ OPS in a backup role in 1953.  Miranda was a glove wizard, was later a regular for several years.  Bill Renna got into 61 games, 121 at bats and hit .314.  Irv Noren was a good defensive center fielder who in 1950 had hit .295 with 98 RBI for Washington, had another pretty good year in 1951; the Yankees traded Jackie Jensen to get him.   Cerv hit 38 homers one year for Kansas City.  That was the team that WASN'T the team; that was the backup team.  

 

At first base, if Joe Collins and Johnny Mize and Dan Bollweg weren't good enough, in Triple-A they had Moose Skowron and Vic Power.   Skowron in 1952 hit hit .341 with 31 homers, 38 doubles, 11 triples, 134 RBI in the American Association, but did not get called up, got sent back to the minors for 1953, and had another great year, not quite AS great.  Vic Power on the same team hit .349 with 34 doubles, 10 triples, 19 homers, 93 RBI, 215 hits, and the best defensive first baseman of his time.   He didn't get called up, either.   Skowron had to play the outfield, which probably kept him in the minors an extra year.  That team (in the minors) also had Elston Howard, Alex Grammas and Bill Virdon, all of whom were ready to play, just biding their time in the minor leagues.  Grammas was 27 by then; he was later a regular for several years in the National League, and I believe won a Gold Glove one year.