NY Yankees Against ALL COMERS!

Although smarting from the 1961 Yanks whipping at the hands of the 1976 Cincinnati Reds, which backed Bill James’ theories about the relative merits of the two teams… I still had massive fun. Being a lifetime fan of Yankees past and present, I decided to pit historical matchups of the great Yankee teams against great squads of yesteryear. The opponents were usually world or league champs, or also-rans who won 100 games or boasted lots of stars. The opponents thus far have ranged from 1894 to 2002. The Yankee teams have thus far been from 1921 to 1937, plus the ’61 M&M boys.

All games are played using Sim League Baseball by What If Sports. A full 154 game slate is played. The teams alternate five game series at each team’s respective home parks… during each team’s respective home era. When the 1927 Yanks visit the 1894 Phillies, they not only have to deal with facing four .400 hitters in the tiny Baker Bowl, they have to deal with gaslamps, wooden ballparks and horse buggies. And when Big Ed Delahanty comes to 1927 Yankee Stadium, he experiences 70,000 crowds, steel-and-concrete stadiums and car-sickness for the first time.

Every effort is made to use the players the way they were used back in the day. For example, when the ’61 Yanks lost to the ’76 Reds, I couldn’t start Whitey Ford every day – or 60 games a season. On the other hand, Big Six Mathewson, Iron Man McGinnity and Kid Nichols all started every 3rd day AND came in out of the bullpen – er, I mean from the sidelines, where relievers loosened up back in the day.

Sometimes I varied things a little, but usually it wasn’t to give either team an edge, but rather to see how an unheralded scrub might perform if given a chance… a Ben Paschal here, a Johnny Blanchard there… but I did it for everybody. I let Dusty Rhodes (’54 Giants) play a lot more than Leo Durocher did, and while he was no Say Hey Kid in the field, he looked like the Sultan of Swat with the lumber in his hands.

The Sim League Baseball simulator makes all substitutions, both pitching and pinch-hitting. And the game seems to honor whatever era. When Ruth, Gehrig or DiMaggio visit the dead-ball era, the home runs become harder to come by. When Mordecai ‘Three-Finger’ Brown comes to 1927 Yankee Stadium, he still pitches brilliantly, but he leaves his 1.04 ERA home.

Here is how they fared. The records in parentheses are the Yankees’.

1921 Yanks
1905 NY Giants (77-77) tied!
1921 NY Giants (79-75) won!
1921 STL Browns (71-79) lost!
2002 SF Giants (94-60) won!
1923 Yanks
2001 SF Giants (80-74) won!
1927 Yanks
17 teams up, 17 teams down!
2602 games: 1666-936 (.640)

1894 Baltimore Orioles 89-65 .578 (4th)
1894 Philadelphia Phils 95-59 .617 (6th tied)
1894 Boston Bean-eaters 121-33 .786 (17th)
1904 NY Giants 95-55 .633 (10th)
1906 Chicago Cubs 81-69 .540 (1st)
1915 Detroit Tigers 92-62 .597 (5th)
1920 Chicago Black Sox 104-50 .675
1922 STL Browns 85-65 .566 (2nd)
1929 Chicago Cubs 111-51 .685 (15th)
1930 Chicago Cubs 124-26 .685 (18th)
1930 Phila Athletics 104-50 .675 (13th)
1931 Phila Athletics 94-56 .626 (9th)
1953 Bklyn Dodgers 95-59 .617 (6th tied)
1953 Bklyn Dodgers rematch! 99-51 .660 (11th)
1962 LA Dodgers 88-66 .571 (3rd)
1962 SF Giants 103-51 .668 (12th)
1963 LA Dodgers 114-36 .760 (16th)
1975 Cincinnati Reds 96-58 .623 (8th)

1928 Yanks
1975 Cincinnati Reds 69-85 lost!

1932 Yanks

1976 Cincinnati Reds beat 1932 New York Yankees 83-71!
N. Y..........…BA/SA……HR…RBI
Chapman..308/.491 17 112
Ruth……….330/.660 59 176
Gehrig…… .365/.631 38 169
Lazzeri…....307/.498 21 124
Dickey……..318/.452 16 136

Cin. ..........…BA/SA……HR…RBI
Griffey…… .305/.444 10 80
Morgan…....370/.684 32 146
Foster……. .311/.560 30 204
Perez…….. .264/.541 36 166


1932 Yanks
1954 New York Giants 93-61 Yanks win!

PLAYER……………HR…RBI…BA/SA
Ben Chapman…….15...97.... .304/.454
Babe Ruth………….48...149...291/.588
Lou Gehrig…………36...174....330/.591
Tony Lazzeri……….10... 99....277/.411
Bill Dickey………….12... 119.. .319/.448

Willie Mays………...35... 123... .343/.625
Dusty Rhodes……..44... 151... .336/.609
Don Mueller……….. 6... 60.... .346/.462

Mays 395 total bases (overall leader)
Hank Thompson 25hr 109rbi

PITCHERS……..W-L…Inn…ERA

John Antonelli 15-10 246…3.98

Lefty Gomez……8-13…210…5.04
Red Ruffing……14-7…224…5.62
Johnny Allen….15-4… 165…4.41
Herb Pennock… 7-3… 127…4.87

1936 Yanks
1915 Red Sox 82-72 won!

1937 Yanks
1916 Red Sox 99-55 won!
1946 Red Sox 87-67 won!
1962 Dodgers 82-72 won!
1970 Baltimore 91-63 won!

1961 Yanks
1976 Cincinnati Reds 77-85 lost!
1976 Cincinnati Reds 75-87 rematch lost!

1927 Yanks Visit Gaslamp District

Find 1894 to their liking

The 1927 Yankees play the 1894 Phillies, the 1894 Orioles, and the 1894 Boston Beaneaters for a full 154 game season. Though the Phillies were the best offensive group of the time, they only finished 4th in the NL that year. The Original Baltimore Orioles won the pennant with a late season charge, led by Hall-of-Famers Willie Keeler, John McGraw and Dan Brouthers. The Orioles edged the New York Giants, for whom the feisty McGraw would achieve his greatest fame and success. In 3rd landed the Boston Beaneaters, who had been the three-time (1891-93) defending league champs. The Bean town Bunch had three Hall of Famers, Tommy McCarthy, Hugh Duffy and Kid Nichols. They also had Bobby Lowe, who if not a Hall-of-Famer, enjoyed a long, fine career, and a Hall-of-Fame day.

1894 was a historic year. The pitching distance had just been reset at 60 feet 6 inches for the first time... it had been 50 feet up until the year before. As you might expect, there was a huge uptick in offense... the league average was a hefty .309 after hovering in the mid .250s the previous three years. Only two teams posted team ERAs below 5.00. The Giants at 3.82 led by a full run over Cleveland (4.97), who finished 6th with some big fella named Cy Young.

Baseball as a major professional institution was still finding and defining itself. There had been two major leagues for ten years, with the American Association battling it out from 1882 to 1891. While researching this era, by the way, I discovered that the city of Boston enjoyed TWO champions, as the Boston Reds (AA) and the Beaneaters (NL) each won their league pennants! Sadly, I cannot find any record of the two teams squaring off after the regular season. I will keep looking. Or perhaps I will match them up myself in a Mac's Legendary Baseball all-Boston championship!

Note: Stats and league standings are found at baseball-reference.com, an outstanding online encyclopedia.