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And They Finished 17 Games Out

© Harold Friend

The 2005 New York Yankees have four definite future Hall of Famers yet they will be hard pressed to win the pennant, much less sweep the World Series. Mariano Rivera, Randy Johnson, Alex Rodriguez, and Derek Jeter will be elected to the Hall of Fame. There are many other stars on the team, including Gary Sheffield, Hideki Matsui, Ruben Sierra, and Tom Gordon, but injuries and a lack of pitching depth have made this season a struggle like none the Yankees have seen in the Joe Torre era.

Many years ago, a Yankees team also had four Hall of Famers. Their main rival that season was the Boston Red Sox, a team that had not four but FIVE Hall of Famers, but it was the Yankees who won the pennant and swept the Reds in the World Series while Boston finished a distant second, 17 games out of first place.

The 1939 Red Sox had Hall of Famers Ted Williams ( .327, 31Hrs, 145 RBIs), Jimmie Foxx (.360, 35 Hrs, 160 RBIs), Joe Cronin (.308, 19 Hrs, 107 RBIs), Bobby Doerr (.318, 12 Hrs, 73 RBIs), and Robert Moses Grove (15-4, 2.54 ERA). The team scored 890 runs and led the league with a .291 batting average. The only problem was that they finished behind the Yankees.

The 1939 Yankees had Hall of Famers Joe DiMaggio (.381, 30 Hrs, 126 RBIs), Bill Dickey (.302, 24 Hrs, 105 RBIs), Charles "Red" Ruffing (21-7, 2.93 ERA) and Vernon "Lefty" Gomez (12-8, 3.41 ERA). The Boston Hall of Famers had better seasons in 1939 than did the Yankees' Hall of Famers, but as the 2005 Yankees are once again proving, and many teams have proven throughout baseball history, the rest of the team also counts.

The 1939 Yankees' team ERA was 3.31. The Red Sox team ERA was 4.56. Red Ruffing was the only Yankees pitcher to have an outstanding season, but the staff had depth. Led by Ruffing's 21 wins, seven different pitchers won 10 games or more, with little known Steve Sundra winning 11 while losing only 1.

The Red Sox were a different story, which is why they finished second. After the 39 year old Lefty Grove, no Red Sox starter had an ERA lower than 4.24. The Red Sox used 13 different starting pitchers and in 1350 innings, the staff yielded 1533 hits. The use of so many starting pitchers and the pitchers allowing so many hits is strikingly similar to the 2005 Yankees, who at the end of play on July 18 have used 11 starting pitchers, and in 801 innings have allowed 892 hits, with a 4.71 team ERA.