September 12, 1940. Yankee Stadium. Joe Gordon fielded a routine grounder at second base, set his feet, and fired a low throw to first baseman Babe Dahlgren. The ball skipped past Dahlgren and sailed into the New York Yankees' dugout. Detroit scored four runs in the inning. The Tigers won the game. And the greatest dynasty in baseball history took a wound it wouldn't survive.
Four Straight -- and the Dream of Five
The stakes couldn't have been higher. The Yankees had won four consecutive World Series championships -- , , , -- a streak no franchise had ever managed. A fifth straight title would have set a record that might never be broken. They entered September still alive in a three-way race with the Detroit Tigers and Cleveland Indians. The margin for error was gone, and Gordon's throw went wide at exactly the wrong moment.
The error wasn't why they lost the pennant. It was a symbol of why they lost the pennant -- a team that had spent four years making every play, winning every crucial game, finally letting one slip.
The Three-Way Race
Going into September, Cleveland held a four-game lead. The Indians looked like the team to beat. Then Detroit swept Cleveland in a three-game series at Briggs Stadium, and suddenly the race compressed to a game or two separating all three clubs. The Yankees still had a chance. They'd been clawing back from a rough start all season -- an eight-game losing streak in May, a brutal 1-8-1 stretch in June that had buried them early.
Joe DiMaggio was hitting .352 and carrying the 1940 lineup on his back. Joe Gordon had 30 home runs from second base. The offense wasn't the issue. The pitching staff -- gutted by Lefty Gomez's arm injury (3-3, 6.59 ERA in nine appearances) -- had been the problem since April. Red Ruffing went 15-12 and pitched like the All-Star he was, but one ace can't cover for a rotation missing its other half.
The September 12 Game
Gordon's error opened the floodgates. Detroit scored four runs in that inning, and the game slipped away. It was the kind of play Gordon almost never made -- he was one of the best defensive second basemen in the league, athletic enough to turn double plays that other middle infielders couldn't reach. But September games in a pennant race carry a weight that regular-season games don't, and one bad throw changed the math.
After the loss, things got worse. The St. Louis Browns -- a team that finished sixth that year, 23 games under .500 -- beat the Yankees in a doubleheader and then hammered them 16-4. Losing to the Tigers was understandable. Getting swept by the Browns in September with the pennant on the line was something else entirely.
One sportswriter captured the moment: "A once great ballclub came down with a terrific crash."
The Pennant Clincher
On September 27, Detroit clinched the American League pennant behind Floyd Giebell, a rookie who'd win only three games in his entire career. Giebell beat Bob Feller and Cleveland 2-0 -- one of the strangest results in pennant-race history. The Yankees weren't even part of the clinching drama. They'd already faded far enough that the race came down to Detroit and Cleveland on the final weekend.
Final standings: Detroit 90-64, Cleveland 89-65, New York 88-66. Two games separated the Yankees from a fifth straight championship. Two games that could've gone the other way with one fewer losing streak, one healthy left arm, one cleaner throw to first.
| Final Record | 88-66 (.571) |
| AL Finish | 3rd place |
| Games Behind | 2.0 (Detroit Tigers) |
| Detroit | 90-64 (pennant winner) |
| Cleveland | 89-65 (2nd place) |
| Consecutive WS Titles | 4 (1936-1939, ended) |
What Went Wrong
The list isn't long, which makes it more painful. Gomez's arm injury stripped the rotation of its second ace. The early-season losing streaks dug a hole no team can afford in a tight race. Bill Dickey was 33 and hitting .247 -- a far cry from the .300-hitting backstop who'd anchored the dynasty's early years. Frankie Crosetti batted .194 at shortstop. The bench was thinner than it had been in previous seasons, and the margin for error that four championship teams had never needed suddenly mattered.
The offense scored enough runs. DiMaggio's -- .352, 31 home runs, 133 RBI -- was one of the best in franchise history. Gordon's 30 homers from second base would've been a headline in any other year. in July, Gordon hit for the cycle in September. The bats showed up. The arms didn't.
The Quick Rebound
The proof that 1940 was a stumble rather than a fall came immediately. In , Gomez returned healthy and went 15-5. DiMaggio hit safely in 56 consecutive games. The Yankees won 101 games and beat the Brooklyn Dodgers in the World Series. The dynasty hadn't died -- it had taken a season off. But the dream of five straight championships, a record that no team has matched before or since, ended in a September that Joe McCarthy's club would've rather forgotten.
The First Crack
An eight-game losing streak puts the defending champions in an early hole. Gomez's arm injury limits him to nine appearances all season.
Deeper in the Hole
A 1-8-1 stretch buries the Yankees further. The pitching staff can't match the dominance of previous years, and the team falls behind Detroit and Cleveland.
The Race Tightens
Detroit sweeps Cleveland in a three-game series, compressing the standings. The Yankees are still alive in a three-way pennant fight.
Gordon's Error
Joe Gordon's errant throw against Detroit leads to a four-run inning and a loss that kicks off the Yankees' final collapse.
The Browns Deliver the Blow
St. Louis beats the Yankees in a doubleheader and then hammers them 16-4. The pennant race is effectively over.
Detroit Clinches
Floyd Giebell beats Bob Feller 2-0 to clinch the pennant for Detroit. The Yankees finish 88-66, two games back, in third place. Four consecutive championships. Not five.
A once great ballclub came down with a terrific crash.
Frequently Asked Questions
How close were the 1940 Yankees to winning a fifth straight World Series?
The Yankees finished 88-66, just two games behind the pennant-winning Detroit Tigers (90-64). It was a three-way race with Cleveland (89-65) that came down to the final weeks of September. A few fewer losses at any point during the season -- particularly during their eight-game May losing streak or 1-8-1 June stretch -- could have changed the outcome.
What caused the 1940 Yankees' September collapse?
Joe Gordon's throwing error on September 12 against Detroit led to a four-run inning and became the symbolic moment of the collapse. The Yankees then lost a doubleheader to the St. Louis Browns and got beaten 16-4 in a subsequent game. The pitching staff, weakened by Lefty Gomez's season-long arm injury, couldn't hold leads down the stretch.
Did the Yankees recover from the 1940 collapse?
Yes, and quickly. The 1941 Yankees won 101 games and beat the Brooklyn Dodgers in the World Series. Lefty Gomez returned healthy (15-5), Joe DiMaggio hit safely in 56 consecutive games, and the roster proved that 1940 was a one-year stumble rather than the start of a decline. World War II, not 1940, was what ultimately broke up the dynasty.