1948 Yankees

The 1948 New York Yankees won 94 games and finished third. That sentence shouldn't make sense -- 94 wins is a great season by almost any standard -- but the American League hadn't read the script. Cleveland and Boston both finished at 96-58, forcing a one-game playoff between them that the Yankees could only watch from home. put up the best numbers of his career. said goodbye to the Stadium and then died two months later. And the front office responded to a third-place finish by making the most important managerial hire in franchise history.

DiMaggio's Monster Year

DiMaggio turned 33 in 1948 and played like a man trying to outrun the calendar. He hit .320 with 39 home runs and 155 RBI, leading the American League in both power categories. On May 20, he hit for the cycle against the White Sox and added a second home run for good measure -- going 5-for-6 in a game that reminded everyone he was still the most dangerous hitter in baseball. The numbers were the best of his career. The team around him just couldn't keep up with Cleveland's pitching depth or Boston's lineup.

The Rotation Takes Shape

The offseason's biggest move happened on February 24, when GM George Weiss . Lopat joined Vic Raschi and Allie Reynolds to form a three-headed rotation that looked, in retrospect, like the skeleton of a dynasty. Raschi led the staff with 19 wins. Reynolds contributed 16. Lopat, the crafty lefty they called "The Junk Man," won 15 in his first season wearing pinstripes. The three combined for 50 wins -- and they were just getting started.

Saying Goodbye to the Babe

The season's emotional weight had nothing to do with the pennant race. On June 13, the Yankees in a ceremony at the Stadium. Ruth was 53, ravaged by cancer, barely able to stand. He used a bat as a cane -- the most loaded image in franchise history, the greatest slugger who ever lived leaning on the tool that made him famous. The House That Ruth Built was watching its architect say goodbye.

Two months later, on August 16, Ruth died. His body lay in state at the Stadium for two days while over 100,000 people filed past. The funeral mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral drew thousands more. He was buried at Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Hawthorne, New York. The franchise and the sport mourned in a way they hadn't since Lou Gehrig's death in 1941.

A Three-Way Race Nobody Won

The pennant race came down to the final days. The Yankees, Indians, and Red Sox spent September trading punches, and the Yanks actually had their best month of the year -- 19-9, a .679 clip that included a nine-game winning streak. It wasn't enough. Cleveland and Boston both crossed the finish line at 96-58, leaving the Yankees 2.5 games behind the Indians and 1.5 behind the Sox.

Cleveland and Boston played a one-game tiebreaker (counted in the regular-season standings, which is why the Indians' final record shows 97-58). The Indians won, then beat the Boston Braves in the World Series. The Yankees sat at home, watching a championship that should've been theirs slip away by the slimmest margin.

The Firing That Built a Dynasty

Ninety-four wins and a World Series title weren't enough to save Bucky Harris. The front office -- specifically Weiss -- had grown frustrated with Harris's approach, reportedly including a petty feud over whether Harris would share his home phone number. The substance of the dispute mattered less than the result: Harris was out.

On October 12, the Yankees as manager. Stengel was 58 years old, had a losing record in the big leagues, and was widely considered a clown. The press treated the hire as a joke. , , and DiMaggio would soon learn otherwise. Within a year, Stengel had a championship. Within five, he had five -- a streak that's never been matched.

I've been hired to win, and I think we will win.

The season proved him right.

Frequently Asked Questions

What was the 1948 Yankees' record and final standing?

The 1948 Yankees went 94-60, finishing third in the American League, 2.5 games behind the Cleveland Indians and 1.5 games behind the Boston Red Sox. Despite Joe DiMaggio's career-best season (.320, 39 HR, 155 RBI), the team couldn't overcome a three-way pennant race that came down to the season's final days.

Why was Bucky Harris fired after the 1948 season?

Harris's contract wasn't renewed despite a 94-60 record and a World Series title the previous year. The third-place finish fell below Yankees standards, and friction between Harris and GM George Weiss -- reportedly including personal disputes -- made the separation inevitable. The Yankees replaced him with Casey Stengel on October 12, 1948.

When did Babe Ruth die?

Babe Ruth died on August 16, 1948, at age 53, from cancer. His number 3 had been retired by the Yankees on June 13 of that year in what turned out to be his final appearance at Yankee Stadium. Over 100,000 people attended his three-day funeral, which included a public viewing at the Stadium, a mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral, and burial at Gate of Heaven Cemetery.

Who were the top pitchers on the 1948 Yankees?

Vic Raschi (19 wins), Allie Reynolds (16 wins), and Ed Lopat (15 wins) formed the core of the rotation. Lopat had been acquired from the White Sox on February 24, 1948, in a trade that completed the trio -- the same pitching staff that would anchor five consecutive World Series championships from 1949 to 1953.