The 1937 World Series featured the defending champion

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one ...

and the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisio ...

in a rematch of the 1936 Series. The Yankees won in five games, for their second championship in a row and their sixth in 15 years (1923, 1927–28, 1932, 1936). This was the Yankees' third Series win over the Giants (1923, 1936), finally giving them an overall edge in Series wins over the Giants with three Fall Classic wins to the Giants' two (after they lost the and 1922 Series to the Giants). Currently (), the St. Louis Cardinals are the only "Classic Eight"

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

(1900–1961) team to hold a Series edge over the Bronx Bombers, with three wins to the Yankees' two. The 1937 victory by the Yankees also broke a three-way tie among themselves, the

Philadelphia Athletics The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Athletics. Following another move in 1967, the team became the Oakla ...

and the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

for the most World Series wins all-time (five each). By the time the Athletics and Red Sox each won their sixth World Series (in 1972 and 2004, respectively), the Yankees had far outpaced them in world championships with 20 in 1972 and 26 in 2004. The 1937 Series was the first in which a team (in this case, the Yankees) did not commit a single error, handling 179 total chances (132 putouts, 47 assists) perfectly. Game 4 ended with the final World Series innings ever pitched by Hall of Famer

Carl Hubbell Carl Owen Hubbell (June 22, 1903 – November 21, 1988), nicknamed "the Meal Ticket" and "King Carl", was an American Major League Baseball player. He was a pitcher for the New York Giants of the National League from 1928 to 1943, and remained o ...

who, during the ninth inning, gave up Hall of Famer

Lou Gehrig Henry Louis Gehrig (born Heinrich Ludwig Gehrig ; June 19, 1903June 2, 1941) was an American professional baseball first baseman who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees (1923–1939). Gehrig was renowned f ...

's final Series home run.

Summary

Matchups

Game 1

The Series opener was a battle of aces, as the Giants sent their "Mealticket",

screwball A screwball is a baseball and fastpitch softball pitch that is thrown so as to break in the opposite direction of a slider or curveball. Depending on the pitcher's arm angle, the ball may also have a sinking action. The pitch is sometimes known ...

, who had won 22 games during the season, to the mound against the Bombers' Lefty Gomez, who had won 21. Hubbell and Gomez matched zeroes until the top of the fifth inning, when

Jimmy Ripple James Albert Ripple (October 14, 1909 – July 16, 1959) was an American professional baseball player who played as an outfielder in Major League Baseball for seven seasons from 1936 to 1943. He played for the New York Giants (1936–1939), the Br ...

singled, moved to third on another single by

Johnny McCarthy John Joseph McCarthy (April 25, 1934 – May 9, 2020) was an American basketball player and coach. A point guard, he played college basketball and was an All-American at Canisius College. He was selected by the Rochester Royals in the 1956 NBA ...

, and scored the only Giant run of the game when Gus Mancuso hit into a double play. Hubbell kept the Yankees at bay in the bottom half of the inning, but the wheels came off for him in the sixth. A walk and two singles loaded the bases with one out before

Joe DiMaggio Joseph Paul DiMaggio (November 25, 1914 – March 8, 1999), nicknamed "Joltin' Joe", "The Yankee Clipper" and "Joe D.", was an American baseball center fielder who played his entire 13-year career in Major League Baseball for the New York Yank ...

's two-run single put the Yankees up 2–1. An intentional walk reloaded the bases before Bill Dickey's RBI single increased the lead to 3-1, then George Selkirk's two-run single following a force out at home chased King Carl. An error on Tony Lazzeri's ground ball made it 6–1 Yankees, then Giant pitcher Dick Coffman issued two walks, including one to Red Rolfe that forced in a run before DiMaggio flew out to end the inning. Tony Lazzeri added a home run in the eighth inning off

Al Smith Alfred Emanuel Smith (December 30, 1873 – October 4, 1944) was an American politician who served four terms as Governor of New York and was the Democratic Party's candidate for president in 1928. The son of an Irish-American mother and a Ci ...

, while Gomez stymied the Giants, holding them to one run and six hits in a

complete game In baseball, a complete game (CG) is the act of a pitcher pitching an entire game without the benefit of a relief pitcher. A pitcher who meets this criterion will be credited with a complete game regardless of the number of innings played—pitche ...

, 8–1 victory for a 1–0 Yankee lead in the Series.

Game 2

For Game 2, the Yankees started veteran Red Ruffing against Giant rookie

Cliff Melton Clifford George Melton (January 3, 1912 – July 28, 1986) was an American professional baseball left-handed pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Giants over parts of eight seasons spanning 1937–44. Listed at , ...

. Ruffing would give Melton a rude welcome to postseason play with both his arm and his bat. The Giants touched Ruffing for a run in the first, as

Dick Bartell __NOTOC__ Richard William Bartell (November 22, 1907 – August 4, 1995), nicknamed "Rowdy Richard", was an American professional baseball player, coach, and manager. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a shortstop from to . One of the ...

doubled and Mel Ott drove him in with a single with one out. This did not faze Ruffing, who whiffed the next three batters to end the inning. As in Game 1, this would be the only Giant run of the day. Melton was able to neutralize the potent Bombers for the next four innings, giving up only two hits and striking out two. In the fifth, however, the Yankees chased the youngster from the game when they took a 2–1 lead on a leadoff double by

Myril Hoag Myril Oliver Hoag (March 9, 1908 – July 28, 1971) was an American professional baseball player. An outfielder, Hoag played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees, St. Louis Browns, Chicago White Sox, and Cleveland Indians betwee ...

, then RBI singles by George Selkirk and Ruffing. Just as in Game 1, the pinstripers opened up the game in the sixth, when Selkirk and Ruffing came through again, this time with two-run doubles after two leadoff singles off of

Harry Gumbert Harry Edwards Gumbert (November 5, 1909 – January 4, 1995), nicknamed "Gunboat", was an American pitcher in Major League Baseball whose career extended for 21 professional seasons, including 15 years and 508 games pitched in the big leagues. H ...

. In the seventh, the Yankees tacked on two more runs off of Dick Coffman with leadoff single and walk, followed by a Bill Dickey single that scored

and a fly ball by

that plated

. Ruffing held the fort the rest of the way, scattering seven hits with one run and eight strikeouts. For the second straight game the Yankees won 8–1, for a 2–0 Series lead as the teams moved a few miles south to the

Polo Grounds The Polo Grounds was the name of three stadiums in Upper Manhattan, New York City, used mainly for professional baseball and American football from 1880 through 1963. The original Polo Grounds, opened in 1876 and demolished in 1889, was built fo ...

Game 3

The Yankees struck first in Game 3 on Tony Lazzeri's RBI single with two on in the second off of

Hal Schumacher Harold Henry Schumacher (November 23, 1910 – April 21, 1993), nicknamed "Prince Hal", was an American professional baseball player and right-handed pitcher who appeared in 391 games pitched (and 450 games in all) in Major League Baseball for t ...

. Next inning,

hit a one out single, and scored on a triple by Bill Dickey, who then scored on a single by George Selkirk. Gehrig added a sacrifice fly next inning with runners on first and third. The Yankees got one more run in the fifth when Selkirk reached second on an error and scored on

's single. The Giants scored their only run in the seventh when

singled with one out and scored on

's double. Monte Pearson needed last-out help from Johnny Murphy after loading the bases in the bottom of the ninth, inducing Harry Danning, the tying run at the plate, to fly out to centerfield. The Yankees now had a 3–0 lead in the series.

Game 4

This is the second time in World Series history that a team that has lost the first three games has won a World Series game. This was Carl Hubbell's last World Series appearance. Hubbell allowed only six hits and walked one. Everyone in the NY Giants lineup except Hubbell hit safely. The Yankees scored the game's first run in the first when Red Rolfe hit a leadoff triple and scored on

's sacrifice fly, but in the bottom of the second, three consecutive leadoff singles tied the game.

's fielder's choice and Jo-Jo Moore's single scored a run each.

Ivy Andrews Ivy Paul "Poison" Andrews (May 6, 1907 – November 24, 1970) was an American Major League Baseball pitcher with the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, St. Louis Browns and the Cleveland Indians between 1931 and 1938. Andrews batted and threw righ ...

relieved Bump Hadley and allowed an RBI single to

. A two-out walk loaded the bases before Hank Leiber's two-run single capped the inning's scoring. The Yankees scored a run in the third without a hit aided by three errors. The Giants added a run in the seventh on Harry Danning's RBI double with two on.

homered in the ninth for the Yankees, who could get nothing else as the Giants' 7–3 win forced a Game 5.

Game 5

's home run leading off the second inning and a

blast in the third gave Lefty Gomez a 2–0 lead. Mel Ott's two-run home run in the bottom of the third tied it. The Yankees got the game-winning (and Series-winning) runs they needed in the fifth on a Tony Lazzeri triple, an RBI single by Gomez and an RBI double by

Composite line score

1937 World Series (4–1):

(A.L.) over

(N.L.)

Notes

References

External links

{{Subway Series World Series

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the Worl ...

New York Yankees postseason New York Giants (NL) postseason

Sports competitions in New York City 1930s in the Bronx 1930s in Manhattan Washington Heights, Manhattan Yankee Stadium (1923)