# 1940 New York Yankees season

The 1940 New York Yankees season was the team's 38th season. New York was managed by Joe McCarthy. Their home games were played at Yankee Stadium. The team finished in third place with a record of 88–66, finishing two games behind the American League champion Detroit Tigers and one game behind the second-place Cleveland Indians.

## Offseason

* October 14, 1939: Hank Sauer was drafted from the Yankees by the Cincinnati Reds in the 1939 minor league draft.

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteAmerican League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Detroit Tigers | 90 | 64 | .584 | — | 50‍–‍29 | 40‍–‍35 |
| Cleveland Indians | 89 | 65 | .578 | 1 | 51‍–‍30 | 38‍–‍35 |
| New York Yankees | 88 | 66 | .571 | 2 | 52‍–‍24 | 36‍–‍42 |
| Boston Red Sox | 82 | 72 | .532 | 8 | 45‍–‍34 | 37‍–‍38 |
| Chicago White Sox | 82 | 72 | .532 | 8 | 41‍–‍36 | 41‍–‍36 |
| St. Louis Browns | 67 | 87 | .435 | 23 | 37‍–‍39 | 30‍–‍48 |
| Washington Senators | 64 | 90 | .416 | 26 | 36‍–‍41 | 28‍–‍49 |
| Philadelphia Athletics | 54 | 100 | .351 | 36 | 29‍–‍42 | 25‍–‍58 |

### Record vs. opponents

1940 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BOS | CWS | CLE | DET | NYY | PHA | SLB | WSH |
| Boston | — | 11–11 | 8–14 | 11–11 | 9–13 | 18–4 | 12–10 | 13–9 |
| Chicago | 11–11 | — | 6–16 | 13–9 | 11–11–1 | 16–6 | 13–9 | 12–10 |
| Cleveland | 14–8 | 16–6 | — | 11–11 | 10–12 | 14–8 | 11–11–1 | 13–9 |
| Detroit | 11–11 | 9–13 | 11–11 | — | 14–8 | 11–11 | 18–4–1 | 16–6 |
| New York | 13–9 | 11–11–1 | 12–10 | 8–14 | — | 13–9 | 14–8 | 17–5 |
| Philadelphia | 4–18 | 6–16 | 8–14 | 11–11 | 9–13 | — | 8–14 | 8–14 |
| St. Louis | 10–12 | 9–13 | 11–11–1 | 4–18–1 | 8–14 | 14–8 | — | 11–11 |
| Washington | 9–13 | 10–12 | 9–13 | 6–16 | 5–17 | 14–8 | 11–11 | — |

### Roster
## Player stats

* = Indicates team leader

### Batting
#### Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen Bases
| Pos | Player | G | AB | R | H | Avg. | HR | RBI | SB |
| C | Bill Dickey | 106 | 372 | 45 | 92 | .247 | 9 | 54 | 0 |
| 1B | Babe Dahlgren | 155 | 568 | 51 | 150 | .264 | 12 | 73 | 1 |
| 2B | Joe Gordon | 155 | 616 | 112 | 173 | .281 | 30 | 103 | 18 |
| 3B | Red Rolfe | 139 | 588 | 102 | 147 | .250 | 10 | 53 | 4 |
| SS | Frankie Crosetti | 145 | 546 | 84 | 106 | .194 | 4 | 31 | 14 |
| OF | Charlie Keller | 138 | 500 | 102 | 143 | .286 | 21 | 93 | 8 |
| OF | Joe DiMaggio | 132 | 508 | 93 | 179 | .352 | 31 | 133 | 1 |
| OF | George Selkirk | 118 | 379 | 68 | 102 | .269 | 19 | 71 | 3 |

#### Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases
| Player | G | AB | R | H | Avg. | HR | RBI | SB |
| Tommy Henrich | 90 | 293 | 57 | 90 | .307 | 10 | 53 | 1 |
| Buddy Rosar | 73 | 228 | 34 | 68 | .298 | 4 | 37 | 7 |
| Bill Knickerbocker | 45 | 124 | 17 | 30 | .242 | 1 | 10 | 1 |
| Buster Mills | 34 | 63 | 10 | 25 | .397 | 1 | 15 | 0 |
| Jake Powell | 12 | 27 | 3 | 5 | .185 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Mike Chartak | 11 | 15 | 2 | 2 | .133 | 0 | 3 | 0 |

### Pitching
#### Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
| Red Ruffing | 30 | 226.0 | 15 | 12 | 3.38 | 97 |
| Marius Russo | 30 | 189.1 | 14 | 8 | 3.28 | 87 |
| Spud Chandler | 27 | 172.0 | 8 | 7 | 4.60 | 56 |
| Marv Breuer | 27 | 164.0 | 8 | 9 | 4.55 | 71 |
| Monte Pearson | 16 | 109.2 | 7 | 5 | 3.69 | 43 |
| Tiny Bonham | 12 | 99.1 | 9 | 3 | 1.90 | 37 |

#### Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
| Atley Donald | 24 | 118.2 | 8 | 3 | 3.03 | 60 |
| Steve Sundra | 27 | 99.1 | 4 | 6 | 5.53 | 26 |
| Lefty Gomez | 9 | 27.1 | 3 | 3 | 6.59 | 14 |

#### Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
| Johnny Murphy | 35 | 8 | 4 | 9 | 3.69 | 23 |
| Bump Hadley | 25 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 5.74 | 39 |
| Oral Hildebrand | 13 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1.86 | 5 |
| Lee Grissom | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 1 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AA | Kansas City Blues | American Association | Billy Meyer |
| AA | Newark Bears | International League | Johnny Neun |
| A | Binghamton Triplets | Eastern League | Bruno Betzel |
| B | Norfolk Tars | Piedmont League | Ray White |
| B | Augusta Tigers | Sally League | Phil Page |
| B | Wenatchee Chiefs | Western International League | John Kerr and Frank Morehouse |
| C | Amsterdam Rugmakers | Canadian–American League | Eddie Sawyer |
| C | Akron Yankees | Middle Atlantic League | Pip Koehler |
| C | Idaho Falls Russets | Pioneer League | Ted Mayer |
| C | Joplin Miners | Western Association | Paul O'Malley |
| D | Neosho Yankees | Arkansas–Missouri League | Ed Grayston |
| D | Easton Yankees | Eastern Shore League | Ray Powell |
| D | Butler Yankees | Pennsylvania State Association | Tom Kain |
| D | Norfolk Yankees | Western League | Doc Bennett |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Newark, Binghamton, Amsterdam, Akron, Butler
Arkansas–Missouri League folded, July 1, 1940