# 1941 New York Yankees season

The 1941 New York Yankees season was the 39th season for the team. New York was managed by Joe McCarthy. The Yankees played their home games at Yankee Stadium. The team finished with a record of 101–53, winning their 12th pennant, finishing 17 games ahead of the Boston Red Sox. In the World Series, they beat the Brooklyn Dodgers in 5 games.
Books and songs have been written about the 1941 season, the last before the United States became drawn into World War II. Yankees' center fielder Joe DiMaggio captured the nation's fancy with his lengthy hitting streak that extended through 56 games before finally being stopped. A big-band style song called Joltin' Joe DiMaggio was recorded by the Les Brown orchestra and became a hit the following year.
Additionally, DiMaggio, Tommy Henrich and Charlie Keller became the only outfield trio in major league history to each hit 30 home runs in a season.

## Regular season

* May 15, 1941: In a game against the Chicago White Sox, Joe DiMaggio began his major league record 56-game hitting streak with a hit off Sox pitcher Eddie Smith.
During the hitting streak, DiMaggio had a batting average of .408, hit 15 home runs, and accumulated 55 runs batted in. After the streak ended, DiMaggio began a 16-game hitting streak. DiMaggio would hit safely in 72 of 73 games, another record.

### Season standings

vteAmerican League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| New York Yankees | 101 | 53 | .656 | — | 51‍–‍26 | 50‍–‍27 |
| Boston Red Sox | 84 | 70 | .545 | 17 | 47‍–‍30 | 37‍–‍40 |
| Chicago White Sox | 77 | 77 | .500 | 24 | 38‍–‍39 | 39‍–‍38 |
| Cleveland Indians | 75 | 79 | .487 | 26 | 42‍–‍35 | 33‍–‍44 |
| Detroit Tigers | 75 | 79 | .487 | 26 | 43‍–‍34 | 32‍–‍45 |
| St. Louis Browns | 70 | 84 | .455 | 31 | 40‍–‍37 | 30‍–‍47 |
| Washington Senators | 70 | 84 | .455 | 31 | 40‍–‍37 | 30‍–‍47 |
| Philadelphia Athletics | 64 | 90 | .416 | 37 | 36‍–‍41 | 28‍–‍49 |

### Record vs. opponents

1941 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BOS | CWS | CLE | DET | NYY | PHA | SLB | WSH |
| Boston | — | 16–6 | 9–13 | 11–11 | 9–13–1 | 16–6 | 9–13 | 14–8 |
| Chicago | 6–16 | — | 17–5 | 12–10–1 | 8–14 | 10–12 | 11–11–1 | 13–9 |
| Cleveland | 13–9 | 5–17 | — | 10–12 | 7–15 | 15–7 | 13–9–1 | 12–10 |
| Detroit | 11–11 | 10–12–1 | 12–10 | — | 11–11 | 13–9 | 11–11 | 7–15 |
| New York | 13–9–1 | 14–8 | 15–7 | 11–11 | — | 14–8 | 18–4 | 16–6–1 |
| Philadelphia | 6–16 | 12–10 | 7–15 | 9–13 | 8–14 | — | 11–11 | 11–11 |
| St. Louis | 13–9 | 11–11–1 | 9–13–1 | 11–11 | 4–18 | 11–11 | — | 11–11–1 |
| Washington | 8–14 | 9–13 | 10–12 | 15–7 | 6–16–1 | 11–11 | 11–11–1 | — |

### Roster
## Player stats
### Batting
#### Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Pos | Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
| C | Bill Dickey | 109 | 348 | 99 | .284 | 7 | 71 |
| 1B | Johnny Sturm | 124 | 524 | 125 | .239 | 3 | 36 |
| 2B | Joe Gordon | 156 | 588 | 162 | .276 | 24 | 87 |
| 3B | Red Rolfe | 136 | 561 | 148 | .264 | 8 | 42 |
| SS | Phil Rizzuto | 133 | 515 | 158 | .307 | 3 | 46 |
| OF | Joe DiMaggio | 139 | 541 | 193 | .357 | 30 | 125 |
| OF | Tommy Henrich | 144 | 538 | 149 | .277 | 31 | 85 |
| OF | Charlie Keller | 140 | 507 | 151 | .298 | 33 | 122 |

#### Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
| Buddy Rosar | 67 | 209 | 60 | .287 | 1 | 36 |
| Jerry Priddy | 56 | 174 | 37 | .213 | 1 | 26 |
| George Selkirk | 70 | 164 | 36 | .220 | 6 | 25 |
| Frankie Crosetti | 50 | 148 | 33 | .223 | 1 | 22 |
| Frenchy Bordagaray | 36 | 73 | 19 | .260 | 0 | 4 |
| Ken Silvestri | 17 | 40 | 10 | .250 | 1 | 4 |
| Johnny Lindell | 1 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 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 |
| Marius Russo | 28 | 209.2 | 14 | 10 | 3.09 | 105 |
| Red Ruffing | 23 | 185.2 | 15 | 6 | 3.54 | 60 |
| Spud Chandler | 28 | 163.2 | 10 | 4 | 3.19 | 60 |
| Atley Donald | 22 | 159.0 | 9 | 5 | 3.57 | 71 |
| Lefty Gomez | 23 | 156.1 | 15 | 5 | 3.74 | 76 |
| George Washburn | 1 | 2.0 | 0 | 1 | 13.50 | 1 |

#### 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 |
| Marv Breuer | 26 | 141.0 | 9 | 7 | 4.09 | 77 |
| Tiny Bonham | 23 | 126.2 | 10 | 6 | 2.98 | 43 |
| Steve Peek | 17 | 80.0 | 4 | 2 | 5.06 | 18 |

#### 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 | 3 | 15 | 1.98 | 29 |
| Norm Branch | 27 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2.87 | 28 |
| Charley Stanceu | 22 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 5.63 | 21 |

## 1941 World Series

AL New York Yankees (4) vs. NL Brooklyn Dodgers (1)
| Game | Score | Date | Location | Attendance |
| 1 | Dodgers – 2, Yankees – 3 | October 1 | Yankee Stadium | 68,540 |
| 2 | Dodgers – 3, Yankees – 2 | October 2 | Yankee Stadium | 66,248 |
| 3 | Yankees – 2, Dodgers – 1 | October 4 | Ebbets Field | 33,100 |
| 4 | Yankees – 7, Dodgers – 4 | October 5 | Ebbets Field | 33,813 |
| 5 | Yankees – 3, Dodgers – 1 | October 6 | Ebbets Field | 34,072 |

## Awards and honors

* Joe DiMaggio, AL MVP
* Joe DiMaggio, Associated Press Athlete of the Year

## 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 | Phil Page |
| B | Norfolk Tars | Piedmont League | Eddie Sawyer |
| B | Augusta Tigers | Sally League | Lefty Jenkins and Alton Biggs |
| C | Amsterdam Rugmakers | Canadian–American League | Paul O'Malley |
| C | Akron Yankees | Middle Atlantic League | Buzz Boyle |
| C | Idaho Falls Russets | Pioneer League | Bob Coltrin and Doc Marshall |
| C | Joplin Miners | Western Association | Doc Bennett |
| D | Easton Yankees | Eastern Shore League | Dallas Warren |
| D | Butler Yankees | Pennsylvania State Association | Tom Kain |
| D | Norfolk Yankees | Western League | Ray Powell |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Joplin, Easton, Butler