# 1951 New York Yankees season

The 1951 New York Yankees season was the 49th season for the team. The team finished with a record of 98–56, winning their 18th pennant, finishing five games ahead of the Cleveland Indians. New York was managed by Casey Stengel. The Yankees played at Yankee Stadium. In the World Series, they defeated the New York Giants in 6 games.
This year was noted for a "changing of the guard" for the Yankees, as it was Joe DiMaggio's final season and Mickey Mantle's first. The 1951 season also marked the first year of Bob Sheppard's long tenure as Yankee Stadium's public address announcer.

## Offseason

* Prior to 1951 season (exact date unknown)
** Jerry Lumpe was signed as an amateur free agent by the Yankees.
** Don Taussig was acquired from the Yankees by the New York Giants.

## Regular season

* April 17, 1951: Mickey Mantle makes his big league debut for the New York Yankees. The Yankees opponent is the Boston Red Sox.
* May 1, 1951: Mickey Mantle hits his first major league home run. The game was played against the Chicago White Sox and the pitcher who gave up the home run was Randy Gumpert. The home run was in the sixth inning and was measured at 450 feet.
* September 18, 1951: Allie Reynolds threw a no-hitter to clinch the American League pennant. It was the first time that a pitcher threw a no-hitter to clinch a pennant.

### Season standings

vteAmerican League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| New York Yankees | 98 | 56 | .636 | — | 56‍–‍22 | 42‍–‍34 |
| Cleveland Indians | 93 | 61 | .604 | 5 | 53‍–‍24 | 40‍–‍37 |
| Boston Red Sox | 87 | 67 | .565 | 11 | 50‍–‍25 | 37‍–‍42 |
| Chicago White Sox | 81 | 73 | .526 | 17 | 39‍–‍38 | 42‍–‍35 |
| Detroit Tigers | 73 | 81 | .474 | 25 | 36‍–‍41 | 37‍–‍40 |
| Philadelphia Athletics | 70 | 84 | .455 | 28 | 38‍–‍41 | 32‍–‍43 |
| Washington Senators | 62 | 92 | .403 | 36 | 32‍–‍44 | 30‍–‍48 |
| St. Louis Browns | 52 | 102 | .338 | 46 | 24‍–‍53 | 28‍–‍49 |

### Record vs. opponents

1951 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BOS | CWS | CLE | DET | NYY | PHA | SLB | WSH |
| Boston | — | 11–11 | 8–14 | 12–10 | 11–11 | 15–7 | 15–7 | 15–7 |
| Chicago | 11–11 | — | 12–10–1 | 12–10 | 8–14 | 9–13 | 15–7 | 14–8 |
| Cleveland | 14–8 | 10–12–1 | — | 17–5 | 7–15 | 16–6 | 16–6 | 13–9 |
| Detroit | 10–12 | 10–12 | 5–17 | — | 10–12 | 13–9 | 12–10 | 13–9 |
| New York | 11–11 | 14–8 | 15–7 | 12–10 | — | 13–9 | 17–5 | 16–6 |
| Philadelphia | 7–15 | 13–9 | 6–16 | 9–13 | 9–13 | — | 14–8 | 12–10 |
| St. Louis | 7–15 | 7–15 | 6–16 | 10–12 | 5–17 | 8–14 | — | 9–13 |
| Washington | 7–15 | 8–14 | 9–13 | 9–13 | 6–16 | 10–12 | 13–9 | — |

### Notable transactions

* May 14, 1951: Billy Johnson was traded by the Yankees to the St. Louis Cardinals for Don Bollweg and $15,000.

### 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 | Yogi Berra | 141 | 547 | 161 | .294 | 27 | 88 |
| 1B | Joe Collins | 125 | 262 | 75 | .286 | 9 | 48 |
| 2B | Jerry Coleman | 121 | 362 | 90 | .249 | 3 | 43 |
| 3B | Bobby Brown | 103 | 313 | 84 | .268 | 6 | 51 |
| SS | Phil Rizzuto | 144 | 540 | 148 | .274 | 2 | 43 |
| OF | Gene Woodling | 120 | 420 | 118 | .281 | 15 | 71 |
| OF | Joe DiMaggio | 116 | 415 | 109 | .263 | 12 | 71 |
| OF | Hank Bauer | 118 | 348 | 103 | .296 | 10 | 54 |

#### 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 |
| Gil McDougald | 131 | 402 | 123 | .306 | 14 | 63 |
| Mickey Mantle | 96 | 341 | 91 | .267 | 13 | 65 |
| Johnny Mize | 113 | 332 | 86 | .259 | 10 | 49 |
| Jackie Jensen | 56 | 168 | 50 | .298 | 8 | 25 |
| Johnny Hopp | 46 | 63 | 13 | .206 | 2 | 4 |
| Billy Martin | 51 | 58 | 15 | .259 | 0 | 2 |
| Cliff Mapes | 45 | 51 | 11 | .216 | 2 | 8 |
| Charlie Silvera | 18 | 51 | 14 | .275 | 1 | 7 |
| Billy Johnson | 15 | 40 | 12 | .300 | 0 | 4 |
| Bob Cerv | 12 | 28 | 6 | .214 | 0 | 2 |
| Jim Brideweser | 2 | 8 | 3 | .375 | 0 | 0 |
| Ralph Houk | 3 | 5 | 1 | .200 | 0 | 2 |
| Archie Wilson | 4 | 4 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Clint Courtney | 1 | 2 | 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 |
| Vic Raschi | 35 | 258.1 | 21 | 10 | 3.27 | 164 |
| Ed Lopat | 31 | 234.2 | 21 | 9 | 2.91 | 93 |
| Allie Reynolds | 40 | 221.0 | 17 | 8 | 3.05 | 126 |
| Bob Wiesler | 4 | 9.1 | 0 | 2 | 13.50 | 3 |

#### 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 |
| Tom Morgan | 27 | 124.2 | 9 | 3 | 3.68 | 57 |
| Spec Shea | 25 | 95.2 | 5 | 5 | 4.33 | 38 |
| Bob Kuzava | 23 | 82.1 | 8 | 4 | 2.40 | 50 |
| Art Schallock | 11 | 46.1 | 3 | 1 | 3.88 | 19 |
| Stubby Overmire | 15 | 44.2 | 1 | 1 | 4.63 | 14 |
| Jack Kramer | 19 | 40.2 | 1 | 3 | 4.65 | 15 |
| Johnny Sain | 7 | 37.0 | 2 | 1 | 4.14 | 21 |
| Fred Sanford | 11 | 26.2 | 0 | 3 | 3.71 | 10 |
| Tommy Byrne | 9 | 21.0 | 2 | 1 | 6.86 | 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 |
| Joe Ostrowski | 34 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 3.49 | 30 |
| Tom Ferrick | 9 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7.50 | 3 |
| Bobby Hogue | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 2 |
| Bob Muncrief | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9.00 | 2 |
| Ernie Nevel | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.00 | 1 |
| Bob Porterfield | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15.00 | 2 |

## 1951 World Series

AL New York Yankees (4) vs. NL New York Giants (2)
| Game | Score | Date | Location | Attendance |
| 1 | Giants – 5, Yankees – 1 | October 4 | Yankee Stadium | 65,673 |
| 2 | Giants – 1, Yankees – 3 | October 5 | Yankee Stadium | 66,018 |
| 3 | Yankees – 2, Giants – 6 | October 6 | Polo Grounds | 52,035 |
| 4 | Yankees – 6, Giants – 2 | October 8 | Polo Grounds | 49,010 |
| 5 | Yankees – 13, Giants – 1 | October 9 | Polo Grounds | 47,530 |
| 6 | Giants – 3, Yankees – 4 | October 10 | Yankee Stadium | 61,711 |

## Awards and honors

* Yogi Berra, American League MVP
* Phil Rizzuto, Babe Ruth Award
All-Star Game

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Kansas City Blues | American Association | George Selkirk |
| AAA | San Francisco Seals | Pacific Coast League | Lefty O'Doul |
| AA | Beaumont Roughnecks | Texas League | Harry Craft |
| A | Muskegon Clippers | Central League | Jim Gleeson |
| A | Binghamton Triplets | Eastern League | Bill Skiff |
| B | Quincy Gems | Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League | Dutch Zwilling |
| B | Norfolk Tars | Piedmont League | Mayo Smith |
| C | Amsterdam Rugmakers | Canadian–American League | Frank Novosel |
| C | Twin Falls Cowboys | Pioneer League | Don Trower |
| C | Joplin Miners | Western Association | Billy Holm |
| D | LaGrange Troupers | Georgia–Alabama League | Carl Cooper |
| D | Newark Yankees | Ohio–Indiana League | Bunny Mick |
| D | McAlester Rockets | Sooner State League | Vern Hoscheit |
| D | Fond du Lac Panthers | Wisconsin State League | James Adlam |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Quincy, Norfolk, LaGrange, McAlester
Newark club folded, July 17, 1951