# 1938 New York Yankees season

The 1938 New York Yankees season was their 36th season. The team finished with a record of 99–53, winning their tenth pennant, finishing 9.5 games ahead of the Boston Red Sox. New York was managed by Joe McCarthy. The Yankees played their home games at Yankee Stadium. In the 1938 World Series, they beat the Chicago Cubs in 4 games. This marked the first time any team had won three consecutive World Series.

## Offseason

* Prior to 1938 season: Milo Candini was acquired by the Yankees from the El Paso Texans.

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteAmerican League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| New York Yankees | 99 | 53 | .651 | — | 55‍–‍22 | 44‍–‍31 |
| Boston Red Sox | 88 | 61 | .591 | 9½ | 52‍–‍23 | 36‍–‍38 |
| Cleveland Indians | 86 | 66 | .566 | 13 | 46‍–‍30 | 40‍–‍36 |
| Detroit Tigers | 84 | 70 | .545 | 16 | 48‍–‍31 | 36‍–‍39 |
| Washington Senators | 75 | 76 | .497 | 23½ | 44‍–‍33 | 31‍–‍43 |
| Chicago White Sox | 65 | 83 | .439 | 32 | 33‍–‍39 | 32‍–‍44 |
| St. Louis Browns | 55 | 97 | .362 | 44 | 31‍–‍43 | 24‍–‍54 |
| Philadelphia Athletics | 53 | 99 | .349 | 46 | 28‍–‍47 | 25‍–‍52 |

### Record vs. opponents

1938 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BOS | CWS | CLE | DET | NYY | PHA | SLB | WSH |
| Boston | — | 12–6 | 12–10 | 10–12 | 11–11–1 | 14–8 | 17–5 | 12–9 |
| Chicago | 6–12 | — | 9–13 | 7–15 | 8–14 | 12–10 | 13–8–1 | 10–11 |
| Cleveland | 10–12 | 13–9 | — | 12–10 | 8–13 | 18–4 | 13–9–1 | 12–9 |
| Detroit | 12–10 | 15–7 | 10–12 | — | 8–14 | 14–8 | 12–10–1 | 13–9 |
| New York | 11–11–1 | 14–8 | 13–8 | 14–8 | — | 16–5–2 | 15–7–1 | 16–6–1 |
| Philadelphia | 8–14 | 10–12 | 4–18 | 8–14 | 5–16–2 | — | 12–9 | 6–16 |
| St. Louis | 5–17 | 8–13–1 | 9–13–1 | 10–12–1 | 7–15–1 | 9–12 | — | 7–15 |
| Washington | 9–12 | 11–10 | 9–12 | 9–13 | 6–16–1 | 16–6 | 15–7 | — |

### 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 | 132 | 454 | 142 | .313 | 27 | 115 |
| 1B | Lou Gehrig | 157 | 576 | 170 | .295 | 29 | 114 |
| 2B | Joe Gordon | 127 | 458 | 117 | .255 | 25 | 97 |
| SS | Frankie Crosetti | 157 | 631 | 166 | .263 | 9 | 55 |
| 3B | Red Rolfe | 151 | 631 | 196 | .311 | 10 | 80 |
| OF | George Selkirk | 99 | 335 | 85 | .254 | 10 | 62 |
| OF | Tommy Henrich | 131 | 471 | 127 | .270 | 22 | 91 |
| OF | Joe DiMaggio | 145 | 599 | 194 | .324 | 32 | 140 |

#### 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 |
| Myril Hoag | 85 | 267 | 74 | .277 | 0 | 48 |
| Jake Powell | 45 | 164 | 42 | .256 | 2 | 20 |
| Bill Knickerbocker | 46 | 128 | 32 | .250 | 1 | 21 |
| Joe Glenn | 41 | 123 | 32 | .260 | 0 | 25 |
| Babe Dahlgren | 27 | 43 | 8 | .186 | 0 | 1 |
| Arndt Jorgens | 9 | 17 | 4 | .235 | 0 | 2 |

### 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 | 31 | 247.1 | 21 | 7 | 3.31 | 127 |
| Lefty Gomez | 32 | 239.0 | 18 | 12 | 3.35 | 129 |
| Monte Pearson | 28 | 202.0 | 16 | 7 | 3.97 | 98 |
| Spud Chandler | 23 | 172.0 | 14 | 5 | 4.03 | 36 |
| Bump Hadley | 29 | 167.1 | 9 | 8 | 3.60 | 61 |
| Wes Ferrell | 5 | 30.0 | 2 | 2 | 8.10 | 7 |
| Atley Donald | 2 | 12.0 | 0 | 1 | 5.25 | 6 |

#### 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 |
| Steve Sundra | 25 | 93.2 | 6 | 4 | 4.80 | 33 |
| Joe Beggs | 14 | 58.1 | 3 | 2 | 5.60 | 8 |
| Joe Vance | 3 | 11.1 | 0 | 0 | 7.15 | 2 |

#### 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 | 32 | 8 | 2 | 11 | 4.24 | 43 |
| Ivy Andrews | 19 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3.00 | 13 |
| Lee Stine | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.04 | 4 |
| Kemp Wicker | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 |

## 1938 World Series

AL New York Yankees (4) vs. NL Chicago Cubs (0)
| Game | Score | Date | Location | Attendance |
| 1 | Yankees – 3, Cubs – 1 | October 5 | Wrigley Field | 43,642 |
| 2 | Yankees – 6, Cubs – 3 | October 6 | Wrigley Field | 42,108 |
| 3 | Cubs – 2, Yankees – 5 | October 8 | Yankee Stadium | 55,236 |
| 4 | Cubs – 3, Yankees – 8 | October 9 | Yankee Stadium | 59,847 |

## 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 | Sam Agnew |
| B | Wenatchee Chiefs | Western International League | Glenn Wright |
| C | Akron Yankees | Middle Atlantic League | Pip Koehler |
| C | Joplin Miners | Western Association | Ted Mayer |
| D | El Paso Texans | Arizona–Texas League | Jimmy Zinn |
| D | Neosho Yankees | Arkansas–Missouri League | Dennis Burns |
| D | Bassett Furniture Makers | Bi-State League | Walter Novak |
| D | Snow Hill Billies | Coastal Plain League | Peahead Walker |
| D | Norfolk Elks | Nebraska State League | Doc Bennett |
| D | Butler Yankees | Pennsylvania State Association | Lefty Jenkins |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Kansas City, Newark, El Paso, Neosho, Bassett, Norfolk (NSL), Butler