The 1927 New York Yankees season was the 25th season of the New York Yankees of the American League. The team finished with a record of 110–44–1 (the team's first 100 win season), winning their fifth pennant and finishing 19 games ahead of the Philadelphia Athletics and were tied for first or better for the whole season. New York was managed by Miller Huggins, and played at Yankee Stadium. They won the 1927 World Series, sweeping the Pittsburgh Pirates. This Yankees team was known for its feared lineup, which was nicknamed "Murderers' Row", and is widely considered to be the greatest baseball team in MLB history."Tom Verducci's Top 10 Teams of All Time". SportsIllustrated.com https://www.si.com/mlb/photos/2010/03/30tom-verduccis-top-10-teams-of-all-time/1"The Best Major League Baseball Team Ever from 1902–2005". BaseballAlmanac.com. http://www.baseball-almanac.com/articles/best_major_league_teams_ever.shtml

Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig finished the 1927 season with 12.6 and 11.9 Wins Above Replacement (WAR), respectively. These totals are among the top ten highest single-season WAR by a player in MLB history, with Ruth's 12.6 ranking third (behind his 12.8 WAR in 1921 and 14.1 WAR in 1923) and Gehrig's 11.9 ranking sixth.

Regular season

The Yankees' 110 victories broke the previous American League mark of 105 (set by the 1912 Boston Red Sox) and would stand as the American League single-season record until it was broken by the Cleveland Indians in 1954. But counting their World Series sweep, the 1927 Yankees had a total record of 114–44 --- which is still the all-time highest single-season winning percentage (.721) in American League history. The 1998 Yankees, who also won their World Series in a sweep, are second with a full-season mark of 125–50 (.714).

This was the first year the Yankees acknowledged their team nickname on their uniforms, albeit their road uniforms. Their home uniforms remained free of any kind of logo except for the "NY" on their caps.

The roster included nine future Hall of Famers: Pitchers Herb Pennock and Waite Hoyt, Infielders Lou Gehrig and Tony Lazzeri, outfielders Babe Ruth and Earle Combs, Manager Miller Huggins, Team President Ed Barrow and Owner Colonel Jacob Ruppert.

Babe Ruth With the race long since decided, the nation's attention turned to Babe Ruth's pursuit of his own home run mark of 59, set in 1921. Early in the season, Ruth expressed doubts about his chances: "I don't suppose I'll ever break that 1921 record. To do that, you've got to start early, and the pitchers have got to pitch to you. I don't start early, and the pitchers haven't really pitched to me in four seasons. I get more bad balls to hit than any other five men...and fewer good ones." Ruth was also being challenged for his slugger's crown by teammate Lou Gehrig, who nudged ahead of Ruth's total in midseason, prompting the New York World-Telegram to anoint Gehrig the favorite. But Ruth caught Gehrig (who would finish with 47), and then had a remarkable last leg of the season, hitting 17 home runs in September. His 60th came on September 30, in the Yankees' next-to-last game against the Washington Senators at Yankee Stadium. Tied 2–2, he hit a 2-run home run in the bottom of the 8th inning off of Tom Zachary, where they won the game 4–2. Ruth was exultant, shouting after the game, "Sixty, count 'em, sixty! Let's see some other son of a bitch match that!" In later years, he would give Gehrig some credit: "Pitchers began pitching to me because if they passed me they still had Lou to contend with." In addition to his career-high 60 home runs, Ruth batted .356, drove in 165 runs and slugged .772.

Babe Ruth's 60 home runs HRDatePitcherThrewTeamLocationResultScoreInningType of HR 1 April 15, 1927 Right Philadelphia Athletics Yankee Stadium Won 6–3 Bottom of the 1st Solo 2 April 23, 1927 Left Philadelphia Athletics Shibe Park Lost 3–4 Top of the 1st Solo 3 April 24, 1927 Right Washington Senators Griffith Stadium Won 6–2 Top of the 6th Solo 4 April 29, 1927 Right Boston Red Sox Fenway Park Won 9–0 Top of the 5th Solo 5 May 1, 1927 Right Philadelphia Athletics Yankee Stadium Won 7–3 Bottom of the 1st 2-Run HR 6 May 1, 1927 Left Philadelphia Athletics Yankee Stadium Won 7–3 (2nd HR) Bottom of the 8th Solo 7 May 10, 1927 Right St. Louis Browns Sportsman's Park Won 8–7 Top of the 1st 3-Run HR 8 May 11, 1927 Right St. Louis Browns Sportsman's Park Won 4–2 Top of the 1st 2-Run HR 9 May 17, 1927 Right Detroit Tigers Navin Field Won 9–2 Top of the 8th Solo 10 May 22, 1927 Right Cleveland Indians Dunn Field Won 9–2 Top of the 6th 2-Run HR 11 May 23, 1927 Right Washington Senators Griffith Stadium Lost 2–3 Top of the 1st Solo 12 May 28, 1927 Right Washington Senators Yankee Stadium Won 1st Game 9–2 Bottom of the 7th 3-Run HR 13 May 29, 1927 Right Boston Red Sox Yankee Stadium Won 15–7 Bottom of the 8th Solo 14 May 30, 1927 Left Philadelphia Athletics Shibe Park Won 2nd Game 6–5 in extra innings Top of the 11th Solo 15 May 31, 1927 Right Philadelphia Athletics Shibe Park Won 1st Game 10–3 Top of the 1st 2-Run HR 16 May 31, 1927 Right Philadelphia Athletics Shibe Park Won 2nd Game 18–5 Top of the 5th 2-Run HR 17 June 5, 1927 Left Detroit Tigers Yankee Stadium Won 5–3 Bottom of the 6th Solo 18 June 7, 1927 Right Chicago White Sox Yankee Stadium Won 4–1 Bottom of the 4th Solo 19 June 11, 1927 Left Cleveland Indians Yankee Stadium Won 6–4 Bottom of the 3rd 2-Run HR 20 June 11, 1927 Left Cleveland Indians Yankee Stadium Won 6–4 (2nd HR) Bottom of the 5th Solo 21 June 12, 1927 Right Cleveland Indians Yankee Stadium Lost 7–8 Bottom of the 7th Solo 22 June 16, 1927 Left St. Louis Browns Yankee Stadium Won 8–1 Bottom of the 1st 2-Run HR 23 June 22, 1927 Left Boston Red Sox Fenway Park Won 1st Game 7–4 Top of the 5th Solo 24 June 22, 1927 Left Boston Red Sox Fenway Park Won 1st Game 7–4 (2nd HR) Top of the 7th 2-Run HR 25 June 30, 1927 Right Boston Red Sox Yankee Stadium Won 13–6 Bottom of the 4th 2-Run HR 26 July 3, 1927 Right Washington Senators Griffith Stadium Lost 5–6 Top of the 1st Solo 27 July 8, 1927 Right Detroit Tigers Navin Field Won 2nd Game 10–8 Top of the 2nd 3-Run HR (Inside The Park) 28 July 9, 1927 Right Detroit Tigers Navin Field Won 1st Game 19–7 Top of the 1st 2-Run HR 29 July 9, 1927 Right Detroit Tigers Navin Field Won 1st Game 19–7 (2nd HR) Top of the 4th 3-Run HR 30 July 12, 1927 Left Cleveland Indians Dunn Field Won 7–0 Top of the 9th 2-Run HR 31 July 24, 1927 Right Chicago White Sox Comiskey Park Won 3–2 Top of the 3rd Solo 32 July 26, 1927 Right St. Louis Browns Yankee Stadium Won 1st Game 15–1 Bottom of the 1st 2-Run HR 33 July 26, 1927 Right St. Louis Browns Yankee Stadium Won 1st Game 15–1 (2nd HR) Bottom of the 6th Solo 34 July 28, 1927 Left St. Louis Browns Yankee Stadium Won 9–4 Bottom of the 8th 2-Run HR 35 August 5, 1927 Right Detroit Tigers Yankee Stadium Won 5–2 Bottom of the 8th Solo 36 August 10, 1927 Left Washington Senators Griffith Stadium Won 4–3 Top of the 3rd 3-Run HR 37 August 16, 1927 Right Chicago White Sox Comiskey Park Won 8–1 Top of the 5th Solo 38 August 17, 1927 Right Chicago White Sox Comiskey Park Won 3–2 in extra innings Top of the 11th Solo 39 August 20, 1927 Left Cleveland Indians Dunn Field Lost 8–14 Top of the 1st 2-Run HR 40 August 22, 1927 Left Cleveland Indians Dunn Field Lost 4–9 Top of the 1st Solo 41 August 27, 1927 Right St. Louis Browns Sportsman's Park Won 14–4 Top of the 8th 2-Run HR 42 August 28, 1927 Left St. Louis Browns Sportsman's Park Won 10–6 Top of the 1st 2-Run HR 43 August 31, 1927 Right Boston Red Sox Yankee Stadium Won 10–3 Bottom of the 8th Solo 44 September 2, 1927 Left Philadelphia Athletics Shibe Park Won 12–2 Top of the 1st Solo 45 September 6, 1927 Right Boston Red Sox Fenway Park Won 1st Game 14–2 Top of the 6th 3-Run HR 46 September 6, 1927 Right Boston Red Sox Fenway Park Won 1st Game 14–2 (2nd HR) Top of the 7th 2-Run HR 47 September 6, 1927 Right Boston Red Sox Fenway Park Lost 2–5 Top of the 9th Solo 48 September 7, 1927 Right Boston Red Sox Fenway Park Won 12–10 Top of the 1st Solo 49 September 7, 1927 Right Boston Red Sox Fenway Park Won 12–10 (2nd HR) Top of the 8th 2-Run HR 50 September 11, 1927 Right St. Louis Browns Yankee Stadium Lost 2–6 Bottom of the 4th Solo 51 September 13, 1927 Right Cleveland Indians Yankee Stadium Won 1st Game 5–3 Bottom of the 7th 2-Run HR 52 September 13, 1927 Left Cleveland Indians Yankee Stadium Won 2nd Game 5–3 Bottom of the 4th Solo 53 September 16, 1927 Right Chicago White Sox Yankee Stadium Won 7–2 Bottom of the 3rd Solo 54 September 18, 1927 Right Chicago White Sox Yankee Stadium Won 2nd Game 5–4 Bottom of the 5th 2-Run HR 55 September 21, 1927 Right Detroit Tigers Yankee Stadium Lost 1–6 Bottom of the 9th Solo 56 September 22, 1927 Right Detroit Tigers Yankee Stadium Won 8–7 Bottom of the 9th 2-Run HR 57 September 27, 1927 Left Philadelphia Athletics Yankee Stadium Won 7–4 Bottom of the 6th Grand Slam 58 September 29, 1927 Right Washington Senators Yankee Stadium Won 15–4 Bottom of the 1st Solo 59 September 29, 1927 Right Washington Senators Yankee Stadium Won 15–4 (2nd HR) Bottom of the 5th Grand Slam 60 September 30, 1927 Left Washington Senators Yankee Stadium Won 4–2 Bottom of the 8th 2-Run HR

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Roster 1927 New York Yankees Roster Pitchers Catchers

Infielders Outfielders Manager

Coaches

Player stats = Indicates team leader = Indicates league leader

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 92 251 69 .275 7 36 1B 155 584 218 .373 47 173 2B 153 570 176 .309 18 102 3B 112 387 104 .269 2 43 SS 123 526 150 .285 3 62 OF 152 648 231 .356 6 64 OF 151 540 192 .356 60 165 OF 135 516 174 .337 8 103

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 70 195 54 .277 0 25 73 195 50 .256 1 20 65 129 32 .248 0 25 54 115 32 .278 0 9 31 85 21 .247 0 10 50 82 26 .317 2 16 38 42 10 .238 1 8

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 36 256.1 22 7 2.63 86 34 209.2 19 8 3.00 51 31 200.0 18 6 2.84 35 27 184.0 13 6 3.38 45 29 166.1 10 3 4.11 81

Other pitchers Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts; SV = Saves Player G IP W L ERA SO SV 50 213.0 19 7 2.28 7513 21 88.2 7 4 4.87 25 1

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 19 2 3 4 2.89 23 16 0 0 0 8.00 10 1 0 0 0 9.00 0

1927 World Series

GameDateVisitorScoreHomeScoreRecord (NYY-PIT)Attendance1October 5New York Yankees5Pittsburgh Pirates41–041,4672October 6New York Yankees6Pittsburgh Pirates22–041,6343October 7Pittsburgh Pirates1New York Yankees83–060,6954October 8Pittsburgh Pirates3New York Yankees44–057,909 New York Yankees win 4–0

Awards and honors Lou Gehrig, AL MVP Award Since a voter could select only one player per team, two good candidates from the same team could find their votes split and both of their chances of winning hurt. In addition, the clause prohibiting repeat winners led to unusual results like Babe Ruth's 1927 (one of the greatest offensive seasons of all time) not being eligible for the award. As The New York Times wrote in 1925, "[T]he purpose, of course, is to pass the honor around, but the effect is to pass an empty honor around.""Review-The Week In Sports-Outlook". (September 28, 1925). The New York Times, Sports, p. 17.

League leaders Babe Ruth, Major League Baseball home run champion (60)