The 1931 New York Yankees season was the team's 29th season. The team finished with a 94–59–2 record (), finishing 13.5 games behind the Philadelphia Athletics. The Yankees played their home games at Yankee Stadium. This team is notable for holding the modern day Major League record for team runs scored in a season with 1,067 (6.88 runs per game average).

New York was managed by future Hall-of-Famer Joe McCarthy; 1931 was his first season with the Yankees after spending the previous five with the Chicago Cubs. The owner and general manager (Jacob Ruppert and Ed Barrow, respectively), would also eventually be indicted into the Hall-of-Fame.

For the second straight season, the Yankees fielded nine players who would eventually be enshrined in the Hall of Fame (Earle Combs, Bill Dickey, Lou Gehrig, Lefty Gomez, Tony Lazzeri, Herb Pennock, Red Ruffing, Babe Ruth, and Joe Sewell). This is the most all time, tied with the previous year's team as well as the 1932 and 1933 Yankees teams. The same nine Hall of Famers played for the 1931, 1932, and 1933 teams, with the 1930 team differing only by not having Joe Sewell and instead featuring Waite Hoyt.

Offseason December 10, 1930: Cy Perkins was purchased by the Yankees from the Philadelphia Athletics.Cy Perkins page at Baseball Reference January 13, 1931: Harry Rice was selected off waivers from the Yankees by the Washington Senators.Harry Rice page at Baseball Reference

Regular season First baseman Lou Gehrig set an American League record by driving in 185 runs, breaking his own record of 173 set in 1927. The total, which was six short of Hack Wilson's all-time record of 191 set the previous year, still stands as of the end of the 2022 season.

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Roster 1931 New York Yankees Roster Pitchers Catchers

Infielders Outfielders Manager

Coaches

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 130 477 156 .327 6 78 1B 155 619 211 .341 46 185 2B 135 484 129 .267 8 83 SS 155 610 171 .280 10 107 3B 130 484 146 .302 6 64 OF 145 534 199 .373 46 162 OF 138 563 179 .318 5 58 OF 149 600 189 .315 17 122

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 115 248 67 .270 3 32 65 245 59 .241 3 26 46 100 27 .270 0 14 16 47 12 .255 0 7 27 39 13 .333 1 6 44 28 4 .143 0 3 2 10 3 .300 0 1 1 0 0 ---- 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 40 243.0 21 9 2.67 150 37 237.0 16 14 4.41 132 40 196.1 13 8 4.72 106 25 189.1 11 6 4.28 65 18 87.0 6 3 3.41 36

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 36 137.2 7 6 3.79 59 27 116.2 9 5 4.32 34 17 74.1 5 5 5.69 39 17 57.2 2 1 5.31 28 7 34.1 2 0 4.19 10

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 17 2 2 0 6.20 24 6 0 0 1 12.41 3

Awards and honors

League records Lou Gehrig, American League single season record, runs batted in (RBI) for a season (185).

Farm system

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: CumberlandJohnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007

Notes

References 1931 New York Yankees at Baseball Reference 1931 New York Yankees team page at www.baseball-almanac.com